After Xia Huna and Kasweiding expressed their intentions, they nodded at each other and then followed their respective teams away. It was evident that while both sides could counter the other's strategies, it would be a brain-frying task for both of them. Rather than continuing to torment each other, it was better for both sides to take a step back and engage in a direct, strong confrontation.
Moreover, this match was broadcast worldwide, and there was even an interview session scheduled after the match. If the previous matches were too unappealing, it would be awkward for anyone to handle the interviews.
Both sides went for lunch. On the Minglong Kingdom side, Xia Huna, hands in his pockets, approached Su Xiaojiu and asked, "How confident are you for the afternoon match?"
Su Xiaojiu thought for a moment and gave a rather conservative answer: "How to put it, fifty-fifty. After all, they understand me too well."
Upon hearing Su Xiaojiu's answer, Xia Huna also hesitated for a moment before whispering something in her ear. Su Xiaojiu gasped after listening, "What? But..."
Su Xiaojiu's gasp drew everyone's attention. Xia Huna glared at them, "I'm here strategizing with Su Xiaojiu, why are you all turning around? Go eat your food."
Under Xia Huna's "tyranny," Yu Longdu and the others turned back, leaving Xia Huna to continue speaking to Su Xiaojiu, "So, this is just a suggestion, and the final decision rests with you, not me."
"But..." Su Xiaojiu still hesitated.
Xia Huna comforted her, "It's okay. Aren't you worried about my reputation in Lixing Kingdom? I've already been fighting them to the death for a long time. A little more or less doesn't make a difference to me."
After Xia Huna finished speaking, he accompanied Su Xiaojiu and they went to eat with everyone else.
A few hours later, the afternoon match began. When Xia Huna and his teammates arrived at the stadium, they happened to meet the Lixing team and entered together. Xia Huna and Kasweiding synchronized once more to confirm that they would not use the methods from the morning, and the teams separated on opposite sides. However, before separating, Xia Huna handed Kasweiding a walkie-talkie, saying it was in case Kasweiding wanted to curse him out during the match and he was afraid Kasweiding wouldn't be heard.
Kasweiding readily accepted Xia Huna's kind gesture, and the reason was simple: he himself had wanted to curse someone out during the morning match. Xia Huna's actions had directly opened up a convenient channel. The communication between the two "brains" would surely be a more watchable spectacle than the battle itself during the afternoon match.
Let's return to the stadium. Xia Huna, standing at the Minglong Kingdom's preparation area, idly glanced towards the referee. This morning, the position was occupied by a Dunhe referee, but for some reason, in the afternoon, it was a Milun referee. The refereeing team also expressed their helplessness at this change. After the first match between the two teams ended this morning, the Dunhe referee immediately threw in the towel. Even though the Grand Organizing Committee promised to slightly increase his salary, he was determined not to continue refereeing the matches between these two teams. He was exhausted.
But there was no way around it; a match couldn't be without a referee, otherwise, it would be chaos. The refereeing panel had to discuss changing the referee. Due to the relationship between the opposing teams, Minglong Kingdom and Lixing Kingdom, the two referees from Minglong and Lixing countries had to recuse themselves and could not officiate the upcoming matches. Among the remaining referees, they had to find one without obvious bias. Finally, they settled on this referee from Milun.
This referee, put on the spot, was not in a good mood. Even when he saw Su Xiaojiu and the Lixing contestant stepping onto the stage, he maintained a cold expression.
"Both contestants are in position, please send out your first Pokémon."
The referee's tone clearly indicated his reluctance to take on this job.
Su Xiaojiu took a deep breath and then threw out her Poké Ball: "Go, Delphox!"
Wang Zhen walked over to Xia Huna and said, "Another fox? Su Xiaojiu really likes fox Pokémon. Ninetales, Alolan Ninetales, and now Delphox. Is what you said before about a 'vixen' referring to a girl like her?"
Xia Huna turned his head and sized up Wang Zhen. "A vixen doesn't refer to a trainer who specializes in fox-type Pokémon. The few things Su Xiaojiu and a vixen have in common are their exceptional beauty. Don't tell me you've fallen for Su Xiaojiu? Want me to help set you up?"
"Is that so? Then thank you, Boss Xia."
As time went on, Xia Huna had earned the nickname "Boss Xia" among the Minglong Kingdom team members, even though he was actually the youngest in the entire team.
While Xia Huna was playing matchmaker, Lixing also sent out their Pokémon: Voltorb.
