Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [365]

The moment the semifinals ended, August had barely stepped out of the tunnel before he was swarmed by a wall of reporters and microphones.

“Mr. August, this is your first time competing in the World Championships and you've already made it to the Masters Eight semifinals—how do you feel?”

“Pretty happy!”

“Mr. August, any thoughts on your upcoming battle with Lance?”

“I’ll give it my all and be in the best condition possible.”

“Mr. August, someone spotted you shopping with Miss Cynthia—are the two of you in a relationship?”

August turned toward the reporter. “?”

Which paper are you from?

This is the World Championships—how did a gossip rag even get in here?

Security?

Can someone please come throw this guy out already?

...

Despite a brief interruption from a particularly shameless tabloid reporter, the match against Geeta had gone smoothly overall.

---

Villa

“So, August, you and Cynthia are actually dating now?” Gary asked, eyes gleaming with gossip.

“.....”

August sighed as he looked at Gary’s nosy expression. “You must be really bored lately.”

Gary froze.

Crap. I hit a nerve—he’s pissed now!

“Wait, I—”

Gary quickly tried to recover, but before he could get another word out, August pulled out his phone. Gary’s face shifted from panic to dread as August tapped the screen.

A golden rift tore open at Gary’s feet.

Whoosh—

He vanished.

Not long after, Ash showed up looking for Gary. When he didn’t see him anywhere, he turned to August, puzzled. “Hey, where’s Gary?”

August thought for a second. “He went to study.”

“Study?”

“Pika?”

August nodded. “Mm. Study what kind of gossip not to spread.”

Ash and Pikachu exchanged a look—half understanding, half confusion.

Gardevoir, who had watched the entire scene unfold, quietly shook her head as August spun his explanation. She took a refined sip of tea and flipped to the next page of the novel she’d borrowed from Sabrina.

---

Hisui

Following the recent festival, Gold had managed to take Kamado’s opinion of him from cold to… even colder.

Kamado issued a formal ultimatum: Pull one more stunt in the village, and you’re all getting kicked out of Jubilife.

“Kamado is completely impossible to deal with!” Gold fumed. If Silver hadn’t been holding him back, he’d have run off to pick a fight right then and there.

Zinnia bit into a persimmon cake. “August already knows you charged those fireworks to his account. Maybe start thinking about how you’re going to explain that.”

Gold froze. “...Boss wouldn’t hold a grudge over something that small, right?”

He glanced at Zinnia and Silver. Neither said a word—but their expressions spoke volumes.

He would.

Gold instantly regretted his life choices.

Suddenly, a new thought occurred to him. “But Gary’s been getting on Boss August’s nerves way more than me lately, and he hasn’t been thrown into Hisui... Clearly—”

Before he could finish comforting himself, a golden rift split open in the ceiling above.

SCREECH—

Gary fell through it with a scream, crashing to the floor.

Gold shut his mouth mid-sentence.

“...Forget I said anything.”

Maybe if I work hard, Boss will let it slide... right?

Meanwhile, Gary sat up groaning, rubbing his head. “Oh hey, everyone’s here... Um, actually, August sent me to check on your work progress.”

Everyone: “.....”

Do you even believe that yourself?

Despite the drama stirred up by the reporters, it hadn’t affected August and Cynthia’s relationship in the slightest.

---

Training Grounds

“Garchomp, [Scale Shot]!” Cynthia commanded, her tone sharp and precise.

Garchomp roared, launching a flurry of razor-like scales at Mewtwo.

August’s voice rang out. “Mewtwo, now!”

Vmm—

Mewtwo’s eyes glowed bright blue, summoning a psychic barrier that absorbed the incoming barrage completely.

“Careful, August—here it comes!”

In the next instant, Garchomp shot into the sky, wrapped in a dragon-shaped aura. With a deafening roar, she dove down toward Mewtwo in a fierce [Dragon Rush].

BOOM!

The impact slammed into the barrier, cracks spiderwebbing through it, the air trembling with the strain—but the shield held.

Cynthia let out a breath. “Still not quite strong enough...”

She’d been preparing for her battle with Leon nonstop, even roping August into sparring with her. But no matter how many times she tested it, Garchomp’s timing kept falling just short. If she opted for [Scale Shot] to boost speed, it weakened her attacks. But using [Swords Dance] left her too slow to maintain momentum.

Seeing Cynthia’s troubled expression, August offered a quiet reassurance. “You’re already really strong.”

She managed a faint smile. “If only Garchomp could learn [Dragon Dance]…”

Yeah, that’s… August didn’t respond. That one really was beyond his control.

...

After the final four were decided, the much-anticipated semifinals of the Masters Eight finally began following several days of build-up.

According to the official format, the semifinals—just like the quarterfinals—would follow a 3-vs-3 battle format.

The first match: Cynthia vs. Leon.

August sat in the viewing section. Next to him was his own semifinal opponent—none other than the “Dragonless Dragon Tamer,” Lance.

“Can we not bring that up again...” Lance said with a pained expression.

Ever since Iono had blurted out “Lance is the Dragon Master—so his next Pokémon should definitely be a Dragon-type!” on-stream, the internet had latched onto the nickname “Dragon Master With No Dragons.”

It was driving him nuts.

I do have dragons, okay? Call me the Flying-type Champion if you must—but don’t say I have no dragons!

He shook the frustration out of his head and asked, “So, August—who do you think’ll win?”

August thought it over. “Hard to say... If Leon could use [Dynamax], then he’d definitely have the edge. But now... I'd say it's fifty-fifty between him and Cynthia.”

“Huh? I thought you'd pick Cynthia without hesitation.”

August looked confused. “Why would you think that?”

Lance smirked. “Didn’t the papers say you two were dating?”

“.....”

That reporter... Let me find out which paper you're from...

Just as August was about to respond—

The stadium erupted in cheers.

Cynthia and Leon had entered the arena.

---

T/N: She managed a faint smile. “If only Garchomp could learn [Dragon Dance]…” NO WAY???? A REFERENCE TO A NEW TL IM DOING??? WHAAAAAAAAA

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!