Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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Returning to Qingcheng, the first order of business was retrieving the piles of gifts that had been sent over.

With the backing of the Pokémon Association, even shipping costs were waived.

Naturally, these had to be brought back.

However, many items couldn't be taken along—perishables like fruits had been eaten, and anything usable had been used up.

The remaining gifts were mostly tokens of goodwill, things that couldn't just be thrown away, but what Li Xiang hadn't expected was finding a silver bag among the pile.

"Mom, this bag…"

Li Xiang stared at it blankly. His injured hands made it impossible for him to open it and check the contents.

"Everything inside was taken out. This bag was left for you by Miss Nan on purpose," Mrs. Yin said, ruffling his hair. "She said it's your spoils of war, so she didn't confiscate it."

'A spatial bag! A spatial bag!'

Li Xiang froze for a second before his face lit up with excitement.

Before he'd fallen asleep, he had mentioned the spatial bag to Nan Gongmeng and the others—after all, something that conspicuous couldn't be ignored.

But he hadn't expected her to leave it with him instead of confiscating it.

Even if its internal space was only twice the size of the exterior, it was better than nothing.

Li Xiang felt inexplicably happy.

Over the next few days, he was inevitably confined to his home to recover, forbidden from going out. Only occasionally was he allowed to take short walks.

His Pokémon, however, remained free—training hard and pushing their limits. After relatives visited one after another with gifts, Li Xiang finally got to see his childhood friends again.

The naive, handsome Lin Feng and his fierce Charmeleon.

Both looked full of energy, making Li Xiang a little envious.

"Brother Xiang, how'd you end up like this?" Lin Feng asked in surprise. He didn't know what had happened to Li Xiang—only that he'd gone on a trip.

And now he came back like this?

Lin Lan was also there, curiously poking at his bandaged hands. "Does it hurt, Brother Xiang?"

Her spiky-haired Eevee mimicked her, tapping lightly with its paw.

"Just a little accident. It won't hurt if you don't press on it!" Li Xiang didn't want to elaborate and glared at Lin Lan and Eevee.

The two sheepishly retracted their hands (and paws).

"That's one hell of an accident…" Lin Feng muttered, eyeing Li Xiang's mummified hands.

Li Xiang shook his head. "Never mind that. It's been half a year since you caught that Gligar—any new additions?"

A year and a half had passed, and Lin Feng still hadn't assembled a full team of six. That kind of slow progress was typical for academy-style trainers in this world.

At the mention of this, Lin Feng's face brightened.

"Oh, now you're speaking my language!"

He dramatically pulled out two PokéBalls, pressing the buttons near his ears like some kind of anime protagonist.

Click! Click!

Two soft sounds.

A deep-blue Pokémon with bat-like black wings landed gracefully, balancing on its tail. It wielded two rounded pincers, its golden eyes gleaming, ear cavities a striking red.

Beside it, a spherical black Pokémon emerged, wreathed in purple mist. It had massive eyes and a gaping mouth that stretched unnervingly wide.

"Well? Impressed?"

Lin Feng puffed out his chest proudly.

'Gliscor and Gastly.'

Li Xiang's gaze lingered on the fang-shaped pendant around Gliscor's neck before shifting to Gastly.

"You actually went with Gastly? I thought you were scared of ghosts?"

He distinctly remembered Lin Feng as the type who couldn't watch horror movies alone—he had to have the lights on and drag Li Xiang along.

"Ghosts are ghosts, Pokémon are Pokémon. Don't mix them up," Lin Feng grumbled, only to yelp as Gastly licked his face, sending a shiver down his spine like an electric shock.

Not to be outdone, Gliscor pounced on Lin Feng, pinning him down and enthusiastically licking him as well.

Lin Feng flailed, laughing uncontrollably as he tried to push them off.

Lin Lan and Eevee took a step back in disgust.

"Big Bro went missing for a whole day last week when we went to sweep the family graves," Lin Lan explained. "Gliscor—well, Gligar back then—wandered off, so he went looking alone. When we found him, Gligar had already evolved, and he'd caught Gastly. Of course, he also got a beating from Mom and Dad."

'Hah, a classic wilderness encounter.'

And he even conveniently found a Razor Fang for Gligar's evolution? Lucky bastard.

Li Xiang held back a snort, only for Lin Lan to pull out a PokéBall of her own.

Click!

A flash of white light.

A pink, balloon-like Pokémon with three tufts of hair, big round eyes, and stubby limbs appeared in Lin Lan's arms.

"Igglybuff! Isn't she adorable?"

Lin Lan grinned, shoving the cute Pokémon right into Li Xiang's face.

Li Xiang leaned back slightly. "Adorable, adorable. Did you two come here just to show off your Pokémon?"

"Well, we did come to see you too," Lin Lan said sweetly.

She actually admitted it.

Li Xiang's eye twitched, though he knew she was just teasing. The girl had probably noticed his mood and wanted to cheer him up with some harmless ribbing.

Come to think of it—

Lin Lan hadn't enrolled in a Trainer school. Instead, she'd chosen to become a Breeder.

That surprised Li Xiang. He'd assumed she'd follow in Lin Feng's footsteps and become a Trainer.

When he asked why, her answer was brutally practical: "Breeders generally make more money than Trainers."

Unlike Trainers, who relied on tournaments, battles, and rankings for income, Breeders had a wide range of specialized career paths.

Beyond the traditional role of caring for Pokémon, there were:

Egg Breeders, who specialized in hatching and raising eggs.

Health Specialists, who fine-tuned a Pokémon's physical condition.

