Despite having seen many old companions in the past two months, Mu Li was returning to this place for the first time in five years.
Seeing the familiar entrance gate, Mu Li couldn't help but recall countless days and nights spent toiling here; even now, thinking back, those days were truly arduous.
Every day, besides home and the training base, they basically wouldn't go anywhere else. It was a two-point, one-line existence, either training or on the way to train, year after year.
The entire training base wasn't solely for Pokémon battles; many other sports also used this training base, and the number of people in the entire training base wasn't small, with many enjoying running outside in their free time.
At that time, Mu Li also had this habit; on the one hand, it allowed him to relax, and on the other, it could also strengthen his physical fitness.
However, as Mu Li looked around, there were no familiar faces left.
Looking at the young, vibrant appearances of the crowd, a feeling called nostalgia arose again, and Mu Li couldn't help but chuckle.
Once upon a time, he too was one of them.
Revisiting an old place inevitably brings about such nostalgic feelings, but for him, it wasn't really sadness; at least his memories here were relatively perfect.
These emotions came and went quickly.
The three of them quickly arrived at the training building exclusively for the Pokémon battle program.
As soon as they entered, that familiar feeling arose again.
"How about it, A Li? Do you feel an urge to train?" Ling Yu asked with a smile.
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes: "I'm not a masochist; why would I like to train for no reason? If I can lie down, why would I sit?"
"You've fallen!" Ling Yu exclaimed, "You'll be surpassed by me one day at this rate."
"Heh heh..." Mu Li curled his lips disdainfully, "You? Can you beat Wang Xin now?"
Ling Yu was momentarily choked: "Brother Xin has already advanced to Champion; how could I beat him?"
Mu Li retorted, annoyed: "You can't even beat a Champion, and you still have the nerve to say you'll surpass me? Back when I was Heavenly King Level, how many Champions dared to say they could definitely beat me?"
Ling Yu was speechless; this was truly undeniable.
After so many years, Ling Yu had almost forgotten that the person in front of him was the one who changed the Pokémon battle rules and was also the creator of miracles.
Top-tier genius? That was merely the basic requirement to even qualify for a battle against him.
Upon entering the training hall, the number of people inside gradually increased, and one by one, upon seeing Ling Fei and Ling Yu, they all greeted them.
However, upon seeing Mu Li's unfamiliar face, everyone looked at him with a bit of curiosity.
"Where are Wang Xin and the others? Aren't they here?" Mu Li asked curiously.
"They've all advanced and gone to consolidate their strength; they're training in the Tibetan region," Ling Fei explained. "Yan Jin and the others have gone to prepare the second echelon and won't be back for a while; they'll go directly to France for the All-Star Exhibition Match soon."
Mu Li looked carefully and found that most of the faces in the hall here were relatively young, appearing to be in middle or high school. Among them, Ling Yu's seniority was already quite old.
"You two look around yourselves; I'll go handle A Li's visa first," Ling Fei instructed before leaving.
With nothing else to do, Ling Yu took Mu Li on a nostalgic tour of the old place.
"Brother, do you remember that place? You used to be punished with push-ups there."
"When we were little, we often used to Slack Off over there."
...
The entire hall had been renovated since Mu Li left, but almost every part of it held Mu Li's memories.
Just as Mu Li was feeling a bit emotional, he suddenly heard a voice: "Mu Li? Why are you here?"
Mu Li subconsciously turned to look at the source of the voice, and when he saw clearly who was speaking, he was startled: "Zhang Linlin, why are you here too?"
The person speaking was indeed Zhang Linlin, whom Mu Li had only met yesterday. He hadn't expected them to meet again so soon.
"I asked you first!" Zhang Linlin said, annoyed. "Of course I'm interning here; my graduate supervisor is one of the National Team coaches, so I'm following him to intern."
"Oh? Who's your supervisor?" Mu Li asked curiously.
"Zhu Yuping," Zhang Linlin replied.
"?? Director Zhu is still taking students?" Mu Li's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Zhang Linlin to be Zhu Yuping's student.
