Everyone Else Awakened, But I Just Opened a Pokémon Pet Shop

"Tch… what rotten luck."

At Haicheng's main gate, moving against the tide of citizens joyously leaving the city, was a man trying to enter—Li Jian.

A nearby guard scoffed loudly in disdain, clearly directing the insult at him.

Li Jian's head snapped up, veins bulging on his forehead as he glared at the guard.

It was the same one who had mocked him last time. Now the guard narrowed his eyes and sneered,

"Back to reap the spoils of victory, are we?"

"If it weren't for regulations, I'd rather not let you in at all."

He looked at Li Jian with contempt.

"You weren't here when we were risking our lives, but now that the fighting's over, here you are, ready to pick fruit off someone else's tree. Shameful, isn't it?"

Li Jian, an S-class Contract Master, had never been insulted like this—especially by a lowly guard.

He nearly unleashed his Contract Beast on the spot.

But when he noticed the crowd gathering and whispering around him, he swallowed his fury and lowered his head.

"Not worth it…"

The guard clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. Not long ago, a small Pokémon military unit had escorted something to the Pokémon Center. He had hoped this arrogant man would lose his cool and give him an excuse…

"If you're going in, hurry up. Don't block the gate!"

"Can't you see the entrance is packed? Everyone's rushing out to plant berry trees!"

Li Jian gritted his teeth and marched through the city gate, fuming.

Inside Li Jian's Contract Beast shop…

Once a reasonably successful business, it now lay in disrepair.

After all, now that Pokémon had entered the picture, who would bother with contract beasts that were weaker and far harder to control?

Li Jian sat in a lavish reception room, slowly rubbing a ring on his finger, eyes glinting with cold malice.

"Just wait… wait until they've all left…"

Hatred had consumed him, bloodshot eyes betraying how far gone he was.

A faint black mist—Death Aura—began to rise subtly from the ring.

Outside the city, at the very edge of the territory reclaimed from the Death beasts.

Zhu Jianyuan placed a hand on a massive stone monument.

"Corviknight and the others have been sent back to Haicheng. They're now at the Pokémon Center."

"Don't worry… we'll guard everything you helped win back."

"No, more than that—we'll expand our territory for all of humanity."

"Just stay here… and watch over us."

Su Bai stood silently behind him.

On the towering stone were fifteen engraved names—each belonging to a soldier from the Pokémon Corps who had fallen in the final battle.

The Pokémon who had survived—Corviknight, Floatzel, Falinks—should've continued fighting. But the moment their trainers died, their will to battle shattered too.

No matter what Zhu Jianyuan thought, Su Bai would never allow Pokémon to be forced into combat like that.

So Su Bai had personally sealed them back into their Poké Balls, and Zhu assigned the remaining A-rank Awakened to escort them safely back to the city.

Truth be told, Su Bai couldn't understand why Zhu insisted on burying the soldiers here, so far from home.

Didn't they have families back in Haicheng? Shouldn't they be laid to rest in their birthplace?

Zhu Jianyuan must've noticed his confusion. He chuckled softly and turned to explain.

"It was what Xiao Liu and the whole expedition team wanted."

"Before we set out, we all made peace with death. Every one of us knew we might not return."

"Our promise was simple: if we die, bury us on the very land we reclaimed."

"Let us continue guarding it… even in death."

He paused, then added solemnly,

"And there's another reason."

"We welcome the families of the fallen to visit this place. And in doing so, we declare this—"

Zhu Jianyuan turned to Su Bai, eyes blazing with conviction.

"We will never—ever—allow this land to fall back into the hands of the Death beasts!"

Su Bai was shaken.

He had known that the Pokémon Corps had iron-strong will—but this?

Even in death, they would continue to defend this land.

He stepped forward without a word and placed a bouquet of fresh flowers at the foot of the monument.

In the skies above, thunder rumbled in the distance.

A single raindrop landed on the petals.

The air grew thick and damp.

Su Bai looked up, palm outstretched.

"Looks like it's going to rain tonight."

Zhu Jianyuan nodded.

"Yeah. But don't worry. All of Haicheng's forces are already deployed. We're building temporary shelters along the way."

"Our people… won't be beaten by a little rain."

He patted Su Bai's shoulder with a confident grin.

"The future we hoped for—it's almost here."

Night fell.

Haicheng was unusually quiet.

Inside the Pokémon Storage Center, Zhou Xiaofei looked at the gloomy, spiritless Pokémon lined up in front of him. His heart ached.

"Don't be sad, okay? Corviknight, Floatzel, Falinks… you have to stay strong!"

The little boy clenched his fists tightly, trying his best to cheer them up.

"My mom and dad were killed by Death beasts too! But I still have to keep going, and so do you!"

"You were amazing—your trainers would be heartbroken if they saw you like this."

Zhou jumped and waved his arms enthusiastically, pouring all his energy into comforting the grieving Pokémon.

When he had learned about their story, he had cried for a long time.

Now, barely holding himself together, he was trying to lift them from their sorrow.

Beside him, Magikarp flopped around aimlessly, unfazed by its trainer's passion.

Zhou truly cared—but the sorrow of losing one's trainer wasn't something an outsider, especially a child, could easily heal.

Corviknight glanced up briefly, then lowered its head again.

For them, without their trainers, it didn't matter where they were.

If Su Bai hadn't forced them back into Poké Balls, they might have chosen to remain beside that monument forever.

Zhou's mouth was dry from talking, but he refused to give up.

Just as he was about to start again, Magikarp suddenly leaped up and splashed him with water.

He blinked, stunned, then glanced at the large monitor.

"Oh right! Thank you, Magikarp! It's almost training time!"

Even though the Pokémon Center had no customers lately, its training facilities were still available.

But as a responsible employee, Zhou never used them during business hours.

So, once his shift ended, he would always take Magikarp for training right away.

"Wait a second, Magikarp! I need to take out the trash first!"

He grabbed the trash bag and hurried to the front hall.

With Ditto and Rotom busy with other tasks, cleaning duty fell squarely on Zhou whenever Su Bai wasn't around.

Even if it was just a small pile, Zhou was determined—no trash was left overnight on his watch!

Moments later, he stepped outside with the bag in hand.

"Whoa… it's pouring!"

A massive rumble of thunder greeted him as he opened the door.

The soundproofing inside the Pokémon Center was top-tier, to prevent outside disturbances to the Pokémon.

In fact, the external Pokémon habitat areas were protected by unique rules—the weather in those zones was completely isolated from the outside world.

So, Zhou had no idea it had started raining.

Thankfully, the trash bin was nearby. He tossed the bag in without needing to step far.

But just as he turned to go back inside, something caught the corner of his eye.

In the shadows near the Pokémon Center's outer wall…

A small figure peeked out, drenched and shivering in the cold rain.