It's just a powerful move, if Arceus can use an immensely powerful Judgment, then Xia Huanao can naturally conjure a supremely potent Water Shuriken. And this isn't the first time he's done so.
Xia Huanao placed a Z-Crystal on his Z-Ring and raised his hand, "Guagua, Reverse Cascade Serpent's Flow!"
Guagua's Water Shuriken spun at high speed, growing louder with the howling wind. The situation became tense, and then Arceus made the first move, Judgment hurtling towards Xia Huanao with overwhelming power. Guagua flicked its wrist, and the Water Shuriken shot out, meeting Judgment head-on.
The two skills collided in the middle, erupting in a piercing hum. Xia Huanao covered his ears and gasped, "Damn it, what is that sound?"
Accustomed to the explosions that usually followed skill collisions, Xia Huanao had never heard such a "skill sound effect" before and was momentarily disoriented. Others also covered their ears, enduring the torment of the grating music. Fortunately, though both skills were powerful, their duration was short. The humming quickly subsided, leaving a bewildered group of people and Pokémon still reeling.
Xia Huanao's condition was relatively good. After all, they were all young. Even if the booming sounds were piercing and devastating, they could withstand them. However, the old men fared much worse. As age caught up, their physical condition declined rapidly, and even with their lives hanging by a thread, they couldn't compete with the vigor of young men like Xia Huanao. That one move almost sent them all to meet their ancestors.
The old men looked at Xia Huanao with trembling fear, thinking, "If you do that one more time, we might be done for." And, as if to prove Murphy's Law, Xia Huanao glanced their way and opened a new world of possibilities.
"If that Water Shuriken and Judgment almost took me out, then doing it a few more times could truly finish them off?"
Xia Huanao leered evilly at the old men, causing them to break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Xia Huanao didn't stare for long, as defeating these old men wouldn't quench his thirst. Arceus was still there, and he couldn't defeat it.
If only he knew how they controlled Arceus, it would be twice the result with half the effort. But how to...
"Got it! Old Meng, listen to me."
With that, Xia Huanao leaned in and whispered into Meng Tianya's ear, "Old Meng, can you hypnotize those people and get them to reveal how they control Arceus?"
Meng Tianya nodded, "Hold them off, leave it to me."
Working in concert, Meng Tianya, with his Hypno, skirted around Arceus and used Hypnosis on the old men. To their surprise, one of the old men was immediately controlled and opened his mouth to say, "Our method of controlling Arceus is..."
Before he could finish, the other old men surrounding him cut him off, "Old Meng, are you crazy? Is this something you can talk about?"
The hypnotized old man, interrupted by their words, did not give up his intention to reveal the secret. Seeing that words wouldn't work, they resorted to force. A few slaps immediately woke him up. Rubbing his face, he asked his old comrades, "What's wrong? Why does my face hurt?"
His comrades were furious. "Your face hurts? You're lucky to still have a face! Do you know you almost got us all killed just now?" The fact that Hypnosis could be broken by physical means like slaps greatly surprised Meng Tianya. Xia Huanao even chimed in with a jest, "As expected of shared bloodline connections. Out of the four, you've secretly captured your ancestor."
Meng Tianya sneered, "I don't have ancestors like that."
Xia Huanao continued to hatch mischievous plans. He pulled out a bag of Rare Candies from his backpack, "Old Meng, catch this. Just keep using Hypnosis on them."
Meng Tianya looked at the Rare Candies in his hand. They were all for energy recovery and stamina. With this bag of Rare Candies, Hypno could use Hypnosis with impunity.
Xia Huanao continued to stir the pot, "Just keep going. I don't believe he can always wake up with slaps!"
This strategy was utterly wicked. Even though these four old men had known each other for nearly a century, in the face of slaps, all camaraderie meant nothing. Being slapped in front of their juniors was unbearable, even if they didn't consider them juniors.
Especially Old Meng. He had already been slapped, and it was a fait accompli. He might be slapped again, but he also felt that it wasn't fair if they didn't get hit.
While the old men were lost in their own thoughts, Meng Tianya began to act, "Hypno, Hypnosis!"