"You know Teacher Zhu?" Zhang Linlin's eyes lit up.
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes: "What a thing to say. He's one of the National Team's assistant directors; who here doesn't know him?"
No sooner had he spoken than he heard someone calling Zhang Linlin's name. A girl who looked about the same age as Zhang Linlin walked over.
"Linlin, Teacher Zhu is about to start; we need to go record data."
Zhang Linlin nodded quickly: "Okay, I'll be right there."
With that, she looked at Mu Li, a hint of apology in her eyes.
"Let's go, I'll go with you and say hello to Director Zhu," Mu Li said, then motioned for Ling Yu to follow.
Zhang Linlin's gaze towards Mu Li was clearly different; she had thought Mu Li had only heard of Zhu Yuping's name, but now it seemed Mu Li and Zhu Yuping were actually acquainted.
"How do you know Teacher Zhu?" Zhang Linlin whispered.
"I've known him for many years," Mu Li said, then pointed to the gossiping Ling Yu and added, "See this guy? Director Ling Fei's silly son."
Zhang Linlin naturally knew Ling Fei's name, but she hadn't expected this guy, who looked like Mu Li's follower, to actually be Ling Fei's son.
Counting from her graduation in June, Zhang Linlin had already been interning here for two months and was quite clear about some of the interpersonal relationships within.
She had, of course, heard Ling Yu's name.
Just a few days ago, the news of Ling Yu's promotion to Heavenly King Level High-tier had already spread throughout the entire hall. Many believed that Ling Yu would advance to Champion within a year, and by then, he would only be 20 years old.
A 20-year-old Champion could be said to have boundless prospects.
But for such a person, Zhang Linlin had expected him to be arrogant, which would fit the standard of a young, famous genius. Yet, she hadn't expected him to simply follow behind Mu Li like this.
Anyone who didn't know would think he was Mu Li's little brother.
Mu Li clearly saw the gossipy look in Ling Yu's eyes and explained, annoyed: "What are you thinking? This is my roommate's girlfriend; I only met her yesterday. I didn't expect her to be Director Zhu's student."
"Oh, is that so? How boring," Ling Yu sighed, then greeted Zhang Linlin, thus getting acquainted.
The few of them quickly arrived at a large room in the hall. Upon entering, they saw many people gathered around a monitor, and opposite the monitor was a super-large machine.
Mu Li had been here before; this machine was used to test a Pokémon's agility.
The machine would randomly launch light spheres with extremely small power; the size and speed of the light spheres were not consistent, and the Pokémon needed to dodge these light spheres to be tested and scored.
When the few of them arrived, a Lucario was undergoing testing in the machine.
Everyone's attention was focused on Lucario, and they seemed not to have noticed the arrival of Mu Li and the others.
As the test began, the machine quickly started operating, and various light spheres flew out from the inside of the machine.
Lucario, known for its agility, easily dodged the attacks of these light spheres.
"Not bad; such agility at the Gym Level High-tier," Mu Li praised.
Zhang Linlin looked at Lucario and asked, confused: "How do you know this Lucario is Gym Level High-tier? Can you still sense his aura through the glass?"
"Look at his body coordination," Mu Li explained. "The standard for different Pokémon to enter Heavenly King Level varies. For a close-combat Pokémon like Lucario, the level of limb coordination is the standard for whether he has entered Heavenly King Level."
"Clearly, although this Lucario's body coordination is decent, it's still lacking," Mu Li continued to explain. "When he jumped into the air and changed his movement just now, his body clearly showed a slight stiffness, which is caused by body incoordination."
"If in battle, he would easily be caught off guard by an opponent with good eyesight and taken down in one go."
Mu Li spoke softly; it was hard for those further away to hear him clearly. He was explaining these things to Zhang Linlin.
"See, he won't be able to last much longer." No sooner had Mu Li finished speaking than Lucario was directly hit by a slowly flying light sphere, immediately losing his balance and falling to the ground.
