Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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The Day of the Junior Ho-Oh Cup, Rising Star Tournament

The streets were abuzz with life, teeming with people and all kinds of Pokémon. The crowd was so dense that even cars on the roads were stuck in a standstill.

And this was despite the restriction on large-sized Pokémon.

It seemed that while this tournament wasn't well-known in the circles of seasoned Trainers, it still held significant appeal for the general public.

After all, who cared about technical details? As long as it was fun and exciting, that was enough.

The battle arenas were set up around the shopping mall, in pedestrian-street-like areas. These spots not only had places for spectators to rest but also several neatly arranged battlefields.

The arenas were surrounded by tall wire fences to separate the crowd from the action, with a decent gap between the fences and the battlefields. The setup gave the place a basketball court vibe.

The arenas themselves were much larger than those found in parks, measuring about 40 meters in length and over 20 meters in width—qualifying as medium-sized fields.

Li Xiang stuck to his usual "one human, two cats" team. Holding the phone Mrs. Yin had given him, he met up with Lin Feng at the congested mall entrance.

Without Lin Feng accompanying him, Mrs. Yin likely wouldn't have allowed Li Xiang to attend alone.

"Long time no see!"

After nearly a month apart, Lin Feng greeted him with a big hug as soon as he saw him.

Li Xiang smiled and patted his back.

"Yeah, and you didn't even tell me you were heading to the countryside?"

"There wasn't enough time; it was all so rushed. Besides, you know my place—no computers."

Lin Feng shrugged. He relied entirely on shady internet cafés to go online.

Behind him, a slender figure leaped out and greeted Li Xiang in a sweet voice, "Brother Li!"

"Hey, Lanlan! Long time no see!"

Li Xiang smiled at the little girl in front of him.

This was Lin Lan, Lin Feng's younger sister, who'd once been thrown under the bus by her brother's teasing.

Ten years old this year, she bore a striking resemblance to her brother with her fair complexion. Her shoulder-length short hair, T-shirt, denim shorts, and the Charmander in her arms completed her appearance.

She wasn't quite the "born beauty" some novels might exaggerate, but she was definitely cute.

Like her brother, she had a straightforward and outgoing personality, not the type to hold grudges, and far less delicate than the average ten-year-old girl.

As far as Li Xiang's memories went, he had a favorable impression of her—strictly in the sense of an older brother toward a younger sister.

"She heard you've lost weight and insisted on coming to check on you," Lin Feng whispered into Li Xiang's ear.

Huh?

Li Xiang glanced at the siblings in mild surprise. Was losing weight really that big of a deal?

No more chit-chat.

Now that they'd met up, the focus was the battles ahead.

After a bit of casual conversation, during which Lin Lan shared her thoughts on Li Xiang's two adorable cats and tried petting them, Li Xiang followed the instructions on his phone to locate the registration area.

.....

To participate, contestants had to register on-site.

Like official matches, participants could only use Pokémon registered under their name—no temporary loans allowed. Proof of enrollment in a basic academy was also required.

Li Xiang had all the necessary documents prepared and completed his registration without issue.

After receiving his contestant number and awaiting his match location announcement, Lin Feng suddenly grabbed his arm.

"The champion gets three Evolution Stones as a reward!" Lin Feng whispered excitedly.

The "three Evolution Stones" referred to Water, Fire, and Grass Stones.

In this world, Evolution Stones lacked any mystical ability to enhance a Pokémon's potential—they were merely tools for evolving certain species.

While they were relatively rare, they weren't particularly expensive.

Each stone went for about 7,000 to 8,000 PokeDollars, with slight variations depending on the type.

Winning all three meant a cash equivalent of around 20,000 PokeDollars—a decent prize.

Though it paled in comparison to the Porygon prize from the Xiangcheng tournament.

That was worthy of a "main character"—lucking into such an incredible reward.

Li Xiang shot Lin Feng a glance but didn't feel envious. After all, he had no interest in Pokémon like Porygon.

Though often referred to in this world as a "cyber assassin," ideal for dealing with trolls and keyboard warriors, Li Xiang currently had zero interest in it.

"Brother! Look at the second prize! It's an Eevee egg! I want it!"

Lin Lan, who had been busy petting cats, suddenly shouted.

Li Xiang followed her gaze and saw that the second prize was indeed an Eevee egg.

Eevee—a Pokémon so overly bred due to its cuteness that it had become more common than even starter Pokémon.

Much like Ragdoll cats from his previous life, despite a skewed male-to-female ratio of 7:1, Eevee populations had exploded to astonishing levels over time.

In the anime's movie canon, they were even described as "ordinary Eevees."

Still, they weren't quite as ubiquitous as Pikachu, which were described as being as common as stray dogs.

"Forget it. You're not old enough, and your brother can't participate twice," Lin Feng said, patting Lin Lan on the shoulder.

"When you're eleven, we can visit a breeding center to pick one."

Clearly, this answer didn't satisfy Lin Lan, who pouted and looked at Li Xiang.

"Brother Li~" she cooed sweetly, attempting to charm him.

Li Xiang, unfazed, shrugged. "I don't mind, but my goal is to win the championship. Second place? Probably not happening."

An Eevee egg was no big deal to him. If he could, he'd gladly give it away, knowing he could earn ten or even a hundred times its value from her brother in the future.

