The spinning giant shuriken, imbued with moisture and brilliant light, collided with the Charizard's powerful electricity. Sparks flew in all directions, and a powerful shockwave spread out, accompanied by intense smoke and dust that swept towards Gengar.
Xia Huanao watched Gengar, who had been caught in the shockwave, with a grim expression. Being hit by such a strong impact would cause damage, and the electricity's harm was not something Gengar could easily withstand at its current level.
A dozen seconds later, as the dust that obscured vision gradually dissipated, Charizard and Gengar still stood in the center of the field, gazing at each other. However, both trainers knew that this was a battle of endurance. Whoever fell first would mean losing the match.
A gust of wind blew, and Gengar's body swayed before it fell forward to the ground. Charizard was not in much better condition, collapsing onto the ground simultaneously with Gengar. Both Pokémon had fought their hardest until the very end, then both fell to the ground.
A draw? None of the spectators could accept such a spectacular and intense match ending in this way. Every audience member believed that a thrilling and exciting peak battle like this should have ended with one Pokémon falling, while the other, though heavily wounded, would still stand tall, becoming the ultimate hero, the uncrowned king recognized by all trainers.
But after Xia Huanao recalled Gengar with a Poké Ball, he smiled at the referee and said, "Referee, I think you can announce the result now."
The referee raised his flag: "The battle has ended. Winner: Xia Huanao and the Mu Zhishui combination from Minglong Kingdom."
This result caused an uproar among the spectators, especially the two trainers from Lixing Kingdom, who pointed at Xia Huanao and asked, "Gengar and Charizard both fainted. Why did they win?"
The referee and Xia Huanao simultaneously pointed to a corner of the battle arena. In that corner, a large red and white Poké Ball rested there – it was Magearna, who had been knocked into the corner earlier.
Xia Huanao explained with a smile, "Magearna is still on the field. You didn't think she had lost her battle capabilities, did you? Your focus went astray halfway through, proving that in a double battle, the one who fights to the end isn't necessarily the victor. Sometimes, the one who collapses last and then gets back up is the winner."
The Charizard trainer remained skeptical of this ruling. "No, isn't Magearna transforming into a ball form proof that she lost her battle capabilities?"
Mu Zhishui clapped his hands and called out to his Magearna. Magearna transformed from its ball form back into its upright mode and walked over to Mu Zhishui. Mu Zhishui stroked Magearna's head, "Although in previous matches and training sessions, Magearna would turn into a ball when it lost its battle capabilities, I never said that turning into a ball form meant it had lost its battle capabilities. This is a skill I spent a lot of time training!"
Xia Huanao looked at Kasvidin with a complex expression. "How should I put it? Lixing Kingdom's ability to acquire information is indeed excellent, practically unparalleled. However, their ability to analyze information seems to be lacking a bit. Kasvidin, you probably didn't know about this, did you? If you had known, you wouldn't have failed to warn them."
This explanation couldn't convince their opponents. Kasvidin remained silent, but his teammates raised a second question. "No, when only I and Xia Huanao were left, I clearly saw Mu Zhishui trying to recall Magearna into a Poké Ball! If she hadn't lost her battle capabilities, why would he try to recall her?"
Xia Huanao nodded indifferently. "Yes, that's right. This was also my arrangement. Zhishui, show them again."
Mu Zhishui didn't waste words. He took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and repeatedly pressed the button in the middle of the Poké Ball towards Magearna. However, no matter where the light from the Poké Ball hit Magearna, she stood there calmly, showing no intention of returning to the ball.
"Although it's true that if a Pokémon's will is strong enough, it might not be recalled into a Poké Ball, this situation doesn't happen when they've lost their battle capabilities. Moreover, Magearna's ball form doesn't have the ability to resist Poké Ball recall. This was all a setup."
As he spoke, Xia Huanao also took out an identical Poké Ball from his pocket. "This is just a toy. Never mind red ones; I have blue, green, purple, and orange ones too."
Xia Huanao meticulously analyzed the details of Mu Zhishui's actions during the battle. From the moment Magearna was turned into a ball, this spectacular performance began.
By using the misinformation from previous battles and training sessions, they fabricated a false scene where Magearna had lost her battle capabilities. To ensure this performance wouldn't be exposed, Xia Huanao directly drew everyone's attention to himself, engaging in a one-on-two offensive with Charizard. Such an offensive would always be more eye-catching than Magearna, who had "lost her battle capabilities." As expected, all eyes were on Gengar and Charizard, and few people continued to pay attention to Magearna, who was also a protagonist.
