Xia Huanao's final remark was a joke. After all, such a tactic, if used for the first time or after a long interval, could be very effective for a surprise attack. But if you used it repeatedly, it would be too easy to defend against.
For instance, there's a ability called Shed Skin, which allows for continuous attempts to recover from status conditions. This way, even if you inflict poison, burns, or anything else, I could just use Shed Skin to remove it. You couldn't possibly bring out an ability like Flavor of the Month or Gastro Acid just to counter this, that would be ridiculous.
Besides this, just as Xia Huanao could use Rollout, others could naturally use it too. If you dared to switch in a Life Orb, I'd immediately throw it back. Although it might cost some HP, it would be better than keeping that thing on you.
Xia Huanao spoke and then left. The Li Xing national team, standing nearby, clearly didn't take Xia Huanao's trickery seriously. Li Xing's battle style wasn't like Xia Huanao's, which leaned towards tactics. They preferred to break through difficulties with sheer force, believing that free-spirited, powerful attacks could solve most of the problems they encountered.
A few hours after the match between Ming Long and Mi Lun had concluded...
Inside Ming Long's temporary shelter, Xia Huanao was sitting at a table, staring intently at a Farfetch'd opposite him. They were having a contest to see who could hold their breath longer. The loser would go without any berries for the week. Everyone else at the table was filled with disdain for this bet: "Xia Huanao, you'd really do that? You'd put him in a Poké Ball and then secretly eat the berries yourself. Do you think we don't know what you're up to? You've truly put yourself in an invincible position."
Xia Huanao and Farfetch'd had been glaring at each other for about forty to fifty seconds. Just as both were turning red in the face from holding their breath, they saw Yu Longdu barge into the room with a video recorder in hand, shouting as he ran, "Bad news, big trouble! You guys have to see this!"
Xia Huanao and Farfetch'd both broke character simultaneously. Xia Huanao turned and glanced at him, "What, what happened to make you rush in like this? Were you chased by wolves?"
Yu Longdu handed the video recorder he had just used to Xia Huanao. "Take a look, this is what I just recorded. Look at this! Something like this could happen!"
Xia Huanao took the video recorder and saw that it showed a match from the Man Ying team, who were in a different group from them. In the video, a girl from the Man Ying team was performing some chuunibyou-esque movements while using a Z-Move called Sparkly Burst.
The familiar visual effect was truly dazzling. Xia Huanao smacked his lips. "A Z-Move. Man Ying has some interesting things going on. It should be, it should be the same as mine, obtained from Tapu Koko, right? But this girl looks so familiar."
Mu Zhishui also leaned in and asked, "Familiar? Let me see too. Generally speaking, you shouldn't have any female friends in Man Ying that I don't know."
Mu Zhishui and Xia Huanao put their heads together and watched for quite some time. Then Mu Zhishui shook his head. "She looks familiar, but I just can't recall."
Yu Rui, who was passing by with desserts for everyone, glanced at the screen. "She looks like... who was it..."
Mu Zhishui and the other two turned, "Who?"
Yu Rui had also gone to Man Ying with Xia Huanao and the others, so it wasn't strange for her to recognize some people from Man Ying. When asked by the two of them, Yu Rui got stuck. "It's that person we met when we went to Man Ying, that... who was it?"
Xia Huanao sighed. "Forget it, if we can't remember, we'll just ask. Wait for me here."
Saying this, Xia Huanao took out his phone and called Mei. The Ming Long team, employing their ancestral skill of eavesdropping, gathered around and strained their ears.
"Hello, is this Mei? What are you doing right now?"
Xia Huanao, being incredibly cunning, took advantage of the fact that most of them couldn't understand, and spoke directly with Mei in Man Ying dialect. They chattered away for a long time, leaving everyone utterly confused. Yu Rui poked Yu Longdu in the ribs. "Didn't you say you could understand Man Ying dialect?"
Yu Longdu, with a rare blush, said, "Well, I did learn a little Man Ying dialect from Zhang Hong, but that was limited to when just the two of us were talking, cough cough..."
Yu Longdu almost revealed his entire embarrassing past, but even though he stopped himself in time, it was enough for everyone to understand what he meant. Meanwhile, on the other end, Xia Huanao hung up the phone with a smile and explained to everyone, "Alright, I've found out. The reason this girl looks familiar is because she's a shrine maiden. We met before at the shrine."
Mu Zhishui and Yu Rui nodded. "But if that's the case, why didn't the Miyazaki sisters come? Their combat power should be stronger. At the very least, shouldn't Suziko be there?"
Xia Huanao explained, "The father of the Miyazaki sisters, who went missing from wherever, still hasn't returned, so the shrine can't be left unattended. Therefore, the sisters refused. And Suziko needs to prepare for exams, so she doesn't have time. After several rounds of selection, Gana was chosen. As for this Z-Crystal, it was also borrowed from the Miyazaki sisters."
Xia Huanao wasn't surprised at all that the Miyazaki sisters had a Z-Crystal. After all, during the festival, although it was him who used Sparkly Burst, he couldn't possibly go every year, that would be too absurd. He figured that Xerneas and Tapu Koko must have reached some kind of agreement, which allowed the Miyazaki sisters to obtain a Z-Crystal.
However, judging from how effortlessly the student, Gana Shinjin, was using it in the video, this student must have practiced a lot.
Xia Huanao frowned after watching for a while. "Generally speaking, since Man Ying can obtain Z-Crystals, then other countries' teams can obtain them too..."
As soon as Xia Huanao finished speaking, he shivered all over, as if he had thought of something very unpleasant. After repeated questioning, Xia Huanao finally said, "My test is to battle four Tapu. I don't know how it's judged, but I think you might go insane if you take four Z-Moves at once."
The Ming Long team members involuntarily imagined themselves being hit by four Z-Moves. The collision of Xia Huanao's and Amir Khan's two Z-Moves earlier was already terrifying. If there were two more, would they even survive?
Only Mu Zhishui knew the truth. Four Alolan Guardians' smashing attacks would only leave them with 1/256 of their HP. Unless the numbers had already gone into decimal places below zero, the Pokémon would likely still be able to fight.
Since they couldn't get any Z-Crystals from Xia Huanao, everyone dispersed, their interest waning. Xia Huanao stood up, gave a mysterious smile, and then walked out the door, shaking his head.