Not only was Zhang Ruoyun a bit down, but the other members were also feeling helpless.
They hadn't expected to encounter something like this while playing a battle game.
How to put it, this kind of thing could be big or small.
Especially when two production teams meet, and the participants are all celebrities, when the broadcast airs, there will inevitably be scenes of celebrities from two countries engaging in a PK.
Since there's a PK, there will naturally be a winner and a loser.
Everyone could already imagine the criticism they would face upon returning home if they lost.
Similarly, for the celebrities from South Korea, the pressure on them was only higher, not lower, than on Zhang Ruoyun and his team.
After all, it's South Korea; those who know, know.
Compared to the atmosphere on The Flowers and Youth production team's side, the atmosphere on South Korea's side was particularly good; Mu Li even heard cheers coming from them.
"What's going on with them?" Mu Li asked, a bit puzzled.
Li Chao walked over with a bitter expression: "This is going to be tough."
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Zhang Ruoyun inquired.
Li Chao shook his head with a bitter smile and explained: "No, it's just that among their production team, there happens to be a former professional Pokémon battle player."
"This..." Everyone was speechless for a moment.
"A professional player is participating? What's the point of even fighting now?" Li Xian couldn't help but complain, "Although Ruoyun and my battle skills are decent, that's against ordinary people.
A professional player participating is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Song Ling'er also said, feeling a bit wronged: "My Pikachu hasn't even evolved into Raichu yet..."
Xin Zilei patted Song Ling'er's head to comfort her: "At this point, we can only grit our teeth and go for it.
If the opponent has a professional player, it's not embarrassing even if we lose."
Zhang Ruoyun also encouraged: "Exactly!
Everyone, don't worry!
We just need to go all out, and if we defeat a professional player, then they'll be the ones who lose face."
Li Xian, however, looked around and suddenly asked: "Where did A Li go?"
Fu Peiyao said irritably: "I don't know what he ate, but it seems to have upset his stomach, and he ran to the restroom.
Let's go sign up first."
After everyone had signed up, Mu Li also returned.
"What were you doing?" Fu Peiyao asked in a low voice.
Mu Li shrugged: "I went to scout out the enemy situation."
Fu Peiyao's eyes lit up, and she asked: "How is it? Can we win?"
The next moment, Fu Peiyao felt Mu Li's gaze on her become a bit strange.
"What's wrong? Is there a flower on my face?" Fu Peiyao asked, puzzled.
Mu Li retorted irritably: "Please, you're asking me if I can beat him?
Forget about his mother, his whole family wouldn't be enough, okay?
I feel like you're insulting me."
Fu Peiyao couldn't help but roll her eyes and say: "But haven't you been retired for so many years?
I haven't seen you train normally, what if you get tripped up?"
"Hey, my temper!" Mu Li glanced at the team over there and said irritably, "I'm too lazy to make a move; having you is enough."
"Ah? Me?" Fu Peiyao widened her eyes, "Can I do it?"
Mu Li said irritably: "How long has it been since you've seen your Milotic?"
"My Milotic, what about her?
Don't I see her every day?" Fu Peiyao asked, puzzled.
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes and said: "Haven't you noticed that her strength has increased?"
"Has it?" Fu Peiyao was stunned for a moment, "I don't know; wasn't she always Gym beginner level?"
Mu Li clutched his heart with one hand, looking like he was out of breath.
"Alright, alright!" Fu Peiyao said irritably, "I know it's your credit, really!
Just a tiny bit of credit and you're here asking for praise, hmph."
Mu Li chuckled and explained: "Later, you won't need to give commands; I'll have Gardevoir transmit them, and then... hehehe..."
Cui Shangyin, the former professional player from South Korea, clearly didn't know what kind of person he had provoked; at this moment, he was in his team, enjoying the star-like treatment from his teammates.
"We're set this time; with Senior Cui here, defeating those Chinese celebrities is just a piece of cake, isn't it?"
"That's right, when the show airs, Senior Cui will be a national hero."
"We're just waiting to see Senior Cui's skills."
...
Facing these praises, Cui Shangyin clearly didn't know who he was anymore.
He had been retired for seven or eight years; before that, he was a professional Pokémon battle player in a club in South Korea.
However, he retired early because there were no development prospects.
He never expected to encounter such a good thing after entering the entertainment industry.
"What do some celebrities know about battling?" Cui Shangyin looked down on these celebrities in his heart.
Not just these Chinese celebrities, but their own country's celebrities were also like this.
They knew nothing about Pokémon battles and often acted self-important, thinking they were superior.
He had already felt the other celebrities' exclusion of him during the show's recording.
Aren't they just a bunch of celebrities?
What else can you do besides singing, dancing, and playing basketball?
Cui Shangyin genuinely looked down on these people.
If this were in a Pokémon battle, he alone could defeat all of them.
Unfortunately, private brawling is illegal, otherwise he wouldn't have been so stifled in this show.
But now, his chance to turn things around had arrived.
This Pokémon battle was an opportunity given to him by heaven.
As long as he defeated the Chinese celebrities in this battle, his status in the team would rise significantly; who would still be able to target him?
The production team's original intention was for him to participate alone, but how could he miss such an opportunity to show off?
He not only wanted to defeat the Chinese celebrities on the battleground, but he also wanted to let these domestic celebrities see how formidable he was.
"Since we're participating, let's all participate together, and let the Chinese celebrities witness the style of our country's celebrities."
At Cui Shangyin's suggestion, all the South Korean celebrities also participated.
The battle between the celebrities from the two countries immediately attracted the attention of the people nearby, and more and more people came to watch.
For this kind of temporary Pokémon battle competition, the rules were not very complete.
Generally speaking, if a new person came to sign up, they could challenge.
They would challenge upwards from the current last place; if they won, they would take the opponent's ranking, and if they lost, they would be eliminated.
The entire process would last approximately 2-3 hours; for example, if it ended at 4 PM, then the rankings at 4 PM would be the final rankings.
The battle between the celebrities of the two countries clearly attracted many tourists to watch, and the game's organizers were also happy to see it happen.
So, they simply turned the game into a two-country confrontation.
The opposing side had five celebrities participating, and Mu Li's side also had exactly five people participating (Mu Li didn't sign up).
Each person drew lots to find their opponent for a battle.
In the first round of drawing lots, Song Ling'er had the worst luck, drawing Cui Shangyin in the very first match.