Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [407]

[You have thwarted Giovanni’s scheme for the third time. Title earned: “Once, Twice, and Thrice Again!”]

[Please choose your reward.]

[1. Revised Manuscript of the Secrets of the Earth]

[2. Giovanni’s Beedrill Training Manual]

[3. Strange Diary]

Looking at the rewards the system offered, August’s first thought was—did Giovanni just explode and drop loot?

All three rewards seemed to be directly tied to Giovanni; each one had to be something he valued deeply.

The first, Revised Manuscript of the Secrets of the Earth—the name said it all. It was probably Giovanni’s own updated notes on the book he’d published years ago, even rarer than the signed collector’s edition Gary Oak had snagged at Viridian Gym. This version likely contained Giovanni’s latest insights into Ground-type mastery. In short: priceless.

The second reward, Giovanni’s Beedrill Training Manual...

It had to be Giovanni’s personal method for raising his Beedrill. If you followed it step by step, you might not create a Beedrill that was an exact copy of Giovanni’s—but you’d probably get one that was at least seventy or eighty percent as strong. And if you used the Insect Plate, you could probably raise a Beedrill even stronger than his!

But for August, it was useless. Sure, Giovanni’s Beedrill was impressive, but his own Pokémon roster was already full—he was stretched thin as it was, no way did he have the energy to train another Beedrill.

And as for the third reward—a “strange diary”? That just screamed trouble. Who actually keeps a diary, anyway?

So...

System, I’ll take number 3!

A flash of golden light later, and a black diary appeared in August’s hand.

Cogita stared at August with undisguised disdain.

August bristled. “What’s with that look? I’m collecting evidence on Giovanni’s crimes—this is all part of my investigation!”

Still, August couldn’t help shooting the diary a suspicious look as he opened it.

...

Ten minutes later

After skimming through the diary, August felt totally let down.

Most of the pages were filled with Giovanni’s elaborate plans for Team Rocket’s future: schemes, schedules, funding allocations... that sort of thing.

Sure, there was plenty of incriminating evidence tying Team Rocket to various crimes—more than enough to prove Giovanni was a dangerous criminal.

But—

It’s not like I didn’t already know Giovanni was a criminal! August slapped the diary shut against the table.

What he’d really wanted to find—like some juicy blackmail material from Giovanni’s past or hidden scandals—there wasn’t a single word about any of that!

Cogita watched August sulking and asked with a smile, “Evidence for your investigation?”

August’s expression froze.

“Ahem, ahem, ahem...”

He tried to cover his embarrassment with a fit of coughing.

He’d gotten way too excited and let his real motives slip out.

Just as the awkwardness hit its peak, Gary Oak happened to walk by. August’s eyes lit up, and he grabbed Gary on impulse. “It’s been ages since our last battle. Let’s see how much stronger you’ve gotten!”

Gary: “???”

First of all, I didn’t do anything to deserve this...

...

Lillie looked curiously at Gary, who was hanging his head in defeat. “What’s wrong, Gary-senpai?”

Gary said nothing.

August answered for him. “It’s nothing. He just ran into a minor setback in life, that’s all...”

Lillie nodded, half-understanding.

Gary: “....”

Ninety percent of my setbacks in life were caused by you, personally!

August glanced at Gary’s resentful expression and sighed. “After all this time, you still don’t appreciate my good intentions.”

“This is your excuse for using Mega Rayquaza against my Suicune?”

August looked genuinely confused. “Aren’t Suicune and Rayquaza both Legendary Pokémon? What’s the problem?”

Gary opened his mouth but couldn’t get the words out. You can’t seriously be comparing one Legendary Pokémon to another! Besides, even if you could... why the heck did you have to [Mega Evolve] it?

August shrugged. “Using [Mega Evolution] is just so you get used to tougher battles. The enemies we’ll face in the future are only going to get stronger.”

Forget it. Do whatever you want...

