Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof

-----------------

After finishing the theoretical class, it was already around 5 PM.

The Youth Training Camp didn't have evening self-study sessions, but it did have mandatory night training—not for Pokémon, but for the trainers themselves.

The training lasted one hour, from 7 to 8 PM.

However, Li Xiang's personal night training usually ran from 6:30 to 8:30, which caused a slight conflict.

But it wasn't a big deal. The camp had specialized facilities for Pokémon training, equipped with many interesting instruments—and best of all, they were free to use. He planned to give them a try.

He could just leave Incineroar and the others there temporarily. As long as they wore their ID tags, nothing would go wrong.

Letting Pokémon train independently while the trainer handled other matters was a common practice. Pokémon weren't like cats or dogs from his past life—they were highly intelligent beings with human-like comprehension.

"Finally, it's over. I really want to take a shower."

Lin Feng, sitting in front of him, muttered under his breath.

Li Xiang also relaxed slightly.

Unfortunately, just as they thought it was time to rest, eat, or return to their dorm, the instructor reappeared, holding a stack of cards and ordering them to stay in the classroom.

"Our rule here is that before lunch and dinner, you must battle. Winners eat first; losers eat second. Of course, for now, your opponents will be selected from students in other classes."

Zhong Qizhi smiled. "When I call your name, come up and get your ID card. This card will record all your official battles in the camp. You'll need it to claim any privileges, and—most importantly—your daily matches will be factored into your final evaluation."

This last statement instantly wiped away any indifference some students had about eating in batches.

"Oh, and the first batch gets a surprise—or so the camp leader says. What that surprise is, you'll have to find out yourselves."

Zhong Qizhi added cryptically.

Li Xiang couldn't help but glance at the walking encyclopedia, Song Jie, who gave him a knowing look.

—High-grade nutritionist-prepared Pokémon food, huh?

Li Xiang rubbed his chin. That had to be it. Once the crowd thinned out, they'd probably switch to top-tier meals.

Just thinking about it made him eager.

Back when he'd freeloaded at Song Jie's place a few times, Incineroar and the others had raved about the food. Li Zhenhan had even splurged on custom meals afterward.

The rapid level-ups his team had experienced before the new year were undoubtedly tied to those meals.

But, as always, the problem was the cost.

Whether it was specialized diets, therapy, massages, or grooming—providing the best for Pokémon required money to flow like water into someone else's pockets.

Pokémon Breeders made a fortune and enjoyed high social status, but most were limited to support roles, lacking combat strength.

Li Xiang couldn't juggle everything. He already had enough on his plate. At best, he could cram some Pokémon breeding knowledge in his spare time.

Becoming a high-level Breeder anytime soon? Probably not happening.

Soon, everyone received their ID cards. The projector flickered to life, displaying each student's name, their assigned opponent, and the battle arena number.

"If you know your opponent, you may head out now. If you don't arrive at the arena within 30 minutes, it will be counted as a forfeit, and the system will automatically record a loss."

The moment Zhong Qizhi finished speaking, nearly half the class stood and filed out.

There was no hesitation.

Li Xiang was among them. His opponent was someone he didn't recognize—not one of the ten red-marked students, nor anyone he'd seen in the group chat.

As he scrolled through the Group chat, he couldn't help but marvel at how much nonsense people could spew in such a short time.

Several students had already run into their assigned opponents and were now begging for mercy in the chat.

But in this situation, even calling someone Daddy wouldn't help.

The only thing that mattered was strength.

....

D32 Arena

The arena was enclosed by green wire fencing, with low-lying Podocarpus hedges planted outside.

Rumor had it these shrubs could absorb the haze produced by Pokémon moves.

Whether that was true or not, Li Xiang didn't know—but they did look nice.

No matter how many times he saw this world's landscaping, he couldn't help but admire it.

The camp had a wide variety of arena sizes:

40 meters (Small - D-Class)

70 meters (Medium - C-Class)

100 meters (Large - B-Class)

150 meters (Extra Large - A-Class)

Right now, everyone seemed to be battling in D-Class arenas. He wondered when they'd move up to the larger ones.

And outside the camp… there was supposedly an enormous wilderness arena. Whether it was S-Class or not, Li Xiang had no idea.

He gazed at the distant, silent mountains, curious about what that arena was used for.

