Pokemon: I refuse to be a supporting character!

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Li Zhehan mentioned that he brought a gift for him.

Naturally, Li Xiang was delighted. Knowing his father's character, anything he chose to mention in advance was bound to be exceptional.

However, Li Xiang's curiosity was more piqued by what exactly had happened in the Archipelago Region.

Previously, he had asked Li Zhehan about it, but his father explained that outsiders were not permitted to leave the port area and could only move around within its boundaries. Thus, he wasn't clear on the specifics either.

Quite regrettable.

Unable to get an answer from his father, Li Xiang resorted to scouring the internet with the help of translation tools and dictionaries, searching word by word.

Unexpectedly, he stumbled upon a clue.

Someone claimed to have discovered a new species of Pokémon and even shared a photo.

—A blurry shadow so indistinct that even its basic outline was unclear.

Li Xiang squinted hard, barely managing to discern a tall, slender humanoid figure with faintly visible limbs.

It… might as well have been a stretched-out Hitmonlee, and Li Xiang would have believed it.

The descriptions of its appearance were equally baffling, leaving him with a head full of questions.

At first, Li Xiang speculated that it might be Mewtwo successfully engineered and escaped from a research facility.

But, that didn't seem plausible.

Given Mewtwo's abilities, its escape would surely be earth-shattering, enough to destroy an entire island—or at least a laboratory. Such an event couldn't possibly stay hidden.

The news would likely report it as a mysterious explosion.

However, Li Xiang couldn't find any reports of explosions in the Archipelago Region. Even when he posted a query online, likely due to some grammar issue, nobody responded.

With no leads, Li Xiang had no choice but to shelve the matter temporarily.

As the days passed, his packed schedule—rigorous academics, daily battle training, martial arts practice, and observing matches to broaden his knowledge—left him with little free time to think about anything else.

Diligently striving to improve himself, Li Xiang seemed to have genuinely forgotten the issue.

Until.

One week after Li Zhehan departed the Archipelago Region, Li Xiang clicked on a suddenly trending forum post with rapidly growing responses.

Inside was a long video.

At last, his unanswered questions found resolution.

The video's backdrop appeared to be a bustling, modern city in a tropical region. The perspective came from above, offering a bird's-eye view.

Disaster.

Massive, pitch-black creatures towering as high as buildings, their bodies radiating fiery auras, were attacking the city. They smashed skyscrapers, crushed cars, ripped out streetlights and signs, and devoured them with terrifying jaws.

Steel crumpled like paper under their razor-sharp teeth, producing an ear-piercing screech before being effortlessly swallowed, vanishing entirely.

Yes.

Destruction and consumption.

It was like a calamity descending upon the world—scenes one would expect only in apocalyptic science fiction novels.

It resembled the alien invaders in War of the Worlds, piloting giant machines to harvest life indiscriminately.

Everywhere the camera looked, there were explosions, flames, ruins, and debris.

People screamed as they fled in all directions. Crowds of humans and Pokémon scrambled for safety amidst blaring sirens that echoed to the heavens.

From the aerial view, they looked like a swarm of ants whose nest had been attacked.

Utterly shocking.

This city was doomed.

Anyone who saw the scenes in this video—this disaster striking like an unstoppable force of nature—would undoubtedly think so.

And the creatures attacking the city were burned into Li Xiang's memory.

Ultra Beasts.

Dimensional entities introduced in the seventh generation, these beings crossed into other worlds through Ultra Wormholes. Possessing terrifying power, they posed a lethal threat to both humans and Pokémon.

Li Xiang couldn't recall what the blurry photo had depicted earlier.

But the colossal creatures wreaking havoc in the video matched the Ultra Beasts from his memory perfectly.

The pitch-black bodies, the gaping mouths lined with yellow teeth, tunnel-like throats, tendrils protruding from their mouths ending in claw-like appendages, and their wrecking-ball tails—every bizarre detail confirmed it.

This was UB05: Guzzlord.

The Glutton Pokémon.

Moreover.

These weren't just one or two five-meter-tall standard Guzzlords.

In the video alone, there were at least a dozen of them, each towering over ten meters tall—gigantic, disaster-level beasts completely defying logic!

These creatures radiated a strange aura, exuding an oppressive presence as they relentlessly destroyed everything in sight.

No Pokémon standing in their path lasted more than a moment!

And beyond that...

Ability: Beast Boost!

In the game, its effect is: every time an opponent is defeated, it boosts the Ultra Beast's most prominent stat!

This ability plays a major role in these creatures' unrestrained destruction and devouring of everything in their path!

Li Xiang even spotted a shiny white Guzzlord in the video!

It was also the largest one, at least 12 meters tall, comparable to a three-story building. Its two thick tendrils casually tore apart a reinforced concrete structure like it was snapping a cookie!

"I should've guessed… but the size doesn't add up," Li Xiang muttered in disbelief as he watched the shaky video footage.

The Archipelago Region.

Its equivalent in his previous life was Hawaii.

And Hawaii was the inspiration for the Alola Region!

Z-Moves and Z-Rings have always existed in this world, a fact Li Xiang knew well.

However, the number of Z-Crystals and Z-Rings in this world is exceedingly rare—practically one in a million—similar to Mega Evolution, with only a few people capable of using them.

There's almost no information about Z-Moves online, and they've never appeared in world tournaments.

The last known record of their use is only documented in text on the internet.

This caused Li Xiang to overlook them entirely.

But regardless of Z-Moves, these Guzzlords are outrageously oversized.

In his memory, the original height of a Guzzlord was just over five meters. These creatures, however, were at least double that size!

If size correlates to energy levels...

Then...

How high is the energy level of these Guzzlords?

The final second of the video ended with a Guzzlord spotting the camera operator and unleashing a fire that consumed everything in its path.

However, since the video was uploaded, it's safe to assume the cameraman is unharmed. After all, in this era, uploading videos isn't as convenient as it was in his previous life.

But this raises another question.

What's the connection between the Archipelago Region's coastal lockdown and the Guzzlords' citywide destruction?

Did the Archipelago Region's Pokémon Association anticipate the Guzzlords' arrival?

And what is that mysterious humanoid shadow? Another Ultra Beast?

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Online, discussions about the Archipelago Region had erupted into a frenzy.

Everyone was talking about Guzzlords. Large-scale attacks like this, targeting cities, haven't happened in a long time.

Such events might occasionally occur in small, independent nations in the Middle East that refuse to join the Pokémon League.

But the Archipelago Region?

That's a highly developed technological society!

Li Xiang rushed downstairs, ignoring the protests of the three cats engrossed in watching TV, and frantically flipped through channels.

Sure enough, many news stations were reporting on the incident.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Li Xiang, Mom has to attend an emergency meeting at the base. Stay at home and don't wander off."

Ms. Yin came rushing downstairs while buttoning up her coat, her tone unusually stern.

Li Xiang nodded, watching as Ms. Yin departed with her Florges and Meowstic.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Zhehan had managed to leave the Archipelago Region in time and was only a day or two away from arriving home.

Still, making a phone call seemed necessary.