"Lucario's score: 43 seconds," a boy announced the result.
Upon hearing this score, a man in the crowd couldn't help but sigh: "Ah, almost broke the record."
Mu Li smiled and didn't explain: Although it seemed like only one light sphere was missed, it also showed Lucario's strength. Based on Lucario's current strength, Mu Li judged that the opponent could not last more than 45 seconds.
"Zhang Linlin, come record the score." Zhu Yuping looked up, seemingly searching for Zhang Linlin's location, and happened to turn his head, seeing Mu Li and Ling Yu.
Zhu Yuping's eyes showed a hint of surprise: "Why do you have time to come today?"
Under everyone's curious gazes, Mu Li walked to Zhu Yuping's side and said with a smile: "I went to Director Ling's house for a meal, and then came over to take care of some business. And here I am, just ran into an acquaintance."
Mu Li winked at Zhang Linlin, and Zhu Yuping's face also showed surprise: "You know her?"
"I just met her yesterday; she's my buddy's girlfriend," Mu Li explained. "I didn't expect her to be your student. What surprised me even more is that you're even taking students now."
Zhu Yuping couldn't help but laugh: "I had nothing to do, so I took a few graduate students."
Seeing the two chatting and laughing, the young athletes around them were full of questions, but even if they had the courage, they wouldn't dare to go up and talk.
However, if they didn't dare to ask Zhu Yuping, didn't they dare to ask Ling Yu?
Seeing Ling Yu approach, everyone pulled him over and whispered: "Brother Yu, who is that? He doesn't look very old. Is he Director Zhu's relative?"
"What relative? That's my brother," Ling Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Your brother?" The eyes of the surrounding young athletes almost popped out. "Aren't you an only child? Where did you get a brother? Does Director Ling have an illegitimate child outside?"
Ling Yu slapped the back of the speaking boy's head: "Do you want to die? If my dad heard that, you'd be close to death."
Zhu Yuping and Mu Li also seemed to notice the commotion here. Zhu Yuping joked: "This is your senior brother. He used to be with the National Team, but then he got into some trouble and was expelled."
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes at Zhu Yuping: "Do you teach students like that?"
"Expelled?"
Now, not only Zhang Linlin's gaze towards Mu Li was a bit strange, but the other young athletes and Zhu Yuping's other students also looked at him strangely.
Seeing everyone looking like they wanted to ask but didn't dare, Zhu Yuping didn't even pretend anymore and just burst out laughing.
This laugh made everyone even more confused.
"What's the deal with this senior brother? He was actually expelled from the National Team?"
"Even more amazing, he was expelled, yet he can still come to the National Team."
"I suspect Director Zhu is fooling us, but I have no evidence."
...
Everyone turned their gaze to Ling Yu. Besides Zhu Yuping, it seemed only Ling Yu was acquainted with this senior brother.
"Director Zhu isn't lying to you; he was indeed expelled from the National Team," Ling Yu's lips also curled into a mischievous smile.
Seeing Ling Yu say the same thing, everyone was somewhat convinced by Zhu Yuping's words.
"I'm just here to take care of some procedures; once they're done, I'll be leaving."
Seeing Mu Li say so himself, everyone's suspicion diminished a bit more.
"That's not right? How come we've never seen Senior Brother before?" The boy who had just been slapped asked, confused. "We haven't heard of any senior brother getting into trouble recently, have we?"
Before everyone could ask further, Zhu Yuping looked at Mu Li: "How about it? Want to practice?"
Mu Li raised an eyebrow, took out the three Rowlet from his backpack and brought them forward, a slight smile on his lips, and said: "Perfect, these three guys have been recovering for so long, and I haven't checked their physical recovery status yet. Today is a good opportunity to come for a physical examination."
Zhu Yuping's eyes immediately widened: "You mean those three?"
Mu Li shrugged: "That's right!"
Upon hearing Mu Li's words and seeing the three Rowlet in Mu Li's arms, the onlookers began to doubt life itself.
Is it really necessary for three Rowlet to come and test such professional things?