Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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"Wow, battling in an environment like this really isn't easy," Li Xiang sighed as he handed over his and Litten's ID cards at the entry to the wire-mesh arena.

After verifying the documents, the staff member opened the gate, letting him in while reminding him to walk carefully and avoid hitting the edge cameras.

Looking to the sides, Li Xiang noticed several cameras encased in metal, positioned close to the wire mesh, with a few operators stationed nearby.

"...Live broadcast? This is going on TV?"

Li Xiang's lips twitched. Great—maybe later, someone would even grab him for an interview. Hopefully, they wouldn't ask absurd questions like, "Did everyone manage to buy their tickets?"

Stepping into the arena, Li Xiang spotted his opponent, who had arrived earlier and was chatting with someone outside the wire mesh. As the opponent turned around, Li Xiang's attention shifted to the Pokémon perched on his shoulder.

And then—

"Are you kidding me? Another curveball today?" Li Xiang muttered in disbelief, feeling like the day was out to get him.

First, it had been the oversized Miltank.

Now?

On the shoulder of his opponent was a Chatot, a small, colorful parrot Pokémon with a head shaped like a music note. A Normal/Flying-type Pokémon with sound-based abilities.

Seriously?

Chatot?!

Li Xiang felt defeated. Of all Pokémon to face, it had to be Chatot—a niche choice no one seemed to remember. He could barely recall its abilities or base stats. It had been so long since he'd seen one that its existence felt like a distant memory.

What was Chatot even capable of? Sound-based moves? A ranged special attacker? Most Flying-types shared similar abilities: Keen Eye, Big Pecks, maybe?

As Li Xiang pondered, Litten strutted forward, its playful swaying drawing laughter from the crowd. Unlike the calm of the park matches, this urban crowd was anything but quiet. Despite the referee and staff urging spectators to keep their voices down, the buzz of conversation made the arena as noisy as a marketplace.

This noise wasn't just background chaos; it could disrupt trainers and Pokémon alike. Mischievous kids or nosy bystanders often leaned against the barriers, shouting unsolicited commands at the Pokémon, attempting to confuse them.

For this type of open-air battle, a trainer and their Pokémon had to maintain exceptional focus. There was no timeout for distractions.

.....

The referee began the usual rule announcement.

Li Xiang and his opponent took their positions.

Early-stage Pokémon battles often favored Flying-types or ranged attackers. If Chatot had moves like Toxic to play dirty, it could fly out of Litten's reach and stall the match, making things tough. But most Flying-types had to get close to attack, giving grounded Pokémon like Litten a chance to counter.

"Let the battle begin!"

The referee's whistle pierced the air.

"Nasty Plot!"

"Taunt!"

Both trainers gave their commands simultaneously.

The distance and noisy surroundings made it hard for Li Xiang to hear his opponent clearly, but he could roughly guess the move from their lip movements.

Crap—Taunt!

The Dark-type move Taunt prevented the target from using status moves for a while, a nightmare for Pokémon reliant on stat-boosting techniques.

Fortunately, Litten still had an opportunity.

"Meow!"

With a low growl, Litten activated Intimidate and its secondary effect. A wave of invisible pressure hit Chatot, making its feathers puff out in fear. The Taunt it had been preparing was delayed.

Taking advantage of the moment, a fog appeared above Litten's head as question marks materialized and faded. Its Nasty Plot was successful, boosting its Special Attack significantly.

Chatot's delayed Taunt finally hit, its mocking expression locking Litten out of further status moves. But the damage was already done.

Li Xiang's opponent looked visibly frustrated, clearly upset that their timing had been off by just a second.

Li Xiang, on the other hand, let out a small sigh of relief. Though Litten's condition seemed off, it had executed its moves properly, easing some of his earlier tension.

This moment also gave Li Xiang a revelation. He had originally planned to use Intimidate in conjunction with Fake Out, but now he realized its secondary effect could also disrupt fast opponents using moves like Taunt. The potential benefits were immense.

"Heat Wave!"

"Chatter!"

The next set of commands came swiftly, with both Pokémon moving to engage.

