“She's asking A Li why he's here?”
After Ren Wei heard that voice, he subconsciously looked at Gardevoir, who was beside A Li.
“Don't panic, it's just me translating Ice Nine Tails's words.”
As that voice appeared again, Ren Wei also confirmed in his heart that the owner of this voice was the Gardevoir in front of him.
A Li, however, did not directly answer Ice Nine Tails's words: “It's been a long time since I last saw you, but seeing you reminds me of my Ninetales. Speaking of which, it's been a long time since you two last saw each other, hasn't it?”
When A Li mentioned Ninetales, Ice Nine Tails's expression immediately changed, and the look on his face became much gentler: “Where is she? Didn't she come with you?”
A Li couldn't help but laugh: “Do you have to be so infatuated? You're one of the few male Ice Nine Tails. Do you really need to be this infatuated with a Ninetales?”
“What do you a human know? You don't know how beautiful she is!” Pink hearts even appeared in Ice Nine Tails's eyes.
A Li couldn't help but shake his head: “I really don't know what charm a fat otaku who only knows how to sunbathe at home every day has. It's been five years, and you still can't forget her.”
“You don't understand, this is called love,” Ice Nine Tails explained. “When are you going to bring her to meet me?”
A Li said exasperatedly: “She won't see you, give up.”
“You haven't even asked her, how do you know the answer?” Ice Nine Tails questioned.
“I'm doing this for your own good. Her current strength is much stronger than the Gardevoir in front of you. If you're not afraid of death, then go confess to her,” A Li explained.
After Ice Nine Tails looked at Gardevoir, he immediately wilted: “I won't give up!”
These conversations all took place in the Psychic space created by Gardevoir, while the others only saw that after the few of them looked at each other, Ice Nine Tails suddenly wilted and lay motionless on the ground.
He Lin couldn't help but ask Wu Bing: “What's wrong with him?”
Wu Bing quietly glared at A Li and sighed: “He just broke up, so he's not in a very good mood.”
He Lin nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
However, with an Ice Nine Tails in the yard, the entire Mushroom House instantly became comfortable. Even the originally dazzling sunlight became much gentler.
A Li couldn't help but sigh: “Having an Ice-type Pokémon is really nice, but unfortunately, we don't have any Ice-types in our family.”
Wu Bing couldn't help but retort: “Your Ghost-types are already gloomy enough; you don't need Ice-types to complement them.”
As he spoke, a small chubby hand suddenly stretched out from Wu Bing's shadow, high-fived Wu Bing, and then immediately disappeared.
A Li couldn't help but retort: “You two haven't seen each other for so many years, but you're quite in sync.”
Wu Bing and Ren Wei came to 《Wonderful Life》 mainly for relaxation and rest. He Lin and Huang Xiaochu also considered this point and did not prepare any overly physically demanding activities, only arranging some simple activities, such as making a small swimming pool for the newly hatched ducklings.
Soon, it was time for sunset and dinner.
Speaking of dinner, A Li couldn't help but complain about the program team's “snobbery.” As soon as these two National Team players arrived, the food at home was obviously much better. Not only did they directly provide a chicken, but they also had the captain next door directly bring a bucket of oysters and a bucket of squid.
Compared to when Liu Xiaoran came before and ate stir-fried cactus and chili with meat, the difference in food was simply incomparable.
Liu Xiaoran expressed his sadness.
Compared to what was happening in the Mushroom House, A Li was recently curious about Fu Peiyao's schedule. This girl seemed particularly busy lately, and even messages took a long time to reply. The two often missed each other's resting times, and message replies were often that one person sent a message, and the other would only reply several hours later.
However, A Li also secretly searched for Fu Peiyao's schedule online. She had recently been recording some music programs. A Li also knew that although the actual recording time for these programs wasn't long, a lot of time needed to be spent privately on arranging music and rehearsing.
For A Li, with his current status, he was not yet qualified to participate in such music programs.
In the past, when A Li watched variety shows, he often complained about why new singers or actors frequently appeared in variety shows unrelated to their profession. Now he understood.
When you don't have much fame or work in an industry, people simply won't invite you to participate in those professional programs.
This was a very realistic situation, and A Li was currently in that exact position, unless he was willing to participate in those talent shows.
The time after dinner was usually for chatting. Wu Bing and Ren Wei chatted with everyone about interesting stories from training and competitions.
Everyone in the Mushroom House listened with great interest, but A Li was lost in memories, those of his past.
He had forgotten when the chat ended and he returned to bed.
A Li didn't know that the sensitive He Lin saw this scene and silently kept it in his heart.
At 2 AM, A Li sat up from bed. To facilitate tonight's action, he specifically requested to sleep in the same room as Wu Bing and Ren Wei.
“Get up.” Ren Wei was woken up from his sleep and clearly hadn't figured out what was happening.
Looking at Ren Wei's confused expression, Wu Bing had to explain to him: “Don't sleep, I'm taking you for special training.”
Ren Wei's eyes immediately widened, and he blurted out: “Special training? Didn't we agree this was a holiday?”
Wu Bing showed a look of disappointment: “Tell me, which is more important, a holiday or performance?”
“Of course, performance is more important.” As a Trainer, Ren Wei was clear about this much.
