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

As Su Bai whispered his cheeky line, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

[Host's deployment request received. Confirmed!]

[Deploying Primal Groudon! Host, brace yourself!]

With the system's confirmation, the sphere of light in the sky suddenly blazed with brilliance.

A massive sun emerged in the night sky.

The surrounding air instantly turned blisteringly hot!

At the city gate—

Wang Tao wiped his forehead and came away with a handful of sweat.

Running was already exhausting enough, but with this sudden surge in temperature, his sweat-prone body was suffering.

Students from Haicheng First High around him stared upward in disbelief.

"What the hell?! Is that the sun?! Isn't it nighttime?!"

"What kind of thing is that?!"

"The sun… is our reinforcements? Are we going to sunburn the Death Beasts to death or what?"

"I trust the old principal, but this is starting to sound insane!"

"Wait—look! What is that?!"

A student wearing sunglasses suddenly shouted and pointed at the dazzling sun.

The others gave him side-eyes.

"Dude, you have sunglasses. We don't!"

"Is this what we get for not trying to look cool every day?"

They squinted hard, trying to pierce the blazing light.

The searing glare made them feel like they were going blind.

But then, in under two seconds—

A small black dot appeared in the sky... and rapidly grew larger!

A wave of heat, far hotter than before, swept over the entire battlefield.

Along with it came a suffocating, indescribable pressure.

It felt as if they were standing at the mouth of a volcano, facing the sheer terror of an impending eruption.

A true natural disaster was descending.

Luckily, the pressure didn't last long.

The black dot's descent was unimaginably fast.

Even Ji Wei, an A-Class awakened warrior, couldn't react before—

BOOM!!!!!!

An earth-shaking explosion rocked the battlefield's center like a bomb going off!

A scorching shockwave—blasting with dust, ash, and raw heat—rolled out in every direction.

The sheer impact from landing alone was enough to activate numerous defensive shields throughout the area.

Moments ago, the awakened ones had been stunned by the strange sunlight.

Now they were reeling from the dust storm and oppressive heat.

Yet the searing glow remained.

And through the swirling haze of sand and smoke, a massive silhouette gradually emerged...

As the dust finally settled, everyone on the field saw it clearly:

A towering, red-armored titan stood at the very heart of the battlefield.

Primal Groudon—descended like a god of war.

Dozens of meters tall, it redefined what "mythical beast" meant.

Even the once-terrifying S-Class Death Beasts now looked like miniatures in comparison.

Let alone the lower-ranked ones—they were completely dwarfed.

With its mountainous form and crushing presence, Groudon's arrival froze the breath in everyone's lungs.

"ROOOOOAR!!!"

Primal Groudon let out a deafening roar upon landing.

Its position was precisely in the center of the Death Beast tide, clearly a carefully calculated drop zone by the system.

Every Death Beast charging toward Haicheng halted immediately.

Groudon hadn't even attacked yet.

And yet it had already drawn every Death Beast's gaze.

At its feet, many Death Beasts already lay dead, shattered by the sheer force of its landing.

Several S-Class Death Beasts stared, fur bristling in fear.

Even creatures born without fear of death now trembled.

This was not just a strength gap, it was a chasm in the very order of lifeforms.

The so-called "kings" of the Death Beasts looked utterly insignificant before the living embodiment of the land.

"That's Primal Groudon... way too badass!"

"With an entrance like that, I think even Groudon would feel emotional."

"I mean, technically, he flew, right?"

Su Bai leaned over the city wall, grinning as he tossed out his signature quips.

After all, the "Groudon can't fly" meme had become legendary.

And now?

He'd just AIRDROPPED Groudon onto the battlefield.

It was too iconic not to comment on.

Still, despite the jokes, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

He carefully examined the fan-favorite legendary Pokémon below.

Thanks to the system's enhancements, his eyesight could pick up every stunning detail.

The massive red plates of armor, outlined by glowing magma-like lines beneath its skin…

Sharp, jagged spikes jutted from its head, back, and tail—ferocious and untamed.

Its tail dragged along the scorched earth, like a bulldozer made of hellfire—each swing sending out a gust of superheated wind.

At the base of each arm, the iconic Omega symbol (Ω) gleamed brightly.

This was Primal Groudon—one of the Three Ancient Titans.

The god-beast of the earth.

As a lifelong Pokémon fan…

Su Bai couldn't believe he was seeing this with his own eyes.

It was pure joy.

"And this… is Desolate Land, huh?"

Su Bai tilted his head upward.

The entire battlefield was now brighter than noon.

Under this blazing light, the temperature had soared to over 50°C (122°F)!

And this was just the passive effect of Groudon's Desolate Land ability.

Just moments ago, the night had felt cool—even cold.

Now? It was like standing in the Sahara.

Legendary beasts sure knew how to make an entrance.

Beside him, Principal Lu Liangpeng, who had tried to remain composed the whole time, was now completely stunned.

Even the usually stoic Zhu Jianyuan, who had just rushed up, stood slack-jawed.

The stronger one's power, the sharper their perception of what true power looked like.

S-Class awakened warriors felt the terror even more intensely than the lower-ranked.

"I once… encountered a Domain Lord-level Death Beast," Zhu muttered.

"But even that… wasn't like this!"

"What the hell is this monster?!"

As they watched, Groudon shifted its massive weight.

Every step shattered the earth, magma bursting from the cracks like a volcanic eruption.

This wasn't a visual effect.

Several unlucky Death Beasts were melted alive in the lava!

As Haicheng's city lord, Zhu Jianyuan had only one thought:

"If this thing ever attacked Haicheng..."

"We wouldn't stand a chance."

"No amount of military force could stop it."

"Even if it just passed through Haicheng… the whole city would be leveled."

This… this was no mere living creature.

This was a walking natural disaster.

"Stay calm. Don't panic."

A weathered hand patted Zhu's shoulder.

He turned in confusion.

The old principal offered a strained smile.

"That big guy isn't here to destroy us. It's our ally… one of ours."

"Um… Principal… you say that, but, uh, your left cheek is twitching."

Meanwhile, far from Haicheng—

A vast wilderness.

Several figures were sprinting across the plains, running at full tilt.

Behind them, off-road military trucks thundered forward, trying to keep pace.

But these individuals were clearly high-level awakened warriors, gradually outpacing the vehicles.

Urgency blazed in their expressions.

"Faster! Push harder!"

"Haicheng needs us now!"

The squad leader's voice was tense, driven by fear and determination.

He was a former student of Haicheng.

The moment he received Principal Lü's distress call, he gathered his team and rushed over without rest.

But no matter how desperate he felt, distance would not bend to willpower.

"The base is too far from Haicheng... but that's my hometown!"

"Principal Lu, you old man… don't go doing something reckless!"

"Wait—what is that?!"

The leader, a veteran S-Class awakened one, suddenly froze mid-run.

He turned toward Haicheng in the far distance—his face pale with shock.

In the direction of the city, a colossal sun had appeared in the sky.

Its heat could be felt even from hundreds of kilometers away.

But what truly disturbed him wasn't the heat.

It was the aura of power—a terrifying force so intense that it sent chills down their spines, even from this far.

"What the hell… happened in Haicheng?!"

The entire S-Class team stared in stunned silence.

Far off in the distance, the blazing sun burned ever hotter.