Feng Bing's uncle versus Mu Zhishui was a match that made Xia Huna more worried. However, the outcome proved that while talent can be found anywhere, economic strength and technology can sometimes easily overpower unconventional methods. Although Mu Zhishui was suppressed for a period, he eventually secured the victory.
Xia Huna nodded, "Hmm, this victory, how to put it?"
"As expected, but the reversal was indeed a bit fast."
"Yeah, truly, the reversal was a bit too fast."
The two lowered their binoculars. "How should I say it, it would be best if this person could make it into the top four."
"Indeed, he has the skill and is reliable. However, so far, he has only brought out one Glacial Dragon. It's unknown if he has other tactical reserves."
While chatting, the two watched the matches. After the second day of competition concluded, the qualification situations for each group became increasingly clear.
In Xia Huna's group, he and the trainer named Miao Longque occupied the top two spots. If nothing unexpected happened, they should have stably advanced to the next round. In other groups, excellent trainers also ranked at the forefront.
However, Xia Huna's situation was destined not to be a quiet one. The main reason was that this kid was manipulating points. After calculating that he could confirm his qualification, he decided to intentionally lose. The goal was to enter the next round as the second seed through his deliberate losses.
Upon hearing this idea, Yu Longdu looked at Xia Huna and smacked his lips, "You're really something, daring to throw a match in such an important competition. Aren't you afraid of an accident preventing you from advancing?"
Xia Huna shook his head, "It won't come to that. Even if I lose all my remaining matches and they all count as wins for my opponents, my current wins are enough for me to qualify. The time ahead is for good rest and preparation for the final stages. As for you, you've had a great few days winning, haven't you? How much of your preparation or trump cards have you revealed?"
"Ah? How to say it, it's okay. I still have some things prepared."
"That's good. I'll go back to rest first. You should go spend time with your girlfriend too."
Having decided to lose, or rather slack off, Xia Huna did not go to the arena the next day. He got out of bed at 9:30 in the morning. Shen Yu, who shared the same room with him, had already gone to the arena.
Xia Huna got up and packed his bag. "Let's go, Gugu, Dianxi. We're going to get some new Pokémon to use and let them see my new technology."
Xia Huna, along with his Pokémon, went to a Grass-type secret realm near Linglong City. His current Pokémon lacked output against Water-type opponents. After careful consideration, Xia Huna decided to use Breloom for his upcoming tactical adjustments.
Breloom, being Grass and Fighting type, had two STAB moves that could cover Xia Huna's current lack of offensive matchups against Normal, Steel, and Water types. He could even occasionally use Iron Tail to cover the much-needed Fairy type offensive matchups. Moreover, Breloom's base stats were very much to Xia Huna's liking, with a base Attack of 130. This strong physical attacker, the mushroom, could also prevent Xia Huna from facing opponents with sky-high Special Defense like Shuckle and Florges.
Xia Huna was extremely satisfied with this choice. With this, the only type he wouldn't have a strong counter for was Electric-type Pokémon. However, for Electric-type Pokémon, as everyone knew, Xia Huna would not go out of his way to catch a Ground-type Pokémon just for Electric-type offensive power.
To get back to the point, when Xia Huna arrived at the Secret Realm Management Center, he looked at the empty secret realm entrance before him. "Everyone is paying attention to the tournament. But it's not like there shouldn't be a single person here."
After a moment's thought, Xia Huna called out, "Hello, is anyone here?"
A man with messy hair stood up from the front desk. "Something you need?"
Xia Huna scratched his head. "I need to register to enter the secret realm."
The man's eyes lit up. "Finally, someone has come to say they want to enter the secret realm."
Xia Huna smiled. "No, why do you look like this? If the league knew, wouldn't they fire you?"
The man opened the computer. "Fire me? Didn't you see that I'm the only one left in the entire Secret Realm Management Center? Everyone's watching the competition. What does the Pokémon Tournament have to do with them? As for the trainers, those participating are busy researching their opponents, and those not participating are practically living at the venue. Since the tournament started, I haven't seen a living soul for a month."
The man rambled on. Xia Huna, with a wry smile, handed him his trainer's license. The man took it and finished the registration in a jiffy. "Alright, you can go in."
After Xia Huna entered the Grass-type secret realm, the man belatedly realized, "Holy crap, was that Xia Huna just now? I remember he was supposed to be competing too, and he has a match this afternoon... and they even placed bets..."
