"Yo! If it isn't the legendary Pokémon Trainer herself—Miss Liu Yunlan!"
The moment the shop door creaked open, Wang Tao, ever the opportunist, quickly recalled his Grotle into its commemorative Poké Ball.
Feigning nonchalance, he grinned and quipped:
"Out of energy blocks already?"
These days, no compliment worked better on Liu Yunlan than simply calling her a Trainer.
Sure enough, she held her head high and responded proudly:
"Of course! My Chimchar's been working hard lately—it probably burned through them during training!"
Then, with a confident thud, she slapped her card down on the counter.
"Su Bai, give me another batch of energy cubes—and some berries while you're at it."
"I've got to reward my Chimchar properly!"
Chimchar bounced happily beside her, clearly approving of the plan.
Murong Nan, who came in with her, also handed over her card with a smile.
"I'll take the same."
Su Bai chuckled, throwing a sly glance at Wang Tao, who clearly had ulterior motives.
This guy might look honest, but he was sharp—probably hoping to use the fact that Grotle has already evolved while Chimchar hasn't, to gain a temporary advantage.
But hey, Su Bai was just the shop owner—it wasn't his business to interfere with such petty tactics.
What did pique his interest, though, was the boy who had just sprinted out of the shop earlier.
"That kid who just ran out—Zhang Qun, right? You two know him?"
He packed up the goods into two large bags, handed them and the cards back, and asked casually.
Liu Yunlan handed an energy cube to Chimchar, nodded, and answered:
"Oh, him?"
"His parents aren't awakened, but they basically control most of the household goods distribution in Haicheng City."
"He's awakened, but his potential is... well, pretty average."
"To keep pace with the other awakened students his age, he didn't enroll at Haicheng First High."
"Instead, he hired private elite tutors and even pays high-level awakened to take him on missions."
"He's basically a rich kid trying to blaze his own path."
Su Bai stroked his chin, silently mulling that over.
Wang Tao, on the other hand, looked like he'd just connected the dots.
"No wonder he told Su Bai to wait!"
"What if... he really can afford 80 million?!"
Both Liu Yunlan and Murong Nan's eyes widened.
"Eighty million?!"
Liu Yunlan gasped.
"Su Bai, are you kidding me?! Are your sales not high enough already?"
"Now you're trying to scam the clueless rich heir?!"
Su Bai waved his hand dismissively.
"Scam? Nonsense!"
"Su Family's Pet Shop has always been honest and fair!"
"The 80 million is because the kid pulled a pseudo-legendary Pokémon."
"He just didn't have enough cash on him."
Murong Nan blinked.
"Pseudo-legendary? What's that?"
"A Pokémon that costs eighty million?!"
Before Su Bai could answer, Wang Tao practically leapt to his feet.
"I got this one!"
"Let me explain!"
Su Bai just rolled his eyes and poured himself another cup of tea while Wang Tao launched into a passionate, exaggerated explanation—complete with hand gestures and dramatic flair.
By the end of it, Liu Yunlan and Murong Nan looked completely stunned.
"Rules over the sea, land, and sky… creates entire worlds…"
Liu Yunlan muttered to herself.
"To think there are Pokémon that powerful..."
"Just a step below actual gods... and he pulled one? A pseudo-legendary?"
Murong Nan looked just as dazed, mind clearly elsewhere.
A pseudo-legendary...
If she had drawn one, she'd probably pay any price to keep it.
"With the Zhang family's resources, if he convinces his parents, he might really come back."
"Eighty million is a lot—but it wouldn't bankrupt them."
"Looks like we're really about to see the first pseudo-legendary hit the field…"
Even Murong Nan, who was usually calm and composed, couldn't help but sound a little sour.
It's a pseudo-legendary, after all.
Su Bai chuckled.
"No need to be so jealous. Sure, the starter Pokémon may not match pseudo-legendaries in raw stats..."
"But if trained properly, they're not necessarily weaker than a fully evolved Garchomp."
"In the end, a Pokémon's strength is heavily tied to its Trainer."
"With strong enough bonds, miracles can happen."
"Type matchups matter too."
"A pseudo-legendary is worth 80 million, sure—but that doesn't guarantee it's stronger than a 1-million Pokémon."
This was the real world—anything could happen.
If Zhang Qun didn't train Gible properly while someone else raised a starter Pokémon to its peak, combined with smart strategy, beating a pseudo-legendary wasn't out of the question.
Besides, even the strongest Dragon-types have a huge weakness to Fairy-types.
Su Bai's gentle "pep talk" helped drag Liu Yunlan and Murong Nan back from the daze of "pseudo-legendary fever."
Though... the air still felt faintly sour.
Damn it!
It was still a pseudo-legendary!
That's insanely cool!
Liu Yunlan sighed and shook her head in frustration.
"Ugh, whatever! So what if it's a pseudo-legendary? Maybe I'll get a legendary someday!"
Trying to convince herself, she wandered around the shop.
"Where's the remote? Su Bai, don't you watch TV?"
"What's with this busted old screen—and you're hiding the remote too?"
Su Bai looked baffled, then fished out an ancient-looking remote from the counter drawer.
"Uh... here."
"I don't really watch much TV."
"Why? What do you need the remote for?"
The TV was seriously old—ancient, even.
Su Bai barely lived at home anymore, so he'd never felt the need to upgrade.
Honestly, the TV might be as old as he was.
Liu Yunlan gave him a strange look.
"You really don't know?"
"Tonight's my sister's concert! It's being live streamed!"
"She even said Jigglypuff is making a guest appearance!"
"You, as the only person on Earth running a Pokémon shop…"
"Don't you want to see how Jigglypuff performs on stage?!"
???
A question mark slowly popped over Su Bai's head.
Jigglypuff? In a concert?
What the heck—Liu Yunshuang's imagination is this wild?!