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

Pokémon Center, Haicheng.

When Su Bai returned to the entrance, he was met with a sea of people. The entire front of the Pokémon Center was packed with a bustling crowd.

Zhu Jianyuan stood at the front and waved him over.

To Su Bai's surprise, the elite A-Rank Awakener team led by Ji Wei and Liu Yunshuang had also arrived in full force.

"Hm? You guys are here too? Aren't you going out to explore?" Su Bai asked as he opened the Pokémon Center's doors, letting the excited crowd file in one after another.

"How could we miss a moment like this?" Ji Wei laughed heartily. "We canceled our next assignment just to witness this historic occasion."

"As for exploring… let's be honest, we're not going to outcompete those little monsters," Liu Yunshuang chuckled, covering her mouth.

Su Bai nodded in agreement. It made sense.

After all, A-Rank Awakeners weren't reckless hotheads. They had a clear grasp of their own priorities. Too much of their time had already been spent handling high-risk missions, and in terms of Pokémon development, they'd already been significantly outpaced by the younger first-tier Trainers like Wang Tao and the others.

While they could still outperform the second-tier of Haicheng students, competing for exploration points with these young elites? That was something their pride wouldn't allow.

"Well then, let's get started."

Su Bai nodded at Zhu Jianyuan, who handed him a sleek receiver.

"Rotom, it's your time to shine."

With that light summons, Rotom flew out from the cash register where it had been hiding.

"Roto-roto~!"

Rotom hovered curiously around the receiver, seemingly analyzing its tech.

And then—just a second later—Rotom let out a spark of excitement and transformed its own body into something nearly identical to the receiver's structure.

Rotom: Receiver Form!

Although Pokédex entries usually only show forms like washing machine, refrigerator, or lawn mower, the truth was—Rotom, as a plasma-based Pokémon, had no fixed shape.

Its entire body was made of plasma, allowing it to possess and interface with virtually any machine, instantly understanding its inner workings.

Gasps filled the room as everyone watched Rotom float in its new form, and then—seamlessly—it connected to the largest display screen at the center of the Pokémon Center.

"Amazing… Pokémon really are miraculous," Zhu Jianyuan murmured, astonished by the fluid transformation.

The so-called Golden Era had ended long ago, and most of its technology now only existed in outdated documents. Though humanity had treated that knowledge as sacred, passing it on through generations like fire from the gods, very few people could actually use it anymore.

In fact, just figuring out how to link a receiver to a display screen was a challenge in itself.

Previously, broadcasts like Liu Yunshuang's concert livestreams had relied on deeply buried city-wide cables and infrastructure—systems that couldn't be extended outside the city walls.

Laying out a communications network like that had already consumed an enormous amount of manpower and resources.

And once you left the city… those networks were utterly useless.

"Rotom really is special—even among Pokémon," Su Bai said with a smile. "Let's get started, Rotom."

Since he had flown back on Charizard, his return trip had been much faster than the outbound one. If the livestream began now, he might just catch the first waves of action from the Trainers out in the field.

"Roto-roto~!" Rotom grinned, releasing a pulse of electricity across its newly-formed body.

At the same time, far away beyond the city, the spherical cams worn around each Trainer's neck began to glow faintly.

They activated like scanners, sweeping across each Trainer's surroundings.

One by one, images began to appear on the central display!

"Oh! It's working—it's working!"

"That's the first batch of Trainers from Haicheng!"

"Murong Nan is just as beautiful as they say—no wonder she's known as Haicheng's prettiest girl."

"That fierce-looking Pokémon… that's Gabite, right? The middle evolution of a pseudo-legendary! So cool!"

"I'm a hardcore Eevee fan—always have been!"

"Ding Yue's Talonflame is awesome! I love it!"

"Wait—isn't that Zhou Xiaofei from the Pokémon Center? He's in this too?"

"Holy—Is that a Gyarados?! It looks even more terrifying than Gabite! And the little girl beside him—what's her Pokémon? I've never seen it before."

Excited chatter erupted like a tidal wave throughout the Pokémon Center.

On the display screen, vibrant young faces appeared one after another—each of them marching into the wilderness with their Pokémon partners, setting off in different directions.

"They're already looking like star players," Su Bai chuckled as he watched the enthusiastic citizens of Haicheng.

There was no denying it now—Pokémon had truly transformed Haicheng.

Before, the most famous name among these Trainers had been Pei Jingguo, "Haicheng's Number One Sword."

But now, the most popular duo was Ding Yue and Li Xiaoyu.

That popularity had skyrocketed ever since Ding Yue used the natural advantage of her Flying-types to dominate early Pokémon battles—until she was eventually taken down by Li Xiaoyu's Eevee combo. Now their combined fanbase was the largest of all.

The public's focus was shifting away from Awakeners and toward Pokémon—and that was a major change for a society used to viewing Awakeners as world-saving heroes.

"…What a beautiful world," Liu Yunshuang murmured. "I'm starting to regret not going out myself."

Even though she had already been awed by the deep blue skies when the Pokémon first descended, seeing the lush and vibrant world that had unfolded beyond the gloom of the past still left her on the verge of tears.

As an A-Rank Awakener, she had likely seen more of the dead, desolate lands than anyone else here—except perhaps Zhu Jianyuan himself.

That contrast now was almost too much to take.

"If you leave now, you can still catch up," Su Bai teased gently.

But Liu Yunshuang shook her head. "Let's see what these young ones can do first. Besides, if I leave now, I might miss some amazing scenes—and that would be a real shame."

Su Bai nodded in agreement. He had raced back for the exact same reason—he didn't want to miss a single moment of this first "pioneer expedition."

And Haicheng's people felt the same.

The Pokémon world had arrived. The official roads would always be there.

But this moment—the first exploration into the unknown—would only happen once.

On-screen, the five teams had already left the safety of the official paths and were cautiously making their way into the wild.

From a nearby bush, a small Raticate burst forth, charging toward Liu Yunlan's Infernape—who calmly picked it up by the tail and flung it away like a ragdoll.

The little Raticate blinked, stunned, then scurried off in a panic, realizing these people weren't to be trifled with.

Scenes like this happened again and again across the different screens.

For Pokémon who had already evolved to their final forms, small fry like Rattata or Sentret didn't pose any real threat.

Unlike Death Beasts, wild Pokémon didn't attack humans on sight in frenzied mobs.

The Pokémon Center was filled with laughter and cheers.

Every now and then, children would cry out excitedly, pointing at their favorite Pokémon on the screen.

After all, even adults could barely resist the charm of adorable Pokémon—how could children possibly hold back?

Whenever one of them correctly identified a Pokémon, they would puff up with pride.

And among the kids, the one who could name the most Pokémon instantly became the group's superstar.

Su Bai couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy watching them.

After all, he never had the chance to witness such a magical world when he was their age…

Just then, a sudden wave of surprised gasps rippled through the crowd—followed closely by a burst of giggles and even a few "auntie laughs" mixed in!