Xia Hunaos scratched his head and pushed Mu Zhishui back into the chair. "Let me explain, my first meeting with Mu Zhishui wasn't at that college student spirit competition, was it? Back then, Mu Zhishui's trump card was an Ultra Beast."
Meng Tianya chuckled, "So, your thinking is a bit jumpy. But what you said has some truth to it. It's possible that Lixing Country might use Ultra Beasts. After all, even Rainbow Star Group could come up with so many Ultra Beasts."
Xia Hunaos and Mu Zhishui glanced at him. Mu Zhishui asked, "Your statement is a bit problematic. It makes it sound like our Rainbow Star Group is as worthless as a roadside cabbage."
"But you have to admit, compared to Lixing Country's energy, Rainbow Star does have some shortcomings."
Wang Zhen, Mu Zhishui, and Meng Tianya were discussing how to deal with the potential Ultra Beasts from Lixing Country, while Xia Hunaos had put on his headphones, listening to something. More than half an hour later, Mu Zhishui's three-person pre-battle meeting 2.0 concluded, and Xia Hunaos was still listening. Wang Zhen walked over and patted Xia Hunaos on the shoulder, "Hey, what are you doing? You brought up the Ultra Beast issue and then went silent."
Xia Hunaos pointed outside the door, "Go take a look outside, see if there's anything strange out there."
Wang Zhen blinked, glanced out the window, and replied, "No, there's nothing outside. What's wrong?"
Xia Hunaos took off his headphones, "Do you want to listen? After listening to this, your entire worldview will be shattered."
Wang Zhen reached out and took Xia Hunaos's headphones, "What could possibly shatter one's worldview? Let me try."
After listening for a while, Wang Zhen took the headphones out of his ears, "No, it's empty in here, there's no sound at all. If this can shatter my worldview, then my worldview must be pretty worthless."
Hearing Wang Zhen say it was empty audio, Mu Zhishui and Meng Tianya also came over to listen. Indeed, it was silent, with nothing. The three of them looked at Xia Hunaos in confusion, "Are you sure you played the audio?"
Xia Hunaos tapped the table with two fingers, "Do you know what you were listening to?"
"What?"
"This is the recording module built into my camera. Although the camcorder has recording capabilities, this recording module is specifically for eavesdropping."
Xia Hunaos noticed that they didn't quite understand, so he further explained, "This is the audio from a previous match between Lixing and Milun. Although Miao Longque told me he stopped the recorder's sound recording because he was afraid the live sound would interfere with everyone's judgment, this thing also didn't capture anything. That's very telling."
Meng Tianya stroked his chin, "So, someone must have said something to him at the time that he didn't want us to hear, which is why he used some means to block the recording."
Wang Zhen asked, "But wouldn't that prove he's problematic? Wouldn't exposing something like this before the final major competition be more of a loss than a gain?"
Meng Tianya shook his head, "No, because the competition rules state that if a contestant is unable to attend a match on time due to personal physical reasons, the match time will be postponed. If a team cannot field the required number of players, they will be judged as having lost in that relevant match, and replacements are not allowed, so teams don't have many substitutes."
"So, we can only assume that we'll lose one match in the final grand finale?"
"Yes, that's an unavoidable fact. It's a tradition in Minglong Country, innocent until proven guilty. If there's no concrete evidence, there's nothing we can do about him. And with this recording, it can only confirm our suspicions, but it cannot be used as evidence."
The atmosphere became tense for a moment. Just then, Yu Longdu rushed in from outside the door, "Boss Xia, come look at this. The officials are causing trouble for us again."
Xia Hunaos put away the eavesdropping device, or rather, the recording module, and then turned to Yu Longdu, "So, can't you calm down? It wouldn't be called 'official' if they didn't stir up some trouble. What new tricks have they pulled this time?"
Yu Longdu handed over a folder, "Take a look, everyone. I've made seven or eight copies."
Xia Hunaos distributed the files. After reading for a while, everyone present cursed, even Mu Zhishui, who always maintained her ladylike demeanor, slammed the table and cursed a few times.
It wasn't their fault. The officials had truly outdone themselves this time. As soon as the match between Milun ended, the referees promptly gathered for a meeting and subsequently amended the competition rules.
It wasn't that the rules initially set by the referees were not rigorous enough. The main reason was that ever since student Xia Hunaos started the trend of exploiting loopholes in the rules, everyone else had begun to imitate him. Therefore, before the most important matches began, the referee committee decisively corrected some loopholes, which was a necessary measure to make the competition more engaging.
