Everyone looked at the Dragonite in the air and remained silent for a long time.
Then the entire stadium went from extreme quiet to extreme commotion.
"A Li!!!"
"Dragonite!!"
"Alakazam!!"
...
People started frantically calling out Mu Li's name and the names of his Pokémon.
Mu Li didn't know what to say at this point.
Clearly, he was completely unaware of these guys' arrival.
He had originally thought this was just a simple interview, like the countless others he had done, where he would chat for a few minutes and then it would be over.
However, Pokémon never seem to disappoint.
They arrived quietly, as if to tell Mu Li that no matter if he was the Champion or held any other identity, they would always be by his side.
After five years, this was the first time Mu Li had appeared in public with all the members of his first and second teams.
This time, it seemed even grander than the day he retired.
That day, on Weibo, the topic about Mu Li immediately became the top trending search—after five years, A Li's first public appearance since retirement.
The group photo of Mu Li and his two teams of Pokémon instantly spread across the world.
What was more shocking than Mu Li's appearance was his current strength.
The next day, news came from the World Pokémon Battle League.
Mu Li's words had been confirmed by Austan, and the title of World's Number One Pokémon Trainer was officially handed over to Mu Li.
On this day, China completely soared.
This was the first time China had won the honor of being the world's number one, although it was only for individual strength, it was a very good start.
However, the title of World's Number One was not so easy to obtain.
Even before the title was officially handed to him, new challengers had already come knocking.
Fortunately, they didn't know Mu Li's residence yet and could only find the National Team.
In reality, Mu Li had no interest in battling these guys at all.
The guys who came to challenge him now were clearly just trying to ride on his popularity.
Anyway, for them, it was just a challenge; losing wouldn't cost them anything, but if they happened to win, it would be worth boasting about.
Austan was very experienced in this regard.
Austan had held the title of World's Number One for a long time, and many people sought him out for battles, including those who wanted to become famous through him.
Austan's style was: you can come and battle me, but you also need to be prepared to be crushed.
He wasn't like Mu Li, who would never give face to those challengers with ill intentions.
As a Chinese person, Mu Li would usually consider the other party's reputation, even when he battled Austan back then.
"That's why I didn't want to be famous!" Mu Li rubbed his slightly throbbing temples.
He was just at home, thinking he was just doing an interview, but he didn't expect all his plans to be disrupted now.
There were three challengers this time: Harris and Joyce from the United States, and Park Sang-eun from South Korea.
The one from South Korea was clearly here for revenge, while the two from the United States were here to gain popularity.
Mu Li had never fought against these three, but he had heard about them from other sources.
Park Sang-eun was out of the question; although he was South Korea's strongest Champion Level Trainer, his world Champion ranking wasn't even in the top 50, and Mu Li had no interest in challenging him.
As for Harris and Joyce, their strengths were comparable, and their world Champion ranking was around 30th place.
Don't let the big gap between 30th and 1st deceive you; in battles between Champion Level Trainers, this gap isn't that significant.
When these two challenged Austan, they could still win two or three out of ten battles.
When they were in good form, they could even go toe-to-toe with Austan.
This was the true value of being in the world's top 50.
It could be said that once you entered the world's top 50, it was no longer about who was stronger, but about whose form was more stable and whose mentality was better.
However, this time, these three directly proposed a public competition.
This made it impossible for Mu Li to refuse.
Because this represented not only Mu Li's personal honor but also the face of China.
The battle was scheduled for the next day. After a day of status adjustment for both sides, the battleground was set at China's largest stadium—the Ho-Oh Nest.
As for ticket prices, they were naturally free. One hundred thousand tickets were put on the official website and were gone in less than a second.
Immediately after, that night, the ticket prices for the front rows were directly scalped to 100,000 per ticket, and even the last row seats cost 10,000.
Just as everyone was wondering whether to spend money on a ticket, CCTV stepped in, broadcasting the live match and inviting Director Ling and Yan Jin to be the live commentators for the day.
Tickets for the venue were also strictly prohibited from secondary transfer, meaning you either refunded the ticket or went to watch, but you couldn't transfer it to someone else.
The scalpers were completely dumbfounded.
Even before the battle started that day, many police officers had already arrived.
Hundreds of people got into disputes with scalpers on the spot.
At this moment, Mu Li was in the backstage ready room, and Director Ling and Yan Jin were also sitting there.
"It's all your fault, Director Ling, for making me participate in that awful show, which led to me being like this..." Mu Li clearly still held a grudge against Director Ling for tricking him.
"How was I supposed to know this would suddenly explode? I thought with America's usual behavior, they would at least pretend not to acknowledge it, right?" Director Ling was also a bit curious about this matter.
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes: "You're not unaware, that old guy Austan has long wanted to throw in the towel. With such a good opportunity, he'd have to seize it..."
Mu Li had already spoken with Austan on the phone. That old fellow had just given up entirely.
Anyway, if someone comes to challenge me, I'll just say I can't beat you, and even if they win against me, it's useless.
The most annoying thing was that when Mu Li called Austan, that old guy was actually skiing in the Alps, which infuriated Mu Li.
"By the way, how are you planning to fight today?" Director Ling asked curiously, "So many people have come..."
Mu Li couldn't help but roll his eyes: "How can I fight? I'll just make them despair, and then they won't challenge me anymore."
Director Ling chuckled: "Then today's audience will be miserable."
"Hahaha..." Yan Jin also seemed to imagine that scene and chuckled, "Two hours to grab tickets, two hours to commute, five minutes for the battle... I guess the audience will be cursing."
Mu Li couldn't help but grin mischievously: "I'm actually looking forward to that scene."
Meanwhile, in the other waiting room for contestants, there were also three people: naturally, Park Sang-eun, Harris, and Joyce.
Just from where the three were sitting, Park Sang-eun was clearly isolated.
Harris and Joyce didn't even bother to look at him properly.
"You go first, go test A Li's true strength for us. Anyway, you have no hope of winning." Harris said in an almost commanding tone.