Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [155]

New Island

“Boss, the team sent to capture Blaine has lost contact.”

Inside the New Island base, Matori stood before Giovanni, delivering her report.

Giovanni had his back turned to her, staring at the massive screen before him. The monitor displayed a live feed of the laboratory, where Mewtwo floated at the center, submerged in nutrient fluid.

At Matori’s words, Giovanni furrowed his brows slightly before finally turning around.

After Blaine escaped from Team Rocket, Giovanni had sent people to track him down.

However, since Blaine had never betrayed Team Rocket by leaking information to the League, Giovanni had refrained from escalating the pursuit.

His orders were simple—retrieve the stolen research data and bring Blaine back.

But now, Blaine had actively attacked the Team Rocket members sent after him.

Had he finally decided to sever all ties with Team Rocket?

For Giovanni, this was unwelcome news.

As one of Team Rocket’s core scientists, Blaine possessed too much classified information.

After a moment of thought, Giovanni asked, “Where is Sabrina right now?”

“This morning, she reported that she had tracked down Articuno’s whereabouts…” Matori responded.

“Tell her to abandon the mission for now and take a team to capture Blaine. Make sure he’s caught before he leaks anything to the League.” Giovanni’s voice was cold.

Currently, among Team Rocket’s top executives—

The Beasts were lying low in the Sevii Islands due to Sird’s injuries.
The Four Admins were tangled in a conflict with the Masked Army and couldn’t spare forces for Kanto.
The only high-ranking officer available for rapid deployment was Sabrina.

With her abilities, dealing with Blaine should be effortless.

Matori nodded in understanding, then continued flipping through the files in her hands.

“There’s also the matter of Koga… We’ve basically confirmed that his capture is connected to August.”

“According to Domino’s latest intel from Silph Co., their hotel records show that August checked out of his room in Vermillion City shortly before our Celadon base was attacked.

"At the same time, Lt. Surge was arrested.”

“Considering that August is highly trusted by Lance and was appointed as a Gym Examiner, our intelligence division strongly believes that he was directly involved in Surge’s arrest.”

“…August?” Giovanni narrowed his eyes. “To think even I was fooled back then… Hmph, forget about him for now. Once Mewtwo is completed, I’ll have a ‘surprise’ waiting for him at Viridian Gym.”

Giovanni sneered as he scratched his Persian’s chin.

Then, he turned his chair back around, focusing once more on Mewtwo, still floating in the tank.

Watching the steady rise and fall of Mewtwo’s chest, Giovanni could feel the immense power surging within it.

And this…

Would mark the beginning of Team Rocket’s conquest of the world!

---

Meanwhile, August was enjoying some peace and quiet at the hot spring hotel with Blue before the impending battle.

Lounging on the sofa, he absentmindedly nibbled on a fruit salad that Gardevoir had floated over with [Psychic].

Beside him, Gardevoir sat watching the latest film starring Kalos Champion Diantha and her Gardevoir.

Then, suddenly—

A notification popped up on his phone.

[Giovanni has discovered that the team sent to capture Blaine has gone missing.]

The moment August saw the message, he sat up straight.

Ignoring Gardevoir’s displeased glare, he paused the movie and opened his chat app.

[Gardevoir_Is_The_Best]: [What’s the situation? Details.]

[Psychic_Master]: [Where are you? Let’s talk in person.]

[Gardevoir_Is_The_Best]: [In person? I’m at the Silph Hot Springs Hotel on Cinnabar Island. Aren’t you at Seafoam Islands?]

[Psychic_Master]: [I just arrived at Cinnabar. Hold on…]

August had barely finished reading the message when—

Gardevoir suddenly lifted its head.

The air in the room shimmered—

Then, with a whoosh!

Sabrina and her Alakazam materialized in the center of the living room.

Eevee, who had been struggling with a thousand-piece puzzle, nearly jumped out of its fur at their sudden appearance.

August, too, was caught off guard. He glanced at Sabrina, who was casually smoothing her slightly tousled bangs.

“Haven’t seen you in a while, but your teleportation’s gotten even sharper, huh, Sabrina?”