“Then don't ask, take your Pokémon, and follow me,” Wu Bing said.
Only then did Ren Wei realize that A Li was also up. He was about to ask a question but was directly stopped by Wu Bing, so he had to close his mouth.
Ever since Wu Bing met A Li, Ren Wei felt that Wu Bing had become a bit strange, and it had been like this all day, including the Ice Nine Tails and Gardevoir, and various other things.
He tried to find answers from Wu Bing, but Wu Bing kept silent, only telling him—everything would be answered tonight.
Ren Wei also didn't expect that Wu Bing would wake him up in the middle of the night, saying they were going for some special training.
What kind of special training starts in the middle of the night?
Under Ren Wei's confused gaze, A Li summoned a Pokémon.
Wait, why had he never seen this Pokémon before?
Ren Wei clearly sensed that after the Pokémon, which looked like a purple shell, appeared, a faint mist enveloped everything around them. Then, his body uncontrollably flew up. Afterward, he found another Pokémon beside the three of them—Gardevoir.
“This is Psychic?” Ren Wei couldn't help but exclaim.
Wu Bing couldn't help but roll his eyes and retort: “Why do you look like you've never seen the world? You're making me look bad.”
“No, a Pokémon that can so skillfully control Psychic to make people fly is at least Heavenly King Level,” Ren Wei emphasized.
“Just Heavenly King Level, is it really worth being surprised?” A Li smiled.
Just Heavenly King Level? Ren Wei felt as if this was directed at him.
“Who exactly are you? And what's going on with this Pokémon?” Ren Wei asked again.
“You tell him. He's been asking all day,” A Li said. Every time he had to introduce himself, he would feel a little embarrassed.
Wu Bing's expression became serious. He looked at Ren Wei and said earnestly: “Remember this person in front of you. His name is A Li, and he is also the retired Champion of Pokémon battles—A Li.”
“A Li? Is it that A Li?” Ren Wei instantly recalled the name and blurted out to confirm.
“Otherwise, which A Li would it be?” Wu Bing said exasperatedly, “It's the A Li who retired five years ago.”
Ren Wei immediately froze.
Wait, you're telling me that the legendary Champion from the National Team is this entertainment star who looks two years younger than me?
Seeing Ren Wei stunned, Wu Bing directly retorted: “Don't you have a lot of questions? Now I'm giving you the chance, ask them all.”
Ren Wei held it in for a long time before finally asking: “What kind of Pokémon is that? Why have I never seen it?”
“You held it in for so long just to ask that question?” Wu Bing could no longer bear to look at his successor.
A Li couldn't help but laugh: “Her name is Tapu Fini. She's a Legendary Pokémon. There's probably only one like her in the entire world, so it's normal that you haven't seen her.”
Legendary Pokémon…
Ren Wei naturally knew the meaning of those six words. Creatures that could be listed as Legendary Pokémon were not something ordinary Champions could contend with. Just this point alone was enough to explain the opponent's strength.
“You're so young, why did you retire back then?” Ren Wei asked.
A Li looked at Wu Bing with some curiosity, his eyes full of surprise: “What? The National Team doesn't allow mentioning my glorious history anymore?”
Wu Bing said exasperatedly: “Who would constantly bring up your affairs for no reason? It's fine if the older generation knows, but most of the new generation basically don't know about your affairs.”
“Why? Is there something about me that can't be seen by others?” A Li asked curiously.
“It's not that you can't be seen by others, but that those countries can't be seen by others,” Wu Bing sighed. “For these youngsters, if they knew in advance that those countries were like that, it wouldn't be good for their growth.”
A Li stroked his chin, nodded, and said: “That's true. But since you asked, I'll tell you.”
“The main reason I retired back then was because I was forced to,” A Li sighed, “Those foreigners offered too much; I couldn't refuse.”
“Huh?” Ren Wei was stunned. “What do you mean?”
“Can you speak properly?” Wu Bing rolled his eyes and turned to explain to Ren Wei: “Don't listen to his nonsense. He was forced to retire back then by a joint effort of other countries. To obtain advanced Pokémon technology, our country had no choice but to let him retire.”
“Things like your current Mega Evolution and Z-Moves were all exchanged for his retirement back then.”
Ren Wei's eyes immediately widened: “No way? Those countries paid so much technology just to make him retire?”
Upon hearing this, Wu Bing also felt a headache: “There was no other way. This guy was too strong. The World Pokémon Battle Alliance modified so many rules for him, but they still couldn't restrict him. Then they found out this guy was less than 18 years old at the time. If he hadn't retired, other countries wouldn't have been able to play.”
“For the next 12 years, other countries basically couldn't hope to achieve any results in any Pokémon battle-related events.”
“Holy cow,” Ren Wei couldn't help but exclaim, “Is this guy that strong?”
A Li turned back and smiled slightly: “Whether I'm strong or not, you'll know soon.”
With that, the three people and two Pokémon suddenly stopped in mid-air.
A Li flew to the opposite side of Ren Wei and laughed: “It's been a long time since I've had a battle. Don't disappoint me, junior.”
At the same time, a pure white Pokémon leaped out from the deep sea and floated behind A Li.
“This is your opponent—Lugia, the Sea God.”