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

At the snowy mountain summit…

Articuno, with an expression of disgust, stirred up a gust of frigid wind. It gathered all the ice blocks tainted with murky death energy—along with a severed arm—into one heap. Then, opening its beak, it released a torrent of pure Ice-type energy.

Under the onslaught of that terrifying force, the deathly aura within the corrupted ice was steadily dispersed.

Not far off, the trainers sat scattered across the ground, limbs splayed and bodies slumped. Most of them were so exhausted they couldn't even lift a finger. After a brutal climb up the mountain and a grueling group battle, every ounce of energy had been drained from their bodies.

"All in all, that's the gist of it. Articuno has calmed down now," said Zhou Xiaofei, seated among the group. "Oh, and by the way, Articuno says it was just acting on instinct earlier. If it had truly fought at full power, Talonflame wouldn't have stood a chance… Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm just relaying what it said."

Wang Tao rubbed the back of his head, glancing over at Articuno.

"That wasn't full power? What the hell would full power even look like? Forget it… that's a level way beyond us… Also, this Articuno is kind of… tsundere."

It wasn't just Wang Tao—everyone else had a similar constipated look on their faces.

They'd been nearly wiped out by this one legendary Pokémon… and it still hadn't gone all out? The sheer power of a Tier-2 legendary-level Pokémon was far too overwhelming.

"I tried to probe Articuno for more info about the enemy that caused all this, but… even it doesn't seem to know much," Zhou Xiaofei added, glancing at the fading black scorch mark near Articuno's chest.

"At the very least, it's certain that the opponent was incredibly strong… Strong enough that it could drive Articuno into such a frenzied state. With just us, that's definitely not possible."

He wasn't wrong. Despite the combined efforts of so many trainers, they had only barely managed to bring Articuno back to its senses. Actual damage? Almost negligible. And that mysterious enemy had not only fought Articuno head-on but had severed one of its limbs in the process.

The presence of that much potent death aura? Truly terrifying.

"Let's not overthink it. The important thing is that Articuno is calm now. Besides, we still have Su Bai!" Wang Tao clapped Zhou Xiaofei on the shoulder with a big grin. "Compared to these legendary beasts, we're just newbies. But that's only for now."

"Someday, we'll be strong enough to make even Articuno take us seriously!"

He pouted theatrically. "But seriously… no reward? You'd think calming it down would at least earn us a thank-you gift…"

His words drew laughter from the group. It was true—raw power aside, their rapid growth was nothing to scoff at.

If they continued to improve at this pace, it was only a matter of time before they could face threats of this magnitude alone.

"I just want to head down and see Nurse Joy. Heal my Pokémon, patch myself up…"

Wang Tao pointed at the dozens of small wounds covering his body and gave a helpless smile. Earlier, he'd jumped off Torterra to shield his torterra and Hippopotas from the oncoming Ice-type winds. While the Pokémon had taken most of the hit, the biting ice had still cut into him like knives.

"Always with the 'Nurse Joy this, Nurse Joy that.' I seriously doubt your motives."

Ding Yue's teasing voice rang out, drawing hearty laughs from the group.

Amid the laughter, Lapras lifted its head toward the sky.

Raindrops, gentle and warm, began to fall.

Where they landed on Wang Tao's skin, his wounds began to close.

"It won't fully heal you, but Lapras is doing its best!"

Liu Qiaoqiao patted Lapras proudly on the head, beaming.

Li Xiaoyu gave her a warm smile and ruffled her hair.

For her first time participating in a high-level team battle, Liu Qiaoqiao had performed admirably.

At the summit, peace was finally settling in. Lapras's Life Dew shimmered with a subtle healing energy, gently mending the wounds of both trainers and their Pokémon. The group's strength was slowly recovering.

"This Pokémon… actually knows healing moves!"

Pei Jingguo stood up, staring at Lapras with awe. "Pokémon really are incredible creatures…"

"But I can't stay here much longer. Now that the mission's complete, we should keep moving."

At his words, Liu Yunlan sprang up.

"Trying to sneak away? No way! We're still competing on exploration points!"

The others began picking themselves up, but just then, Articuno's movements abruptly halted.

It stopped clearing the corrupted energy and turned its head, confusedly looking in a specific direction.

Then—

"Buuyii Buu yii~!"

A familiar cry echoed from the edge of the cliff.

With the sound of flapping wings, another Articuno rose into view!

And this one clearly wasn't here to make friends.

Frigid mist coiled around its wings. With each beat, the mountaintop—once starting to warm—plunged back into freezing temperatures.

"A-ACHOO!"

Liu Qiaoqiao sneezed, staring dumbfounded at the new Articuno, then glancing back at the first one, still dazed.

Question marks practically floated over her head.

"Another Articuno?! Another one?!"

In a flash, every trainer shot upright.

The few remaining Pokémon with combat ability rushed to form a frontline against the incoming threat.

But after that last fight, their remaining fighting strength was critically low.

Empoleon silently stepped forward, taking over the role of frontline shield from the exhausted Torterra.

As the temperature dropped further, everyone's spirits sank like stones.

Wang Tao looked from the approaching Articuno to the stunned one on their side, eyes wide with despair.

"Seriously?! Is that your mate coming home or what?!"

The second Articuno's hostile stance was obvious—and after everything, they simply couldn't afford another battle.

Back at the Pokémon Center, the audience that had finally begun to relax erupted into chaos once more.

One Articuno had nearly broken them. And now another?!

Even Lu Liangpeng, the composed veteran among them, was gasping at the screen.

"Are you kidding me right now?!"

Zhu Jianyuan slammed the desk. "Did that Sub-beast destroy Articuno's nest or something?!"

Strangely, Su Bai wasn't panicking.

Instead, he stared at the screen with an odd expression—puzzled, almost relieved.

He glanced at Rotom, who nodded back confidently.

The next moment, the screen shifted—

Charizard and Zeraora appeared at the edge of the battlefield.

They'd finally arrived.

"If this Articuno tries anything, Charizard and Zeraora will stop it immediately…"

Su Bai paused, brow furrowing.

"But something feels… off."

Ever since Talonflame's Flare Blitz connected with the first Articuno, his mission progress bar had changed.

And that change brought more questions than answers.

The mission had jumped from 0… straight to 2.

That meant the objective had already been completed.

But—

Wang Tao and the others had only dealt with one Articuno, right?

"Unless…"

Su Bai's eyes brightened as a bold possibility entered his mind.