Litten unleashed a scorching gust of wind, while Chatot opened its beak, producing an ear-piercing cacophony. Colorful, animated sound waves flew toward Litten, each vibrating with chaotic energy.

Chatter was a Flying-type Special Attack that inflicted confusion on the target—if it hit.

"Dodge those sound waves!" Li Xiang yelled, alarmed.

In his view, Confusion was one of the most troublesome status effects. It disrupted a Pokémon's judgment, hindering their ability to follow commands. Compared to burns, paralysis, or even poison, confusion was a trainer's worst nightmare.

The animated sound waves—five in total—ignored the scorching heat of Litten's Heat Wave, slowly closing in on the little Pokémon. Li Xiang knew Litten could easily dodge them, given its speed—

"Litten!"

To Li Xiang's shock, instead of evading the sound waves, Litten ignored his command and charged straight toward the descending Chatot, seemingly overtaken by its feline instincts!

Boom!

The sound waves struck Litten, bursting into a cloud of energy that engulfed its small frame.

Li Xiang felt a wave of dread. He didn't even register Chatot being hit by Heat Wave, its feathers scorched and its flight faltering. His focus was entirely on Litten's uncharacteristic disobedience.

It had to be the burnt catnip messing with its head!

Litten would never ignore his commands like this under normal circumstances—

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a dark blur shot out from the cloud of smoke, moving like a lightning bolt.

Li Xiang's eyes widened as he watched Litten leap into the air, its gaze burning with intensity. It closed the gap in an instant, seizing Chatot midair by its wing and pulling it into a steep dive!

"How is this even possible?! Sing! Use Sing now!"

The opponent's frantic shouts echoed, desperate to salvage the situation.

Chatot was over five meters in the air!

What does a height of five meters mean?

It's nearly the height of a two-story building!

And yet, that Litten casually jumped over five meters—what was it, a Dodrio!?

Who was supposed to be the Flying-type Pokémon here!?

And what about Chatter's confusion effect? Where was the fucking confusion!?

Did it eat it or something!?

The more the trainer thought about it, the more his mind collapsed into chaos.

"Caw—caw, caw!"

The Chatot struggled hard, wanting to follow its trainer's orders. But just as it opened its beak, the Litten stomped on its body, using it as a cushion before slamming it to the ground!

Thud!

A dull sound echoed!

The Chatot nearly popped its eyes out of its sockets. It couldn't sing at all and could only watch in horror as the Litten, less than ten centimeters away, unleashed a Heat Wave directly onto it!

Whoosh!

The scorching wind engulfed both the Chatot and the ground, then surged skyward and spread in all directions.

This Heat Wave hit the Chatot head-on, leaving it no chance of evasion.

The outcome was sealed.

Even a random guess would tell you the Chatot wouldn't survive that.

For Pokémon like Chatot, which don't evolve, their base stats typically hover around 400.

With such inherent limitations, they either excel in offense or defense—but looking at Chatot, it didn't seem like the kind of Pokémon built to tank hits.

A complete knockout was inevitable.

But as victory loomed, Li Xiang didn't feel the usual joy he experienced after a match.

Because—

As flames from the Heat Wave dissipated silently, what was revealed in the arena was a stunned and motionless Litten, staring blankly, and a scorched Chatot lying nearby.

"Meow?"

Litten turned its head, catching sight of Li Xiang's somewhat dark expression. An unexplainable panic welled up in its chest.

What happened? What's going on?

A shrill whistle pierced through the field.

This was followed by thunderous applause and cheering from the crowd.

The second round of the first day.

It was over.

.....

In a taxi heading to the conservation center.

Purugly claimed most of the backseat space.

Li Xiang sat beside it, with Litten sprawled on his lap, its head hanging low and its right paw wrapped in bandages. It didn't dare to meet his eyes.

For the little cat, today marked the first time it had disobeyed Li Xiang's commands and acted on its own.

Although the outcome was relatively perfect, the fact that it didn't listen was undeniable.

Moreover, Litten felt that its actions earlier weren't entirely its own will. It was as if its body moved on its own, and by the time it realized it, everything was already over.

There was no time to stop itself.

Litten felt like a puppet controlled by invisible strings. This thought brought an inexplicable sense of fear, causing its small body to tremble slightly.

