Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [362]

“You’re making it sound like I’m attending a League tribunal,” Steven muttered dryly.

Still, he replied, “Thanks to the cooperation of Gym Leaders across the regions, things are more or less resolved.”

After everything that had happened, Steven had finally lost all interest in holding the Champion title. He planned to resign, go back to mining for rare stones, and maybe take over his family’s company while he was at it.

Everyone else: “.....”

Only Steven could talk about inheriting the Devon Corporation like it was just a casual retirement hobby.

Even Scott, developer of the Battle Frontier, shook his head.

Can’t compare. Not even close.

“Tomorrow’s the draw for the Masters Tournament. What’s your take?” Steven asked.

“What can I say? It’s all luck. It’s not like I can rig it…”

Although August wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of facing a familiar opponent in Round One, four out of the seven other Masters were people he already knew. Statistically speaking, it was pretty likely.

That said, when he mentioned “rigging,” August just so happened—intentionally or not—to glance at Scott.

Scott: “?”

Why are you looking at me like that? I’m just a humble contractor!

Just as August was about to make another quip, a knock came at the door. Koga walked in, arms full of paperwork.

The moment he stepped inside, he spotted the culprit responsible for his vacation turning into mandatory overtime.

“August!!” Koga shouted.

Without hesitation, he lunged, ninja reflexes kicking in.

Sensing danger, August quickly stood. “Uh—you all go ahead and chat. I’ve got something to do.”

In a blur of light, he and Gardevoir vanished on the spot.

Steven blinked. “What was that about?”

Lance explained what had happened earlier.

Steven: “...”

Yeah, that tracks. Very on-brand for August.

---

Draw Day.

By early morning, the Battle Frontier’s central stadium was packed with eager spectators.

Ash craned his neck on tiptoe to see the throng ahead. “So many people!”

Pikachu, perched on his head, nodded in agreement.

Gary grumbled, “Why did we have to come in person? Watching the stream at home would’ve been way better.”

“But this is the Boss' match! Seeing it live is way more exciting!” Pearl declared.

“Totally!” Diamond added with a nod.

“Still… the crowd’s insane. August didn’t even give us any insider passes,” Gary muttered.

There were passes that let people skip the line—those precious VIP tickets—but August had already given them all away as prizes on Iono’s livestream. He hadn’t expected Gary’s group to show up just for the draw.

Right then—

“Excuse me, are you folks tired of waiting in line? Then you’re in luck! You happen to be the 1,888th guests today—so we’re giving away VIP tickets! You can take the VIP route~”

Ash’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’re giving them away?”

“Of course! One hundred percent real, honest business!” a cheery voice chimed.

“That’s right, nya~!” Meowth added, pulling a stack of tickets from his bag.

Ash instinctively reached out to grab them.

But a hand stopped him.

“Gary?” Ash blinked. “What’s up?”

“Hold on…” Gary narrowed his eyes at the trio. “Why do you guys look so familiar?”

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about them rang a bell.

The Rocket trio broke into cold sweat under his gaze.

Jessie tried to play it cool. “Do we…?”

Meowth raised the tickets to cover his face. “Nope, we’re just local shopkeepers, nya~!”

“Yeah, we’ve always been around! You probably just recognize us from passing by!” James added quickly.

Gary’s eyes narrowed as they scanned the trio—then stopped on James.

Suddenly, his expression changed to a grin. “You guys have good eyes!”

He ran a hand through his hair. “How’d you know I just debuted this new look yesterday?”

Ash: “.....”

Misty, Brock: “....”

Pearl and Diamond: “.....”

In the end, the group walked off holding six shiny VIP tickets.

Watching them leave, Jessie snapped, “Who is that stuck-up show-off!?”

James flipped open the player roster and found Gary’s name at rank 43 in the Ultra Ball tier. “Looks like he’s Professor Oak’s grandson.”

“Rank 43? That sounds strong… Meowth! You think we can take him?” Jessie asked.

Still in his part-time convenience store uniform, Meowth puffed up his chest. “Don’t worry. With my genius planning, we’ll wait until the end of the show to trigger the smoke bombs planted under the VIP seats. Then, in the chaos, we’ll use this insulated capture net to snag the twerp’s Pikachu!”

“By the time they figure it out, we’ll be long gone!”

“And when we hand Pikachu over to Boss Giovanni, we’ll finally get promoted to executives!”

Jessie and James: “Promoted to executives!!”

