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

"Flash Fire?"

Ding Yue blinked, repeating Su Bai's words as she stared at the irritated Ponyta in front of her.

"It's fine if you haven't heard of it," Su Bai's voice came through the communicator. "This is actually the first time this Ability has shown up in the field."

"But that's what exploration is all about, isn't it?"

He continued explaining, "The effect of the Flash Fire Ability is that the Pokémon becomes immune to Fire-type attacks. And if it is hit by one, it enters an empowered state. Have you noticed how Ponyta's flames are burning much brighter than before?"

Ding Yue quickly nodded in agreement. When Ponyta had first appeared, its flames were vivid, sure—but not nearly as blazing as they were now.

After being hit by Talonflame's Flare Blitz, its entire body had practically ignited with intensity!

"When a Pokémon with Flash Fire is hit by a Fire-type move, its own Fire-type attacks are boosted by 1.5 times," Su Bai explained. "Instead of taking damage, the flames actually fuel it. That's why I said Flash Fire is the bane of Fire-types."

"Wha—That's broken!"

Ding Yue nearly cursed aloud.

Immune to all Fire damage and gets a power-up?

How were you even supposed to fight that?

"Ehh… it's not that broken," Su Bai chuckled. "It's still dependent on relative strength. Saying it's immune doesn't mean it ignores all impact. There's still physical force behind those moves."

"If the difference in power is huge enough, the Ability won't save you. For example, if my Charizard used Overheat on this Ponyta, it'd be roast horse for dinner."

He paused, adding, "Not that I'd ever do that."

Abilities could help bridge gaps in power, but they couldn't overcome overwhelming disparities in strength.

Ding Yue looked again and noticed it: Ponyta's body was trembling slightly.

Clearly, Flare Blitz had still done some damage—at least enough to make it furious.

Su Bai's voice came through once more.

"Ponyta evolves into Rapidash, which has a base stat total of 500. Its stats are pretty well distributed too—with a 105 Speed and 100 Attack, it's far from weak."

"If you manage to catch this Ponyta… congratulations, Ding Yue. You'll have your very own Fire-type counter."

That was all she needed to hear.

A praise from Su Bai, a renowned Pokémon tamer, carried serious weight.

Fire-types were widely used—many Pokémon carried at least one Fire-type move.

An Ability that could neutralize and counter them?

Combine that with Ponyta's elegant, almost mythical appearance, and it was basically the dream partner she'd always imagined.

"All right then… time to send in Nidorina!"

Ding Yue patted Nidorina on the head and moved her to the front line.

Talonflame was still recovering, and with its Fire moves rendered useless, using it again risked overdoing it and possibly hurting Ponyta too much.

If she wanted to capture Ponyta safely, Nidorina was the better choice.

"Naa~ Naa!"

Nidorina bared her fangs, snarling at Ponyta.

Among her team, Nidorina often went unnoticed—mainly because Talonflame had always hogged the spotlight with its flashy aerial combat.

But that didn't mean Nidorina was weak.

She was part of a three-stage evolution line, and her final form, Nidoqueen, boasted a base stat total of 505—even higher than Rapidash or Talonflame.

Standing at nearly a meter tall, Nidorina looked quite fierce when she snarled.

Ponyta, meanwhile, was already getting impatient. If it weren't for the threatening gazes of the surrounding Eevee evolutions, it might've attacked earlier.

But now? Faced with a challenger in Nidorina, it snorted and pawed the ground before charging.

Halfway through, it leapt into the air.

Its flaming hooves crashed downward, aiming straight at Nidorina's back—

It was Stomp, one of Ponyta's classic moves, and one with a chance to cause flinching.

"Whoa, this one's pretty high-level," Su Bai murmured, watching closely.

Stomp was a move Ponyta learned at level 30.

And Ponyta evolved at level 40—meaning this one was nearly a full adult.

No wonder it was running around alone. It was already brave enough to leave the herd.

"Nidorina, use Bite!"

Ding Yue remained calm under pressure.

Ponyta's speed was high—dodging wasn't realistic.

Better to take the hit and counter with force!

Nidorina immediately opened her jaws wide and clamped down on Ponyta as it landed.

Two cries of pain rang out in tandem.

Ponyta's hooves slammed into Nidorina's back, while Nidorina's glowing fangs sank into Ponyta's side.

BAM!

CRACK!

The attacks hit simultaneously.

It was a brutal exchange—so much so that some of the people watching from the Pokémon Center flinched and turned their heads away.

Su Bai could only sigh.

Unlike special attacks with flashy visuals, physical attacks always looked… painful.

In this first head-to-head clash, Nidorina clearly had the upper hand.

Though underappreciated, Ding Yue had trained her Nidorina thoroughly—she had access to exclusive resources and private training sessions.

Against wild Pokémon, she dominated.

Interestingly, both of their moves had a chance to flinch—and this time, both had triggered!

The two Pokémon just stared at each other, momentarily frozen.

For a few seconds, nothing happened—until the lingering shimmer of their abilities faded from their bodies.

And then… something unexpected happened.

Sensing that Nidorina was not to be trifled with, Ponyta abruptly spun around.

And ran for it.

"Wait—What the heck?!"

Ding Yue couldn't believe her eyes.

Without thinking, she lunged forward—

And threw her arms around Ponyta's neck.

There was no way she was letting her dream partner run off now!

Before anyone could even react, Ponyta took off like a bullet—dragging Ding Yue, who was now clinging to its neck, flailing and wobbling as they sped off into the distance.