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

At the sound of Murong Nan's voice, Psyduck hesitated for a moment before slowly stepping forward to face Golduck.

"Daa~~da!!"

For once, the usually dopey Psyduck mustered its courage and let out a growl—well, more like an angry whimper—toward Golduck!

It wasn't exactly loud, but Golduck clearly heard and understood it.

"Da! Dadada! Dadadada!!"

Golduck's face, which had worn a mocking grin just moments ago, instantly twisted into a scowl.

And as it continued barking in irritation, the wild Psyducks—those same dopey-looking ones like Murong Nan's—began to gather around.

In an instant, the riverbank echoed with an overwhelming chorus of quacking cries.

Liu Yunlan groaned as a few black lines practically formed over her head.

"Ugh… Ducks. No matter the species, when they flock together, they're all loud… and weirdly hypnotic."

Clearly, this was Golduck's home turf. All these little ducklings were hyping up their big boss with loud and frantic cheers.

Inside the Pokémon Center, Diancie hesitated.

"Golduck said… um… 'You little bas—'"

Before she could finish, Su Bai quickly covered her mouth.

This Golduck really had a foul mouth!

No way was he going to let his precious princess Diancie speak such vulgar words.

"Anyway, it seems Golduck has accepted the challenge," Su Bai said, turning back to the screen. "To be honest, Psyduck's long overdue for evolution at this point."

He watched the trembling Psyduck on the screen.

This little guy had been through quite a few battles already, but somehow it looked more nervous now than ever.

Some Pokémon just naturally had a timid nature—and it seemed this Psyduck only buried its fear when fighting death beasts.

After all, Pokémon instinctively loathed those things.

"But seriously… can Psyduck even win this?" Ji Wei frowned, clearly skeptical. "That guy looks like he's about to wet himself."

Su Bai thought for a moment.

"Well… Psyduck was trained by Murong Nan. She probably focused a lot on skill refinement. With her direction, the gap might not be so big."

"Still, Golduck is the superior evolutionary form, so a natural advantage is expected."

"And honestly… we don't even know how strong this particular Golduck is."

Wild Pokémon were different from those raised in a trainer's facility. Su Bai had tried checking its stats with his Pokédex earlier.

It worked fine on trained Pokémon but not so well on wild ones.

Just because two Pokémon were the same species didn't mean they had equal strength.

That's why boss-tier Pokémon even existed.

This Golduck didn't have a particularly huge build, so probably not a boss. But leading an entire group like this? It had to be pretty strong.

In the end, the only way to find out… was to fight.

"Da! Da!!"

With both sides in position, Golduck struck first!

As the leader of the group, Psyduck's challenge was a direct threat to its dominance—it was furious.

A ripple of deep blue energy surged from Golduck's body.

"Water Pulse… We can use that too! Psyduck!" Murong Nan shouted, eyes gleaming.

Psyduck blinked and then squeezed its little arms together.

A pulse of swirling blue water shot outward—mirroring Golduck's attack.

But… its Water Pulse was clearly smaller.

It wasn't hard to see the difference: even using the same move, Psyduck's version lacked the raw power of Golduck's.

Still, Murong Nan seemed unfazed.

"Psyduck's Water Pulse has been specially trained!"

"Don't think size is everything!"

As she spoke, the two water pulses collided midair.

The impact generated a blast of steam, misting up the entire area.

Golduck's Water Pulse quickly overwhelmed Psyduck's… at first.

But just as Golduck started smirking—

Psyduck's Water Pulse suddenly destabilized!

The smaller wave began to tremble violently… and exploded, disrupting Golduck's attack from within!

Golduck's move was completely neutralized!

"See that?! Our Psyduck is amazing too!" Murong Nan said proudly, reaching over to ruffle Psyduck's head in encouragement.

When it came to the same move, performing it a hundred times versus ten made a huge difference.

Wild Pokémon used moves by instinct. But trained Pokémon? They drilled those techniques over and over.

Power-wise, Golduck had clearly won that round—but in technique, it was Psyduck who came out on top!

"Daa~da!!"

Psyduck puffed up, energized by the successful counter. Its voice was louder, stronger.

Golduck, meanwhile, was still frozen in disbelief.

"And now—this is the power of a Trainer's command!" Murong Nan declared, raising her hand.

"Psyduck, use Aqua Tail!"

"Daa~~"

Psyduck let out a goofy-sounding cry, then spun its plump little body around.

Its stubby tail wiggled slightly—honestly, it looked more like a duckling trying to be cute than a battle maneuver.

The entire Pokémon Center burst into laughter.

That tail was just so short!

It looked more like it was trying to charm Golduck than attack it.

But despite the comical setup… the effect was real.

Aqua Tail, a move unlocked at level 24, dealt heavy water-type physical damage—90 base power, no joke.

Psyduck and Golduck were both mixed attackers by species—capable of both special and physical moves.

Murong Nan had originally focused on special attacks when training Empoleon, but later realized the importance of physical techniques.

She'd spent a lot of time drilling Psyduck in this area.

She'd even asked Liu Yunlan for guidance.

And now, that hard work paid off.

Water swirled behind Psyduck's tail, forming a massive hydrodynamic whip.

It whipped around and came crashing down toward Golduck!

The enormous wave of water completely engulfed Golduck's frame!

In terms of visuals, it wasn't quite as terrifying as Gyarados using Aqua Tail, but the impact was still impressive.

The spectators in the Pokémon Center gasped, then erupted into applause.

No one had expected this!

Everyone thought Psyduck would get flattened by Golduck.

After all, with that derpy face, who wouldn't?

"Did that hit? Did Psyduck win?" Liu Yunlan asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"That move's no slouch…"

Su Bai chuckled and shook his head.

"Not so fast. Golduck is a pure Water-type. And it's got a very balanced, well-rounded stat distribution."

"Even a wild one probably won't go down that easily…"

And sure enough—

From the midst of the swirling blue mist, a flash of red light pierced through the water—

Golduck was still standing.