Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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

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

Spring City.

Unaware that he had been targeted, Li Xiang was watching TV.

On the screen, Kalisan, the president of the Saizhou Association, gave a brief statement regarding the incident in the uninhabited northern region of Saizhou and Laya City. He also announced a list of personnel who would be stepping down by the end of the following year—including himself.

The delayed resignation was mainly to allow for a transition period, giving him a year to hand over his duties.

'Hmm… Why do I feel like some kind of "Association President Killer"? Another one bites the dust.'

Li Xiang silently mused, opening his mouth slightly as Riolu, sitting beside him, fed him a segment of tangerine.

The injuries on his hands were worse than he had expected. He had heard that the palm of his right hand had been cut down to the bone, nearly severing the tendons in his fingers, while the back of his hand still had shards of glass embedded in the flesh. His left hand was in slightly better condition, with shallower wounds.

In short, it was as miserable as it could get. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to use his hands for the rest of the winter break.

Fortunately, it wouldn't affect his ability to practice martial arts or grip things. Whether it left scars or not was secondary—he didn't really care.

'Hmm… Kind of sour. These store-bought tangerines aren't great.'

Li Xiang declined the next piece Riolu offered him, his gaze sweeping over the mountain of gifts and fruit piled up in the hospital room.

Glancing outside the room, he saw Li Zhehan and Mrs. Yin engaged in a back-and-forth with a group of people, their voices loud and animated.

"It's the least we could do!"

"No, really, it's unnecessary!"

Without a doubt, these were the Snow Cultists—the lucky survivors who had recovered almost completely. Like his parents, they had healed quickly.

But to be precise, they should now be called former Snow Cultists.

The Snow Cult, the Sun Cult, the The New Sun/Dawn—whatever the name, all of them had been forcibly disbanded under the Association's intervention. Some were taken in for questioning, others were sent straight to jail.

As for the Snow Cult's deity, the resurrected Snow God, it had been taken away by the Ranger Union and would likely never appear again.

At first, the surviving cultists had struggled to accept this, wanting to appeal or report the matter.

But in the end, they had no choice.

After all, the resurrected Frostmoth had chosen to leave with the rangers. What could the believers possibly say?

The Association wasn't about to let them continue their activities either.

Thus, like the Sun Cult and the Snow Cult had effectively ceased to exist.

These people—whose villages had been destroyed and whose faith had been uprooted—were now left as wandering souls.

Of course, among the remaining active members, a few still held considerable authority. They managed to rally the others, preventing them from doing anything reckless.

They even gave them a reason to keep living, stabilizing the situation.

Li Xiang, however, didn't particularly care about any of this. He had no interest in letting these people repay some "debt of gratitude," nor did he want to get entangled with them again. He had already vented his frustrations on those two fat guys.

Right now, he was in full zen mode, just wanting to be discharged as soon as possible and return to Qingcheng—to go home.

News had already reached his relatives. His grandparents, who usually hated traveling, had taken the first high-speed train to Spring City upon hearing what happened. His maternal grandparents had also wanted to come but were persuaded by Mrs. Yin to stay put.

'Gambling with your life is troublesome, but dealing with the aftermath is even worse.'

"Rotom."

Li Xiang turned his head slightly and called out to the phone on the bedside table.

"Here."

The screen lit up, displaying a large orange smiley face.

The voice belonged to a certain female AI named SIRI.

Apparently, Rotom had hijacked SIRI's voice function—though it insisted it was just "borrowing" it.

This world didn't have specialized Rotom-compatible smartphones, so even though Rotom had possessed the phone, it couldn't make it float.

Those specially designed Rotom Phones were built for ease of use, with all sorts of unique functions.

Other devices like Rotom Dexes, Rotom Drones, Rotom Bikes, and even Rotom PCs were all custom-made.

"Are you really sure about becoming my Pokémon and fighting for me? You don't have to force yourself. You're my friend, and in my home, you can do whatever you want."

Li Xiang turned to ask again.

He had taken Rotom from the Snow Cultists, originally planning to set it free and fulfill some of its wishes. But Rotom had refused to leave, stubbornly clinging to him instead.

Not only that, but it had also declared it wanted to battle for Li Xiang, just like Torracat and the others.

Li Xiang was both surprised and touched.

"You've asked a thousand times already. I refuse to repeat myself."

Rotom's smile faltered slightly before the screen went black, as if it couldn't be bothered to respond.

But then it lit up again.

"And it's not because I like you or anything! Or because I enjoy the way you interact with your Pokémon! Definitely not!"

With that, the screen turned off again.

'This guy… really is a tsundere.'

After confirming it multiple times, Li Xiang mentally finalized Rotom's personality traits.

Mischievous yet timid, kind-hearted and helpful, often tsundere but ultimately true to itself—unconcerned with saving face.

Unfortunately, Rotom had no gender. It was just a highly intelligent plasma ghost.

That probably disappointed certain people with… specific tastes.

'…Honestly, I'm considering finding a way to install a voice pack from a professional voice actor. SIRI's voice just lacks emotion.'

But what intrigued Li Xiang even more was what Rotom had done after entering that silver egg.

According to Rotom itself, it had just been curious about the egg's structure and wanted to take a quick look inside before leaving.

But then it got stuck, sucked in by some strange energy. In desperation, it ended up absorbing a bunch of weird, incomprehensible energy before finally breaking free.

