Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [345]

For Slowbro, [Mega Evolution] was a brand-new sensation—something it had never experienced before.

Now completely enveloped by Shellder, Slowpoke lay steeped in digestive fluids that were oddly warm and cozy. It felt... secure. Blissfully secure.

Above the battlefield, Crobat’s wings glowed with a deep violet light.

“[Cross Poison]!”

The attack landed squarely on Slowbro’s armored shell. It left an X-shaped mark—but did no damage whatsoever.

What would normally be a critical-hitting move like Cross Poison was rendered useless against Mega Slowbro’s [Shell Armor].

Yet August still gave no command to retaliate.

“Slowbro, use [Amnesia].”

In that instant, Mega Slowbro emptied its mind. Not that there was much in there to begin with—but now its consciousness was pure white. Spotless. Pristine.

The livestream chat was delighted:

[There’s a kind of beauty to a mind untouched by knowledge.]
[The clear, unclouded stupidity.jpg]
[Iono, I’ve got my ranger certification exam tomorrow. Could you cosplay Mega Slowbro for good luck? Please?]

Cosplay Slowbro?

Absolutely not.
Never.

Feigning ignorance of chat, Iono kept her commentary going: “Mega Slowbro diverts most of its energy into Shellder. With that, its Defense skyrockets. And with [Amnesia], its Special Defense rises as well. This puts Koga in a very difficult spot!”

On the field, Slowpoke—now nestled inside Shellder—stretched lazily and wore a face of pure contentment.

[Slack Off]

Not only had its defenses been stacked, but the health it had lost earlier was now fully restored.

“First stacking defenses, now recovery. It looks like Mega Slowbro is settling in for a war of attrition,” Charles observed.

Koga: “…”

A war of attrition? How long do you plan on torturing me, August...?

But Koga wasn’t the type to sit and wait for defeat.

“Crobat, [Venoshock]!”

Poison was Koga’s specialty—his go-to tool against drawn-out fights.

Crobat fired a jet of venom aimed directly at Slowbro’s exposed head.

But Slowbro had been watching closely.

At the very moment the poison launched, it pushed off the ground with its tail and leapt. The poison splattered against its shell, sizzling with corrosive force.

Koga’s venom was no joke. Even the gas wafting off it was enough to make spectators feel woozy.

But it still hadn’t reached Slowbro’s skin. And in the pouring rain, the residue was quickly washed away.

[That’s just... invincible defense!]
[Mega Slowbro looks so cool. I want one too.]
[Get in line. First, you’ll need to find a Slowbronite.]

Crobat didn’t stop. Even if the last Venoshock failed, it kept spitting out poison—this time in rapid succession, hoping that sheer volume would overcome precision.

Logically, that wasn’t a bad idea. But it depended on Mega Slowbro just standing there, doing nothing.

And when would that ever happen?

“Slowbro, [Yawn].”

August’s voice cut through the storm.

Taking advantage of the gap between Crobat’s attacks, Mega Slowbro let out a deep, drowsy yawn. A wave of somnolent energy drifted across the battlefield.

Crobat caught it off-guard.

Its wings faltered. Its eyes drooped.

Koga’s expression changed. If Crobat fell asleep now—

“Crobat—!”

He didn’t get the rest of the sentence out.

Crobat spiraled, then fell from the sky, fast asleep before it even hit the ground.

Yawn had triggered far faster than expected.

“Finish it—[Psychic]!”

Mega Slowbro’s eyes lit up with blue psychic energy and fired a blast directly at the unconscious Crobat.

The outcome was sealed.

Overhead, the drone Rotom confirmed the result.

[Crobat is unable to battle. Slowbro wins!]
[The winner of this match is—August!]

“A spectacular battle! Though only a 1v1, both Trainers displayed excellent command and strategy,” the announcer praised.

[Congratulations! Your ranking has increased: 83 → 57.]

“Huh?” August looked at Koga in surprise. “I gained that many ranks just beating you?”

Koga recalled his Crobat and answered sheepishly, “I played more matches during the last tournament. My rank’s been high since then…”

Then he explained further.

Back when he was still part of Team Rocket, Giovanni had instructed their executives to assess the strength of Gym Leaders across the regions.

Unlike Sabrina—who coasted after reaching the Ultra Ball tier—Koga had taken the task seriously, so his ranking ended up being quite solid.

“I see!”

So that’s the kind of person Sabrina is, huh.

Mentally noting another of Sabrina’s black marks, August pulled out Slowbro’s Poké Ball, ready to recall it—

Only to see Mega Slowbro rolling gleefully in a puddle of mud.

“Bro~!”

“…You wanna stay out a bit longer? Don’t want to go back into your ball?”

Slowbro nodded vigorously.

This was its dream form.

Snuggled in Shellder’s belly, not needing to think or do anything—completely free to loaf around.

“…You’ve completely misunderstood what [Mega Evolution] is supposed to be.”

Face twitching, August hurriedly returned the disgraceful creature to its Poké Ball.

...

After the match, August didn’t head straight back to the villa.

Instead, he made a beeline for the sidelines—and caught Zinnia, who had been trying to sneak off.

He’d noticed her making a fuss during his match earlier, and now wasn’t letting her escape.

“Where were you going?” August narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t do something behind my back, did you?”

“Me? Of course not,” Zinnia said quickly.

She’d only complained about August tricking her out of her [Mega Stones]—that didn’t count as betrayal… right?

“Is that so?” August stared her down until she started fidgeting.

Finally, he asked, “I’m going to go watch Sabrina’s match. Coming with?”

“Ooh? Sabrina got matched already?!” Zinnia lit up.

“Mm-hmm. So—yes or no?”