Suddenly.

"Don't be scared. I'm here."

A gentle voice reached Litten's ears.

Litten looked up and met Li Xiang's gaze. The same warm and gentle eyes as always, like honey.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault."

Li Xiang gently stroked Litten's back, recalling everything that had happened.

"As a trainer, I didn't notice anything unusual about you in time. I even had to rely on someone else to point it out."

"When I did realize something was wrong, I didn't take you to see a doctor but forced you to battle instead…"

His expression darkened as he spoke. "Something so obvious, something a normal person would've realized with a bit of thought, I completely overlooked."

Such Incompetence…. It was unworthy of being called a trainer.

But deep down, he knew that it was greed—

Greed for the rewards after victory.

However, compared to Litten's health, the rewards were worthless.

Litten's earlier state was clearly abnormal.

It disobeyed his commands, endured attacks, and acted on its own.

The shock left Li Xiang too panicked to dwell on it. He had hurriedly bid farewell to the Lin siblings and taken a taxi to the conservation center.

He needed to find out what was happening to Litten!

....

At the Conservation Center.

In the medical wing.

Li Xiang stood in the hallway with Mrs. Yin, flanked by her three Pokémon.

Separated by a pane of glass, the room held Litten, lying on a pristine white bed and surrounded by unfamiliar machines.

The little cat had fallen into a deep sleep.

Su Yiliu entered briskly, the sound of her high heels clicking against the floor.

"Burnt catnip caused an unusual reaction in your Litten…"

She looked at Li Xiang and asked, "For over two hours?"

Li Xiang nodded. "Yes, maybe even longer."

Normally, catnip only sends cats into a frenzy for about fifteen minutes; it doesn't last that long.

Two hours? Such a scenario was beyond Su Yiliu's understanding.

However, Li Xiang wouldn't lie. That meant something unknown had happened to Litten. 

She patted Li Xiang's back, trying to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Yin frowned in silence.

This was her area of expertise.

Although her specialty in school was Pokémon care—unlike Su Yiliu's focus on specific attributes—Mrs. Yin was the foremost expert on feline Pokémon at Qingcheng Conservation Center.

Be it Meowstic, Purugly, or any feline Pokémon like Delcatty, Persian, or Purrloin—

She had done extensive research on them.

But Litten's situation?

She had never seen or heard of anything like it.

A reaction to burnt catnip?

That stuff was nearly carbonized—how could it still contain any of catnip's original properties?

What's more, there were no previous records of Litten exhibiting abnormalities after inhaling burnt catnip.

Mrs. Yin had searched the conservation center's internal database and even consulted historical records of rare Pokémon illnesses but found nothing relevant.

It was worth noting that this database was linked to the Pokémon Center network across the entire Zhu Xia region.

For now, she couldn't pinpoint the cause.

They had to wait for Litten's test results, including physical examinations, tissue sample analysis, and a report on the burnt catnip particles.

If nothing came up, Litten might need to be sent to larger facilities in Fullmoon City or even the regional hub, Tiandu.

Li Xiang realized this too.

In a month, he would be starting school, but this had thrown everything into disarray.

Considering Litten's reaction to burnt catnip, it seemed to have developed an immunity to negative mental states. This was evident from how Chatot's Chatter failed to confuse it, allowing it to keep fighting.

Additionally, Litten's physical capabilities had undoubtedly improved.

Li Xiang had previously tested its jumping ability.

Forget five meters—it could barely manage three. At its current level, below ten, such feats should've been impossible.

But now, it was jumping several meters, as if defying gravity like Pikachu.

And the speed it displayed while breaking through the smoke earlier? Completely absurd.

Energy doesn't appear out of thin air, and physical abilities don't enhance themselves. If this wasn't a result of using buffing moves, Li Xiang feared that Litten might have been overexerting itself.

Like opening the second, third, or even higher gears, akin to Luffy's techniques.

If that were the case, it wasn't worth it at all. With candies around, life-draining combat wasn't something he valued.

"Hang in there, buddy…"

Li Xiang placed his hand on the cold glass, murmuring softly.

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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!