Continuous hits from Drain Kiss, with inadvertent assistance from Hitmonchan, ultimately led to Infernape's defeat. Sacrificing one to take down another was already quite satisfactory from Chu Xiaodie's performance; even if she hadn't taken down the second, it wouldn't have mattered much. However, judging by Chu Xiaodie's expression, she was eager to defeat the second as well.
"Fit of Flowers, use Dazzling Gleam!"
"Hitmonchan, close your eyes!"
Just as Xia Huna instructed everyone to close their eyes to avoid Flash, these people from the Lixing Kingdom also believed that closing their eyes could block Dazzle. But Dazzle and Flash have different mechanisms of action. Flash targets the eyes, but Dazzle does not. It's like human kissing; whether you open your eyes or not, you still kiss, and you definitely feel it.
Dazzle was not blocked, but Hitmonchan's luck seemed to be much better than Infernape's. Hitmonchan shook its head and threw a punch towards Fit of Flowers.
Without the trainer's command, a considerable portion of Hitmonchan's moves could not be recognized. Chu Xiaodie was well aware of this, so she decisively had Fit of Flowers aim at Hitmonchan's fist and deliver a Drain Kiss.
Watching the match on the field, Xia Huna suddenly felt something pat him on the back. Xia Huna looked around and asked Mu Zhishui, "Zhishui, was that you who patted me?"
Mu Zhishui tilted his head, "Huh? I didn't."
Xia Huna understood and stood up, telling everyone, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back. Wu Gongping, you need to be careful. We might have to stall for a bit."
Wu Gongping turned his head and glanced at Xia Huna, "Alright, you go ahead. It's not the first time I've done this kind of thing. I'm experienced."
Despite his words, this match was different from the previous group stages. Every point was extremely crucial. On the Lixing Kingdom's side, Casvidin watched the situation in the field while observing Xia Huna's side. Seeing Xia Huna turn to leave, he immediately urged his team members to speed up their progress and finish quickly to gain a time advantage over Xia Huna.
Pressured by Casvidin, the players on the field also urged Hitmonchan to attack. However, whether a Pokémon could move while Dazzled was a fifty-fifty chance. Hitmonchan had thrown that punch just now, and as a result, the punch couldn't land. But Chu Xiaodie's Fit of Flowers, while partially mitigating the damage with Drain Kiss when that punch came out, was still directly hit.
Fit of Flowers, having just climbed up from the ground, missed the opportunity to counter-attack Hitmonchan. The two contestants regrouped and continued to confront each other in the arena.
At this very moment, outside the arena, Xia Huna reached out to try and grab the tail of a cute Mew. Xia Huna realized it had been quite some time since he had last seen Mew. As he extended his claw, he didn't grab Mew, but instead caught something else.
"So it's you. Long time no see. I was just about to look for you."
Meanwhile, in the arena battle, the result of both sides pressuring each other's health bars was Chu Xiaodie's overall lead. After all, Chu Xiaodie's Fit of Flowers had some recovery ability, while Hitmonchan had absolutely none. Although there was an option for Drain Punch, this particular Hitmonchan didn't have it.
Chu Xiaodie ultimately won the duel. It had to be said that it was a decent match, considering how it played out. Chu Xiaodie and Yu Longdu returned to the spectator stands. Chu Xiaodie waved upwards, "Boss Xia, how was my performance?"
Wu Gongping turned around and saw Xia Huna standing behind him with his arms crossed, "You're back quickly. Where were you just now?"
Xia Huna pointed towards the field, "You go prepare for your match first. It's probably better for your mind and body not to know about this."
Wu Gongping, feeling bewildered, was persuaded by Xia Huna to leave the field. Yu Longdu and Chu Xiaodie sat back in their seats and asked, "Where did you go? You know, because you weren't here, they rushed their attack."
Xia Huna took out a Master Ball from his bag and handed it to Chu Xiaodie, "Xiaodie, hold onto this. You might need it in the next few days. But speaking of which, what's the score now?"
Yu Longdu calculated, "The first game, Wang Zhen won two to zero. The second game, Su Xiaojiu won two to one. This game, we lost one to two. By this calculation, we still have one large lead and two small leads."
Xia Huna casually added the zero to three loss by Miao Longque, and the score was instantly reversed by one small point. His expression became grave. He glanced at Wu Gongping on the stage, "You need to do your best."
Although this was what Xia Huna thought, Wu Gongping wasn't very effective. Not long after his match began, he was cleanly swept by the Lixing Kingdom.
Such a devastating defeat was rarely seen in this World Championship, but Xia Huna and the others didn't find it particularly strange.