Were they going to have team battles or survival matches out there?

Who knew.

Shaking off his thoughts, he focused on his opponent.

This guy was from No. 3 Middle School—Li Xiang couldn't remember his name—but his strength wasn't anything special.

His Pokémon were probably around Level 30.

Outside the arena, the referee announced the rules:

"Single Battle, one-on-one. One round decides the winner."

Quick and efficient. With luck, the match wouldn't take long.

Li Xiang reached into his pocket, hesitated for a moment, then selected the Pokémon he wanted to send out.

His opponent did the same.

Both revealed their Poké Balls to the referee's scrutiny.

In a Single Battle, once the choice was made, it couldn't be changed. Switching PokéBalls at the last second would count as a foul.

The referee raised his whistle and blew sharply.

"BEGIN!"

Both Poké Balls flew through the air at the same time.

~Woosh! ~Woosh!

Two flashes of white light, and two Pokémon materialized on the field.

Li Xiang's choice was, without a doubt, Incineroar—the undisputed powerhouse of his team.

His opponent's choice?

A large, wolf-like Pokémon with spiky yellow-and-black fur—the Electric-type Manectric.

Both Pokémon charged forward the moment they landed, closing the distance to ensure their moves would hit accurately.

"Electric-type, huh…"

Li Xiang followed behind, analyzing silently.

The current situation was that neither side had a type advantage.... Meaning this battle was basically already decided.

"Thunder Wave!"

"Fake Out."

Both trainers issued commands as soon as their Pokémon entered effective range.

Manectric's body crackled with electricity. Five meters above its head, a small, flickering thundercloud formed—a racial trait allowing it to store electricity in its fur and release attacks via self-generated storm clouds.

But before the thundercloud could fully manifest, Incineroar's Intimidate combo struck.

"ROOOAR—!!"

A deafening bellow shook the arena!

Incineroar activated its Ability like a thunderclap, then slammed its massive palms together in front of its chest.

BOOM!

The air trembled, rippling outward like a shockwave!

Manectric's expression froze, a flicker of fear appearing in its eyes as the electricity around it dimmed.

In the next instant, the blinding flash of Fake Out sliced through the air, slamming into Manectric and extending its dazed state!

Not only did this interrupt its move, but the half-formed thundercloud above it flickered weakly, on the verge of dispersing!

The opponent's eyes widened in shock, but before he could react, Incineroar had already leapt high into the air, its eyes gleaming with a chilling light.

A burst of turquoise-blue flames erupted from its belt, rapidly expanding until it engulfed Incineroar's entire body, transforming it into a massive fireball that roared through the air like a falling meteor!

BOOM—!!!

The ground trembled violently as the fireball crashed into Manectric, which had barely regained its senses!

Flames erupted like a blooming flower, surging upward into a towering pillar of smoke and debris!

The entire battlefield was swallowed by dust.

Li Xiang took a step back, covering his nose with his sleeve. 'This guy really doesn't hold back anymore, huh?'

Incineroar, already a beast in its own right, had fully embraced the philosophy of "going all out, even against weak opponents."

Against Manectric, it had immediately unleashed one of its most devastating moves—Flare Blitz.

'It's probably a one-hit KO, right?'

Li Xiang squinted through the smoke. Manectric was notoriously frail—no way it could tank that, more so without a Bulk Up boost.

On the opposite side, the opponent stood frozen, his legs slightly weak.

Everything had happened too fast. By the time he could even think of a command, Incineroar had already smashed into Manectric.

As the smoke cleared, he could vaguely make out a small crater in the center of the field—and within it, the towering figure of Incineroar standing over a motionless shadow.

'One hit… just one hit?!'

The boy swallowed hard.

To take down his Manectric in a single strike, without even a type advantage—just how strong was that thing?!

'This is insane… Are there really trainers like this at other schools?'

"Monster."

Through the thinning smoke, he cast a fearful glance at Li Xiang's distant figure, finally understanding the gap between them.

'First day at the camp, and I run into someone like this… Do I even stand a chance?'

The referee glanced at Incineroar—entirely unharmed—and the unconscious Manectric lying in the crater.

He blew his whistle sharply.

"Manectric is unable to battle! Incineroar wins!"

Pulling out a device resembling a card reader, he processed the results and ejected two ID cards.

