The Path of a Genius to Becoming a Pokémon Champion

Chapter 185: What the Hell Does He Know About Commanding?

During the debriefing process, Arthur actually didn't have much to say about Frogadier's matches.

As the first Pokémon to follow him after he transmigrated, Frogadier had always had their synergy nailed down perfectly.

It could basically grasp the essence of every one of Arthur's commands and execute them faithfully.

The rapport between this human and frog had now reached the point where if Arthur patted its butt, Frogadier would know it was time to change position.

This refers to changing posture for the next round of physical training, don't get any funny ideas…

It could be said that in its battles, Frogadier had already done everything it could at its current stage.

Any remaining disadvantages were a matter of base physical stats and skill proficiency, things that were difficult to change through on-the-spot performance.

In reality, every Pokémon would have its own strengths and leanings; it was impossible to have the same level of mastery for all skills like in a game.

Frogadier's proficiency with the three Dark-type skills "Fling," "Night Slash," and "Dark Pulse" was clearly higher. "Smokescreen" and "Double Team" were also becoming more and more polished.

Only its own Water-type skills were consistently lacking, rarely producing a truly stunning performance.

After reviewing the day's match recordings, Arthur made a brief summary: "Still need more training."

Insufficient skill proficiency? That clearly means not enough training.

We need to add more training!

As soon as this was said, Frogadier, who had been sitting cross-legged on the living room sofa, nearly rolled smoothly onto the floor, performing a "kneeling in defeat" for Arthur on the spot.

Specter, watching from the side, smiled knowingly.

How familiar this scene was to Specter!

Sure enough, no matter how times changed, whether it was new partners or old friends, any Pokémon under Arthur's command would tremble at the mere mention of the word "training."

This felt so right!

However, there was no rush for this extra training, as it was already getting dark.

So, Arthur temporarily let the woeful, terrified Frogadier off the hook.

He then continued playing the recording of Mismagius's match from today.

This was also the only match he had lost so far.

Not long after the recording began to play, he pressed the pause button, then walked up to the TV, explaining as he communicated with Mismagius.

"Here, pay attention. I gave the command 'use Spite' here, but I don't know if you noticed at the time: I deliberately paused when giving this command and didn't immediately tell you the target of the skill."

Mismagius floated in mid-air, recalled for a moment, then nodded.

She seemed to remember something like that happening.

Arthur continued, "Actually, my intention at the time was that I hoped you would take the opportunity to press forward, holding the skill without releasing it. The best outcome of this might have been forcing both opposing Pokémon to retreat at once."

"Spite" was a Ghost-type skill. Its effect was to apply a negative status to an enemy Pokémon, greatly increasing their energy and stamina consumption when casting spells, and even slightly extending their cooldown period after releasing a skill.

This move's effect wasn't significant in large-scale army battles, but in arena matches that were mainly one-on-one duels, it was a skill that was quite dreaded.

After all, Pokémon duels were still primarily centered on skills; skill-less pressure techniques at most played a supporting role.

The impact of an extended cooldown period in a fast-paced exchange of skills was something no Pokémon could afford to ignore.

As Arthur said, if Mismagius had pressed forward at that time, both opposing Pokémon would likely have retreated.

But the result in the recording was that Mismagius did not grasp this meaning.

She floated in place and cast the skill, even hesitating for a moment, waiting for Arthur to give a clear target.

And at this time, poor Pidgeotto was in the process of being wonderfully double-teamed by the opposing two Pokémon…

"I'm not saying this to blame you. It was my fault for giving the command too vaguely at the time, for not explaining it clearly to you.

However, this is a debrief, and I'm bringing this up mainly because I hope you can understand my thought process, so you can better grasp my intentions in future matches.

You need to know that your base stats are actually far superior to these Pokémon currently on the field. In terms of playstyle, you absolutely don't need to be too conservative. More forward pressure, more pressure on the enemy, and perhaps Justin's Pidgeotto wouldn't have been defeated so quickly."

In truth, Mismagius hadn't suffered much damage at all during that lost match.

It was just that the opponent's two Pokémon had focus-fired on Justin's Pidgeotto from the start, and a set of skilled combos had directly dazed Pidgeotto, knocking it out of the match before it could even react.

Even so, Mismagius could still have stalled in a 1v2 afterward, but Arthur weighed the options and felt that it wouldn't serve much purpose in training the Pokémon and would instead drag the match on for too long unnecessarily, so he proactively forfeited.

Here in the debrief, Arthur was pointing out the problem of Mismagius's insufficient support for Pidgeotto in the early stages.

A teammate's strength was an objective fact that couldn't be changed. Complaining or venting wouldn't change anything, and that wasn't Arthur's style.

What he was teaching Mismagius now was how to pursue victory to the greatest extent under limited conditions.

After listening, Mismagius nodded very seriously.

Then she gave a soft laugh.

"Master, you're much more demanding than Specter."

Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes. "That guy Specter, what the hell does he know about commanding?"

On the sofa nearby, Specter, currently lying flat like a salted fish, also rolled his eyes at him upon hearing this.

If anyone else had said that, he would have slapped them with a "Shadow Claw" long ago!

But if it was Arthur saying it, he could only accept it…

In Arthur's past Pokémon team, Specter was indeed not commander material.

In Arthur's old team, Lapras, due to its non-competitive nature, willingly served as a mount; the agile and swift Leafeon was the best scout; and Specter had always been Arthur's personal bodyguard.

He was responsible for guarding Arthur's shadow, serving as the last line of defense to protect his master.

Although in land battles, due to Arthur's habit of personally charging into the fray with a sword—a habit he could never break—it directly led to this last line of defense frequently appearing on the front lines of battle…

But when it came to the team's leader, that was indeed not Specter.

Two hundred years ago, when Arthur ascended to the rank of Heavenly King, his most relied-upon ace was actually the Charizard that joined the team later.

As the only Pokémon in the team that had mastered Mega Evolution, Charizard was the undisputed big brother of Arthur's team at the time. Even the pseudo-legendary Tyranitar that joined later could only rank below it.

At that time, whenever Arthur got high on fighting and forgot to command, it was Charizard who was responsible for coordinating the overall situation, directing the other Pokémon partners to cooperate in battle.

Truth be told, the Specter of that time really didn't know how to command. He simply listened to Arthur when Arthur was around, and listened to Charizard when Arthur wasn't. That was all.

Later on, after Specter formed the Stitched Shadow Army himself, he did improve quite a bit in this area, but he still couldn't be called an expert. In the early days, he relied more on his own formidable individual combat power to gather followers.

Precisely because he didn't know how to command, his demands on Mismagius were few.

It just so happened to fit the saying: sometimes, having no requirements is the most difficult requirement…

Now, Mismagius was gradually adapting to Arthur's command style—one with clear thinking, that anticipated the enemy's moves, and where every step had its purpose.

She was gradually abandoning the fighting style she had followed with Specter, where everyone just charged in together, and her only job was to support Specter while he smashed all the enemies to claim victory.

In response, the lounging Specter shifted on the sofa into a more comfortable position, still mumbling the same old line.

"Hmph, if I were on the field, I'd have killed them all!"

This instantly filled the living room with a cheerful atmosphere.

(End of Chapter)

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