Nutritionists, experts in crafting balanced diets.

Massage Therapists, skilled in relieving Pokémon muscle tension.

Groomers, who handled aesthetics and beauty treatments.

Pharmacists, who brewed medicines from Pokémon byproducts and herbs.

Pokémon Doctors, who treated illnesses and injuries.

These were all lucrative professions, far more stable than the feast-or-famine life of a Trainer.

"So, how's Breeder school treating you?"

Li Xiang was curious about what that world was like.

"Eh, it's alright. Lots of memorizing Pokémon traits, behavioral cues, and physical conditions. Then practical sessions in the afternoon—basic care stuff."

Lin Lan waved a hand dismissively. "The textbook and video stuff is boring, but the hands-on classes are fun. Actually touching and working with Pokémon is way better."

Her eyes suddenly lit up as she pulled out her phone, scrolling through photos. "Brother Xiang, you won't believe this—for our final exam, the school brought in a Kangaskhan!"

Kangaskhan—an extremely rare, endangered Pokémon, equivalent to a panda or red-crowned crane in his previous world. Their reproduction rates were on par with Volcarona, and they primarily lived in protected reserves managed by Rangers.

In recent years, their numbers had slightly increased, but they were still far from common.

For city dwellers like them, Kangaskhan were practically mythical creatures—something you only saw on TV.

To see one in person, you'd have to get special access to a reserve.

So for Lin Lan to interact with one was a huge deal. Li Xiang blinked, looking at the selfie of Lin Lan and the Kangaskhan on her phone, then quietly chatted with her about it.

Truth be told, he had seen a Kangaskhan before—even interacted with one.

At a Conservation Base.

The police had arrested an illegal Pokémon trafficker in Qingcheng, and among his "merchandise" was a Kangaskhan.

It had been sent to the Conservation Base for rehabilitation.

For a while, it became the star attraction, doted on by every Breeder there—treated like the most precious treasure.

That was what you called a prized possession.

Sadly, after a month, Rangers transferred it to a nearby reserve. A real shame.

After some more banter with the Lin siblings—and showing off his new Rotom—Li Xiang used them as an excuse to get his grandmother's permission for a trip to the nearby park.

There, he and Lin Feng had their long-awaited rematch.

The format was still one-on-one battles, rotating through their teams.

Lin Feng was considerate about Li Xiang's peculiar preferences—if he said one-on-one, it was one-on-one.

But with both of them having more Pokémon now, even staggered battles left their teams exhausted.

Still, all the Pokémon pushed through to the end.

To Li Xiang's surprise, Rotom—despite not possessing any appliance or consuming Candies—put up a decent fight.

Aside from Gliscor, which it had no chance against, it held its own fairly well.

Winning three out of five battles wasn't bad at all.

"Whew, I—"

Lin Feng slumped onto a stone bench, peeling off his jacket, drenched in sweat. "How'd your Pokémon get so much stronger? It's only been a week!"

Before Li Xiang's trip, they had sparred. But compared to back then, Torracat and the others had improved by leaps and bounds.

And this was with Li Xiang unable to move freely, just standing on the sidelines.

Lin Feng wasn't exaggerating—out of twenty-five battles, he'd only won five, and those were against exhausted opponents.

Pretty embarrassing.

"'A scholar who stays away for three days must be looked at with new eyes.' That'll be on next semester's exam, so jot it down."

Li Xiang smirked.

Once his team had a real goal, a purpose, their mindset shifted entirely.

No longer just training for strength or victory, but to never feel that helplessness again.

Having tasted the bitterness of powerlessness, Torracat and the others weren't the same Pokémon they used to be.

Honestly, Pokémon were fascinating creatures.

Just by having a reason to grow stronger—a determination to protect their Trainer, to never regret their weakness again—their combat ability skyrocketed.

"...I can't compete. You win."

Lin Feng clasped his hands in mock surrender.

Lin Lan trotted over, stuffing Rotom (currently possessing Li Xiang's phone) back into his pocket.

Most Ghost-types had the trait of not suffering physical harm, and Rotom—being an electronic lifeform—only needed rest and food to recover.

The odd part was that Rotom could survive purely on electricity, though it consumed power like crazy, sending the electric meter spinning, but Li Xiang had promised to spoil it rotten.

Might as well use his saved-up prize money to cover the bills.

Waste not, want not.

"Come back tomorrow, alright? Don't forget your poor, bedridden friend waiting at home."

As they parted ways, Li Xiang gave the Lin siblings an expectant look.

With his hands out of commission, his Candy supply had to come from his ever-reliable best friend. Without Lin Feng, Li Xiang might've been stuck with basic Candies all winter break.

Lin Feng shuddered, recalling the horrors of the past two summer vacations—days spent battling nonstop, not even pausing to eat.

Terrifying.

But he had no choice.

Lin Feng knew exactly how much he benefited from their daily matches.

His current strength? Largely thanks to Li Xiang's relentless training.

Without Li Xiang, his Pokémon wouldn't have leveled up so quickly.

Where else would he find an opponent who was just out of reach—someone he could barely beat on a good day, the perfect benchmark to strive for?

So he had no choice but to accept his role as the designated training partner.

And with Li Xiang injured, he'd probably have to play caretaker too—maybe even rope Lin Lan into it.

'Ah, the things we do for friendship.'

Lin Feng moved himself to tears, though Lin Lan discreetly inched away, Igglybuff in her arms. The girl had grown out of her hero-worship phase and now found her brother mildly embarrassing.

Unlike those anime siblings, real-life dynamics in Zhu Xia households were far less idealistic.