By the time it escaped, the place was swarming with people. Too cautious to reveal itself, it had stayed hidden until Li Xiang called for help again.

'…Well, the second half of that story is a bit different, but whatever. Tsundere traits—it would never admit to being scared.'

Even though the thing trembling in his arms at the time had been shaking harder than a tractor.

The real focus was on what it had absorbed.

At first, Li Xiang thought it might have siphoned some life energy, so he checked its level with a scanner—only to find it was just Level 35.

He asked Bian Zhen about it, who confirmed that Rotom had been around Level 30 before.

This meant either it really hadn't absorbed much, or it had absorbed something else entirely.

Li Xiang vaguely remembered Lu Zhong mentioning something about "life energy belonging to human nature" and wondered if that was what Rotom had taken.

But there was no way to verify.

He wasn't sure how intelligent a normal Level 30+ Rotom was supposed to be either.

Its anthropomorphism was definitely high-level, though—tsundere traits didn't just appear out of nowhere.

For comparison, he could look at Lin Feng's Porygon, but that thing was kind of dumb—not exactly a shining example of intelligence.

Then again, Riolu could be pretty tsundere too.

Li Xiang glanced at Riolu, who turned its head, wondering if he needed something.

"Nah, it's nothing. Go back to what you were doing."

Li Xiang smiled at it.

Corviknight and the others had taken their badges and gone out to train on their own. They had originally agreed to rest for a few days, but none of them could sit still, so they'd headed to a nearby park instead.

Riolu was the designated "guard," left behind because the others didn't trust Li Xiang to be alone.

And so, this was the current situation.

As for Rotom, being the newest member, it hadn't been fully accepted by Torracat and the others yet.

It wasn't about exclusion—they just hadn't built enough trust, even though Rotom had technically saved the entire family.

Rotom wasn't in a hurry to join their little group either, interacting with them casually while focusing more on bonding with Li Xiang.

"The livestock at home have really grown up, huh?"

Li Xiang often sighed to himself while lying in the hospital bed.

.....

Afternoon.

His grandparents arrived at the hospital.

Upon seeing Li Xiang's mummy-wrapped hands, his grandfather immediately went to give Li Zhehan an earful, while his grandmother tearfully fussed over him.

Of course it didn't hurt—he was absolutely on painkillers.

After Li Xiang woke up, the police and Association staff came by a few times to take statements, checking if he had missed any details or if there was anything else to add.

As a law-abiding citizen, Li Xiang naturally told them everything he knew.

Along the way, he managed to ask about those two fat guys—whether they had been resurrected too.

The expressions of those in the know turned slightly strange. They hadn't wanted to answer at first, but after seeing Li Xiang's face, they eventually shook their heads.

No, they hadn't been resurrected.

Only those whose life energy had been drained were brought back.

That made Li Xiang quite happy. Later, a male psychologist came by.

Li Xiang had initially been wary, expecting some kind of hypnosis session, but it turned out to be just a casual chat about random topics.

Two Jigglypuff sang nearby, their voices oddly soothing, leaving him feeling light and relaxed—like some kind of eardrum massage, an auditory spa.

Overall, the experience was great. He wouldn't have minded a few more sessions.

It seemed psychologists in this world weren't as demonized as in some fictional works—no subconscious reprogramming or memory probing here.

That night, Li Xiang slept soundly.

He didn't wake up until morning, completely dreamless.

For the past two nights, he had been dreaming of that dark temple—the Ultimate Weapon glowing above him, nobody waking up around him, his hands in excruciating pain, those two fat guys and Lu Zhong sneering at him.

That sense of helplessness…

'Was psychological counseling really this effective?'

Li Xiang finally understood why therapy was so expensive—the results were undeniable.

Finally, after a week of observation in the hospital, confirming that his hands weren't inflamed, weren't interfering with healing, and were recovering well—

He was finally discharged.

Under the Association's arrangements, the family boarded a plane at Spring City Airport, heading back to Qingcheng.

Five hours later, they landed at Qingcheng Airport.

Back in this city—chilly in winter, yet endlessly warm in spirit.

—This was home.

Looking at the familiar sights of Qingcheng, Li Xiang felt a bittersweet emotion welling up inside him.

In just a few short days, what should have been a simple family vacation had turned into an experience most people would never encounter—nor ever want to encounter.

And Li Xiang's mindset had undergone a drastic change because of it.

Originally, he had just wanted to take things step by step, moving forward steadily and comfortably.

Having lived in this peaceful world for so long, he had been diligent but lacked any real sense of urgency. He never said it out loud or showed it on his face, but deep down, he had been satisfied with how things were.

After all, if he really went all out, none of his classmates stood a chance. Any losses were just due to the difference in training time and his Pokémon not being fully grown yet.

Sooner or later, the world would be his.

But now, after this brush with death, Li Xiang had finally realized—the world doesn't wait.

It doesn't hold back its events, its crises, until you're fully prepared.

Everything comes at you long before you're ready.

Did Li Xiang really have no idea where those people—with their unknown language, their slang, their advanced technology, and their unbelievable Pokémon—had come from?

He had just kept it to himself.

Either Ultra Megalopolis or some technologically advanced parallel world. But whichever it was, the current Li Xiang was nothing but weak garbage in their eyes.

He needed time to grow.

He needed to grow fast—at least enough to protect himself.

'It's time to go all out.'

Li Xiang took a deep breath of the icy air.