Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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Qingcheng.

The air was icy, and the sea breeze cut to the bone.

Most southern coastal cities rarely saw snow, and Qingcheng was no exception.

At most, there might be a bit of sleet, but it was hardly enough for the people of Qingcheng to build a snowman.

The last time it snowed here was over ten years ago.

Standing on the roof of his rural hometown, Li Xiang, who had swapped his beach shorts and open-shirt for a down jacket and thermal pants, couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.

The environment had dealt another blow to a certain little cat.

Even though it was no longer afraid of the cold air alone, the power of its Fire-type moves would still drop by a tiny bit. Not even a master trainer could avoid this.

It was just a matter of degree.

Turning his head to look at the cat and dog huddled together for warmth behind him, Li Xiang smiled. Winter had its charms too.

Dinglingling—

"Hello?"

"Li Xiang! Your big bro is back! Come to the entrance of your neighborhood and pick me up!"

A slightly hoarse but joyful male voice burst into Li Xiang's ears.

Huh? Who is this?

Li Xiang was momentarily stunned. He didn't remember anyone in his circle having a voice like a croaking duck.

"Hello? Can you hear me? Why aren't you saying anything? Hello?"

The croaky voice on the phone kept talking, but it was soon interrupted by a soft yet angry female voice.

"Stop shouting! You're so annoying!"

Lin Lan!

Li Xiang was surprised. So, the croaky voice belonged to Lin Feng? Had the kid hit puberty in just over a week?

"Lin Feng?" he tentatively asked.

The person on the other end seemed equally baffled by his tone and fell silent for half a minute before asking, "Did you… lose your memory? Or get possessed?"

"Possessed my foot! How am I supposed to recognize your duck-like voice over the phone?"

Once Li Xiang confirmed it was indeed Lin Feng, his tone immediately became less polite.

Lin Feng let out a curse. "This is called puberty! Do you understand, you hairless little boy? My Adam's apple is developing! Got it?"

"Got it, my ass! You're at the neighborhood entrance, right? Wait for me!"

Li Xiang shot back, then turned to call his two Pokémon and headed downstairs. He also grabbed a box of local specialties he had brought back from Qiong Island.

—A whole box of Qiong Island tree fruit juice, rich in nutrients. Both humans and Pokémon could drink it, and it was great for the body.

This was something Duan Tianxing had mentioned offhandedly when he heard Li Xiang was going to Qiong Island.

There was also a silver Lugia pendant, which Lin Feng had specifically asked for. The guy was a huge fan of legendary Pokémon and had been envious when he heard Li Xiang had participated in the Wind God Festival.

He had asked Li Xiang to buy him a pendant as a souvenir.

The thought of buying a gift for another guy made Li Xiang cringe, but he had done it anyway.

"I'm going out to hang with Lin Feng!"

Before leaving, he naturally didn't forget to inform the adults at home.

...

Neighborhood entrance.

Carrying the tree fruit juice, Li Xiang spotted two kids of different heights standing there, breathing heavily in the cold, along with their Pokémon.

The taller one was Lin Lan, and the slightly shorter one was Lin Feng.

—Boys naturally developed slower than girls, after all.

Besides, Li Xiang remembered that Lin Feng's father was over 180 cm tall, and his mother was around 170 cm.

There was no way Lin Lan would be short.

At just eleven years old, the girl was already at least 165 cm tall.

In comparison, the twelve-year-old Lin Feng seemed "average," standing at around 160 cm.

"Hey! You're as slow as a Slugma!"

The moment Lin Feng saw Li Xiang, he started teasing him. But even as he spoke, he didn't forget to give Li Xiang a big hug.

"You're carrying glass bottles and you dare run fast?"

Li Xiang punched his back. "Your voice sounds like a Psyduck's! It's awful!"

When his gaze shifted to Lin Lan, Li Xiang's tone softened unconsciously. "Long time no see, Lanlan."

"Brother Li." Lin Lan seemed a bit shy upon seeing Li Xiang.

She was growing up, after all, and couldn't act as carefree as she used to.

The three of them first headed to Lin Feng's grandparents' place to drop off their "burdens."

Along the way, Lin Feng's parents warmly invited Li Xiang to stay for dinner, but Li Xiang politely declined. He had freeloaded meals before, but there was no need to do so now.

The trio then headed out again.

Their destination wasn't the seaside cave but a nearby park.

Li Xiang hadn't had much candy income for several days and was itching for some action.

Lin Feng was also full of enthusiasm, as if he was very confident.

After six battles.

The final result was four wins and two losses.

Li Xiang had four wins.

"Damn, how did you get so much stronger?"

Lin Feng sat on the back of his listless Lapras, hugging its large head, his face filled with frustration.

He had thought that after everything he had been through, he would win more often than not against Li Xiang. But to his surprise, he was still the one losing more!

"You think I'm an NPC? Even on vacation, I didn't stop training!"

Li Xiang rolled his eyes. The durability boost that the Water of Life had given Torracat and Riolu wasn't just for show. Besides, he hadn't been slacking off during his trip.

Although Lin Feng had indeed improved significantly in the week they hadn't seen each other.

"Humph! Here! A secret gift!"