Gary had completely given up.

Just then, Lillie remembered something and quickly turned to August. “Blaine said he needed to see you!”

“Blaine? Could it be...”

Something occurred to August, and he followed Lillie toward Blaine’s lab.

“Wait up!” Gary hurried after them.

After the Kanto branch’s expansion, Blaine, as a resident researcher, naturally had his own laboratory on the estate.

When August arrived, Blaine and Mewtwo were standing before a cylindrical device.

“Professor, how’s it looking?” August glanced at the Deoxys floating inside and asked.

On their way back from Alola, August had brought along the injured Deoxys. His own [Power of Viridian] could stabilize Deoxys’s wounds, but couldn’t fully heal it.

So August had entrusted the task of restoring Deoxys to Blaine, who’d once been involved in the Mewtwo project.

Hearing August’s voice, Blaine turned and smiled. “It’s going very well!”

“My research shows Deoxys’s core actually has some self-healing capability. Based on our earlier findings—that Deoxys was formed from a virus mutated by cosmic rays—I used the same gene stabilizer we applied in the Mewtwo Project, and supplemented it with a ton of energy. Now it’s pretty much recovered.”

August hadn’t expected such quick progress.

Gary, who’d followed him in, peered into the tank at Deoxys. “Then why hasn’t it woken up?”

Blaine gave Gary a strange look. “When treating aggressive Pokémon, isn’t it basic common sense to use a lot of tranquilizers? Didn’t your grandfather ever teach you that?”

“Uh...” Gary coughed awkwardly.

He’d never cared for research as a kid, and this sort of knowledge went in one ear and out the other.

At that moment, August spoke up. “Wake it up.”

Blaine, Gary, and Lillie all turned to him.

Blaine: “Are you sure?”

Gary: “Yeah, August, you don’t want to reconsider?”

If Deoxys rampaged here, the Kanto branch could end up like Po Town. Gary definitely didn’t want to end up homeless like Nanu...

“I’m sure,” August replied, looking at them both. “Even if you don’t trust me, you should at least trust Mewtwo!”

Hearing that, Blaine glanced at Mewtwo—who was holding its psychic spoon—then nodded and pressed the activation button on the console.

As the serum was injected into Deoxys’s body—

Deoxys shuddered in its containment chamber.

The very next moment—

Gary and Lillie, who’d been standing right by the glass, both jumped back in shock as Deoxys pressed its emotionless face right up against the tank.

August ruffled Lillie’s hair, then looked up. “Deoxys, is scaring children all you know how to do?”

Deoxys didn’t speak, only stared silently at August.

[Why did you save me?]

With its limited understanding, shaped by what it learned from Team Rocket, Deoxys saw itself and August not just as enemies, but also as rivals to August’s Rayquaza.

It simply couldn’t grasp why August would save it.

Then August’s expression turned puzzled. “Didn’t I tell you already? I want to catch you.”

Gary’s eyes widened at August’s bluntness.

Shouldn’t capturing a Pokémon—especially a powerful one like Deoxys—involve some moving speech, gentle persuasion, maybe an emotional appeal? August, you—

Sure enough, Gary watched as Deoxys shook its head.

[I refuse.]

August wasn’t fazed. Instead, he asked with interest, “Mind telling me why?”

Giovanni created me...

“Wrong. Giovanni just got his hands on your meteorite first. If I’d gotten there first, you would’ve been born all the same,” August replied.

Deoxys remained unmoved.

August pointed at Mewtwo. “Mewtwo was just like you once. But right after it was born, it chose me over Giovanni!”

Mewtwo nodded in agreement with August—though it had no intention of telling Deoxys how different their situations actually were.

Deoxys’s expression didn’t change.

August had to pull out his trump card. “But Giovanni’s already abandoned you. When he escaped, he only took your comrades—he didn’t even look at you with your shattered core.”

At that, Deoxys’s eyes finally flickered.