To prevent anyone, including Kasvidin, from noticing any flaws, Mu Zhishui carefully observed the movements of the Lixing Kingdom team and occasionally used his toy Poké Ball to create the illusion for the opponents that Magearna was "unable to be recalled despite having lost her battle capabilities." Speaking of this, it's worth mentioning the rule Xia Huanao exploited: even if a Pokémon is in a battle-ready state, if the trainer recalls it, it is considered to have lost its battle capabilities.
However, this is a rule about outcomes, not actions. That is to say, only when a Pokémon is recalled into a Poké Ball or leaves the battle arena under the trainer's command is it considered to have lost its battle capabilities. A trainer merely having the desire to recall a Pokémon does not mean it has lost its battle capabilities. The tournament committee established this rule primarily to encourage trainers to pay more attention to the Pokémon's will. They never expected Xia Huanao to exploit it by using a toy to create the false impression of losing battle capabilities but being unable to be recalled.
Returning to this match, Mu Zhishui truly had eyes everywhere and a mind that could see through everything. He watched the opponent's movements, observed their observations, was constantly ready to command Magearna, and also helped Xia Huanao make judgments.
Despite this seemingly omniscient performance, it was completely overshadowed by Xia Huanao's brilliance. This was unavoidable; the tactical arrangement for the final match was such that once the show began, Xia Huanao had to single-handedly draw the attention of both opponents and try his best to defeat their two Pokémon.
This was a battle where two trainers had absolute trust in their teammate. Xia Huanao trusted Mu Zhishui to play his part well and achieve the potential ultimate comeback. Mu Zhishui also trusted Xia Huanao to cover for him and make a spectacular appearance.
As he explained, Xia Huanao turned and glanced at the referee. "To be honest, I must praise the referee here. He was able to discern at a glance that Magearna had not lost her battle capabilities. However, I must say that when we formulated this plan, we had absolute faith in our referee."
Although the referee was in a neutral position, he was pleased to hear Xia Huanao praise him. As for seeing at a glance that Magearna had not lost her battle capabilities, this was difficult. He had come to this conclusion entirely by trusting Xia Huanao's flair for the dramatic.
The conclusion of this match was clearly unacceptable to the people of Lixing Kingdom. Soon, they found another reason. "We can overlook Magearna's acting, but Xia Huanao using two Z-Moves in one day is a fact! This definitely involved some special means, which might be a violation. Even if it's not a violation, we need to find a way to expose this method to the world."
In response to Lixing Kingdom's accusation, Xia Huanao removed the shuriken from the bracelet on his wrist, tossed it in his hand, and played with it. "You're talking about this? This is just our special application of the Flying-Water Shuriken with Gengar. We consumed all of Gengar's energy used for the Flying-Water Shuriken to create a tremendously powerful shuriken. It's not a Z-Move. If you don't believe me, I'll give you this small shuriken. You can take it for inspection. Its energy composition is completely different from a Z-Crystal."
After saying that, Xia Huanao casually flicked his hand, sending the pirated Z-Crystal flying towards the Lixing Kingdom side. Kasvidin reached out and caught the counterfeit Z-Crystal Xia Huanao had thrown. "This round, you win."
Kasvidin's unconcealed, gritted teeth filled with hatred was understandable. Xia Huanao could understand Kasvidin's current feelings. Let's recalculate the scores:
First round: Two to zero
Second round: Two to one
Third round: One to two
Fourth round: Postponed
Fifth round: Zero to three
Sixth round: Five to zero
Even if the next match resulted in a zero to three loss for Miaolongque, the overall score would be three to three, with a sub-score of ten to nine. The match had already concluded here.
In the stands, the people of Minglong Kingdom, who had already calculated the scores, were excitedly embracing each other. On the battlefield, Xia Huanao, after a calm high-five with Mu Zhishui, decided to twist the knife.
Xia Huanao walked over to the referee and asked, "Referee, when will the official postponement arrangement for this afternoon's match be?"
The referee answered routinely, "Tomorrow. However, this match no longer affects the outcome."
Xia Huanao surveyed the entire audience. "This is a competition that trainers worldwide are watching. How can we fail their expectations and passion?"
As he spoke, Xia Huanao left the battle arena, a playful smile on his face as he looked at Kasvidin.