For Xia Hunao, this afternoon could be considered a happy ending, but perhaps not for others. Take the group of Elf Secret Realm staff now surrounding Xia Hunao.
Xia Hunao was too lazy to even lift his eyelids to look at them, but these people insisted on overstepping their bounds, positioning themselves as Xia Hunao's fans and hoping he would offer an explanation to their "wounded hearts."
Wounded hearts? That preposterous claim wouldn't fool a child. Let alone the fact that Xia Hunao already knew the truth from others, even if he didn't, their righteous indignation and furious demeanor, looking as if they were about to storm the Alliance headquarters, told him they were far from innocent.
Xia Hunao said to the Breloom beside him, "Breloom, do you know how to fight?"
Breloom was first stunned, then nodded. Fighting, who didn't know how? Unexpectedly, Xia Hunao shook his head and said, "No, what you do isn't fighting, it's combat. Like Gallade's Tai Chi, it's not fighting, it's martial arts. Although these are for self-defense, their essence is different."
Breloom seemed enlightened, looking at Xia Hunao, wanting him to teach what fighting was. Xia Hunao held out his right hand. "Let me tell you, fighting is the conflict in this world that requires the most skill and has the least integrity and lowest bottom line."
As he spoke, Xia Hunao took Breloom's hand and pointed at someone. "See, like this person without glasses, the best way is to poke their eyes."
Xia Hunao demonstrated the move while teaching, but Breloom looked down at his own hands, then blinked at Xia Hunao. Xia Hunao also looked down at Breloom's arms. Although these two arms could extend and retract freely to strike a target, the awkward reality was that these hands could only punch, incapable of the action of poking eyes.
Xia Hunao shook his head. "It's okay, if you can't poke the eyes, it doesn't matter. We have other techniques. When facing so many men, we can use our feet to kick their vital spots between their legs. This spot can secure victory in one blow."
After finishing, Xia Hunao demonstrated again, delivering a quick kick that startled the surrounding crowd, making them cover themselves and retreat a few steps. But when Xia Hunao and Breloom looked at Breloom's legs together, another awkward situation arose. Breloom, standing at only 1.23 meters, had no means to extend his legs to kick. His short legs wouldn't even trip a Pokémon. Although long-term survival and evolution had provided this species with the ability to extend their arms, their legs hadn't been so fortunate.
Sensing his innate limitations, Breloom extended his hand, gesturing as if asking Xia Hunao if he could use his hands to achieve this tactical objective. Xia Hunao thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it, you don't need to learn this move."
But if he wasn't going to learn this move, he had to teach him something else, right? Xia Hunao looked him up and down, finally settling on Breloom's tail. "Breloom, I'll teach you another move. This one humans can't do."
Having said that, Xia Hunao lifted his shirt and pointed to his waist. "See, below this spot, there's an organ called the kidney. You can directly sweep here with your tail, which is also a very effective method."
The faces of the surrounding crowd grew increasingly grim. Who taught you this? These are all techniques for annihilation! You know these techniques are despicable! But Xia Hunao remained oblivious. "Generally speaking, humans have two kidneys, so after hitting the left side, you can hit the right side again."
The crowd: ...
Actually, while Xia Hunao was lecturing and talking eloquently, everyone could have simply swarmed him and taught him a lesson. But they were in a state of superposition, caught between wanting to act and fearing the consequences. What that meant was, they really wanted to beat up Xia Hunao, but if a fight broke out, with Xia Hunao's temperament, he would absolutely wreck the building. Although it wouldn't need to be rebuilt, renovations would be unavoidable.
Moreover, even if they won, what would happen then? If they really beat up Xia Hunao, and he feigned injury, the trouble would be even greater. With Xia Hunao's current influence, a little cry to Malanqi...
So, no matter what, if a conflict erupted, this place would be turned upside down, and who knew what would happen. Therefore, Xia Hunao was truly fearless. After finishing his lesson for Breloom, he swaggered away with him. Before leaving, he turned back to taunt them, "Lost a lot? You can keep betting on me, but I won't be responsible for the outcome."
This provocation made them grind their teeth in anger yet feel helpless. After much deliberation, this group decided to find a way to deal with him through Malanqi.