Wu Gongping's opponent in the first game was Pheromosa, in the second game it was Kartana, and in the final game he had to face Celesteela. A single trainer brought three Ultra Beasts to cause trouble. While Wu Gongping had skill, the difference in their Pokémon made it difficult to make a comeback.
Xia Huna, sitting outside the arena, sighed, "This is troublesome. We've now fallen behind by one large lead and four small leads. This means we must win all three remaining matches."
Chu Xiaodie, sitting nearby, clearly heard Xia Huna's quiet muttering and asked, "Boss Xia, the match score is not what you said."
Xia Huna knew the difficulty of the situation. He couldn't possibly say that there was a mole on their team, which led to a three-zero defeat, as that would cause problems.
In a moment of quick thinking, Xia Huna came up with an excuse: "Haven't you heard the saying, 'Consider defeat before victory'? This is just an extreme and special thought of mine."
As he spoke, Xia Huna looked up at the sky. The sun had already set in the west, and there wasn't much time left until dark. The final match had not yet begun. The referee panel was also in a dilemma. According to the rules of the Grand Organizing Committee, there were less than twenty minutes left until the scheduled end of the competition. If they didn't play these twenty minutes and postponed the match for two days, it wouldn't be good. If they were determined to play, with Xia Huna's disruptive tendencies, the match would be dragged into tomorrow, which would be even more disadvantageous to the Lixing Kingdom.
The Lixing judge on the referee panel knew that although the Lixing Kingdom also had Z-Crystals, they only had the Grass Z-Crystal that was obtained from Man Ying, or rather, seized. With a sensible lineup, it could only be used once. Although Du He and Miren both had Z-Crystals, they were unyielding and completely uncooperative with the Lixing Kingdom.
On the other hand, Xia Huna's side had already used their Z-Crystals for today. If the match continued until tomorrow, there would be variables. Therefore, for the benefit of the Lixing Kingdom, this Lixing judge leaned towards completing all the matches today.
The judge from the Minglong Kingdom was different. Meng Tianya and the others had not discussed the matter of Miao Longque with him, nor had they informed him about Xia Huna's expenditure of a Z-Crystal. However, based on the principle of "if Lixing agrees, we basically must oppose," this judge still supported waiting until tomorrow to play.
The judges deliberated for a long time but couldn't reach a conclusion. Both Lixing and Minglong had exceptionally talented trainers, and ordinary people couldn't afford to offend them. During the voting process, the judges from Miren and Man Ying respectively supported Minglong Kingdom and Lixing. The other judges also had their own leanings, and no conclusion was reached. Of course, Du He, the "troublemaker," abstaining from voting also contributed to this outcome.
The judges from Minglong Kingdom and Lixing Kingdom were locked in a stalemate. As the minutes ticked by, Casvidin, looking at the sun in the sky, was extremely anxious. After waiting for a while, he picked up the walkie-talkie that Xia Huna had given him and contacted Xia Huna, "Classmate Xia Huna, let's discuss something."
Xia Huna asked with his legs crossed, "What is it? What's the matter?"
"Do you plan to settle things with us today, or do you want to prepare and fight tomorrow?"
Xia Huna knew very well that this was Casvidin's provocation. If he didn't agree now, Casvidin would continue to provoke him until Xia Huna fell for it. If Xia Huna didn't fall for the trap in the end, then tonight, the reputation of Xia Huna's fear of battle would be known to the whole world.
Xia Huna's eyes darted around, and he said, "Do you want me to go down and battle that much? Is there any benefit?"
Casvidin was annoyed upon hearing this. What benefit could there be? If he dared to ask for benefits, wouldn't Xia Huna demand an exorbitant price? With Xia Huna's personality, he wouldn't back down without taking a significant cut.
Xia Huna continued to threaten Casvidin, "It's getting late. I have great faith in the efficiency of our referee panel."
Xia Huna said this, looking with a smile at the referee panel who were arguing fiercely and even starting to get physical. While they had to maintain some decorum in public, some things were far more important than face. Although it was being broadcast live, no foolhardy person would dare to film the referees.
Teacups and cushions flew across the referee seats. These top trainers had ultimately reverted to humanity's most fundamental form of communication. Xia Huna couldn't stand it any longer, so he stood up and picked up the walkie-talkie, speaking to Casvidin, who was still waiting for Xia Huna to stand, "Old Ka, go tell them that you've reached an agreement, and we've decided to continue the competition."
Casvidin, though somewhat puzzled upon hearing this, had achieved his basic objective. He stood up and went to explain the situation to the referee panel. Meanwhile, Meng Tianya also stood up, "Do you have confidence?"
Xia Huna turned to look at Mu Zhishui. Mu Zhishui nodded confidently. Xia Huna smiled, "Yes, let us go and bring back victory."