Xia Huna would never know that his actions had caused over a dozen gamblers to lose their shirts and climb the rooftops. He was currently galloping freely across the former grassland.
"To be honest, do Breloom live on grasslands? Don't they usually live in forests?"
The system explained to him, "No, occasionally they wander in grasslands. Don't believe me? Look at kangaroos, don't they also live in grasslands?"
Just as he said that, Xia Huna saw a Breloom excitedly chasing a Tangela on the grassland. The Tangela's short legs couldn't outrun the Breloom, and it was soon caught. Watching the Breloom fighting the Tangela, Xia Huna shook his head. "Too pathetic. That's a Tangela, not a Tentacruel. Its attack speed can't keep up with your speed."
After a few laps, Tangela found an opportunity, turned around, and ran again. However, Breloom glanced at its fist and did not pursue, as if such an opponent held no amusement for it.
Xia Huna nodded. "That's great. System, check this Breloom's stats. I'll see if I want to catch it."
But as the saying goes, one cannot hide on the grassland. After letting Tangela go, Breloom turned around and saw Xia Huna standing there. It hopped over and landed a punch on Xia Huna's head.
Xia Huna felt a gust of wind and stepped back. He threw out a Shedinja in front of himself. Shedinja was still bewildered when it took a hit to the head.
Shedinja turned to Xia Huna. "Boss, what's going on? I was fine in the Poké Ball, not causing trouble. Why did you release me to get beaten up?"
Xia Huna waved his hand. "Shedinja, just float around and spar with Breloom. I'll give you some Three-Bee Honey later as a bonus."
Shedinja's spirits lifted a bit. It withstood Breloom's relentless assault head-on. The Wonder Guard ability was truly remarkable. Over an hour passed, and Xia Huna had already finished analyzing Breloom's attributes and even considered its moveset, while Breloom was still attacking. Breloom was bewildered, "What the heck is this? I can't even beat it!"
Xia Huna stretched his body. "Shedinja, stop playing. I want to catch him."
Shedinja was still lazily watching Breloom in mid-air. Breloom, being quick-witted, heard Xia Huna wanting to catch him and immediately abandoned Shedinja, coming over to Xia Huna's side. "You're the one who wants to catch me? Is Shedinja also your Pokémon?"
Xia Huna nodded. "Yes, it is. What's wrong?"
Breloom's reaction was beyond Xia Huna's expectation. "Deal. Let's go. As long as you let Shedinja practice its punches with me, I'll go with you."
How infuriating. Without even fighting, a punching bag was used to catch Breloom. This story would be unbelievable if told. However, while Breloom and Xia Huna were willing, Shedinja was not. It had been slacking off perfectly fine, and with this happening, how could it continue slacking? Thus, Shedinja stepped forward and, as the third child in Xia Huna's household, absolutely refused to let Breloom enter the house.
Seeing Shedinja voluntarily step up, Xia Huna was even happier. "Excellent. Breloom, I'm officially taking you in. You can motivate Shedinja, so you're a very powerful Pokémon."
Shedinja: I've sold myself out again...
Although Breloom had joined Xia Huna's household, Xia Huna still wanted to test this Breloom's combat strength. You couldn't tell much by having it fight Shedinja.
Therefore, Xia Huna sent out Gugu, Dianxi, and Rockruff to test Breloom's combat ability. It had to be said that Breloom's type configuration was not under much pressure when facing these three Pokémon. Water resistance, Dark resistance, Rock resistance. Only Ice and Fairy types were super effective.
The four Pokémon scuffled together. Gugu's Ice Beam immediately repelled Breloom, while Dianxi's Dazzling Gleam also made Breloom uncomfortable. So, Breloom could only engage in a head-on brawl with Rockruff. Although Rockruff had a type disadvantage, it had seen Shedinja first after coming out. After inquiring about what had happened and learning that Shedinja had sold itself out for Three-Bee Honey, Rockruff became energized. Since Shedinja could get honey, wouldn't it deserve a bonus meal if it defeated this Breloom?
Rockruff, getting more and more excited, clashed with Breloom. However, due to the type disadvantage and lower level, it was eventually defeated. Gugu and Dianxi avenged it.
Breloom thus joined Xia Huna's family. Gugu was happy to have a powerful partner join, and Dianxi also welcomed Breloom. Rockruff, for its excellent performance, received a promise of extra food from Xia Huna and was happily frolicking. Only Shedinja felt that the world was full of malice.
Well, another world where only Shedinja got hurt is completed. Congratulations, congratulations...