Their justification for complaining about Xia Hunao was that he had unfairly forfeited the competition, disrupted the order of the Grand Prix, and affected the authority of the Elf Alliance. Malanqi hadn't expected such a matter to reach him. After appeasing the complainant, he asked Meng Tianya to call Xia Hunao, put it on speakerphone, as he wanted to hear Xia Hunao's explanation.
Xia Hunao was on his way back to the hotel when he received the call from Malanqi's office. He was first taken aback, then answered, "Chairman Ma, what are your orders?"
Malanqi glanced at Meng Tianya, who then spoke, "Little Xia, it's me, Meng Tianya."
"You, you're calling. It's not fun. I don't really want to answer your calls. When you call me, you usually don't bring me benefits, only trouble."
Meng Tianya, seeing Malanqi's amused expression, said, "Stop joking. Do you know, there are people here..."
Xia Hunao interrupted before he could finish, "I know. Isn't it just a bunch of gamblers who lost too badly, making up an excuse to come to you saying they want to deal with me? Is this matter difficult to resolve?"
Meng Tianya looked at Malanqi, hoping for a direction from the big boss, but Malanqi said nothing, instead instructing Meng Tianya to continue communicating with Xia Hunao.
"What do you want to do?"
Xia Hunao thought for a moment. "The rules of this competition do not stipulate that a contestant must participate in all matches. Furthermore, my actions were part of a later tactical arrangement. Don't tell me you don't understand something that even Yu Longdu knows."
Meng Tianya sighed. "Of course, I know about that. But what's your tactic? Is it to hide the new Pokémon you obtained from the Secret Realm? Do you think you can hide it?"
"Of course, I can't hide it. I have absolute confidence that the Alliance will block their offensive for me. This way, they will definitely reveal that I've captured a new Pokémon as retaliation, and then my tactic can unfold."
Meng Tianya looked at Chairman Malanqi with a troubled expression. Malanqi then spoke, "Xia kid, it's me."
Xia Hunao's tone also became serious upon hearing this voice. "Chairman Malanqi, good afternoon. I didn't expect this matter to reach you. What are your instructions?"
"You kid, you're always causing trouble for me. Explain carefully what happened this afternoon."
As Xia Hunao explained, Meng Tianya watched Chairman Malanqi's expression change visibly. Xia Hunao, completely unconcerned with Malanqi's emotional state, hung up the phone immediately after finishing his story, citing an excuse of needing to give his Pokémon special training, leaving all the ensuing storm for Meng Tianya.
After hanging up, Xia Hunao opened his laptop. "Come, let me see if they've sold my information."
Although not many people in Minglong Country could recognize Xia Hunao at a glance, his popularity was very high. His absence from a round of competition to catch Breloom had already become a trending topic. Xia Hunao glanced at the number of comments. "Well, if that's the case, it means the people I wanted to see it have seen it. Since that's the case, I should do something."
Saying this, Xia Hunao took Breloom to the hotel's practice field and posted a video online of him teaching Breloom fighting techniques. In the video, Xia Hunao held a Nest Ball and addressed the viewers. "As everyone knows, Nest Balls are Poké Balls that are easier to catch weaker Pokémon with. However, since Breloom willingly came with me, I still succeeded in having Breloom move into a Nest Ball."
His words implied a declaration to the world that his Breloom was very strong. Not only that, Xia Hunao also showed off Breloom's abilities. Breloom knocked Gallade into a poisoned state with a single punch. Xia Hunao patted Breloom. "See? My Breloom is not only super strong, but also incredibly lucky."
As soon as Xia Hunao's video was released, it gained traction, with netizens flooding the comments section, including many expressions of concern for Xia Hunao.
"Boss Xia, although you've successfully entered the finals, is it okay to expose your Pokémon's strength like this?"
Xia Hunao replied, "It's fine. The fact that I dare to show it means I'm confident I can win with it. But thank you for your concern. Private message me later, and I'll send you a gift."
Some people were dismissive of Xia Hunao's actions. "It's just a Breloom, watch me sweep it with my Flying-type Pokémon!"
Xia Hunao smiled as he read the netizens' discussions. "Discuss, discuss. Let me see what methods you have to deal with my Breloom, and let me also learn from foreign methods to counter them."
While Xia Hunao was studying the netizens' experiences, Yu Longdu and Shen Yu knocked and entered.