That said, winning it might not even be in the cards for him.

Lan Lan was stumped by Li Xiang's words and found herself at a loss for a comeback. She could only huff lightly and retreat to the side, taking out her frustration by petting the Alolan Meowth and Litten.

As the group continued their banter, the broadcast finally called out Li Xiang's name and number, instructing him to head to a specific field for his match.

Not daring to delay, Li Xiang picked up Litten from the ground and quickly made his way toward the battle site, with Lin Feng and Lan Lan following closely behind.

...

To ensure victory in the Rising Star Tournament, Li Xiang had fed Litten all the candies he had, except for the Speed and Special Attack varieties. He had also allowed Litten an evening and an entire day to adjust to the boost.

Combined with the sweltering heat, which provided a slight advantage for Fire-type Pokémon, Li Xiang believed victory would be within reach—provided he didn't run into someone who had trained excessively or exploited every possible shortcut.

And yet…

"Just the first match, and it's a heavyweight opponent?"

Standing on the battlefield surrounded by chain-link fencing, Li Xiang's lips twitched as he stared at the trainer and Pokémon on the other side, unable to fully suppress his frustration.

Opposite him was a plump, bipedal Pokémon with alternating pink and black patches—a rather adorable Miltank.

The Normal-type Pokémon was famous for producing the world's most highly acclaimed MooMoo Milk.

With a natural base stat total of 490, Miltank boasted high HP, decent Speed, strong Defense, and solid Special Defense.

The only upside, Li Xiang noted, was that it was a physical attacker susceptible to Intimidate.

But that wasn't the real issue.

The real issue was that this Miltank didn't seem to be at a beginner level, nor was it likely freshly caught.

Its trainer, a girl with braided pigtails, wore denim overalls over a white shirt, a straw hat perched on her head, giving her the appearance of a farmer.

This setup strongly suggested that the Miltank might be a seasoned Pokémon—possibly even one taken from the family ranch.

Li Xiang sighed silently.

Was his luck cursed? Weren't these matches supposed to pit him against rookies with Pokémon below level 10?

Why was he immediately matched against someone out of his league?

Still, dwelling on it wouldn't change anything now.

Both trainers took their positions as instructed.

In the medium-sized arena (approximately 40 meters long and 20 meters wide), the rules required a 30-meter distance between trainers and a 20-meter gap between their Pokémon at the start.

"Each side will use one Pokémon. The format is a one-on-one single battle. The match ends when one Pokémon is unable to continue battling.

"When the referee blows the whistle, you must immediately stop all actions. This is a friendly competition, so let's keep things sportsmanlike. Understood?"

The referee, a staff member, looked at both trainers for confirmation.

After both nodded, he announced, "Match begins in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Start!"

At the signal, the trainers gave their commands simultaneously, their voices cutting through the air like the crack of a starter pistol.

"Defense Curl!"

"Growl!"

The opponent chose Defense Curl to set up for Rollout, while Li Xiang went for an aggressive strategy to disrupt them.

In a semi-enclosed environment, Rollout from a speeding Miltank would be difficult for Litten to dodge. It was crucial to seize the initiative.

"Meow!"

Litten let out a raspy growl, activating its Intimidate ability. The effect visibly startled the Miltank, causing it to freeze in place!

Immediately after, the screeching sound-waves from Growl hit the Miltank, reducing its Attack stat.

Although Growl was often seen as a situational move, here it served its purpose perfectly.

"Miltank! What are you doing just standing there? Use Defense Curl now!"

The girl, clearly flustered, yelled at her Pokémon.

The round, pink Pokémon shook its head as if snapping out of a daze. It seemed to realize it had been frozen in place and hastily curled up, its body momentarily glowing with white light.

But in the time it took to use Defense Curl, Litten had already activated Nasty Plot and started to inch closer to the opponent.

"Heat Wave," Li Xiang instructed calmly, maintaining his composure.

Previously, Sister Yi had mentioned that the Intimidate flinch effect lasted only one second at most.

From the looks of it, that one second could extend if the opponent was particularly slow to react.

And fortunately, this Miltank fell into that category, giving Litten an opening to act again.

With his confidence renewed, Li Xiang felt a wave of relief.

No matter how high the level, poor battle instincts were an insurmountable weakness.

Moreover, since the Miltank was affected by Intimidate, it likely didn't have the Scrappy ability.

That left two possibilities: Thick Fat or the Hidden Ability, Sap Sipper.

If it was Thick Fat, things could get tricky.

On the field, Litten measured the distance carefully before stopping. It opened its mouth to inhale deeply and then exhaled, releasing a torrent of searing hot air mixed with embers, sending it surging toward the Miltank!

There was no way Li Xiang would rely on physical moves against a Defense Curl-boosted Miltank.

"Rollout!"

The girl shouted, clearly hoping to take advantage of Miltank's durability to ignore the incoming attack and ram Litten straight off the field.

With the power boost from Defense Curl, her strategy was sound—against a typical Litten with its notoriously low defenses.

Unfortunately, not all Littens were created equal.

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Read up to 35+ (previously 25) advance chapters of [Pokemon: The Legendary Trainer] and up to 25 (previously 20) chapters of [Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!] exclusively on my Patreon!