“Of course I’m going!” Zinnia nodded without hesitation. She never passed up good drama.

...

Since her loss to August—which had demoted her to a true gatekeeper of the Ultra Ball tier—Sabrina had taken things seriously.

She was determined to climb again.

Even if she couldn’t surpass August, she refused to fall behind younger Trainers like Gold, Silver, or Gary.

By the time August arrived at the Battle Palace, Sabrina’s match was already underway.

“Claydol, [Light Screen]!”

Sabrina flicked her hand, and the Baltoy-like Pokémon conjured a glowing barrier that blocked Wattson’s Manectric’s [Thunderbolt].

“[Trick Room]!”

Claydol stretched out both arms—instantly enveloping the field in a warped space.

Inside the distortion, Manectric’s movements slowed drastically.

But Claydol? Unaffected. It moved more nimbly than ever.

Raising a hand, it summoned a flurry of psychic cubes from the air, sending them crashing down like hailstones.

And finally—

[Manectric is unable to battle. Sabrina wins!]

Wattson scratched his head with a sheepish grin. “Impressive stuff!”

Though he’d fought alongside August during the Groudon and Kyogre incident, this was the first time he’d truly experienced Sabrina’s strength firsthand.

So even back then, the girl beside August was already this strong...

It made him feel a bit old.

“The future really does belong to the young.”

Sabrina smiled faintly as she checked her ranking.

She was just about to say something polite—when she caught a glimpse of August on the sidelines.

The moment she saw him, she mumbled a quick thank-you and ran straight in his direction.

Watching her go, Wattson chuckled. “Ah, youth...”

...

With two straight wins—one of them against the future Johto Elite Four Koga—August was now squarely in the spotlight.

Even viewers who had believed Cynthia went easy on him during the exhibition match were beginning to take his strength seriously.

Across major forums, August was trending hard—overtaking Raihan as this year’s hottest pick for the Masters Eight.

Some of his diehard fans even claimed he could become World Champion this year.

That part wasn’t widely accepted, though.

Aside from the Rayquaza he used during the opening ceremony, the Pokémon August had shown so far still didn’t measure up to Leon—or even Lance.

Lance: “???”

Currently browsing tournament threads from Kanto, Lance felt personally attacked.

He’d show them.

He’d been itching to shake off the “bottom-of-the-eight” label for a while.

With his duties wrapping up, Lance picked up the phone and dumped his remaining work on Siebold.

Then, grabbing his cape, he slung it over his shoulders.

Time to head for the Battle Frontier.

And not just Lance.

As the tournament heated up, the other Masters around the world had begun paying attention to the emerging threats.

Familiar names like Lance, Steven, Cynthia...

And others—Mustard, Diantha, Leon, Caitlin—had all begun keeping tabs on August.

After all, it wasn’t news to them that he’d taken down Giovanni, resolved the Groudon/Kyogre crisis, and dismantled Team Galactic.

August was undeniably one of the biggest contenders for the championship title.

...

But the man in question?

Completely oblivious.

After two consecutive victories, August finally encountered the same issue Sabrina had before:

[Searching for opponent... Estimated wait time: 24 hours.]

After spending all that time insisting he wasn’t getting insider treatment, August now kind of wished he was.

“Two whole days, huh…”

He sighed, cradling Mew in his arms while absently stroking its head.

“Mew~!”

Mew chirped happily, clearly enjoying the attention.

Then, suddenly—the door burst open.

“Boss, I made it to Ultra Ball tier!”

Gold came charging in, proudly displaying his rank.

Right there: Rank 99 – Ultra Ball Tier.

“Pretty good, huh? I must be the second person after you to qualify!”

Somehow, the Kanto branch—usually infamous for slacking off—had turned into a competitive war zone.

“Not bad. But Silver beat you to it.”

August pointed to Silver, who was casually sharing ice cream with Sneasel.

Silver looked up when he heard his name.

“Tch...”

Gold deflated.

Even after rushing nonstop, he still lost to Silver.

“No need to be down about it,” August said with a grin. “On the bright side, at least someone is still behind you... right, Gary?”

Gary, who’d been trying to sneak quietly back to his room, froze mid-step.

Then, stiffly, he said, “I just had a slow start. I’ll catch up soon.”

The whole room burst out laughing.

Gary’s face turned red.

He swore to himself: Tomorrow, I’m hitting Ultra Ball if it kills me!

“Oh? What’s all the laughter about?”

Blue pushed open the door.

Gary lit up like he’d found a lifeline. “Blue! What’s your current rank?”

“Huh? Oh, I got lucky today,” Blue said brightly. “All my opponents had high rankings, so I slipped into Ultra Ball tier!”

She showed her phone.

The screen clearly displayed her Ultra Ball status.

Gary’s smile froze.

So... he was the only clown?

As if reading his mind, August added, “Well, not just you. Zinnia’s still below too.”

Gary felt no relief—only greater despair.

I’ve sunk so low I’m being compared to Zinnia...

Zinnia, completely blindsided: “??? What did I do? What’s so shameful about being on my level?!”

...

Gary was so shaken that after dinner, he immediately dragged his Pokémon out for emergency training.

“Should we... check on him?” Pearl asked, having just returned from an outing with Diamond.

August didn’t even look up. “He’ll be fine. Have some faith in Gary’s mental resilience.”

The guy had been through worse under his training.

Seeing Pearl still looked unsure, August pulled up his chat with Ash and sent a screenshot to Gary.

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Screenshot.jpg. Ash is watching your battles from Johto.
[Gary Oak]: For real?!

Instant reply.

“See?” August said to Pearl, gesturing toward the phone.

---

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!