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Community Police Station.
Reviewing surveillance footage to determine responsibility, calling parents, and then some good old-fashioned lecturing.
Li Xiang realized he was becoming increasingly familiar with the whole "getting hauled into the police station" routine.
And here he thought he was such an upright and mild-mannered guy.
"Bro, you're way too smooth at this," Lin Feng whispered in Li Xiang's ear. "Honestly, my legs were shaking when I saw them. Felt a bit better after calling my mom, though."
"No kidding, the blame's already been assigned," Li Xiang rolled his eyes at him.
The guys Lin Feng had pissed off clearly weren't the sharpest tools in the shed—or maybe they just had guilty consciences. The moment they stepped into the station, they folded like cheap suits.
They practically lost their spines, heads drooping to their chests, voices so soft and hesitant you'd think they were shy little girls.
The situation was resolved smoothly.
The guy had been caught on video kicking and hitting both his own Pokémon and Lin Feng. Plus, Li Xiang had only restrained him without laying a finger on him…
At its core, it wasn't even that big of a deal, but the real issue was that the guy had immediately released his Pokémon on the spot.
According to him, he'd done it in a fit of rage after arguing with Lin Feng.
—Which, of course, was illegal.
In the city, no one is allowed to release their Pokémon without proper procedure.
If you want to release a Pokémon, you first have to deregister it with the Pokémon Association and explain your reasons.
Then, it's handed over to a conservation base for evaluation, rehabilitation, and eventual release into a suitable wild habitat.
Releasing Pokémon haphazardly can easily disrupt the delicate balance of wild Pokémon ecosystems—basically ecological invasion—and is considered highly unethical.
With the evidence clear as day, this guy was going to pay for his actions.
"By the way, how do you keep running into these situations? First Zhu Huihui, now this guy," Li Xiang feigned ignorance.
Lin Feng responded with a bitter smile. "How should I know? But I just couldn't take it. If you'd seen it, you wouldn't have been able to either…"
As he spoke, he glanced at the Pokémon on the desk in the distance—a bat-scorpion hybrid with a lolling tongue, wide, watery eyes, looking around in confusion and fear.
A Gligar—a Flying/Ground-type Pokémon.
"Hey, what do you think of Gligar?" Lin Feng suddenly asked.
Li Xiang froze, then looked at the Gligar in the distance, his expression shifting to shock.
Holy—holy crap!
He'd completely forgotten about this classic "adopt an abandoned Pokémon" scenario!
The way Li Xiang looked at Lin Feng instantly became complicated.
"Why are you looking at me like that—wait, no! I didn't pick a fight with that guy just because I wanted that Gligar! Don't get the wrong idea!" Lin Feng panicked, waving his hands defensively.
"Relax, I wasn't thinking that," Li Xiang patted his shoulder. "Gligar's a solid Pokémon. If you want to catch it, I fully support you."
Lin Feng grinned, about to say something, but Li Xiang cut in again.
"But! You've gotta get it out of the conservation base first."
Li Xiang gave him a sympathetic pat. The police had already contacted the conservation base, and a breeder would be coming soon to take the poor little thing away.
Lin Feng's smile faltered. "Uh… can't I just adopt it now?"
"Of course not. It hasn't been deregistered yet, and it's still emotionally unstable after being abandoned," Li Xiang chuckled darkly. "Procedural justice, my dude. Gotta follow the rules."
"So what do I do?" Lin Feng grew anxious. "I really want to take it in! Will it take forever?"
The guy had clearly fallen in love with Gligar at first sight and was getting impatient.
Li Xiang's grin turned downright devious as he leaned in and whispered his suggestion to Lin Feng.
And what was that suggestion?
—Become a volunteer!
Don't ask!
Just become a volunteer!
If I had to shovel poop, so do you!
"Will that really work…? You're not messing with me, are you?" Lin Feng frowned, skeptical.
"Come on, why would I lie? That's how I got my Corvisquire!"
Li Xiang coaxed him gently. Before he'd become a volunteer, he'd thought the Pokémon at the conservation base were like his personal harem.
After becoming a volunteer, he realized they were more like his ancestors.
Li Xiang would never forget the day he spent chasing after Mareep, only for the little jerks to poop while running away!
From that day on, he was a staunch Mareep hater.
See one? Beat one!
"I don't know…"
"Your instincts are wrong. Let me tell you about the benefits of being a volunteer. You get to learn about all kinds of Pokémon behaviors, how to handle emergencies…"
While Li Xiang was busy convincing Lin Feng to become a volunteer, the conservation base staff arrived.
It was a breeder under Mrs. Yin's team—someone Li Xiang was familiar with—who came to pick up the Pokémon and, incidentally, bail the two of them out.
"So, are you in or not? They're here now. If you don't speak up, you might not get another chance!"
