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

"All right, you've drawn a Paras. Be sure to train it well."

"This customer—please take good care of your Bellsprout."

"A Tailow goes for 300,000 Federation Credits. Thank you for your patronage!"

Behind the counter, Su Bai was working non-stop.

With Rotom temporarily unavailable to help, he had to operate the register himself.

At this moment, he had to admit—when it came to being a cashier, he really couldn't compare to Rotom…

Old customers like Wang Tao were dazzled by the stream of new Pokémon.

For these folks, every newly revealed Pokémon sparked endless fascination.

By the time Su Bai had finally handled all the customers—despite having received a system reward—he couldn't help but feel a little exhausted.

Still, seeing the Pokédex now displaying 29 Pokémon entries, a strong sense of satisfaction welled up inside him!

In just one day, he'd unlocked 17 different Pokédex entries!

Add to that the customers who went all-out buying berries and Pokéblocks—especially Zhang Qun, who had astonishingly drawn another pseudo-legendary Pokémon…

His store's revenue for the day now showed a whopping 199.8 million Federation Credits!

Which meant: just one more customer. One more sale of any Pokémon—

And he'd complete what once seemed like an unreachable goal.

As the day wrapped up, the sun had long since set, and the moon now hung high in the sky.

With his task progress bar surging forward, Su Bai was in a great mood.

He glanced around the shop at the excited crowd still discussing Pokémon—and only then did he realize:

None of them had eaten dinner yet.

Looks like their love for Pokémon was so strong, it actually filled their stomachs?

Su Bai chuckled, smacked his forehead, and proposed:

"Hey, I'm feeling pretty good today. Since nobody's eaten yet—how about I treat everyone to dinner? Who's in?"

It's easy to be generous when the money didn't hurt.

After all, he'd swindled a full 100 million from that pitiful Boss Li. Su Bai was feeling downright magnanimous!

Nearby, at a humble little roadside stall—

A plump, cheerful woman was flipping skewers on a sizzling grill.

Wisps of smoke carried the spicy, savory aroma of roasted meat through the air—the scent of everyday life.

Dragged over in grand fashion by Su Bai, the group sat at a few tables cobbled together with crates of beer stacked nearby.

"I really thought you were taking us to some fancy restaurant."

"And it turns out to be a roadside stall! Though… I gotta admit, this barbecue smells amazing."

Liu Yunlan grumbled as she carefully fed sizzling skewers to her Monferno and Growlithe.

Her words were full of complaint, but as she watched her Pokémon devour the food with joy, a satisfied "auntie smile" crept across her face.

"This stall is where Su Bai and I always eat. Tastes good, not expensive."

"Bringing you all here means he considers you real friends!"

Wang Tao, sweating buckets, chomped down a skewer in one bite and sighed:

"Too bad my Grotle is a herbivore. Doesn't go for this stuff."

"It really is good though—feels real, down-to-earth."

"Beats fancy restaurants. I prefer drinking and eating with friends."

Liu Yunshuang said with a smile, nibbling on a skewer without any trace of her usual pop idol image.

Her Jigglypuff, on the other hand, wasn't too fond of meat and was delicately nibbling away at a Pokéblock like a little lady.

Meanwhile, Zhang Qun was stuffing barbecue into his Gible's mouth with a puzzled look.

"Wait… are Pokémon even supposed to eat this stuff?"

"Aren't they supposed to eat Pokéblocks or something?"

Su Bai laughed. "Of course they can eat this."

"Some Pokémon like Grotle or Goomy are herbivores, so they're not interested."

"But most Pokémon? Human food is totally fine. They're not fragile like you think."

"Just from a nutritional standpoint, Pokéblocks are better. But for snacks? Why not?"

It wasn't hard to understand.

Great power comes from great biological function—and Pokémon are built to be strong.

There's no way something like barbecue would upset their stomachs.

"By the way, what's the deal with Boss Li?"

"You just handed him such a powerful Pokémon like that?"

"I mean, I could cough up a hundred million if I had to. Why didn't you sell it to me?!"

Ding Yue was clearly a little miffed.

Even after Su Bai had "coached" her into accepting her fletchling as a partner, she still couldn't get over the idea that a rare Pokémon had fallen into the hands of someone as shady as Boss Li.

Su Bai grinned.

"Pokémon aren't so easily controlled."

"Even if you buy one from a store—if you treat it badly, it might just run away."

