Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [413]

Only by comparison can you really see the difference.

When Zinnia heard Larry speak, she suddenly felt that getting knocked on the head by August didn’t hurt so much after all.

Even Gary found that, compared to Larry’s suffering, the “training” he’d endured from August was almost bearable.

Larry: “?”

Watching the looks on Gary and Zinnia’s faces, his corporate-drone instincts kicked in—wait, am I the bad example here?

…

Under Geeta’s direction, the Paldea League staff opened the gates to Area Zero.

The moment the gate swung wide, August felt a surge of potent, strange energy rush out to greet him. The [Tera Orb] at his waist gave a faint flicker.

Now everyone could finally see inside.

Apart from the huge, seemingly bottomless pit at the center, it didn’t look much different from anywhere else.

“So this is Area Zero?” Gary said, glancing around. “Honestly, it doesn’t look that special.”

He peered in every direction, already wondering where he might find those legendary Paradox Pokémon.

Hearing Gary, Larry’s tone was all business, with that ever-meticulous seriousness of a salaryman: “Don’t let your guard down—four teams of investigators have already gone missing in here.”

As one of Paldea’s Elite Four, Larry had access to classified information.

He knew exactly how much trouble had cropped up during Area Zero’s construction, and he wasn’t about to be fooled by any calm on the surface.

Just then, Arven’s phone started to ring at his hip.

Everyone turned to look at him.

They’d already tested this earlier—communications in Area Zero were notoriously unreliable. It was nearly impossible to contact the outside world from in here. So for Arven’s phone to be ringing now…

August glanced at Penny. Instantly understanding, Penny pulled a laptop from her Eevee bag and quickly hooked it up to Arven’s phone with a cable.

When she finished, she nodded at August, who motioned for Arven to pick up.

Arven pressed the button.

The screen lit up with Professor Turo’s face, and his very first words made Arven flinch.

[Arven, my son—you’ve finally come!]

Arven stared at the screen, voice tight. “What’s going on here?!”

Why had his parents sent those messages to the outside world?

Why had every single survey team to enter Area Zero vanished without a trace?

What really happened in here?

All those questions swirled in Arven’s mind as he fired them at his father.

But Professor Turo seemed to have expected this. His face remained calm, his voice flat:

[Want to know the truth? Come to the Zero Lab. You’ll find everything you seek there. I left everything behind for you…]

The moment he finished, the call ended.

August turned to Penny. “Anything?”

Penny was about to reply when Arven’s phone rang again.

Everyone looked at him—again.

He picked up. This time, the face on screen had changed—now it was Professor Sada.

[Arven, my son—you’ve finally come!]

This time, everyone in the group had a question mark above their heads.

Should they say it? Only a married couple could manage opening lines this perfectly synchronized…

Arven pressed on, his suspicion growing. “What do you want to tell me…?”

His parents hardly ever called him, and now suddenly both of them in quick succession? It was just too strange.

But Sada didn’t answer his doubts—she only said:

[Arven, don’t go to the Zero Lab. It’s a trap!]

Then the call cut off.

“So what does this even mean? Should we go to the Zero Lab or not?” Zinnia was thoroughly confused.

Sada and Turo had given completely opposite advice, and her brain was about to crash.

Gary piped up, ever the smart aleck, “Maybe your parents are fighting again?”

“That’s impossible! My parents get along really well…!” Arven shot back at once.

Larry nodded to confirm it—League records did mention that Professors Turo and Sada had always had a good relationship, though that was years ago. With time, who knew how things stood now…

Lusamine was lost in thought, silent.

August didn’t bother joining in the wild speculation. He turned to Penny. “Any findings?”

Penny’s face showed hesitation and doubt. “Um… something’s weird. It looks like both signals came from the same location.”

“Hm?”

Everyone stared at her, and Penny, flustered, stammered, “If I didn’t mess up… both signals are coming from the Zero Lab itself…”

Her words sent the whole group into deep thought.

Was the Zero Lab really a trap?

Had any of the earlier survey teams received these calls from Sada and Turo?

Were they all stuck in the Zero Lab now?

While everyone else pondered, August cut through it all:

“No point overthinking—let’s just go check it out ourselves!”

Gary slapped his thigh. Of course! With August here, what’s the point of worrying? Just head for the Zero Lab already!

And rumor had it, there were all kinds of Paradox Pokémon waiting there.

As Gary started daydreaming, Larry suddenly yelled, “Don’t touch that!”

Gary looked over.

He saw Lillie, hand outstretched, about to touch a Jigglypuff with a rather odd-looking “hairstyle.”

“Eh?” Lillie turned, already patting the “Jigglypuff.”

The so-called Jigglypuff’s face instantly twisted into an irritable scowl. Larry moved to throw out a Poké Ball to save her—

But the very next moment…

The Jigglypuff’s body trembled, and the bad temper vanished like smoke.

Larry watched, dumbfounded, as the Scream Tail—notorious in the League records for being aggressive and volatile—suddenly stiffened, trembling like a terrified little Lechonk.

What happened?

Then he spotted August—and got his answer.

Floating next to August was a black-and-white, humanoid Pokémon, hovering in midair, staring straight at Scream Tail.

It was Darkrai!

Pinned by Darkrai’s gaze, Scream Tail didn’t dare budge, and could only let Lillie pet it.

“It’s so cute! Teacher August, I think it wants to come home with me—can I catch it?”

Zorua in Lillie’s arms: “…?”

Why does that sound so familiar?

“Of course you can.” August handed her a Friend Ball. “Use this!”

