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

"W-Whoa!"

Wang Tao's jaw dropped as he stared at Su Bai, who sat atop Charizard's head, his expression completely stunned.

"That's… that's some real magic! Su Bai, when did you learn that trick?!"

But then he seemed to notice something and shouted again,

"Wait—what the hell is going on?!"

His eyes grew wider and wider as the realization sank in.

Su Bai had always been full of strange surprises—after all, he was someone with a hidden-class ability that let him communicate with another world. Having secrets was normal.

But this? This was on a whole new level!

The towering beam of light descending from the sky was gentle, not destructive, yet dazzling enough to leave everyone slack-jawed with awe.

It was… too much!

Liu Yunlan pointed a trembling finger and began counting aloud.

"One… two… eight… thirteen…?!"

"Thirteen of them?!"

"Thirteen identical Ladies?!"

"And they're all wearing nurse outfits? Su Bai, damn! I didn't know you had such a wild side—what kind of taste is this?!"

Before she could finish her sentence, a coiled vine shot out and smacked her square on the head.

"OWWW!" Liu Yunlan cried out, clutching her head and crouching down in tears.

On Charizard's back, Su Bai wore an expression of pure exasperation, black lines forming across his forehead as he silently retracted the vine.

He looked at the crowd and sighed.

"You guys are thinking way too much. Let me explain."

Clearing his throat, Su Bai addressed the crowd.

"These individuals are not ordinary people. They've come here through my communication with the Pokémon world."

"They are members of the Joy family, and you may refer to all of them simply as Nurse Joy."

The thirteen Nurse Joys stood in a neat row, their fiery red hair coiled into twin loops near their ears.

Dressed in their iconic white nurse uniforms with warm, serene smiles, they radiated kindness and professionalism.

Beside each Joy stood a variety of Pokémon in matching nurse attire—Chansey, Blissey, Audino, Wigglytuff, Indeedee, and Comfey.

These Pokémon were the quintessential companions of Nurse Joy.

At Su Bai's cue, the Joys all smiled and waved at the crowd.

"Ahh! That smile is so healing!"

"Nurse Joy is so beautiful!"

"Waaaah, is she a Trainer too?!"

"Those Pokémon are adorable!"

"Look, that's Wigglytuff! I don't recognize the others though…"

"Wait a sec—people from the Pokémon world? There are humans there too?!"

Murmurs of amazement rippled through the crowd.

Up until now, Su Bai had only summoned Pokémon—this was the first time actual humans had descended from the Pokémon world!

What shocked everyone even more was how normal they looked—almost identical to Earthlings in appearance.

Naturally, curiosity bubbled up like a volcano.

Many were already tempted to run up and ask Nurse Joy what life in the Pokémon world was like.

But Su Bai was prepared for that.

"Ahem…"

"We now have thirteen Pokémon Adventure Stations in place, and each Nurse Joy will be stationed at one."

"They'll assist Trainers out in the field and are officially part of our Pokémon Center staff."

"However, due to certain restrictions, Nurse Joy is not allowed to answer any questions about the Pokémon world."

"Asking her about it will only make things difficult for her, so please understand and refrain."

A chorus of disappointed sighs followed immediately. Clearly, many had their curiosity stifled.

Wang Tao raised his hand enthusiastically,

"Since Nurse Joy is heading to the adventure stations, I volunteer to escort her!"

He slapped the shell of his Torterra proudly.

"My Torterra is strong and reliable—he'll keep Nurse Joy safe, guaranteed!"

For once, Wang Tao seemed exceptionally eager.

Su Bai looked at the chubby guy trying to memorize each Nurse Joy's face. It was obvious what he was up to.

'Only someone like Brock could probably tell them apart anyway…'

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Nurse Joys already have their Pokémon for protection. They don't need any escort."

"And besides, this was just a brief appearance to give you a heads-up. They won't be traveling to the stations—they'll be teleporting there directly."

As he clapped his hands, the Joys all waved goodbye in unison. A system effect triggered, and their figures began fading into light.

"Wha—Gone already?"

Wang Tao slowly lowered his hand, visibly disappointed. He had just started thinking he could tell two of them apart.

"Not gone," Su Bai corrected with a smirk. "They're already waiting at the adventure stations for your visit."

"That was just a quick meet-and-greet—didn't want you all to freak out later."

"Alright, that's enough."

Clapping again, Su Bai gestured toward the crowd of Trainers.

"Now go, everyone—your journey begins now!"

Two hours later…

"We're probably on Route 2 right now… this area has a lot of Bug-type Pokémon. Shouldn't be too dangerous, right?"

Liu Yunlan was frowning at the Explorer's Guide, trying her best to navigate.

As someone with no sense of direction, reading maps was a major struggle.

A curious Weedle glanced up at her, then went back to munching on grass. These early-stage Bug Pokémon weren't aggressive at all.

"Bug-types, huh? The strongest I've seen was someone's Butterfree. Pretty good for support, but not much of a main attacker," Wang Tao commented casually.

"I don't plan on catching anything here. Let's head deeper into the route."

"The guide says the further we go, the higher the Exploration Points we earn!"

At the front of the group, Liu Yunlan and Wang Tao pushed forward with growing excitement.

Su Bai chuckled softly as he watched them.

Technically, he shouldn't have joined this expedition—he couldn't contribute to the team's exploration progress since he wasn't officially capturing Pokémon.

But to just stay behind and miss out on this new world? Not a chance.

Besides, they were used to working as a team. Going solo now felt wrong.

So they'd agreed to stick together for a while, explore the outskirts first, and then split up to cover more ground later.

Lounging comfortably on Charizard's broad back, Su Bai stretched and breathed in deeply.

The sky was blue, the trees swayed gently with fragrant berries, and the occasional chirping of Pokémon filled the air.

Everything felt so… alive.

The Pokémon Center had hints of this, but nothing compared to the real wilderness.

Every breath he took was filled with the sweet aroma of berries.

Compared to the death-laden, polluted air of the old world—it was like night and day.

"Don't underestimate Bug-types," Su Bai reminded lazily. "Clearly, Wang Tao, you've never been humbled by one."

Wang Tao waved him off dismissively.

"My Torterra's fought a Butterfree before. Sure, Bug beats Grass in theory—but the training gap was too big."

"That guy got totally wrecked!"

As Haicheng's No.1-ranked Trainer, Wang Tao had faced countless challengers.

The Butterfree owner had been one of them.

But in the end, type advantage couldn't make up for poor training.

Just as Su Bai was about to comment, Wang Tao's eyes lit up.

Not far ahead… a massive, shimmering Poké Ball-shaped chest had appeared in the grass!

"Hey! I found an item!"

Wang Tao let out a whoop and bolted forward.

"Wow, that was fast!"

Su Bai blinked in surprise as the chubby guy dashed ahead with remarkable speed.

In this world, field items appeared inside oversized Poké Ball containers.

Whoever opened it first, kept it.

They had agreed earlier that during group explorations, first spot, first claim.

Naturally, Wang Tao had no intention of letting this one go.

Liu Yunlan and Ding Yue stamped their feet in frustration.

"Ugh! That guy's got hawk eyes!"

"He's a tank, how is he so fast?!"

Just then, Li Xiaoyu, holding an Eevee in her arms, tilted her head and listened.

"Wait… do you guys hear that buzzing sound?"

"Buzz… buzz… buzz…"