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

"Finally... the big one's coming!"

Wang Tao rubbed his hands in excitement as he watched Su Bai's movements.

After all, in their eyes, Su Bai was the real deal—a genuine Pokémon tamer. Whether it was Rotom, Ditto, or the two adorable but terrifyingly powerful Mythical Pokémon, he had proven again and again just how strong his team was.

Over the course of countless battles, Meloetta and Diancie had become etched in everyone's mind with one simple impression:

Unstoppable.

So hearing that Su Bai was about to unveil a new Pokémon, their excitement matched—even surpassed—his own. Everyone insisted on staying to witness the reveal firsthand.

Not just Wang Tao. All of Su Bai's regular customers had craned their necks in anticipation.

Su Bai chuckled. No point in stalling.

"Well then... time for you all to see what real strength looks like. The result of my latest connection with the Pokémon world... this guy is the first!"

With a grin, Su Bai slammed his hand onto the Pokédex.

A stream of blazing red light shot out, whirling above their heads before crashing down to the ground!

The light dispersed—and a Charizard emerged with a roar that shook the entire room!

"Ho—holy crap! That's insane!"

Wang Tao was absolutely stunned, his eyes glued to the magnificent Pokémon before him.

And the others? Not much better.

With its iconic orange hide and Western dragon physique, Charizard exuded raw power. Its tail blazed with intense flames—undeniably Fire-type. It spread its massive wings, revealing a turquoise underside.

From its coloration to its build, everything about it screamed dominance. Just seeing it was enough to sense how formidable this Pokémon was.

"I thought it'd be another Mythical like Diancie," Liu Yunlan muttered, eyes wide as she stepped closer. "But this one… this one's a beast!"

She nearly drooled as she stared at Charizard.

This particular Charizard gave off an obviously aloof air. It shot a side glance filled with disdain, turning its head away as if uninterested in the audience.

Yet in front of Su Bai, it behaved completely differently.

The moment it looked away from the others, it turned back to him with a joyful expression and rubbed its massive head against Su Bai's chest.

Liu Yunlan immediately deflated, visibly annoyed.

Su Bai grinned and gave Charizard's head a few solid pats, unable to contain his own excitement.

This was Charizard, after all.

No matter the generation, no matter the player—who wouldn't want one? Beautiful, powerful, and iconic.

Sure, he didn't get to raise it himself—it came fully trained from the system.

But as the Pokémon Center's manager, his primary goal was to spread Pokémon across this world and spark transformation.

He didn't have the luxury of time to raise every Pokémon from scratch.

Maybe one day, when the world stabilized and people lived in peace, he'd walk the path of a solo Pokémon trainer.

But for now, he couldn't afford to relax.

"This Charizard… is massive!" someone said in awe.

"It's not as long as a Gyarados, but it's way more intimidating!"

Zhou Xiaofei gently touched Charizard's hide. It was rough and warm to the touch—completely different from the cold, smooth scales of a Gyarados. He couldn't resist touching it again.

"It's definitely a large specimen," Su Bai nodded.

According to the Pokédex, the standard height for Charizard was 1.7 meters. Compared to Gyarados' average 7–8 meters, it wasn't considered large.

But this one?

Even discounting its powerful aura, this Charizard stood over three meters tall—nearly double the usual height.

If the Pokémon Center lobby didn't have a high ceiling—over twenty meters—things might've started feeling cramped.

As the Pokémon Center's owner and a guest lecturer at Haicheng No. 1 High School, Su Bai automatically switched into educational mode.

"Charizard is a Fire/Flying-type. From those big wings, it's obvious that it can fly—and quite well. Carrying me into the air is no problem at all."

Charizard huffed proudly, letting out a sharp snort with sparks flaring from its nostrils.

No problem at all? If Su Bai asked, it would fly with him to the ends of the earth!

Su Bai laughed and patted its head again, signaling it to calm down.

"Flying's just one part of its ability set," he continued. "More importantly, look at its tail—the flames it produces are incredibly intense. It's a master of high-temperature firepower."

"Remember how Ding Yue's Talonflame dominated trainer battles with just Ember? If it had been Charizard… that edge would've been even stronger."

"That said, Charizard's also extremely proud. If it considers its opponent too weak, it won't even bother breathing fire."

"Charizard also has alternate forms… but that's a topic for another day."

He was, of course, referring to Mega Evolutions. But since the current version of the world hadn't unlocked those yet, Su Bai didn't go into detail.

Everyone fell silent.

Su Bai's explanation basically amounted to: You're too weak to interest my Charizard.

And as much as that stung... they couldn't deny it.

They could fight off S-class death beasts—but against Su Bai's Pokémon? They'd be flattened.

"Okay, okay! We get it! We're weak!"

Wang Tao rolled his eyes and glanced at Charizard enviously.

"I want a flying-type Pokémon too…"

His Torterra and Hippopotas were purely Ground-type. Flying-types were their worst matchups.

But with his current compatibility index, getting a flying-type wasn't going to be easy...

"I want one too..." Ding Yue muttered, barely hiding the longing in her eyes.

She was the heiress of the Ding Group. She had invested so much in the Pokémon arrival—from building the Pokémon Center to providing key resources.

And yet, her own Pokémon weren't even that rare!

Talonflame and Nidoqueen were strong, yes. Solid growth curves, powerful later stages.

But with so many resources at her fingertips, it just felt like she wasn't using them to their full potential.

She wanted to be a pay-to-win whale! Like that lucky bastard Zhang Qun, who pulled rare Pokémon without breaking a sweat.

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up," Zhang Qun muttered, wiping drool from his mouth.

"I've got a pseudo-legendary. I'm good. I'm good…"

He sighed. "I mean, forget Mythicals like Meloetta or Diancie—even Rotom and Ditto haven't shown up in the gacha yet…"

Su Bai, the Pokémon Center boss, had become a symbol of excellence to every aspiring Trainer.

His every action stirred waves.

People desperately wanted the same Pokémon as him…

Su Bai chuckled. Forget Meloetta and Diancie—no one should expect to get those.

Mythicals weren't meant to be handed out easily.

Even pseudo-legendaries were rare—and the Pokémon shop hadn't even produced one yet.

Clearly, rarity mattered in this world too.

But...

He waved a hand.

"My other Pokémon? Yeah, those are hard to get. But Charizard…"

"Well, it's not impossible."

"Sure, it's rare—but back at the Pokémon House, I actually saw a Squirtle show up once."

"Squirtle and Charizard are in the same tier. Not common, but not unobtainable."

"And I'm not talking about drawing from the Pokédex or the Pokémon shop."

He smiled mysteriously.

"Three days from now… you just might encounter a wild Charizard in the wilderness."

"Not just Charizard—even Squirtle and Bulbasaur, the others, may start appearing."

"How's that for exciting?"