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

Wang Tao's shocked voice rang out loud and clear.

Everyone turned their eyes to the figure standing next to Su Bai—someone who looked exactly like him.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

"Wh-What the hell?! Su Bai, I KNEW you weren't human!"

"Confess! What planet are you from?! Why did you come to Blue Star?! What's your goal?!"

The ever-dramatic Liu Yunlan struck a ridiculous pose—one hand pointed like a sword, aimed straight at Su Bai's face.

"I knew the heavens wouldn't bless me with such exceptional Trainer skills for nothing! This is fate!"

"You vile demon, reveal your true form! HYAH—!"

"Ouch!"

Before she could finish, Su Bai sighed and withdrew the hand he'd just used to give her a sharp flick to the forehead.

Liu Yunlan clutched her head, eyes teary and cheeks puffed out from pain.

Su Bai said grumpily:

"Demon your ass. If I were some otherworldly monster, why would I sell you Pokémon to fight myself with?!"

He snapped his fingers.

Before everyone's eyes—

The second "Su Bai" began to melt!

Turning into a soft, purple puddle of goo…

"Holy crap! It's getting weirder and weirder!" Wang Tao's eyes widened.

"Su Bai! When did you learn to do magic tricks?!"

"What kind of move is this? Shadow Clone Jutsu or something?!"

Even the usually quiet Pei Jingguo couldn't help but look at him in curiosity.

Su Bai chuckled and gestured toward the gooey creature.

"Everyone, meet our new staff member at Su's Pet Shop—Ditto."

"Ditto can copy any appearance, even the form of other Pokémon."

"Come on, Ditto. Give them a little show."

With a jiggling motion, Ditto's squishy body began shifting shapes—

First into Diancie, then Meloetta.

In the blink of an eye, it mimicked the appearances of Wang Tao, Pei Jingguo, and the others standing nearby.

Finally, it morphed into Murong Nan, waving and smiling at the group.

"Woooow…"

Clap clap clap clap!!

Liu Yunlan immediately forgot the pain from her earlier punishment.

Eyes wide with wonder, she began applauding with excitement.

"This Ditto is amazing! It can turn into anything! So cool!"

Even Su Bai couldn't help but smile proudly when someone praised his Pokémon.

"Ditto doesn't just copy appearances. If it transforms into a Pokémon, it can even replicate their moves!"

"Of course, the actual power of those moves depends on Ditto's own stats."

"But make no mistake—Ditto isn't just some shape-shifting novelty."

No matter the generation or the battle format—whether it's 3v3 or 6v6—Ditto always had a place in competitive teams.

It might not drastically boost your lineup's power, but it's a solid wildcard to have on hand.

But just as Su Bai was about to continue singing Ditto's praises…

Liu Yunlan's next move cut him off entirely.

And made Murong Nan's face go bright red.

The chaotic girl had wandered over to Ditto—currently shaped like Murong Nan—and curiously tugged open the collar of its shirt to peek inside.

"Whoa! It's really exactly the same!"

She looked up with a mischievous glint in her eyes and gave Su Bai a weird look.

"You're not… having any strange thoughts, are you?"

"You know, you don't have to go that far just to—AAGHH!!"

THWACK!

Murong Nan didn't hesitate—she smacked her hard on the head and pulled her back with a flushed face.

Su Bai looked away, his expression turning stiff with second-hand embarrassment.

"What on earth goes on in that head of yours all day?!"

Inside Su's Pet Shop.

Due to space constraints, everyone else had already returned their Pokémon to their Poké Balls—except for Su Bai's team.

He trusted his regular customers well enough.

Meloetta and Diancie were busy preparing tea while the cluttered store had been cleared just enough for a small sitting area.

"So let me get this straight… you don't even know how big this Pokémon Center project is going to be?"

Murong Nan asked between sips of tea.

"Well, makes sense. None of us are in construction."

This world's education system was extremely specialized.

At Haicheng First High, a school focused on training future Awakeners, there wasn't much emphasis on general education.

When Su Bai ranked first in academics, it mainly meant he had strong theoretical knowledge of Dead Beasts, geography, and career-specific content.

The group in this room might be top students at their school, but by old-world standards, they'd all be total slackers…

"Yeah," Su Bai admitted with a groan.

"I stayed up all night organizing the blueprints, but I honestly have no clue how to actually build the thing."

He could tell from the system that the next major upgrade wouldn't unlock until the Pokémon Center was completed.

But even with blueprints in hand, he was completely clueless about construction.

"And it's not just about building. I don't know the first thing about business negotiations either…"

Su's Pet Shop was located in one of Haicheng's major commercial streets—right by the school.

It was prime real estate.

If the new Pokémon Center had to expand around his store, it meant acquiring land from neighboring properties.

And there were at least 80 to 100 property owners in this area.

Negotiating with all of them?

He'd be old and gray before he got through them all.

"Ugh… if only this were some kind of novel. I'd just randomly awaken negotiation skills out of nowhere…"

Su Bai took a frustrated sip of tea.

The atmosphere in the shop grew a bit heavy.

After all, they were just students—none of them knew anything about this kind of work.

Random advice would be useless. This kind of thing took actual expertise.

Slurp~

Slurp~

Slurp~

The only sounds in the room were people sipping their tea.

Then, after a long pause, Ding Yue hesitantly raised her hand.

"Um… Su Bai?"

"I wasn't really planning to bring this up, but… my family runs a fairly well-established construction company..."

"If you trust me, maybe we could help you handle this project?"

She honestly didn't want to say anything at first.

It made her feel like she was trying to make money off a friend.

And even though her lavish spending came from her family's business, she didn't want to profit from someone like Su Bai.

It would feel wrong.

What Ding Yue forgot, of course, was that Su Bai's Pokémon sell for a fortune.

Or perhaps… she never thought they were expensive in the first place?

Su Bai's eyes lit up.

He immediately reached out and grabbed her hands.

"Then… I'm counting on you!"