Hypno swung its pendulum. Old Meng, with his movements perfectly synchronized, pushed one of the old men aside. The pushed old man stared at Hypno in bewilderment, then fell under its control. Before Meng Tianya could seize the opportunity to say anything, Old Meng rushed forward and slapped the hypnotized old man.
Thus, the second red-faced old man appeared before them, "lively and well." This sudden change stunned Xia Huanao and the others. Xia Huanao pointed at the second old man, "No, this is what a century of brotherhood looks like?"
It wasn't surprising that Xia Huanao found it unbelievable. The key was that Old Meng's movements were too fast, like blinking and attacking. The slaps were truly executed seamlessly, like flowing water. Not only Xia Huanao, but even the other two old men standing next to Old Meng didn't react.
As for the one who was hit, he rubbed his cheek and looked at Old Meng, "How could you hit me so hard?" Old Meng, however, showed no remorse and said righteously, "I'm doing this for your own good. What if you revealed our method of controlling Arceus?"
This rhetoric was identical to what he had heard when he was slapped. But everyone knew it was just an excuse. He couldn't refute it after being hit, otherwise, would he say he wanted to betray everyone?
Meng Tianya's eyes darted around, and he gave Hypno new instructions, "Hypno, continue using Hypnosis. Use it on anyone you want. When you feel your stamina is running low, come over and eat Rare Candies."
Hypno nodded, swung its pendulum, and began to use Hypnosis frantically. This sent the four old men into a panic. After all, no one wanted to be hit by Hypnosis and then slapped. But among the four, one had to be the unlucky one. Soon, the third unlucky victim was chosen. Old Meng and the old man he had previously slapped attacked together, a flurry of slaps ensued.
This left only one old man from the Yu family who hadn't been slapped. To avoid being beaten, this old man cleverly shouted at Arceus, "Arceus, come and defend!"
Arceus was about to move when its path was blocked by Leaf Storm and Fire Blast.
"How can you let Arceus pass so easily? Lopunny, Mega Evolve!"
Seeing that Arceus couldn't get through for a while due to the Pokémon's obstruction, the old men looked at Hypno, who was still using Hypnosis.
It could be said that Meng Tianya had been influenced by Xia Huanao. For example, Hypno's pendulum. Generally, a Hypno has only one pendulum, like a person holding a yo-yo. But with Xia Huanao's influence, Meng Tianya's Hypno had made great progress. He had gone from a 1A player to a 2A player.
When they saw Hypno pull out a second yo-yo from who knows where, things changed. It had learned to use both hands to cast Hypnosis simultaneously, controlling two people at once. This sent the old men into a frenzy, with the sound of slaps echoing incessantly, shocking everyone, even Arceus, who was already under control, felt a chill.
After Hypno had its fill, Meng Tianya stopped. Although there were still plenty of Rare Candies to replenish PP, the old men were as stubborn as a donkey that had swallowed a scale. Even with their faces swollen like pig heads, not one of them spoke.
"No wonder they were the final bosses. Their thick skin and ruthlessness are beyond me. Old Man Lu, in particular, could even hit himself," Xia Huanao remarked in amazement.
Old Man Lu had the most swollen face among them. It wasn't because he was hypnotized many times, but because every time he was hypnotized, he would slap himself a dozen times to wake himself up. And Old Man Lu hit hard. His already loose teeth were now likely only able to consume liquids.
Xia Huanao turned to Meng Tianya and asked, "Old Meng, your four great families' ancestors were quite formidable. They left no opening at all."
Meng Tianya nodded, "There's no point in hypnotizing them anymore. Do you see the state they're in now? Can they even speak? We won't be able to find out how they control Arceus."
Indeed, with their faces so swollen, they could only make muffled sounds, and even a deity wouldn't understand what they were saying. Xia Huanao clicked his tongue, "I never expected them to only resort to slaps. There's a pond right over there; a splash of cold water would wake them up from a minor hypnosis, yet they chose to slap each other, and so hard. But this is also good. Arceus acting on instinct is better than them interfering occasionally."
The old men, hearing Xia Huanao's words, looked to the side. Indeed, there was a clear and transparent pond nearby, a good place to wake oneself up...
"Mumble mumble, mumble mumble mumble!"
The old men, with a series of muffled sounds, issued new commands.