The earlier points hadn’t fazed it, but Giovanni’s abandonment was a fact it couldn’t deny.

Seeing Deoxys’s emotional shift, August’s lips curled into a smile. “I get that this is a lot to take in. But you can’t find Giovanni now anyway. Why not travel with me for a while?”

“Maybe you’ll change your mind during the journey. And if you do find Giovanni one day and still want to go back to him, I won’t stop you.”

August made his openness clear.

Deoxys, not yet familiar with what kind of person August was, froze—stunned that August would let a defeated foe leave so freely.

And also...

Travel...

It was a concept Deoxys had heard of, but never experienced.

“That’s right, travel!” August smiled. “You came to this world—wouldn’t it be a shame not to see a bit of it?”

His words were so infectious that even Deoxys began to long for something beautiful.

Deoxys mulled it over for a long time, then, seeing no harm in agreeing, finally nodded slowly.

Gary stood there in awe.

If I had that kind of charm, would I really only just have caught Suicune by now? When will August teach me this stuff instead of always dragging me into battles...

Meanwhile, having struck a preliminary deal, August wanted to offer Deoxys a Pokéblock—

—but as he looked at Deoxys, he remembered: Deoxys doesn’t have a mouth.

Never mind, then.

The move to reach into Gengar’s belly for a Pokéblock became pulling out his phone.

August handed a phone to Deoxys. “Here, this is for you. From now on, you’re a provisional member of the Kanto branch!”

“I’ll add you to the group chat.”

That day, Deoxys encountered a human invention called the “cell phone” for the first time.

That day, August pulled Deoxys into the group chat, and Deoxys picked the nickname “From Outer Space.”

That day, under the guidance of three group members, Deoxys downloaded a game called “Pokémon Battle Online”...

When August left Blaine’s lab, he had Deoxys trailing behind, phone in hand—a marked change from when he’d arrived.

As they passed the lawn, Deoxys spotted Rayquaza, who was lying there getting a massage from Zinnia. The instant Deoxys saw Rayquaza, it instinctively prepared for battle.

But Rayquaza only lifted its gaze for a second—well, to be precise, it looked at August, not Deoxys—then closed its eyes and went right back to sleep.

For the first time, Deoxys got to enjoy the perks of being one of August’s Pokémon.

Now I have a legal visa. No more getting deported by immigration police (Rayquaza)!

Don’t underestimate this.

If Rayquaza hadn’t attacked their meteorite, they might never have been forced to hibernate until Giovanni took them away.

“Being part of the Kanto branch has a lot of perks... You’ll see. But first, let me introduce you to the team!”

With Deoxys still bewildered, August dragged it into a house to meet Cogita.

Cogita’s eyes were equally puzzled as August led Deoxys up.

“This is Miss Cogita. From now on, you treat her the same way you treat me, understand?”

Cogita: “...?”

What exactly did you do in just a few minutes?

...

Two days of rest slipped by in a flash.

When it was time to depart, everyone gathered on the airship.

Lusamine, as always, stuck to August like glue.
Lillie stood nearby with Cosmog and Zorua.

Zorua was using illusions to turn pebbles into candies, tricking Cosmog—who was completely oblivious and let Zorua run circles around it.

In a corner, Gary was buried in Giovanni’s Secrets of the Earth, studying hard in hopes of finding a way to finally beat August.

But did he ever stop to think? Even the author, Giovanni, had lost to August—did Gary really think he’d learn something in there to beat him?

Cogita was brushing Eevee’s fur. No one knew what she’d done to win Eevee over, but lately, Eevee couldn’t be bothered with its favorite TV dramas and always cozied up to her.

Only the ever-cheerful Zinnia was truly excited for the coming trip to Paldea.

“Alright, everyone’s here.” August glanced over the group, sent Giovanni a message, and after confirming he still wasn’t blocked, nodded in satisfaction. “Let’s set off for Paldea!”

---

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!