Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

For many people, that holds true, Including Li Xiang.

Although the Guzzlord attacks were happening far away in the Archipelago Region, he couldn't feel optimistic.

After all, he was well aware of how terrifying Guzzlord could be.

—The animated version of the Ultra Beast world.

Even a single ordinary Guzzlord had managed to destroy the Alola Region in that parallel world.

In the games, the people of the Ultra Beast world had even fled to another planet.

Though environmental pollution might have been a contributing factor, the destruction of the Ultra Beast world remains a mystery, and Guzzlord's destructive power is indisputable.

Even though it's practically useless in the games—its 4x weakness to Fairy-types and peculiar stat distribution make it an easy target for Fairy-type Pokémon.

But reality and games must be kept separate.

From the videos exposed online, Guzzlords don't seem to act like the dimwitted creatures in the games that insist on using Dragon-type moves against Fairy-types, even when it's ineffective.

Moves like Belch, Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb, Gyro Ball, and Iron Tail are frequently used against Fairy-types in reality.

This suggests that Guzzlords possess high intelligence, adapting their moves based on their opponents, rather than stubbornly relying on ineffective strategies.

Moreover, they're incredibly tough and resilient. Even attacks from Fairy-types that should deal 4x damage seem to have little effect on them, allowing them to counterattack effortlessly.

This is the root of their unrestrained rampage.

Additionally, Li Xiang couldn't shake the feeling that Guzzlords could rapidly recover their physical energy by consuming rubble.

Otherwise, where does the debris—often thousands of times larger than their own bodies—go after they swallow it?

It can't be that their mouths are some kind of portal, transporting the debris to another dimension, can it?

In short - 

With their durability, offensive power, and ability to recover using readily available materials, Guzzlords are undeniably terrifying.

What if, the Guzzlords arrived in the Zhu Xia Region, in Qingcheng City? Would the city where he had lived for over a decade be capable of resisting such creatures?

Li Xiang felt a question mark hanging over that thought.

Speaking of which - He once came across an interesting theory.

The gist of it was that Guzzlord evolved from an Alolan Muk after unintentionally ingesting Zygarde cells in their cellular form.

The person who proposed this theory had provided substantial evidence, with plenty of detailed speculation to back it up.

It seemed quite plausible.

Game Freak has always loved burying Easter eggs like this in their games for players to ponder, while resolutely refusing to confirm anything.

Easter eggs like the ghost hand in Lavender Town or the weight difference between Gengar and Clefable remain unexplained even after twenty years.

Li Xiang personally found this Easter egg theory credible.

The evidence and similarities were just too compelling.

Coupled with Guzzlord's omnivorous nature...

"There's still no sign of resolution."

Li Xiang held his Litten in his arms, sitting in front of his computer as he waited for updates from the Archipelago Region.

It was already 11 PM.

Ms. Yin showed no signs of returning home.

Li Zhehan, however, was sailing steadily and safely. If all went well, he'd arrive at Qingcheng Port by the afternoon after tomorrow.

To be honest,

Li Xiang still had confidence in this world's combat capabilities.

Even if the opponent was somewhat out of the ordinary.

After all, the number of Guzzlords is finite. Unless they could fight non-stop, restoring their stamina by consuming ruins and rubble, and maintain peak combat power 24/7 for 365 days a year...

Otherwise, dealing with them would only be a matter of time.

The Archipelago Region... He remembered that there were about a hundred Master-level trainers there. The Champion was—

Neil Cook.

Li Xiang skimmed through the career records of this nearly fifty-year-old Champion.

Unlike the prodigy Xia Chunyu, this elder with a name resembling a character from a certain game had a rough journey, one that could easily fill a legendary biography.

His ace Pokémon was a Kommo-o, with a level as high as 87. The only record Li Xiang could find online of someone using a Z-Move seemed to come from him.

However, the details were vague, making it impossible for Li Xiang to determine which Z-Move was used.

He tried to find footage of Champion Neil using a Z-Move but came up empty. Ordinary battle footage was available, though.

It was as if this particular record had been deliberately erased.

Why?

Mega Evolution, despite being similarly rare, has always been publicly showcased, frequently appearing in world tournaments.

There must be some hidden agenda here—

Sigh.

Li Xiang sighed. At his current level, he was far too weak to get involved in such matters.

"Meow!"

The plump feline caretaker began urging the middle schooler to go to bed, reminding him to take care of his eyes.

"Hahaha, I'll sleep soon, I'll sleep soon."

Li Xiang smiled at Purugly, but when he looked down, he saw that the Litten in his arms was already in a drowsy, half-asleep state.

"…Forget it, let's sleep."

After all, he still had school tomorrow.

Waiting here wouldn't change anything.

.....

The Next Day

Li Xiang woke up early.

After quickly washing up, he opened his computer to check the news and browse the forums—

No resolution.

The Guzzlords continued to rampage through cities, consuming ruins and debris.

According to the information released so far, the Association claimed that Master-level Trainers and local police forces in the region were working hard to clear out these unknown Pokémon.

Lockdown was in effect once again.

Fortunately, most civilians had already been evacuated to other cities, leaving only a small number of disaster victims stranded in the war zone.

However, Li Xiang believed that if the Trainers and police in the Archipelago Region couldn't resolve the Guzzlord situation soon, other cities wouldn't be spared.

At the current rate of destruction, it wouldn't take more than a week for them to expand their "hunting" range.

This brought up an important question:

Where was the military?

—It had been disbanded. 

Long ago, when the Pokémon League was formed and regional integration began, the armies of various nations were either dissolved or repurposed.

Most of their personnel were absorbed into local police forces.

Additionally - 

This world's industry for lethal weapons, like in the anime, wasn't particularly advanced.

There were firearms and explosives, but Pokémon had always been the dominant force in this world.

Relations between regions were primarily about peaceful competition, with strength being demonstrated through Trainers in the World Championships, rather than through the show of arms or military might.

At least, everyone maintained the facade of harmonious coexistence.

Even those countries unwilling to join the League were merely stripped of their feudal systems, without having their wealth plundered.

Much like in the anime—Mirage Kingdom from Advanced Generation, the Lucario Kingdom from Diamond & Pearl, or the Azoth Kingdom and Orudoran Castle from the movies.

Royalty still existed but had lost their authority to rule and act with impunity.

When Li Xiang first read this world's history, he had nothing but admiration for those who had established the Pokémon League.

The power required to accomplish such an almost impossible feat was unimaginable.

Perhaps, the nature of this world's humans, compared to his past life, also played a part.

Back to the topic at hand—

The Archipelago Region was still dealing with the mess.

Other regions couldn't simply stand by either; they were just as busy.

This much was evident from Ms. Yin, who had spent the entire night in meetings, only returning home around 4 or 5 in the morning.

This wave of Ultra Beast chaos had put everyone on edge across all regions. Many eyes were now focused on the Archipelago Region.

If they couldn't handle it, the League would surely dispatch support from other regions. There was no way they would let things spiral out of control indefinitely.

After all, they had all agreed to mutual assistance from the start.