Li Xiang aggressively nudged Lin Feng.
After much hesitation, Lin Feng finally caved under the weight of Gligar's pleading eyes and gritted his teeth, stepping forward with Li Xiang to join the glorious ranks of volunteers.
And his request was ultimately granted.
The conservation base was always short-staffed and would take almost anyone who wasn't too young.
Child labor?
Nah.
They don't pay you, so it's not child labor.
Volunteering doesn't count.
Don't go slandering people now.
...
Thanks to the afternoon's detour, Li Xiang almost missed his third-round match.
Luckily, the organizers rescheduled it for him.
By the time Li Xiang got out, it was just about time to start.
When he arrived at the battlefield, his opponent showed up right after him.
The Pokémon he used was a common Water-type starter—Croconaw.
As the pre-evolved form of Feraligatr, Croconaw looked more like a chubby caveman compared to its final evolution, especially with the yellow markings on its body.
Incidentally, Feraligatr had the lowest evolution level requirement of all starters—Level 30 in the games.
In this world, that meant it could evolve at Level 27.
Considering Corvisquire was still raring to go and had plenty of stamina left, Li Xiang sent it out again without hesitation.
In the kind of matches he was fighting now, Flying-types had a huge advantage.
*Beeeeep—*
The whistle blew, and the match began!
Corvisquire flapped its wings, closing in on Croconaw while hurling insults about its appearance—taunting was its signature opener.
As expected, Croconaw fell for it. Its Dragon Dance was instantly interrupted, leaving it absolutely furious.
The opponent was equally pissed but at least kept his cool. With stat-boosting moves off the table, he switched tactics and had Croconaw use Aqua Jet, transforming into a soaring water pillar as it shot toward Corvisquire!
With Aqua Jet's boost, it managed to leap five or six meters into the air!
Up above, Corvisquire had already used Tailwind to speed itself up but was startled by Croconaw's sudden ascent and barely dodged in time.
Annoyed, it immediately seized the chance to use Hone Claws, boosting its accuracy and attack.
The opponent probably didn't have many physical moves, so Croconaw just kept spamming Aqua Jet, zigzagging wildly through the air.
But with Tailwind's speed boost, Corvisquire's movements became even more agile. Its incredible control over its body made dodging Croconaw's attacks a breeze.
Compared to Riolu's ground-based assaults, Croconaw's Aqua Jet was child's play to evade.
"Dammit! Why can't I hit it?!"
The opponent clearly hadn't expected Corvisquire to be this slippery. As Croconaw kept missing, his expression grew more frantic.
But suddenly, as Croconaw began falling back to the ground, he switched tactics.
"Scald! Now!"
The guy had actually hidden a special attack move—a ranged one at that!
Croconaw, mid-fall, opened its maw and unleashed a steaming jet of scalding water at Corvisquire!
Corvisquire couldn't dodge in time and took the hit head-on!
Steam rose from its body as the hot water drenched its feathers.
Li Xiang's face fell, thinking his luck had run out and Corvisquire was about to get burned.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
Corvisquire was just soaked, its waterproof oils partially dissolved, making it less agile than before.
—A roundabout way of lowering its speed and evasion.
Not wanting to drag things out, Li Xiang seized the moment as Croconaw landed and prepared its next move.
"Brave Bird."
With a low cry, Corvisquire endured the heat and summoned the translucent blue energy, its feathers scattering like an angel's as it transformed into a spectral raptor!
The charging process took a solid seven or eight seconds.
Meanwhile, Croconaw had already used Aqua Jet again, rocketing upward!
Li Xiang understood the opponent's plan—to interrupt Brave Bird with a speedy Aqua Jet.
But he'd already calculated the timing. Corvisquire would finish charging before Croconaw could reach it.
And just as he predicted, right before Croconaw could connect, the spectral raptor slammed into it head-on!
BOOM—!
Energy exploded, filling the sky with mist!
A second later, Croconaw's limp body fell through the haze, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud!
"Oof…"
Croconaw groaned, feeling like its insides had been rearranged.
But Corvisquire wasn't done yet. As Croconaw hit the dirt, Corvisquire burst through the smoke, wings glowing blue as it delivered two swift, brutal slashes to Croconaw's body!
Wham! Wham!
Corvisquire nimbly returned to the sky while Croconaw's eyes swirled, knocked out cold.
The match was over.
"SCREEE—!"
Corvisquire ignored its own pain and exhaustion, letting out another triumphant cry!
This was its right!
The victor had the privilege to proclaim it to the world!
On the ground, Li Xiang sighed. He was starting to think Corvisquire might be a little too full of itself.
Hot-tempered, foul-mouthed, arrogant… this bird had way too many flaws.
But hey, it wasn't all bad.