Their eyes gleamed with blazing passion—until Jessie suddenly frowned.

“Wait… how many tickets do we have again?”

James, a little confused, replied, “Six! We spent all our earnings on them.”

“And how many did we just give away?”

Meowth tilted his head. “Three for the twerps, one for the show-off, and two for those comedy duo guys…”

His voice trailed off. His face fell.

James hadn’t caught on yet. “What’s wrong, Meowth?”

THWACK!

Jessie’s fist slammed into both of their heads. “You morons! We gave them all away! How are we supposed to get in?!”

---

While the Rocket Trio schemed their way into the arena…

In the central stadium’s lounge, August met the remaining seven Masters.

Aside from the familiar Lance, Steven, Geeta, and Cynthia, and his previous acquaintance Wallace…

August’s attention went to the two he’d only ever seen on screen.

“Hello, Miss Diantha. My Gardevoir’s a huge fan of yours,” August said, walking over.

Diantha had been planning to greet him too, but his words caught her slightly off guard.

She blinked, surprised, then smiled warmly. “Thank you for the kind words. I’m curious—which of my films does your Gardevoir like best?”

There was a glimmer of expectation in her eyes.

She’d seen August and Gardevoir battle before—his Gardevoir was strong and graceful, trained to an extraordinary level. It was an honor to know such a Pokémon was her fan.

August hesitated for a second, then—under her gaze—replied honestly: “My Gardevoir’s a Mafia Heiress.”

Back when he was still a forest ranger, Gardevoir had seen that film. It’d had a big impact on her.

Thankfully, August caught it early and managed to steer her off that path.

Otherwise, who knew what state his household would be in now…

Diantha went completely still. “.....”

“Pfft—” Cynthia, eavesdropping nearby, couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Seeing both of them turn, Cynthia stepped closer and whispered to August, “That movie was Diantha’s debut. She’s been trying to erase it from her filmography ever since.”

“Please don’t bring that up…” Diantha’s cheeks flushed red.

August, ever the smooth talker, deftly changed the topic. “I’ve been very impressed by the hologram tech from the Flare Labs in Kalos.”

“A groundbreaking invention,” he added sincerely.

At this, Diantha relaxed and nodded. “Yes, Mr. Lysandre is incredibly talented.”

August smiled casually. “If I ever get the chance to visit, I hope you might help arrange an introduction.”

“Of course,” Diantha agreed without hesitation.

After a few more polite exchanges, she excused herself.

Cynthia leaned in again. “So… what’s the deal with Lysandre?”

“Hm? What makes you ask?”

“You wouldn’t have brought him up here without a reason.”

“Let’s just say HQ noticed some… questionable ties between him and several Kalos elites. Just routine inquiry.”

August knew Lysandre was trouble—serious trouble. But without proof, he wasn’t about to publicly accuse a celebrated inventor of planning to wipe out Kalos.

(Though he had already prepped a private cell for him in the Kanto branch basement.)

Cynthia had a hunch August knew more than he let on. But understanding the nature of international police work, she let it slide.

At that moment, a figure in a cape entered.

The Galar Champion. The reigning world champion. Pokémon’s ultimate brand icon.

Leon.

The moment August saw him, Leon noticed him as well.

He smiled, interested. “August, right?”

“Hello, strongest Champion!” August replied with a grin.

Leon chuckled, the sound drawing attention from everyone nearby.

People turned to see what sort of fireworks would erupt between the reigning champion and the fast-rising challenger.

But Leon’s first line caught everyone off guard.

“I’ve watched all your matches. You weren’t going all-out, were you?”

“Huh?”

August blinked. “What makes you say that?”

“Your eyes,” Leon said. “In your battle with Caitlin—they didn’t have that fire. That spark you get when someone’s fighting at their limit.”

With his experience, Leon could feel it.

August touched his face. You can really tell that much just from someone’s eyes?

He hadn’t expected Leon to be this observant.

“I hope you’ll go all-out when you battle me,” Leon said earnestly.

As someone who loved Pokémon battles, he lived for worthy opponents.

But Leon had misread the situation.

August had been trying his best—within the constraints of the rules.

As an International Police agent, his battle style wasn’t about fair play—it was about achieving the mission by any means necessary.

If he were to really go all-out, Leon would be up against a Mega Gardevoir wielding the [Zap Plate], blasting his Gigantamax Charizard with [Thunderbolt], backed up by Eevee support.