From the time he sent his location to the moment she arrived—barely ten seconds had passed.

Even compared to Gardevoir, her speed was just about on par.

Sabrina smiled faintly. “Thanks for the compliment. Ever since you caught me last time, I’ve been training my [Psychic] abilities intensely. If we fought again, you wouldn’t win so easily.”

“You caught Articuno?” August asked.

“…..”

For a brief moment, Sabrina’s expression stiffened. Then, she answered, “No…”

“Oh, so you didn’t?” August smirked, leaning back onto the sofa. “The way you were talking, I almost thought you had.”

Watching him laze around so smugly, Sabrina felt irritated. “Legendary Pokémon aren’t that easy to catch…”

Before she could continue, August casually took out an energy cube and waved it toward a corner of the room.

Immediately, a pink, feline-like Pokémon floated over and happily snatched the treat, nibbling on it in delight.

“Mew~!”

August turned to Sabrina. “You were saying?”

“…..”

Sabrina fell silent.

She stared at Mew, which was happily rolling around in August’s lap, acting way too familiar with him.

At that moment, a mix of shock and utter humiliation washed over her.

She was shocked that August had somehow tamed Mew.

And humiliated because…

Watching Mew snuggle against August, she was reminded of herself when she had eaten his specially made energy cubes before.

It wasn’t Mew rolling around in his lap—it was her!

But Sabrina was, after all, someone who had seen her fair share of wild situations. She quickly composed herself and met August’s gaze.

“…So this is how you tricked Mew into following you?”

August was not pleased. “What do you mean by tricked? Is that really what you think of me?”

“Mew and I have a pure friendship. We met back on Mt. Moon—way before I even met you.”

“Mew~!” Mew nodded in agreement.

Now that actually surprised Sabrina. August had known Mew for that long?

No wonder she had lost to him so easily back then.

If August knew what she was thinking, he’d probably roast her for trying to make excuses for her defeat.

“Enough about that. You said Giovanni noticed that the team chasing Blaine went missing—what happened?”

Hearing August steer the conversation back to business, Sabrina quickly refocused.

“Bad luck on your part. According to Team Rocket’s internal protocols, any squad deployed on a mission has to report back every five days.”

“The day they lost contact? Just so happened to be their scheduled check-in.”

“When HQ realized they’d gone dark, Matori immediately reported it to Giovanni.”

“Since Blaine is a high-value target, Giovanni pulled me off the hunt for Articuno and reassigned me to capture him instead. My orders are to deliver him to the New Island base.”

August listened—then, instead of looking worried, he actually laughed.

“How is that bad luck? Sounds like my luck’s pretty great, actually.”

Sending Sabrina of all people to capture Blaine? If anything, this was a huge stroke of luck.

Sabrina shot him an exasperated look. “Giovanni didn’t give me a specific deadline, but if I take too long, he’ll get suspicious. So, what’s your plan?”

August’s expression turned serious. “How long can you stall?”

Sabrina considered. “Three days, max.”

She elaborated, “I was already on the Seafoam Islands, which are close to Cinnabar. With my [Psychic] abilities, tracking Blaine would only take a few minutes. Even if I stretch out the time it takes to get him to New Island, three days is the absolute limit.”

Giovanni was a cautious man. If she delayed too long, he’d start asking questions.

“Three days, huh? No need to wait that long. Just take him tomorrow,” August said after a brief calculation.

Sabrina: “?”

She blinked. Did he just tell her—a new recruit to their group—to hand over Blaine to Team Rocket?

Was August a mole?

Seeing her dumbfounded expression, August chuckled. “Obviously, that’s not what I meant. I want you to pretend to deliver Blaine.”

“In reality, you’ll be sneaking him inside Team Rocket’s ranks.”

“Meanwhile, Blue and I will disguise ourselves as your subordinates and infiltrate New Island with you. Once inside, we’ll wait for the perfect moment to sabotage the Mewtwo Project.”

Originally, August’s plan had been to remain on the outside, observing as New Island’s defenses tore themselves apart. Once Mewtwo turned on Team Rocket and the battle ended in mutual destruction, he’d swoop in to claim the spoils.