Li Xiang quietly returned Incineroar, murmuring a "Good job," before taking his card and immediately heading toward Song Jie's match.

If he had won with a one-hit KO, Song Jie probably wouldn't be far behind.

As far as he remembered, Song Jie's opponent wasn't one of the ten red-marked elites either.

Of course, there was always the possibility of a type disadvantage dragging the battle out, but for their first official match at the camp, Li Xiang suspected Song Jie would go all out, just like he had.

D66 Battlefield

When Li Xiang arrived, the battle was already in its climax.

On one side stood Song Jie's Aggron—a silver behemoth built for mixed attacking.

Opposite it was a Hariyama, towering at nearly 2.4 meters tall, its massive palms like fleshy paddles, its body resembling that of a sumo wrestler.

The two were about ten meters apart, with Aggron bombarding Hariyama from range using Flash Cannon, while Hariyama retaliated with Force Palm, sending shockwaves through the air.

'Yep, definitely a bad matchup.'

Four-times weak to Fighting.

Li Xiang sighed. No wonder this was taking so long.

Fortunately, Song Jie's Aggron was hybrid-built, allowing it to fight at a distance.

As long as its defensive buffs were up, even a 4x weakness could be mitigated.

Judging by the distorted silver sheen glinting off Aggron's body under the sunlight, it had already used Iron Defense.

But now…

Just as Li Xiang was analyzing, Aggron suddenly ducked low and charged forward, its massive frame shaking the ground like a rampaging steel rhino!

It was going for a Head Smash!

The opponent's eyes lit up.

"Hariyama, Counter with Dynamic Punch!"

Hariyama reared back its fist, preparing to meet Aggron head-on.

But then—

Aggron twisted mid-charge.

With baffling agility for a creature of its size, it sidestepped Hariyama's punch at the last second!

And before Hariyama could recover—

WHAM!

Aggron's metallic tail whipped around like a steel cable, crushing into Hariyama's skull with a sickening THUD!

The force sent Hariyama staggering backward, its balance completely shattered.

"Hariyama!" its trainer shouted desperately.

But what awaited Hariyama was not another physical strike—

Instead, Aggron raised its claws, summoning a gigantic sphere of swirling water!

Surf.

The sheer scale of the attack was staggering—like a tidal wave crashing down!

'Damn. That's some serious power for a non-Water type!'

Li Xiang was impressed.

Song Jie's Aggron had undergone "Rain Blessing", a phenomenon that enhanced its physique, granted it Water-type moves, and boosted their power.

No wonder its Surf rivaled that of actual Water-types!

Hariyama, despite its high HP, simply couldn't withstand the sheer difference in strength.

Under its trainer's desperate cries, it collapsed, defeated.

The referee called the match.

Song Jie returned Aggron, collected his card, and walked over to Li Xiang.

"Your opponent wasn't even that strong. Why'd it take so long?" Li Xiang asked.

"Wanted to see how much he had… Disappointing." Song Jie shook his head.

His team had too many Fighting-type weaknesses, so he'd long since developed countermeasures.

Same for Ground-types.

But this opponent had been utterly predictable.

Song Jie had even purposely left openings, waiting to see if the guy would capitalize.

He didn't.

Finally, Song Jie had baited him with a fake Head Smash—and like an idiot, the guy had taken it.

"I didn't even charge the move. No energy was gathered. How did he fall for it?"

Song Jie's tone was almost disappointed.

Li Xiang agreed.

'What kind of idiot throws out Dynamic Punch on a blind read? At least wait to see if the attack is real! Being a split-second slower wouldn't kill you!'

Now, thanks to that misplay, the guy had been completely outplayed.

Dining Hall – First Wave

After regrouping with the others, they became part of the first wave allowed into the dining hall.

At the entrance, they swiped their cards—similar to subway turnstiles—before entering.

And just as Li Xiang had guessed, the "surprise" Zhong Qizhi mentioned was high-grade, attribute-specific Pokémon meals—

At a 10% discount.

'A freaking discount!'

Li Xiang almost couldn't believe it.

Thankfully, signs reading "Limited Time Offer" and "Purchase Limits per Pokémon" crushed any dreams of hoarding supplies.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder—

'If they're offering discounts now… Will the meals eventually become free when fewer people are around?'

…Probably.