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

"Even an entire squad of S-class Death Beasts would have been torn apart under that kind of assault!"

"That so-called Tier-2 legendary gotta be out cold after that! I mean, can it even survive it?"

Zhu Jianyuan's face lit up as he watched the screen with excitement.

Seeing the elite youth of Haicheng shine so brilliantly, he couldn't help but feel proud as the city's mayor.

Beside him, Lu Liangpeng stroked his beard with a satisfied smile.

After all, these young trainers were still students at Haicheng No. 1 High School!

"No, no," he said modestly, "credit still goes to Su Bai, our Pokemon Tamer. Without him, these kids would probably still be grinding for school rankings…"

But even as he said that, his smugness was impossible to hide.

And why not? Su Bai himself was a product of Haicheng No. 1!

It was Lü Liangpeng who had insisted Su Bai stay in Haicheng in the first place.

So yes—he had every right to feel proud.

Inside the Pokémon Center, cheers erupted.

From their perspective, no creature could possibly withstand that kind of full-scale assault.

But Su Bai didn't join in the celebration.

He sat quietly, fingers on his chin, eyes glued to the screen.

"That was a powerful barrage. Even a Tier-2 legendary would be hard-pressed to tank that head-on…"

"Going by logic, this should be enough to snap Articuno out of its rage."

"But… something doesn't feel right. Can it really be this easy?"

The system's mission was to "pacify Articuno"—and it had explicitly stated that the task must be completed by a Trainer.

Su Bai knew the system wouldn't assign an impossible task.

But if this were truly the extent of a Tier-2 Legendary's strength, would the mission even carry that kind of weight?

If it were one of Su Bai's own three Mythical Pokémon, he would've still had countermeasures.

But Articuno—a Pokémon holding an actual legendary title—should not be this easy to defeat.

Most telling of all…

The mission hadn't been marked complete.

As if responding to Su Bai's doubts, the scene on the monitor began to shift.

Dozens of Pokémon had piled on top of Articuno—like a mound of bodies burying a monster.

But then—

"Brrreeeeaaaaaahhh!!"

A shrill cry echoed through the air.

The massive weight of Lapras, perched on top like a lid, was suddenly thrown high into the sky like a paperweight.

One by one, the Pokémon that had swarmed Articuno—Infernape, Talonflame, Ponyta, Machamp, honedge—were blasted away by a violent force.

Articuno's form emerged from the chaos.

Its wings were spread wide, its icy feathers vibrating with fury.

It wasn't defeated.

It was furious.

And more than that—it had been waiting.

Around its body, a glowing protective barrier shimmered, fractured with cracks.

Then, with a piercing cry, the barrier shattered—

KRA-KOOM!!

A storm of pure, icy rage exploded from Articuno's body, sweeping across the mountain summit.

Even Trainers standing at a distance instinctively shielded their faces from the surge.

Zhou Xiaofei immediately pulled Liu Qiaoqiao behind Torterra, using the massive Pokémon's bulk for cover.

Thankfully, Torterra had been attacking from range with Razor Leaf. If it had been in melee, those two might not have escaped unscathed.

"That was… Protect!"

"It knows Protect!?"

Su Bai slammed the table, realization dawning.

That strange sense of unease—this was it.

This was no ordinary wild Pokémon.

It was a Tier-2 legendary.

Even powerful pseudo-legendaries and boss-class Pokémon often required TM (Technical Machine) usage to learn advanced moves.

A divine beast like Articuno would obviously know more than just its natural moveset.

And Protect? That was well within its capability.

What made it even more terrifying was how well it had used it.

Su Bai recalled the last time he'd seen Goomy try to use Protect.

It had barely survived Articuno's Blizzard, and the cost was extreme physical exhaustion—even healing items couldn't help.

It was still sleeping off the damage in Zhang Qun's Luxury Ball.

But Articuno?

It had blocked dozens of synchronized attacks from highly trained Pokémon with ease.

It didn't even flinch.

Torterra, Empoleon, Infernape, Honedge, Talonflame—these were not low-level captures.

They were well-developed, trained Pokémon.

Yet the difference between them and Articuno was like the gap between heaven and earth.

This was Articuno.

The Ice-type legendary of the Kanto Region.

Even in its enraged, berserking state, its battle instincts were sharp enough to pick the perfect countermeasure at the perfect moment.

"Brrreeeeeeeeahhh!!"

Though it had relied on Protect to survive the onslaught, the look in Articuno's eyes said it all:

The threat had been real.

It was still in a frenzy—but now, a glint of caution had appeared.

It had begun to recognize the threat of its enemies.

A new wind began to rise.

But unlike before, this wasn't a normal breeze.

It was made of pure cold, a biting chill that turned vapor into glass and wind into blades.

As the freezing gale swept over the battlefield, water vapor and broken shards of ice began to reform across the icy summit.

The environment, damaged by so many powerful moves, began to heal—returning to its frozen, hostile state.

But more than that, the wind began cutting into the fleeing Pokémon.

Flesh was sliced open—and blood froze mid-air, turning into glittering shards of red ice.

"That's… Ice Wind! Another move outside the standard learnset!"

Su Bai's eyes narrowed. He quickly glanced at Rotom.

Rotom, already monitoring the communication feed, shook its screen helplessly.

Before leaving, Su Bai had attached a relay device to Zeraora.

The plan was for Zeraora and Charizard to arrive as backup if things went wrong.

But…

Even with Charizard's full-speed flight, they still hadn't reached the mountain.

Haicheng was just too far.

Su Bai took a deep breath and returned his focus to the battle.

His current expression reflected the sheer tactical genius of a Tier-2 god.

Even while in a frenzied state, it could rely on battle instinct alone to select the most effective strategy.

As if it had the world's best Trainer silently giving commands.

That was what made Tier-2 deities so terrifying.

They didn't need Trainers to become powerful.

They were forces of nature, gods in every sense.

"Ice Wind doesn't hit hard," Su Bai muttered, "not enough to knock out trained Pokémon in one hit…"

"Especially since the Fire-types purposely stayed back to tank it."

Infernape and Talonflame had clearly positioned themselves to shield others.

Being Fire-types, they only took half damage from Ice moves.

Even Ponyta, still a bit dazed, instinctively copied them—spreading its body to reduce the incoming damage.

But Articuno didn't use Ice Wind for raw power.

It used it because…

It's fast.

It has low casting delay.

And—most critically—its secondary effect:

It reduces the target's Speed by one stage.

That's why Articuno chose Ice Wind.

Not to kill…

But to slow.