It was a safe approach.

But the downside was that it left him blind to what was happening inside. If Giovanni and Mewtwo reached an agreement before he could act, he’d have no choice but to face Mewtwo in a direct confrontation.

He never expected Giovanni to gift-wrap such a perfect opportunity for him.

Why watch the chaos unfold from outside when he could enjoy the show from VIP seating?

Sabrina hesitated. “Are you sure this plan will work?”

Something about it felt… unreliable.

New Island was heavily fortified. While escorting Blaine did provide them an easy way in, it also meant plunging straight into enemy territory.

If anything went wrong, they wouldn’t just be trapped inside—

They’d be up against all of Team Rocket’s forces in the Sevii Islands.

And Giovanni himself.

August scoffed. “Of course, it’ll work. You don’t trust my disguise skills?”

As he spoke, he ran a hand over his face—

In an instant, he transformed into Koga.

Then, with another swipe—

He became Blue.

Sabrina’s eyes narrowed. Even using her [Psychic] powers to scan him, she couldn’t detect any flaws in his disguise.

“…If you don’t believe me, you can touch it and check,” August teased.

For some reason, looking at his Blue disguise made something in Sabrina’s brain short-circuit. Before she could think twice—

She reached out and touched his face.

And right at that moment—

The door suddenly swung open.

Blue, carrying a shopping bag, beamed. “August, look what I boug—”

Her words died in her throat.

She froze.

What she saw was herself—

Wearing August’s clothes.

Lounging on the sofa.

With Sabrina, hand raised, stroking “her” face in an incredibly ambiguous pose.

…What the hell happened while she was gone?

August and Sabrina also froze.

Since they were in a hotel, neither had their [Aura] or [Psychic] senses activated—

Neither had expected Blue to walk in at that exact moment.

For a brief moment, the room was silent.

Mew tilted its head, seemingly enjoying the drama.

Gardevoir, meanwhile, covered its face, unable to watch.

...

“…So, in summary, that’s what happened. Blue, please, don’t get the wrong idea.”

Sitting by the kotatsu, August did his best to explain.

Sabrina, sitting beside him, nodded in agreement.

“So let me get this straight…”

Blue folded her arms, expression unreadable.

“You two were discussing Blaine’s situation. August suggested an infiltration plan. To prove his disguise was foolproof, he let you test it—

“And that’s why you touched his face?”

“Exactly! Blue, you are a genius.” August gave her a thumbs-up.

“Okay, but…”

Blue narrowed her eyes.

“Why was my face the one you used?”

That was the one part she just couldn’t wrap her head around.

Disguising himself as her was one thing—

But why did Sabrina reach out and touch it?

God knows what kind of psychological trauma she suffered when she walked in, all excited to show off her new outfit, only to see that!

“…Cough. Just a coincidence. My bad. I apologize.” August quickly admitted fault.

He really hadn’t thought about who he was turning into—it was just a random transformation.

Sabrina, while not feeling particularly guilty, figured it wouldn’t hurt to apologize too.

Oddly enough, that only made Blue more suspicious.

She felt wronged.

She had been here first…

But she pushed those thoughts aside. They had more important things to deal with—like taking down Team Rocket.

“…Forget it. Back to business. I had Bill custom-make some scent-masking spray. It’s finished now, so we can use it before sneaking in.”

She pulled out two cans from her bag.

August was deeply moved.

Not only had Blue brushed off that incident, but she was still going out of her way to cover their bases for the mission.

She’s so thoughtful… I might cry.

“Alright, then. It’s decided.”

He clapped his hands.

“Sabrina, you’ll provide two fake identities for me and Blue.”

“Blaine will pretend to be your captive.”

“And we’ll all head for New Island tomorrow.”

As he spoke, Blue and Sabrina locked eyes.

Blue’s gaze had a faint spark in it.

Sabrina, meanwhile, felt completely innocent.

She and August were not a thing!

---

This is a fan translation of 人在实教，一之濑你会后悔的 by 作者：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!