A teacher’s advice is always worth trusting.

Lillie took the Friend Ball. “Jigglypuff, would you like to be my Pokémon?”

Scream Tail: “…”

First of all, my name is Scream Tail, not Jigglypuff!

Secondly, I was sunbathing, minding my own business. Not only did you mess up my sunbath, now you’re catching me…

Scream Tail wanted to fight back, but when it caught sight of August—and the Darkrai at his side—its golden eyes filled with grievance.

In the end, Scream Tail surrendered to August and Darkrai’s overwhelming intimidation, and climbed right into Lillie’s Poké Ball.

“I caught a Jigglypuff!” Lillie cheered.

Larry looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

Lusamine, seeing Lillie so happy, smiled and snuggled up to August’s arm.

August: “…?”

Do you ever miss a chance? Seriously…

…

It only took three minutes for August to explain to Lillie that Scream Tail was actually an ancient Paradox Pokémon.

Zinnia’s eyes went wide. That Jigglypuff is actually an ancient Paradox Pokémon—Scream Tail?

She glanced at the Scream Tail by Lillie’s feet, thinking, If Lillie could pet it without trouble, and now she’s caught it, it should be safe for me to try too… Holding onto that thought, she reached out to touch Scream Tail.

Scream Tail, stewing in its own frustration, saw a perfect outlet!

Just as Zinnia’s hand got close, Scream Tail opened its mouth wide—

Chomp!

It bit her hand.

Zinnia stared for two full seconds before the pain finally reached her brain.

“Owowowow!” she yelled, clutching her arm.

With August’s help, she finally managed to yank her hand free. Seeing the bite marks, Zinnia felt totally numb.

Scream Tail’s golden eyes glittered with mischief and challenge.

At that moment, she made up her mind—I’m definitely catching a Paradox Pokémon myself. That’ll show Scream Tail!

Just then, the Magnemite on Iono’s head started spinning.

Iono followed their gaze and gaped. “Wait… is that…?”

Not far away, a tall Pokémon with two “legs”—a so-called “Magnezone with Legs” (Sandy Shocks)—was staring right back at her.

For a second, girl and Pokémon just stared at each other.

Iono tilted her head. Sandy Shocks tilted its head too.

“That’s Sandy Shocks—an ancient Paradox Pokémon!” August chuckled. “Looks like it thinks you’re its kin, Iono!”

“Huh?”

Iono was full of question marks.

Me? Anything like that thing?
I mean, sure, we both have two legs… and I do have two Magnemite on my head…

Sandy Shocks kept watching her with what looked almost like affection.

“Looks like it really likes you,” August said. “Why not catch it?”

And for once, he wasn’t joking.

Iono hesitated, then took out a Poké Ball. Sandy Shocks didn’t resist in the slightest.

She tossed the ball at it.

Thunk.

The ball bonked Sandy Shocks’ head and drew it inside. Then…

Iono picked up the Poké Ball, bewildered. “Wait, that’s it? I just caught it?”

Seeing this, Gary finally couldn’t hold back. “Aren’t these Paradox Pokémon supposed to be insanely aggressive?”

Where’s the supposed ferocity?
Why does everyone else catch Paradox Pokémon as easily as breathing?

Zinnia shook her still-sore arm.

Not aggressive enough?
What, does it have to bite my whole arm off for you to be satisfied?

But Zinnia’s definition of “aggressive” was clearly very different from Gary and Larry’s.

“There’s definitely been some kind of change inside Area Zero,” Larry said. “You almost never saw Paradox Pokémon on the upper levels before.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. Let’s go!” August waved them forward.

The group followed.

Along the way, they ran into more Scream Tail and Sandy Shocks. Judging from their expressions, all these Pokémon looked jumpy, as if trying to escape something lurking further down below.

“What’s going on deeper inside…?” Gary was still pondering when—

August’s voice rang out, “Observation Station One, up ahead!”

Gary looked up and saw three buildings with pale blue insignia looming in front of him.

“So that’s Observation Station One? It’s way smaller than I imagined,” he commented.

From the outside, the buildings looked ancient. August wasn’t surprised—after all, they’d been built over eighty years ago. The fact that they were still standing was a miracle in itself.

At the entrance, he tried pushing the door. No luck.

So August looked at Penny.

“This… I really don’t know how to pick locks!” Penny said nervously.

She was a hacker, not a locksmith!

A quick glance around confirmed no one else knew how, either.

With no other choice, August turned to Plan B: brute force.

He signaled Darkrai.

In a blink, Darkrai vanished from sight—and a moment later, the door unlocked from within with a series of clicks.

They stepped inside to find an assortment of new and old equipment.

Judging by the dust, no one had visited in a long while.

“The survey team never came here,” Larry observed.

August approached a table and found a diary.

He flipped it open—the signature read “Turo.”

[Date: (illegible). After successfully developing the Tera Orb, we secured funding and officially launched our Area Zero research. There were many sacrifices, but to uncover the truth of Terastallization, it was all worth it.]

[13th: Preliminary research into Paradox Pokémon on the upper levels is complete. Tera energy concentration is insufficient, so after discussion, we decided to press deeper into the lower strata.]

August handed the diary to Arven.

Arven scanned it, then nodded. “That’s my father’s handwriting…”

August turned away, examining the lab’s machinery.

As a researcher himself, August knew his way around old lab gear—everything here was ancient, long out of date, not worth much now.

But just as he was about to tell everyone to move on—

Arven’s communicator beeped at his hip.

---

This is a fan translation of 我，宝可梦称号大师！ by 落唯 白良. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!