The moment Voltorb appeared, Xia Huna grabbed the walkie-talkie in front of him and started cursing, "Kasweiding, you really have no shame! Didn't we agree not to use self-destruct tactics in the afternoon? What's with this Voltorb of yours?"
Kasweiding's lazy voice came through the walkie-talkie: "What's it to you? As you say in your Minglong Kingdom, it's called 'all is fair in war!'"
After cursing, Xia Huna stopped bothering Kasweiding, calmly put down the walkie-talkie, and continued watching the match, his face showing no emotion, as if the person who had just lost his temper wasn't him.
The match began. Lixing's Voltorb rolled towards Delphox, but Delphox immediately threw up a Substitute in front of itself and then fell asleep.
Substitute, for those who understand, is created by the main body at the cost of some HP. It can take attacks for the main body, thus preventing the idea of self-destruction. The move Sleep further allowed Delphox to recover its HP rapidly.
Then, we saw that the moment Voltorb dealt with Delphox's Substitute, Delphox woke up...
Kasweiding also grabbed his walkie-talkie and started cursing, "Xia Huna, didn't you say we wouldn't have a war of attrition this afternoon? What's with this Substitute of yours?"
Xia Huna sat in his chair, with his legs stretched out in front of him, "What are you talking about? What's it to you? As we say in our Minglong Kingdom, this is 'all is fair in war!'"
What is poetic justice? This is it...
The other team members watched their team's strategists' performances, and the thoughts of more than a dozen people were the same: "You strategists have dark hearts."
Xia Huna put the walkie-talkie aside and sighed, "Although Kasweiding is not a good person, from the perspective of self-cultivation, his temperament is still quite good."
Yu Longdu next to him chuckled, "You two tricked each other, fifty-fifty. Of course, he doesn't need to be angry. But is this really going to work? Do you really think it will end in a draw?"
"How could that be? Isn't it here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Xiaojiu commanded Delphox to flick a spark from its magic wand onto Voltorb, which was the move Will-O-Wisp. After the Will-O-Wisp, Delphox resumed its standoff with Voltorb.
The Dunhe referee in the stands was beaming with laughter, while the referee currently on the field looked quite displeased. After both teams sent out their Pokémon, he had glanced at the Dunhe referee, thinking, "Look at my luck. Both Delphox and Voltorb are offensive Pokémon. This battle should be over in no time, right?" Who would have thought it would turn out like this after the battle started...
It's quite frustrating when the opponent uses Will-O-Wisp to burn your HP. With Delphox constantly using Substitute and Sleep to tank damage, you can't defeat her before her HP is critically low. After several rounds of back and forth, Voltorb was in a bad state.
Then, just as the Lixing contestant was about to make a desperate final push, Voltorb suddenly rolled its eyes and collapsed. The sudden turn of events stunned even the referee. As a referee, he was very familiar with the capabilities of Will-O-Wisp. It wasn't yet the time for Will-O-Wisp to defeat Voltorb, so why did it collapse?
However, a referee is a referee. In an instant, he realized that Voltorb must have been hit by Future Sight, a move within Delphox's move set. Thinking of this, as he announced the result, he couldn't help but look at Su Xiaojiu with newfound respect: "This girl is impressive, she really used Future Sight so subtly."
The Lixing contestant, though a bit slow to react, also guessed Future Sight. He recalled his first Pokémon and began the second round of the match.
Kasweiding picked up his walkie-talkie and chatted with Xia Huna again: "You're quite capable."
"This isn't entirely my credit. Who made Su Xiaojiu so capable herself?"
On the field, the second round of the match between the two sides had already begun. Su Xiaojiu sent out her ace, Ninetales, while Lixing sent out a Golem.
"Golem, Alolan Form, Rock/Electric type, resistant to Fire type, with Self-Destruct and Explosion. Kasweiding is really determined to go down this path. Does he want to trade points with me that badly? Or is he extremely confident in the remaining matches?"
Xia Huna couldn't figure out what Kasweiding was thinking for a moment. The referee's mood improved considerably upon seeing these two Pokémon. A Golem and a Ninetales. This time, there shouldn't be any prolonged battle, right? Not only are their types opposed, but Ninetales doesn't seem to be built for prolonged battles.
However, Xia Huna once again defied his expectations, slapping the referee in the face with facts: Ninetales may not be good at prolonged battles, but the "prolonged" aspect of a prolonged battle doesn't necessarily manifest in a back-and-forth attrition.