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

"It's finally increasing…"

Su Bai let out a quiet sigh of relief as he glanced at the task progress bar in the lower left of his vision.

"Good thing Wang Tao and the others trained their Pokémon well."

"And thank god the Death Beasts didn't attack a few days earlier!"

Two close calls. Even Su Bai couldn't help but feel fortunate.

If Wang Tao and the rest had failed to train their Pokémon in time, or if the Death Beasts had attacked right when Su's Pet Store had just opened…

Then the defenses of Haicheng First High would have crumbled instantly.

After all, these student Trainers were, at the end of the day, just beginners. They lacked the combat experience of seasoned professionals.

And in these massive, sudden Death Beast sieges, the casualties were always devastating.

Su Bai knew of at least three cities—each the size of Haicheng—that had been wiped out by this kind of cataclysmic assault.

In every siege, the most brutal losses always came from the untrained rookies caught within the city.

But that's also how humanity clawed its way back—disaster after disaster, they carved out a foothold in a dying world.

These rookies had no choice but to grow fast—or become food.

Keeping their territory meant forging warriors like Wang Tao and Pei Jingguo out of the bones of the fallen.

The cost of that growth? The mountains of corpses around them.

Especially during sieges, the fatality rate for untrained defenders was horrifically high.

But now, with Wang Tao's Grotle and the rest of the Pokémon team leading the charge…

The students of Haicheng First High had held the line!

That had never happened before in any previous siege.

The arrival of Pokémon was rapidly rewriting the rules of war.

While Su Bai monitored the battlefield and watched the progress bar slowly tick upward…

Atop the highest point of the city wall stood the two only S-Class humans on the battlefield—City Lord Zhu Jianyuan and Haicheng First High's retired principal, Lü Liangpeng.

City Lord Zhu had to manage the overall strategy, but the principal's attention? All on his students.

"There are no less than fifty A-Class Death Beasts confirmed. And they're actually holding them back…"

Zhu Jianyuan's eyes were locked on the direction of Ji Wei and Liu Yunshuang.

That entire area had become the center of the battlefield due to Ji Wei's overwhelming combat presence.

Though the Death Beasts were often described as mindless monsters, A-Class beasts had developed intelligence.

If the S-Class Death Beasts were the commanders, the A-Class were the generals.

And Ji Wei? He had become the thorn in their side—an elite-level obstacle none of them could ignore.

But Ji Wei was no greenhorn—he was a veteran professional, backed by an A-Class Songstress capable of stacking powerful buffs.

Together, they were unleashing top-tier force, even among the elite.

Their squad had absorbed half of the A-Class pressure, becoming a brilliant beacon on the battlefield.

"Worthy of a veteran A-Class pro—Ji Wei's strength is outstanding."

"If you ask me, he's got a solid shot at S-Class promotion."

"And Liu Yunshuang is no slouch either."

"Thank goodness she came back to watch her sister's placement match. Otherwise, we might have had to act before the S-Class Death Beasts even arrived."

"Wait—what the hell is that pink creature?!"

"Holy—! Did that fluffball just send an A-Class flying?!"

Zhu Jianyuan's eyes went wide with disbelief.

That pink, round thing on the battlefield—what the heck was that?

On the frontlines, Ji Wei was cutting down enemies like a storm.

Behind him, Liu Yunshuang continuously buffed their teammates.

And among the many Pokémon, one unexpected figure stood out—Jigglypuff.

Though she hadn't yet evolved (due to lacking an Evolution Stone), the experience she'd gained wasn't much less than Grotle's.

Liu Yunshuang treated Jigglypuff like a treasure, not just training, but also taking her on real missions.

So Jigglypuff's overall level was nothing to scoff at.

While Ji Wei slashed and Sandile launched stealth attacks on A-Class beasts…

Jigglypuff was busy too!

"Jiggly... PUFF!!!"

With a soft chant, her round body began to expand slightly.

Even her usually squishy face twisted into a rare look of concentration.

She was using Stockpile—a skill akin to Grotle's Growth.

It increased both Defense and Special Defense simultaneously!

While it lacked Grotle's bulk and couldn't change her form like Growth did…

It had one key advantage over Growth:

Spit Up.

All the stored power could be unleashed in one massive Special Attack!

Liu Yunshuang, a seasoned pro, had naturally mastered this combo.

And in squad combat, having the space and protection to use Stockpile freely was already standard strategy for pros.

Finally, Jigglypuff's pink cheeks turned a vivid red—the sign she had maxed out her charge.

"Jiggly... PUFF!!!"

With a rare shout of fury, Jigglypuff erupted in a dazzling burst of rainbow-colored energy!

All the power she had stored was launched in a single, pinpoint blast, skimming past allies and slamming into the horde of Death Beasts!

In normal Pokémon battles, Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff were rarely seen as viable fighters.

Stockpile and Spit Up were seen as gimmick moves at best.

But in real-world combat, that theory got thrown out the window.

There were no bad moves, only Trainers who didn't know how to use them.

The Stockpile + Spit Up combo was devastating in this kind of fight.

Spit Up amplified stored energy by hundreds of times!

After meticulous training, Jigglypuff's stats had nearly reached B-Class levels.

The moment she unleashed that blast…

Five A-Class Death Beasts were sent flying at once!

If they had health bars, each of them would've lost at least half in one shot!

Zhu Jianyuan, an S-Class veteran, immediately sensed something more.

There was an unusual, vibrant energy pulsing from Jigglypuff.

Death Beasts had unnaturally tenacious vitality, driven by "Death Qi."

But as soon as they touched this new force, their internal death energy became chaotic and sluggish!

That was what left even the mighty City Lord muttering curses in shock.

These were A-Class beasts, and they got blasted like toys.

Zhu Jianyuan kept calling out, but received no answer from the old principal.

Finally, he turned around, frustrated—

Only to rub his eyes in disbelief.

"Is that… is that Grotle?!"

"What… what are the students of Haicheng First High doing?!"

"They're actually… charging forward?!"