Dodgeball Event’s arena
When it was Terrance’s Growlithe’s turn to take the arena, everyone’s gaze turned toward him.
In light of the lessons from the previous five rounds, one could gauge how far a Trainer could go from their choice of Pokemon… Earlier, a Trainer sent out a massive Pokemon, and it was stuck by a tennis ball without even lasting for two minutes.
Seeing Growlithe agilely jump onto the arena from the corner, the crowd revealed eyes full of anticipation.
“Could this one possibly break the previous best record?”
“It’s too far-fetched. You saw the speed at which the tennis balls were launched just now, and look at its Trainer’s age… should be about the same as the kid from before.”
“True, let’s not expect too much.”
The scorekeeper, looking at Terrance lost in thought, hesitated slightly and asked, “Is the participant ready?”
Terrance was still contemplating. Based on what he observed from the others just now, after two minutes, these machines would activate a “predictive ability”. This involves using a large number of tennis ball landing points to restrict the movement range of the Pokémon, which will be followed by a more extensive barrage.
“I see, it would already be too late if we move along its predicted path.”
Thinking of the completely similar ways that the previous participants had failed, Terrance smiled slightly and said, “Let’s begin.”
Having figured out a series of processes, Terrance’s confidence grew, feeling fortunate not to be the first one on the arena.
Uh… the scorekeeper helplessly looked at the nonchalant Terrance. I haven’t announced the start of the match yet, and your Pokemon is already running around the arena. Is it really okay to waste energy like this?
“Well then…!!”
As the scorekeeper referee announced the start, the switches of the machines on all sides were turned, and the machines began to hum and operate. The first tennis ball was launched.
An astonishing scene unfolded that surprised everyone. Growlithe, which was originally quite lively in the arena, unexpectedly stopped and stared blankly at the incoming tennis ball.
“Too early!!” Seeing Growlithe’s reaction, Terrance shouted helplessly.
Hearing Terrance’s command, Growlithe reacted, easily dodging. Dodging the first ball was within everyone’s expectations, but what did Terrance mean by “too early”?
Continuing, Growlithe showcased its agility, dodging one ball, two balls, three balls, until 90 seconds had passed… Growlithe was still dodging calmly.
“Not bad, this Growlithe is quite agile.”
“Yeah… it looks easy now, but I wonder how it’ll be after two minutes.”
The first two minutes weren’t too challenging for each participant. After all, it was necessary to balance the engagement and competitiveness of the mini-game, and the organizers of the cruise could only design it this way.
Watching Growlithe enjoying itself, Terrance felt it was necessary to remind it. After all, at its current pace, it might struggle to quickly adapt to the upcoming rapid-fire shots.
“Don’t play around. Next, use Agility. Let your body adapt to the high-frequency state.” Terrance suddenly said as he watched Growlithe playing around.
“Woof…” Upon hearing this command, Growlithe, as if given permission, excitedly barked and, facing the incoming tennis balls, at the last moment, transformed into a white light, “whooshing” away.
“Oh, it’s the Agility move!!” The scorekeeper exclaimed in surprise. “As everyone knows, Agility is a double-edged sword in this arena. If not controlled well, it might backfire.”
“However…” The scorekeeper, astonished, stared at Growlithe, unable to continue his sentence.
“How did it do that?!”
“Uh…!”
A cry of astonishment erupted from the audience. Dozens of tennis balls were simultaneously shot from all four directions, and surprisingly, Growlithe suddenly stopped while using Agility, leaving everyone in astonishment.
However, in the next moment, people instantly caught onto Growlithe’s plan… Growlithe didn’t actually stop Agility; it was constantly maintaining the state of “Agility” while simultaneously observing the trajectory of the tennis balls!
It wasn’t until the first tennis ball came dangerously close that Growlithe sprinted out at an astonishing speed, following the simplest, most straightforward, and least cumbersome path…dodging this round of shots.
“Amazing computing power…” The crowd simultaneously exclaimed in admiration.
Growlithe’s approach was daring because even a slight mistake would put it in the attack trajectory of dozens of balls. Finding the best route to dodge from so many attack trajectories was not easy.
“No, it’s not computing power.” The scorekeeper’s eyes widened. He was experienced, often serving as a referee in such roles. This Growlithe didn’t rely on computing power to dodge so many balls.
“It’s reflexes and control over the moves!” The scorekeeper rubbed his eyes and looked at the Trainer for the first time with some surprise. After carefully observing Terrance, Growlithe’s subsequent actions further confirmed his speculation.
Each time at the critical moment, Growlithe would use “Agility” without any warning. Its “Agility” seemed to have no preparation time; as long as it wanted to use it, it could be used in the next moment.
However, the scorekeeper did not think so. He could tell from the state of Growlithe’s leg muscles while waiting that Growlithe was constantly maintaining a high-frequency charging state, never canceling “Agility.” What was hard to believe was that this Growlithe could manipulate Agility so exquisitely during such high-frequency movements.
Moreover, Growlithe wasn’t using computing power to predict the tennis ball’s trajectories, instead it was relying on its control over muscles, reaction speed, and awareness! When the first ball approached it, Growlithe would directly jump to the area where it had observed the fewest balls in advance. Then, through the coordination of its muscles, it would keep its legs in a constantly moving state, and by using extremely dangerous evasive maneuvers, it would rely on muscle coordination to constantly change direction and route, and break through tight encirclement.
But doing this… didn’t seem to have any benefits at all; the scorekeeper was extremely puzzled.
However, if the scorekeeper knew that this was one of Growlithe’s daily training routines, he wouldn’t be so surprised. Besides, Growlithe often frolics in the “Gravity Room,” and its current performance is not its limit. This evasive method was designed by Terrance to train its reflex awareness. Over time, Growlithe used it subconsciously when encountering similar kinds of games. That’s why Terrance said, “Too early” because the number of balls at the beginning could not replicate their training at that time.
“Well done, keep it up!” Terrance encouraged Growlithe.
The audience’ eyes widened. Unconsciously, Growlithe had actually endured for over 2 minutes, directly adapting to the sudden burst of high-frequency shots. This excited the audience, and they collectively cheered Growlithe on.
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