In the Star Arena, Dragonite and Charizard were both panting heavily, staring intently at each other.
"Since it has come to this, let's decide the victor with one move!" Austan shouted loudly.
"As you wish," Long Cheng said calmly.
Dragonite, using its last burst of Extreme Speed, charged in front of Charizard. Facing this swift, fatal blow, Charizard didn't hesitate, unleashing its powerful Fire-type move, Fire Blast.
In the explosion of flames, Dragonite was blasted away, while Charizard was also struck by Dragonite's Dragon Claw.
Both collapsed simultaneously, exhausted.
A tie!
When Mikailuo announced this result, the entire audience rose to their feet, applauding thunderously and without end.
Austan and Long Cheng also walked to the center of the stage and shook hands.
"What a boring, win-win ending," Mu Li pouted.
"What? Not satisfied? I thought it was quite exciting," Fu Peiyao asked, puzzled.
Mu Li shrugged, "It was good, but after all, it was an exhibition match, so everyone held back a little. I still prefer matches where they give their all."
After the battle, the opening ceremony officially concluded.
The next day, the entirety of France was in a state of revelry, with parade floats and Trainers and their Pokémon visible everywhere.
The seven of them, including Mu Li, arrived at the venue early in the morning.
Compared to the lively opening ceremony, the number of people who came to the venue today was clearly much smaller.
The event began with the classic 4VS4 battle.
The battling contestants were Heavenly King Level players from various countries, forming teams for a relay match.
Mu Li seemed uninterested in this kind of battle, which was more for entertainment.
Finally, they endured until noon when everyone suddenly received a notification.
The production team had received an interview assignment, and the target of the interview was Long Cheng. They needed to divide into two groups: one group would be responsible for the interview, and for the other group, they needed to send two people to commentate the classic challenge match on the third day with Long Cheng.
Mu Li's mouth twitched, "This big brother is really taking on any job to promote his movie."
Fu Peiyao had already recovered from her excitement: "Uncle Long has a movie to promote recently? How do you know?"
Mu Li shrugged, "He came to me about it a while ago. I promised to take him to the Mushroom House."
Fu Peiyao's eyes lit up as she asked, "Can I go too?"
Mu Li retorted, "I asked you to go before, and you didn't. Now that Uncle Long is going, you want to go?"
Fu Peiyao couldn't help but laugh, "What's wrong? Are you jealous?"
"I'm not jealous at all," Mu Li huffed.
"He's an idol, you know. How many chances do you get to see an idol? You're different; you can see him whenever you want," Fu Peiyao's cheeks were slightly flushed.
Mu Li wasn't truly jealous; he had originally intended to invite Fu Peiyao along; he was just teasing her with this.
Upon hearing this news, the production team members were all excited.
Mu Li also truly felt how immense Long Cheng's charm was.
"What should I do? What should I do? I'm going to see my idol, I'm so excited!" Song Ling'er was already a bit restless.
"Is there really a need to be so nervous?" Mu Li asked, puzzled.
"She didn't even eat lunch for the afternoon meeting," Fu Peiyao explained, "She said something about getting a small belly if she ate and sat down..."
"Then today's interview task is up to you," Mu Li said with a mischievous smile.
"Ah... me?" Song Ling'er's face showed a hint of panic, "I'm afraid I won't even be able to speak then."
The live commentary on the second day was a live broadcast, and everyone finally decided that Mu Li and Fu Peiyao would participate in the live commentary on the third day.
As for the others, they would be responsible for this afternoon's interview.
Mu Li and Fu Peiyao, however, chose not to stay there; they took the opportunity to go and check out the venue.
Unlike the battles in the morning, this afternoon featured a city-wide race.
The race was purely a test of speed; Pokémon could fly but could not exceed a distance of 3 meters from the ground, otherwise, they would be immediately disqualified.
This competition involved randomly selected audience members racing alongside celebrity contestants.
When Mu Li and Fu Peiyao arrived at the venue, the celebrity contestants on stage had just begun drawing lots to select audience members.
Mu Li looked at the people on stage; there were a total of eight contestants, six of whom were from foreign countries, and two Chinese contestants, who happened to be Zhang Yi and Wang Xin, those two guys.
According to the rules, each contestant would select two audience members to participate in the race. The other seven contestants had already drawn lots, leaving only Wang Xin.
Just as Wang Xin was about to draw, Zhang Yi suddenly stopped him.
"Look over there."
Wang Xin looked in Zhang Yi's direction and saw Mu Li and Fu Peiyao walking into the venue.
The two exchanged glances, revealing mischievous smiles.
"Mr. Host, I have a suggestion," Wang Xin suddenly said, "We've already drawn 14 people. Can I designate the remaining two?"
The host was stunned and fell into hesitation.
"I see two people over there who seem to have arrived late. Can we let them participate in our competition?" Wang Xin continued.
The host hesitated for a long time, presumably after receiving a hint from the director, a smile appeared on his face: "Of course you can."
So the lights turned, shining directly on Mu Li and Fu Peiyao.
The two, who had arrived late, were bending down looking for their seats when they suddenly realized that everyone was looking at them.
Five minutes later, the two stood beside Zhang Yi and Wang Xin, looking utterly bewildered.
"What exactly do you two want?" Mu Li looked at the two speechlessly.
Fu Peiyao asked, puzzled, "Do you know them?"
Mu Li nodded, "My defeated opponents."
Fu Peiyao nodded, indicating understanding.
Now it was Zhang Yi and Wang Xin's turn to be speechless.
"We just wanted you two to come up and have some fun. Why are you resorting to personal attacks?" Zhang Yi said, annoyed.
"I'm just stating a fact," Mu Li sneered.
Wang Xin, however, showed a mischievous smile and said, "This must be your sister-in-law, right? Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."
Fu Peiyao was startled, then looked at Mu Li, gesturing with her eyes: How did you introduce me to people?
Mu Li forced an unhappy expression: "How to put it? We're just friends."
If it weren't for his grin stretching to his ears, his words might have been more believable.
Wang Xin nodded at Mu Li and continued, "Sister-in-law, do you have a Pokémon suitable for racing? Do you want us to lend you one?"
Zhang Yi immediately interjected, "Hey, with A Li here, do we even need to step in?"
Mu Li didn't know where he was anymore; this constant 'sister-in-law' was making his heart blossom with joy.
"That's right, isn't it just a speed race? Pei Pei, do you prefer Arcanine or Togekiss? You can pick whatever you want," Mu Li patted his chest, showing a 'leave it to me' expression.
Fu Peiyao rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Don't call me that casually. What if we get photographed?"
Wang Xin and Zhang Yi immediately said, "Understood, we'll just call you that in private."
Fu Peiyao looked at the two helplessly, not knowing what to say.
Fortunately, the host didn't let the awkward situation continue and began to have the audience members who came up introduce themselves.