Xia Hunan eventually floated back to his teammates, "Yo, this girl was kicked out by her coach and now she's joining our team. You can't bully her. Alright, everyone go back and rest. We have matches to study this afternoon."
That afternoon, Xia Hunan and the others arrived at the venue on time and watched the match between the third and fourth seeds from their tent.
Before the match began, Xia Hunan asked, "Which of these two teams do you think will win?"
Li Qiufeng was the first to voice his opinion, "I think Guoda will win. After all, they were in the top eight last time, and their opponent is a team that only made it into the top thirty-two this year. There's still a gap in their actual strength."
Xia Hunan turned to Wei Chiting, "Wei Chiting, what do you think?"
Wei Chiting thought for a moment, "Hmm, I also think Guoda has a higher chance of winning, but their opponent shouldn't be underestimated. I've always wondered how they won. On paper, the gap between them should be quite large."
Xia Hunan watched the two teams bowing on the field, "I'm actually more optimistic about Ming Yi Da, because they are more shameless."
The pace of the match was indeed as Xia Hunan had described. Ming Yi Da eventually won with a score of six to five. It must be said that their team match was a complete victory, meaning Guoda didn't score a single kill point.
Those watching from the sidelines were stunned. Someone asked in confusion, "How could this happen? Ming Long National University lost to Ming Long First Sprite University? This is outrageous, and the team match ended like this?"
Xia Hunan sighed, "They didn't lose on the field, they lost off the field. We'll analyze it when we get back."
That night, everyone from Liu Ling Da sat in the small conference room attached to the villa. Qing Piaopiao was also present. Xia Hunan was at the head of the table, and Tong Ruo sat next to him.
"Alright, let's start the meeting. Before we analyze our opponents, let's look at today's matches. The first match was a three-on-three. Wei Chiting, I have a question for you."
Wei Chiting looked up at Xia Hunan, "Coach Xia, please speak."
"What is the effect of weather-type skills?"
"They can change the weather on the field, thereby creating a battlefield situation that is advantageous to our side."
"And the characteristic?"
Wei Chiting hesitated, "Characteristic? Always success?"
Xia Hunan shook his head, "The characteristic is that the later move wins. A newly used weather-type move will overwrite a previously used weather-type move. Your idea of using Sunny Day was good, but you need to be aware that if the opponent has a pure water team, they are likely to have a Pokémon that knows Rain Dance, or even have it start raining as soon as the Pokémon appears. What will you do then? Will you try to change the weather back and forth with the opponent? What's even more annoying is that if the opponent is a Lotad, they might use Solar Beam."
Wei Chiting nodded, "So I should bring Thunder?"
"Different people have different opinions, but with today's tactical arrangement, you'll have to wait until Gengar to use Thunder. Getting back to the point, you understand my ideas well, but you need to pay attention to Gengar's Protect. Because if the opponent focuses fire on Gengar, you won't have any other offensive points. Shuckle only has Earthquake. This is why I recommended Spiral Ball for Shuckle."
Wei Chiting nodded, "I understand."
Xia Hunan continued his explanation, "Next is one-on-one. I overlooked the Destiny Bond strategy. After all, the only water-type Pokémon that can use Destiny Bond are Qwilfish and Luvdisc. This move often appears on Ghost, Psychic, Poison, and Dark-type Pokémon.
What do you do when you encounter such Pokémon in the future? You can just patiently wear them down. The energy value a Pokémon can use for Destiny Bond is very limited; they can use it at most eight times. Of course, Taunt can also deal with Destiny Bond. If all else fails, you can use Hail, Sandstorm, Poison, or Burn. As long as you don't defeat them, they can't switch out."
Everyone's expression was one of sudden enlightenment. Qing Piaopiao also took notes, planning to tell her classmates when she got back.
Xia Hunan continued, "The first match of the arena battle was a deception. We didn't expect the opponent to have a Grass-type Pokémon. It's normal not to win against such a Pokémon, so we can't blame Lu Bingming. And the best move, Ice Fang, is too difficult to obtain. Chu Xiaodie performed very well, there's nothing more to say. As for Tan Yue, the sacrifice play was very tough for you."
Speaking of Li Qiufeng, Xia Hunan reiterated his previous point, "Li Qiufeng, I'll say it again, you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself."
After discussing the arena battle, Xia Hunan briefly touched on the team match performance, and then it was time for the highlight of today's meeting.
"We mentioned that Ming Long First Sprite University was once a very good university, but it's declined year by year in recent years. From the free match and the arena battle, we can see that the Pokémon levels of their team members are average, and their tactics are nothing special. While it's not impossible they're hiding something, I don't think the possibility is high."
Wei Chiting raised his hand and asked, "Coach Xia, why did you say this afternoon that they won off the field?"
