A group of people in red National Team uniforms gathered at the village entrance and walked towards the Mushroom House.
The two leading them were Ling Fei and Zhu Yuping, followed closely by a tall, thin man with flame-like hair. This person was none other than Yan Jin, the most popular Fire-type Champion trainer in the current National Team.
Accompanying Yan Jin were two others, one of whom was a tall female competitor named Guan Tong.
Guan Tong, a Champion-level competitor specializing in Dragon-types, was known along with Yan Jin and Zhang Yi as the National Team's Four Protectors—representing the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, respectively.
The other was the last of the Four Protectors, Zhang Yi, a Steel-type Champion.
It was well-known that this generation of the National Team's Four Protectors only had three members, because one of them had retired. Everyone also knew that the person who retired was definitely not because his title was 'White Tiger'.
It was just that this generation's White Tiger was so strong that after his retirement, no one dared to take on that title, so only three of the Four Protectors remained.
Trailing at the very back was Mu Li's old friend, Liu Junyi, whom he had mentioned before. He was laden with backpacks, panting as he followed the group.
"Old Liu, why don't you walk faster?" Zhang Yi teased, "Your physical fitness isn't up to par."
"Get lost!" Liu Junyi showed no extra respect for Zhang Yi being a Champion; instead, they bantered like friends. "Don't rub it in when you've got the upper hand. You just won a rock-paper-scissors game, didn't you? When you lose, I'd like to see what your physical fitness is like."
"Just kidding, bro, I'm Steel-type, understand Steel-type?" Zhang Yi deliberately flexed his bicep. "A man has to be tough."
Liu Junyi retorted, annoyed, "That's your Metagross that's Steel-type, what does that have to do with you? Don't you remember when you sat on Metagross and your butt got burned red by Sister Tong?"
Zhang Yi's face flushed. "Go, go, go, that's ancient history! Why do you keep bringing it up?"
Guan Tong, standing nearby, glanced at the two helplessly. "Can you two please mind your image? You've been bickering all the way here, hardly looking like National Team members."
"Sister Tong, that's not right," Liu Junyi countered. "Although we're noisy, deep down, we're very gentle."
Guan Tong frowned, her eyes narrowed, and her expression immediately turned cold. "Are you implying something?"
Liu Junyi felt a chill run down his spine and immediately said, "Fire-types, Fire-types all have bad tempers. Look at Brother Jin, he completely changes when he battles."
"Old Liu, when did you get so bold? Is it because you're about to see A Li and think he can protect you?" Zhang Yi asked.
"That's right! What kind of relationship do I have with A Li? We grew up wearing the same pair of pants since we were little!" Liu Junyi boasted.
Ling Fei sneered, "You probably haven't seen what happened to Ren Wei and Wu Bing."
"Huh? What happened?" Liu Junyi was stunned. "What happened to them?"
Zhu Yuping couldn't help but laugh. "Nothing much, didn't they come to the Mushroom House last time? They rushed back in the middle of the night and spent a whole day recovering in the training camp."
"How did that happen?" Liu Junyi pressed.
"Oh, they say it was just from sparring with A Li for a bit," Zhu Yuping said calmly.
"What?! A Li is that brutal? How could he be so heavy-handed?" Liu Junyi couldn't help but be surprised.
"Think about it, with A Li's temper, you're his closest friend, so he'll probably be the most ruthless with you," Ling Fei added.
Liu Junyi finally came to his senses. Given Mu Li's temper, he was indeed more ruthless with people he was closer to.
"No way? Director Ling, aren't we here for a vacation?" Liu Junyi asked with a bitter smile, "Why are we talking about sparring?"
Just then, Liu Junyi suddenly felt a familiar aura probing them. This aura had no disguise; it simply probed straight over.
Everyone subconsciously looked towards the source of the aura, just in time to meet the gaze of Ninetales, who was perched on the roof.
Ling Fei couldn't help but laugh. "They even brought Ninetales, so it seems this sparring match is going to happen whether we like it or not."
"What a powerful aura." Yan Jin's eyes narrowed, staring intently at Ninetales. "After a few years, Ninetales's strength has become terrifying. Most Elite Level Pokémon probably wouldn't even have the courage to battle it."
However, Ninetales just glanced at them before going back to basking in the sun, completely ignoring them.
"Haha, Ninetales's temper is still the same as before," Ling Fei said with a chuckle.
Soon, Mu Li and the others came out of the Mushroom House to greet everyone.
Although Ling Fei and the others didn't often appear in the media, they would participate in various variety shows whenever they went out to promote and popularize Pokémon battles. They were quite familiar with He Lin, and as for Huang Xiaochu and the others, since Ling Fei and the rest were coming to the show, they naturally knew about the show's regular cast.