"Buying one doesn't mean you own it forever."

"You think someone like Boss Li would treat Rotom well?"

Even ordinary Pokémon could run away from poor treatment—let alone Rotom, which was Su Bai's system-bound partner.

Liu Yunlan's eyes lit up with understanding.

"So that's it! You gave him such a powerful Pokémon because…"

"You didn't even give him a Poké Ball! Even if Rotom escapes, he won't be able to recapture it!"

It wasn't quite the full story, but her deduction was reasonable enough.

Su Bai had no intention of explaining further.

"Tame Rotom?"

The moment Boss Li tried anything funny, Su Bai would know.

And at that point… escape would be the least of his problems.

"Alright, enough about that mood-killer."

Su Bai raised his cup and changed the subject with a smile:

"Thanks for your support, everyone. Cheers!"

The night in Haicheng was especially calm, and this kind of down-to-earth atmosphere was even more vivid under the streetlight glow of a barbecue stall.

In a world plagued by Death Beasts, only with the protection of awakened professionals could humans enjoy such peace.

The lively feast continued—and even Murong Nan, who rarely drank, decided to give it a try.

But just as everyone was immersed in laughter and clinking glasses—

A piercing air raid siren suddenly echoed across the skies of Haicheng!

In an instant, the calm city descended into chaos.

"The alarm's sounding!"

"Quick! Get your families to shelter!"

"Death Beasts are attacking the city!!"

Panic and fear spread like wildfire.

At Su Bai's stall, all the other customers stood up in a rush and bolted for home.

The plump stall owner didn't even bother with cleanup.

She doused the flames, left the ingredients behind, and shouted to Su Bai while running:

"Kid, forget the food! Get to shelter!"

"Don't worry about the money—we'll settle up next time!"

She shouted as she ran, and by the time she finished, she'd already disappeared into the distance.

Within a single minute, only Su Bai's group remained.

"Death Beasts… Now of all times? What a buzzkill."

Liu Yunshuang sighed and nodded solemnly to Ji Wei before standing.

"We're both A-rank professionals. We need to head to the city gates to help defend."

"Students of Haicheng First High also need to report and prepare for defense."

"In times like these, it's the duty of every awakened fighter to protect humanity."

"Let's hope we can all reunite again—when the dust has settled."

Her face was unusually serious.

Everyone's expressions turned grim.

In a world ravaged by Death Beasts, even the warmth of barbecue was something bought with blood.

Normally, the Professional Guild would assign tasks to keep Death Beasts at bay.

But in rare cases, a full-scale siege like this would happen.

And every time it did, many professionals would not return.

The peace of mankind was built upon their sacrifice.

Even students had to obey orders and stand against the incoming horde.

In the face of such an attack—no professional had the right to back down.

"Su Bai, you haven't awakened. Stay at the shop where it's safe."

"I'll come find you again—after I've killed my fill of Death Beasts."

Wang Tao patted his shoulder, nodded to the others, and hurried off.

Everyone left in a rush—their faces marked by solemn resolve.

Though rare, a Death Beast siege meant all-out war.

And in their rush, they forgot—

Su Bai's Meloetta was far more powerful than they remembered.

But in the end, Su Bai wasn't officially awakened.

He didn't need to fight the Death Beast army.

Before long, Su Bai was left alone at the now-empty stall.

The sounds of fear and chaos filled every corner of Haicheng.

And yet, Su Bai's expression turned… peculiar.

Because in his mind, a familiar voice had begun to speak:

[Death Beast siege detected. Emergency mission initiated!]

[The power of Pokémon far surpasses that of Death Beasts. To demonstrate their strength, the following task is issued:]

[Every Death Beast slain by Pokémon sold from this store (excluding the host's personal Pokémon) will charge the mission progress bar.]

[Once the bar is full, the host can temporarily summon a Pokémon capable of executing a world-shattering strike!]

[Special strikes may include: Mega Evolution, Dynamax, or Terastallization.]

[To ensure fairness, the host is prohibited from intervening until the mission is complete!]

[Mission—START.]

As the system finished speaking, a glowing progress bar appeared in Su Bai's vision.

He grabbed a bottle of beer from the table, tilted it back, and chugged it in one go.

Wiping the foam from the corner of his mouth, Su Bai's lips curled into an excited smile.

"A world-shattering strike, huh?"

"Now that… sounds like fun."