Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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It was Porygon's turn.

This time, Lin Feng didn't dare to have Porygon use Agility again. It was simply too fast for Porygon to handle at its current level. Even just using Sharpen to transform its feet into gear-like wheels gave it incredible speed.

In a way, this revealed that Porygon's Sharpen worked differently from others', granting it a speed boost—a pseudo Dragon Dance! This significantly elevated the value of Sharpen.

However, despite this advantage, Riolu, equipped with several priority moves and the ability to enhance its Agility with Prankster, was unlikely to lose.

The one thing Li Xiang was cautious about was Lin Feng's Porygon knowing Psybeam, a Psychic-type special attack. While its base power wasn't high, Porygon's special attack stat was no joke.

Given Riolu's less than desirable defenses, it likely couldn't withstand even one hit.

Riolu was, after all, quite frail in the defense specs. Without Candy, it could barely endure any effective attacks.

Fortunately, the current "Akina SpeedStar" (Porygon) hadn't yet mastered drifting. Its turning radius was both obvious and rigid.

Li Xiang quickly caught on to this, relaying the information to Riolu, which had been evading Porygon's Psybeam while biding its time for an opportunity.

Successfully identifying the gap in Porygon's movement during a turn, Riolu positioned itself directly in its path, charging up Sky Uppercut for the inevitable collision.

By the time Porygon and Lin Feng realized what was happening, it was already too late. Porygon, much like a speeding car, couldn't stop on a dime.

Riolu's Sky Uppercut landed squarely on Porygon, sending it airborne just like it had done with Charmander earlier. It followed up with a Vacuum Wave, executing a smooth combo.

The Sky Uppercut-into-Vacuum Wave combo was the first Li Xiang had taught Riolu. Against grounded Pokémon with no aerial maneuverability, this sequence was highly effective.

Porygon was a bit tougher than Charmander, but super-effective moves are hard to shrug off.

As a result, Porygon fainted on the spot, transforming into a "dead duck" lying limp on the ground.

Fast, decisive, and with no wasted movements.

"…That combo was way too quick," Lin Feng muttered, feeling deeply aggrieved as he joined Charmander in comforting Porygon.

Li Xiang shrugged.

To be honest, aside from professional tank Pokémon, very few offensive Pokémon could endure multiple super-effective hits.

If both sides were frail and focused on speed and offense, battles could be even more thrilling, often decided in a single move.

Of course, team composition exists to prevent such scenarios.

Tanks absorb damage, attackers deal it, and support Pokémon provide utility. A well-rounded team plays to each member's strengths, forming a cohesive whole.

Attempting to train every Pokémon as a jack-of-all-trades is a waste of potential. Even for someone like Li Xiang with Candy to spare, his approach remained consistent: Pokémon suited for offense should focus on offense. With Candy, they can be pushed even further, creating an overwhelming gap in strength compared to others.

With four pieces of Candy collected, Riolu had endured two consecutive battles and was utterly exhausted. Collapsing onto the ground, it panted heavily.

After all, fighting was exhausting—not to mention having to remain constantly alert while dodging attacks and carefully seizing opportunities.

Even though the Pokédex claimed that Riolu could traverse three mountains and two valleys in a single night, such claims were often exaggerated and ignored the variance between individual Pokémon.

The Pokédex's tendency to oversimplify and overstate has been a long-standing issue.

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In the afternoon, the lesson was about status conditions.

To everyone's surprise, the teacher for this class turned out to be their homeroom teacher, Sun Chengbin.

"Teacher Luo is on leave, so I'll be taking this class," he said nonchalantly before releasing a Pokémon.

A chubby purple Drifloon, with its cotton-like cloud head, red eyes, a yellow "X" for a mouth, and four ribbon-like arms, appeared before the class.

Drifloon was a Ghost/Flying-type Pokémon. According to Sun Chengbin, it knew Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Swagger, Toxic, and could also use Secret Power to inflict Ice-type effects.

It seemed designed to showcase nearly every status condition.

Interestingly, confusion wasn't technically classified as a status condition, but because items that cure status conditions also worked on confusion, it was often considered one.

The demonstration target was Sun Chengbin's Toxicroak, the same one they had seen at the start of the semester.

"Not long ago, you learned about status conditions in class. It hasn't been that long, so there's no excuse to forget. [Student's name], tell me—what is the effect of Burn?"

Sun Chengbin randomly called on a student.

Burn status continuously saps the afflicted Pokémon's HP and reduces their physical attack power. However, unlike in the games, the reduction is less severe—it doesn't halve the attack stat.

Status conditions like weather effects had been heavily nerfed in this setting.

Toxic and Poison lost their percentage-based scaling, weakening them significantly.

Paralysis no longer halved speed but still disrupted movement and was effective for controlling speed.

Freeze was essentially a "stand there and get hit" condition, and notably, the only status condition without a 100% accurate inducing move.

Sleep rendered Pokémon "lying there and taking hits," while Confusion left them "flailing and occasionally hurting themselves."

"Good," Sun Chengbin acknowledged, letting the student sit down.

"Status conditions are unique—they cannot stack. This property allows us to use moves like Rest to overwrite Poison/Toxic, Paralysis, and Burn. However, Freeze cannot be replaced, and Confusion is unaffected."

Moves like Rest became widely taught to Pokémon as a counter to status conditions.

For instance, physical attackers afflicted with Burn or speedy Pokémon hit with Paralysis would see their combat effectiveness drastically reduced.

That said, relying on Rest to counter status conditions had its drawbacks. Since waking up is unpredictable, an opponent could easily take advantage of the downtime to reapply a status condition once the Pokémon awakens.

Thus, mastery of timing became crucial for trainers.

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After the lecture, Toxicroak served as a demonstration model, enduring every conceivable status condition inflicted by Drifloon.

From Freeze to Confusion, it experienced the full spectrum, ending up sprawled on the ground, barely moving.

"What a rough day," Li Xiang murmured, while Riolu beside him looked on with admiration.

To Riolu, Toxicroak's endurance through all these status conditions was a testament to its indomitable willpower—something it aspired to emulate.

"With a calm heart, the skies may collapse, but one remains unshaken. Even amid chaos, the spirit stays serene."

Riolu deeply yearned to embody this mantra, which Li Xiang had once explained to it, taking a page out of the countless cultivation novels he had read.