The few of them had a pleasant conversation upon meeting, but when Mu Li appeared, Ling Fei became sarcastic.
"Oh my? Why does this person look so familiar? Why does he look so much like a certain heartless individual?" Ling Fei said, winking, then turned to Zhu Yuping and asked, "Don't you think this kid looks like him?"
Before Zhu Yuping could speak, Mu Li cut in, annoyed, "Alright, that's enough of your sarcasm. You're old enough to stop acting like a child."
With that, Mu Li rushed over and gave Ling Fei a big hug, effectively cutting off whatever Ling Fei was about to say.
Ling Fei's grievances, which had been bubbling up, all vanished. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly, "You, you know, it's been five years, and you still haven't come back to see us old guys."
"Aren't I busy with college? I also have to earn money to support my Pokémon. Where do I have the time to go looking for you?" Mu Li retorted, annoyed.
Ling Fei couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Haha, you're still short on money? I heard you bought two mountains and are living a carefree life."
"Oh, please, that's a desolate place. You wouldn't even want to go there," Mu Li complained. "You don't know how much money I spent to transform those two mountains. All the prize money I won from previous competitions is gone."
The two of them chatted casually and went directly into the house, leaving He Lin and the others looking at each other.
Zhu Yuping, however, laughed. "Let them, the father and son, have a good chat. They haven't seen each other in so many years. Director Ling has missed him so much."
He Lin, however, laughed and said, "A Li and Director Ling are that close?"
Zhu Yuping sighed, "A Li was practically raised by Director Ling. When A Li was little, his parents sent him to train in the Imperial Capital, and from then on, A Li lived with Director Ling until he was 18. They're practically like father and son."
"So there's that relationship," He Lin said with some emotion. "Then when that incident happened back then, Director Ling must have..."
Zhu Yuping sighed again. "Who says he wasn't? Let alone Director Ling, all of us were extremely regretful, but that kid himself was heartless."
With Mu Li as a common ground, everyone quickly started chatting together.
Only Zhang Xiaoyang, Peng Xiaochang, and Zhang Xiaofeng were still wondering.
Meanwhile, on the production team's side, the staff were still confused by this scene.
What exactly was Mu Li's identity, and how was he so familiar with these National Team members?
At this moment, Wang Xiang's expression turned serious. "Don't let me hear about these things anywhere else, especially A Li's identity. Whether you guess it or not, it doesn't matter. It's fine if you know, but don't disclose it to the public. Also, those responsible for editing, be careful, otherwise, you know the consequences."
"How should we explain it to the public?" Director Xi Xi asked.
"To the public, just say that A Li trained with the National Team when he was young, which is why he's very familiar with them," Wang Xiang offered Mu Li's explanation. "Cut out all information that would expose his identity. Try to edit it so that he doesn't seem too familiar with the National Team. Fewer shots are fine."
Xi Xi hadn't quite figured it out yet. He leaned over to Wang Xiang and asked, "Director Wang, what exactly is A Li's identity?"
Wang Xiang said, annoyed, "So familiar with the National Team, still called A Li, and even though he didn't bring his ace Dragonite, you still can't guess his identity?"
"A Li..." Xi Xi seemed to remember something, and his small eyes instantly widened by a factor of two.
Mu Li and Ling Fei chatted in the room for a long time before coming out. It was unclear what the father and son talked about, but Ling Fei came out of the room beaming.
"What's the plan next?" Zhu Yuping asked when he saw Mu Li and Ling Fei come out.
"Since you just arrived today, let's take it easy. We'll go fishing later," Mu Li said. "Director Zhu, do you want to go with the young people, or stay here and chat with us?"
Before Zhu Yuping could answer, He Lin asked curiously, "Oh, A Li, this is a rare occurrence? You actually don't want to go out to sea?"
Mu Li's mouth twitched. "What's so fun about going out to sea? That's for young people. I'm not going."
"It's good you're not going, otherwise, we'd all go hungry tonight," He Lin scoffed.
"Is there a story behind this?" Ling Fei asked curiously.
He Lin was about to explain when Mu Li interrupted him. "Um, let Brother Peng Peng and Brother Chichi go together. It's windy out at sea, and I suddenly feel a bit seasick, so I won't go."
With that, he ran off to call Chichi and a few Champions to go fishing at sea.
Ling Fei still asked, somewhat confused, "What's wrong with him?"
He Lin laughed. "You'd better ask him yourself, or you can watch our show later, and you'll know."
By the sea, Mu Li watched the departing figures of the others with reluctance, feeling a bit sad.
"Should I just give in and have Gardevoir use Psychic to catch a fish?"
Then he shook his head. "No! It's about my dignity as a fishing enthusiast; how can I cheat?"
Mewtwo, who had already Detected everything, sensed the Legendary Pokémon's aura within Mu Li and wondered whether or not to remind him.