However, the most annoying thing was that the entire rule modification was specifically targeted at Xia Hunaos and his team. The first article of this major rule change sealed off all means of exchanging Pokémon. Both the Quick Turnaround that Xia Hunaos frequently used and similar moves like Volt Switch were no longer allowed. Not only these active skills, but even the opponent's Roar and Dragon Tail were also sealed in the grand finals.
Xia Hunaos could accept this nerf to some extent. After all, when it came to competitions, using surprise tactics too much would eventually become ordinary. If it's not used, so be it. There are countless strategies, can you eliminate them all?
However, the second modification made Xia Hunaos feel somewhat distressed.
The officials' second modification: To increase the spectator appeal of the matches, the format of the final grand finals was changed to three-on-three duels. This didn't mean each team would send out three trainers, but rather that three Pokémon would battle in each match.
Xia Hunaos pulled at his hair. At first glance, this modification seemed incompatible with the previous rule prohibiting Pokémon switching, but in reality, there was a difference. Take Yu Longdu as an example. In his first match, if he were to send out Charizard, Gyarados, and Dragonair respectively, then these three Pokémon would each have a one-on-one battle. The outcome of this overall match would then be determined by the wins and losses of the three Pokémon.
Xia Hunaos pulled out two strands of hair. This rule imposed significant restrictions on Minglong Country. Although people in Minglong Country wouldn't be unable to field three Pokémon, it was impossible for all trainers' three Pokémon to be at the same strength level. According to Xia Hunaos's statistics, the strength of the second and third Pokémon of the Minglong Country players lagged behind Lixing Country by a considerable margin. In a situation where the second and third-tier configurations became crucial, this was very disadvantageous for Minglong Country.
Given this, strategies like Tian Ji's horse racing would have to be prioritized.
Although Xia Hunaos often thought of tactics, strategizing was quite taxing on the brain. Xia Hunaos asked Yu Longdu, "Ah Du, if I remember correctly, there are Minglong Country referees on the referee panel, right? How did it turn out like this?"
Yu Longdu shook his head, "I don't know. I'm not very familiar with the referee panel's affairs. You'd have to ask Meng Tianya."
Everyone looked at Meng Tianya, who spread his hands helplessly, "How should I put it? I do know the referees sent by our Minglong Country. They are very rigorous and stubborn, but they are really not good at arguing. So, you can't expect him to provide us with much help in this regard. I think this outcome is already the result of him arguing his case to the best of his ability."
Xia Hunaos rubbed his temples with two fingers. A one-on-one battle with one Pokémon was already difficult enough. A three-on-three battle would be even harder. He himself was okay; he had many tricks up his sleeve, but they were useless now. He could only affect the score of one match. What about the rest?
After rubbing his temples for a moment, Xia Hunaos used his excellent "Ah Q spirit" to console himself, "Fortunately, he didn't lose three matches straight and get three points directly. That would be even more unwinnable."
Indeed, Miao Longque alone could result in a zero-for-three score, instantly increasing the pressure on everyone else.
The atmosphere in Minglong Country instantly cooled down again. The Minglong Country team, already somewhat "clouded," now truly experienced the saying "when it rains, it pours; when the ship breaks, it encounters a headwind." Xia Hunaos waved his hand, "Ah Du, after showing us this, you should hurry back. I'm worried they won't be able to handle this blow and make a mistake. We almost couldn't take it, do you understand what I mean?"
Yu Longdu turned and left upon hearing this, leaving behind a sentence, "You all discuss countermeasures properly. I'll go check on them..."
Xia Hunaos and the others sat back down. Xia Hunaos spread his hands forward, "This is clearly targeting us, but we have no choice."
"Yes, now both internal and external troubles have struck. Do you have any ideas? I can only try to strengthen everyone's training. As for the rest, I can only rely on you."
Xia Hunaos rolled his eyes, "Alright, I'll try my best."
Amidst Xia Hunaos's deep contemplation and scurrying around, the days passed one by one. In the blink of an eye, it was the eve of the grand finals. Xia Hunaos sat on his bed, looking at the blood-red sky outside the window, and touching the few Poké Balls on his waist, "This detestable competition is finally coming to an end."
As he was speaking, he saw a figure moving furtively yet hesitantly past the window. Because of his extreme nervousness, the figure didn't notice that his shadow had been completely captured by Xia Hunaos.
Xia Hunaos glanced at his watch by the moonlight, "It's so late, what is he going out to do? I have to follow and see."
Saying this, Xia Hunaos touched his Poké Balls and tiptoed out of the room.