Or Dialga and Palkia unleashing [Roar of Time] and [Spacial Rend] in a tag-team combo.

So August simply said: “I’ll do my best—within the rules.”

Leon didn’t catch the qualifier—but Cynthia did.

She’d seen what August was capable of outside regulation battles, atop Mt. Coronet.

And now, she was genuinely curious.

What would August’s “full power” look like inside the rules?

Right then, the stadium announcement echoed.

[The draw ceremony is about to begin. All competitors, please proceed to the stage!]

Everyone rose.

...

[Let’s welcome the Masters Eight of this year’s World Championships!]

As the highlight reel from the Masters Rotation played again, the champions entered, led by Leon.

“Leon!”

The crowd erupted—unsurprising for the reigning king.

[Now, it’s time for the placement draw! Please welcome our special guest, Iono, to explain the draw process!]

“Hello, world! Good morning, afternoon, and night—ha~!” Iono bounced onto the screen, full of energy.

“This year’s draw is completely random!”

“All eight contenders will press their draw buttons simultaneously. The League’s central computer will handle the sorting. Total transparency!”

[Now, competitors, please take your places.]

August found his spot, and from the stage, he spotted Gary in the VIP section.

“?”

Didn’t I give away all the VIP tickets on Iono’s stream? How did he get one?

But before he could think further—

[Competitors, prepare to press your buttons.]

“3, 2, 1… Begin!”

All eight pressed at once.

The screen spun rapidly through their portraits.

“Let’s see… First up: Leon, the reigning champion! Who’s lucky enough to face him?”

The camera zoomed as the wheel stopped.

Wallace’s face froze onscreen, caught mid-sigh.

“It’s Wallace!”

Unlucky. Facing Leon right off the bat. His only solace—Leon couldn’t use Gigantamax here.

Next, the second match.

Cynthia’s portrait appeared.

Her opponent…

“Cynthia vs. Diantha!”

Leaving just three contenders: August, Lance, and Steven.

The screen spun again—this time landing on Lance.

Standing close, August could faintly hear him muttering something.

“Please not August…”

August: “...?”

Am I that scary? Aren’t you a future Champion? Your image, man…

Lance’s opponent appeared: Steven.

“Lance vs. Steven!”

Lance visibly exhaled.

Which left—

August vs. Geeta.

They exchanged a nod and a polite smile.

[That concludes the draw. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin one match per day in the Masters Eight knockout stage! Thanks for tuning in—I’m your host, Iono~ See you tomorrow!]

...

Afterward, a grand opening ceremony was held in the stadium, giving fans their money’s worth.

Back home, August wasn’t waiting long before a soot-covered Gary stumbled in.

“What happened to you? Did you get in a fight?”

“Not exactly… well, kind of.”

Gary explained how someone triggered smoke bombs in the VIP area and tried to kidnap Ash’s Pikachu, only to get zapped sky-high.

In the end, he added with conviction: “I knew free tickets were too good to be true!”

Pearl and Diamond exchanged glances. Out of kindness, they didn’t mention how Gary got suckered in by a simple “Hey, handsome.”

August, of course, could guess the whole story from their faces alone.

Definitely not just Ash’s fault…

“I told you there’s nothing exciting about the draw ceremony.”

And just from Gary’s summary, August immediately knew—Team Rocket had to be behind it.

Those three clowns were more rivals than enemies to Ash by now.

He had no real desire to catch them.

Gary, however, had drawn his own conclusion:

It’s all Ash’s fault.

August reclined on the sofa with Eevee in his arms, opened the forums, and sure enough—the draw results had the entire place buzzing.

He clicked into a random thread.

Discussion was all over the place.

Some were screaming “Group A is the group of death! August lucked out in Group B!”

Others claimed “Leon not being in Group B is the luck.”

There was even a top-rated post from a Paldean netizen: “Please, let Geeta-san not leave Glimmora for last this time.”

August gave it a like for bravery.

I wonder if Geeta’s seen this post yet.

As he scrolled, a message popped up.

[Lance]: Want to watch Leon’s match together tomorrow?

August thought for a moment. He was free, so he typed a quick “ok.”

Then another message popped up.

[Cynthia]: Want to watch Leon’s match together tomorrow?

Without hesitation, August replied “ok” to Cynthia.

Then he quickly opened his chat with Lance, withdrew the previous reply, and typed:

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Sorry, I’ve got plans.

[Lance]: …

---

T/N: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry Lance... if only you were a pretty girl

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!