"Do you still remember Ming Yi Da's lineup?"
"Of course, I remember. They were all Poison-type. Is there a problem?"
"What's the characteristic of Poison-type? They are generally immune to poison. So they can unscrupulously use the move Toxic Spikes. Do you remember the first contestant who appeared in the one-on-one match?"
Everyone nodded. They clearly remembered that the Ming Yi Da player had sent out a Koffing. Throughout the match, it only used Smokescreen and Haze, and no other moves. It could be said that they lost inexplicably.
"You mean..."
"Yes, under the cover of Smokescreen, they used Toxic Spikes. This move is already hard to spot, and it doesn't cause poison to the Pokémon currently in battle, so it went unnoticed."
At this point, Xia Hunan looked at Wei Chiting. Wei Chiting understood that he needed to explain next, "So all the subsequent Ming Yi Da players launched a surprise attack at the start, and they all used moves that could poison the opponent. This way, no one would suspect the Toxic Spikes from the first round."
Xia Hunan nodded, "Not only that, did you notice? In the arena battle, the appearance time of Ming Yi Da's players was very specific. They basically appeared within the referee's tolerance limit. Occasionally, one or two exceeded the referee's tolerance limit, but the referee didn't issue a warning, instead allowing the Toxic Spikes to continue to take effect. In other words, the referee was biased towards Ming Yi Da."
Qing Piaopiao asked doubtfully, "Does this prove the referee was biased?"
"Not enough, but did you notice? Before the end of the last match of the arena battle, the Ming Yi Da player used Toxic Spikes again. Although it looked like a mistake, it was premeditated. The evidence is that after the arena battle ended, the referee did not clear the field."
"They didn't? Then someone should have noticed it," Qing Piaopiao asked.
Xia Hunan shook his head, "No one would notice. Because after the match, the TV broadcast would insert commercials, and Guoda's players would be discussing tactics for the next match. And the spectators in the venue were already far away; they could only see the situation on the field through the big screen."
"What about the team of other schools? For example, you noticed it, didn't you?"
Wei Chiting answered on behalf of Xia Hunan, "At most, only we would notice, because only we would care about this match, as it relates to who our next opponent will be. Other teams have to deal with their own matches first. And even if this is the final match of the top thirty-two to top sixteen, no other team would pay attention, because they assume that they will face the stronger Liu Ling Da in the top eight, unless there's an upset!"
Xia Hunan gave Wei Chiting a thumbs-up, "Your analytical skills have improved again. You're right. Coupled with the strong winds and lack of wind this afternoon, they had all the advantages of time, place, and people. The only variable was that Ming Yi Da's basic strength was too poor, and they were defeated five-to-zero in the arena and free matches. Otherwise, they wouldn't have used Toxic Spikes again."
"Using Toxic Spikes twice on the field would directly inflict the Poisoned status on the appearing Pokémon. In addition, the team match had already created a chaotic situation where they attacked fiercely from the start. It's not impossible to avoid being discovered in the Poisoned status, and even if it was discovered, what then? Ming Yi Da's initial surprise attack involved all their members, and with the referee's bias, it would be deemed that Ming Yi Da's surprise attack caused the Poisoned status. The rest is simple; they just need to stall for time. I have to say, this stalling tactic was very successful this time, directly leading to a six-to-zero result."
Qing Piaopiao was very angry upon hearing this, "Such behavior should be reported!"
Li Qiufeng finally spoke, "It's useless. According to the competition rules, teams that are not involved have no right to interfere with the results of other matches. That means, as long as Guoda doesn't think there's a problem, they'll just have to take this loss."
"How can that be... Then we should go find Guoda and ask them to appeal!"
"There's no evidence. My speculation is just speculation. And competition records are too easy to alter. I can even create a record showing the referee cleared the field for you. It's only a matter of time."
Xia Hunan's analysis concluded, and the members of Liu Ling Da fell into a deathly silence. Xia Hunan, on the other hand, was much more relaxed, "Don't worry, we can deal with their tactics. As long as we're careful not to have an accident where the referee disqualifies Yan Chunyu, preventing Yan Chunyu from participating, we'll be fine. Also, on the day of the match, be extremely careful and absolutely do not fall for any Taunt from the opponent, because with the referee's bias, any action that could be suspected of a violation will be magnified infinitely, understand?"
Everyone responded, "Understood."
Xia Hunan waved his hand, "You can all leave now. I still need to brainstorm counter-measures with Wei Chiting. We need to find a way to be completely foolproof."
As he spoke, Xia Hunan looked at Qing Piaopiao, "You can selectively pass on the meeting minutes, don't transmit everything foolishly, it will harm us."
Qing Piaopiao nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not that foolish."