Grumbling, Lin Feng pulled out a small box from his pocket and tossed it to Li Xiang.

Li Xiang caught it and saw that it was a transparent plastic box filled with colorful, fancy cubes.

—Pokéblocks!

In fan works, these were often hyped up as miracle items.

Some claimed they could directly boost stats, others said they could enhance potential, and some even believed they could cause mutations in Pokémon!

All sorts of exaggerated claims.

But setting aside the more outrageous claims, Pokéblocks did have significant benefits for Pokémon.

In the games, consuming Pokéblocks would increase a Pokémon's Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness—stats used in Pokémon Contests.

But in reality, there were no such stats. The effects of feeding Pokéblocks would directly manifest in the Pokémon's physical condition!

A healthy Pokémon would also perform better in battles.

Thus, it wasn't an exaggeration to call Pokéblocks a must-have for trainers.

But here's the question-

With modern industrial capabilities, how hard could it be to mass-produce high-quality Pokéblocks?

Even though this world had a wide variety of Berries, and each Berry's effect when made into Pokéblocks varied.

But unlike in the games, where a few Pokéblocks could max out stats without any drawbacks, in reality, Pokéblocks had to be consumed over a lifetime. There was no quick fix.

So, how big was the market for Pokéblocks?

It was beyond imagination.

Therefore, High-quality Pokéblocks were actually quite common on the market, and their prices weren't exorbitant—about ten yuan per block. A Pokémon only needed one a day, which was like adding an extra ten yuan to each meal.

Of course, there were undoubtedly Pokéblocks of even higher quality, ones that were equivalent to two regular blocks but were kept hidden and not sold to the public.

Individual differences were the truth of reality.

But as soon as someone started selling them, the recipe would eventually be cracked.

Once cracked, mass production would follow, with fancy packaging and higher prices.

Who would turn down money?

Besides, don't underestimate modern technology's ability to analyze food components!

Thus, while Li Xiang was grateful for Lin Feng's gift, he wasn't particularly excited about the Pokéblocks.

However, there were always some things in this world that defied common sense.

"These Pokéblocks were made by the head of the Ho-Oh Temple in Xiangcheng. Good stuff, huh?" Lin Feng said with a smirk. "Tell me, is your bro awesome or what?"

Ho-Oh Temple.

As the name suggested, it was an organization dedicated to worshipping the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh.

This world didn't have Taoist priests, but it had somehow adopted the concept of "monks" from the original world, though they no longer followed Buddhism.

Instead, they revered the totem/guardian of the Zhu Xia people.

—Ho-Oh.

In essence, they were no different from those who worshipped Arceus, except the latter had mystical powers, while the former did not.

Moreover, they weren't called monks but followers.

But the combination of bald heads and "robes" was so reminiscent of Buddhist monks that Li Xiang couldn't help but think of them as such.

The Ho-Oh Temple had many branches, and Xiangcheng happened to have one.

"Bro Feng, you're the best. Honestly, I'd forgotten about this…"

Li Xiang was filled with emotion and momentarily at a loss for words. He knew he owed Lin Feng a big favor.

The followers of the Ho-Oh Temple claimed that Ho-Oh hadn't granted them any special powers, but every temple head could create food and Pokéblocks that seemed like miracles.

Even more impressive than the Water of Life, these items provided a full stat boost!

Comparable to, or even surpassing, Rare Candies!

Li Xiang remembered seeing a temple head prepare food on TV when he was a child. Despite using ordinary ingredients, the results were vastly different from what others could produce.

Only their creations had such special effects.

And like the Water of Life, a Pokémon could only consume one of these special Pokéblocks in its lifetime. A second one would have no effect.

They were incredibly popular for a time, but also incredibly mysterious, defying common sense.

Yet, these temple heads didn't mass-produce these miraculous items for sale. Instead, they provided a limited number for free each year.

It was said that only those made at specific times, in specific places, and in specific moods were effective.

Ordinary people rarely had access to them, so they were quickly forgotten.

Who would have thought that one day, Li Xiang would receive such an item from Lin Feng…

Shaking the box, he found there were six Pokéblocks inside.

Enough to feed six Pokémon.

What a coincidence.

Li Xiang had a connection with Lugia, and now Lin Feng had one with Ho-Oh.

While Li Xiang couldn't share the Water of Life with Lin Feng, Lin Feng could share the Ho-Oh Temple Pokéblocks with him.

Somehow, Li Xiang felt like he had gained an edge over Lin Feng in terms of luck.

"Hahaha, don't get all sentimental. These things have an expiration date—they'll go bad in a month! Otherwise, do you think they'd end up with you?"

Lin Feng said sarcastically. He didn't like the look on Li Xiang's face, as if they were strangers.

Yes.

All food had an expiration date, and Pokéblocks were no exception.

Lin Feng hadn't been able to find enough Pokémon to feed them to, so he had thought of his good friend.

After that, he planned to sell the rest, but in the end, Lin Feng decided to do both.

Some for himself, some to sell, and some to give to Li Xiang.

Beside them, Lin Lan looked on with envy. Although she was eleven, she hadn't finished elementary school yet and couldn't get a Pokémon.

By the time summer came, these Pokéblocks would have long since gone bad.