Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [154]

"Sigh, Gary is just pathetic!"

"If he can't handle a little setback like this, how is he ever going to surpass Ash?"

August put down his phone, looking thoroughly disappointed.

Blue: "....."

Honestly, considering how much you guys mess with his mindset, it's already impressive that Gary hasn't had a complete mental breakdown.

"Forget about Gary," August said, turning his head. "Blaine, can you tell us more about New Island in detail?"

Although Sabrina knew quite a lot about Team Rocket, she wasn’t a researcher, so her knowledge of New Island’s inner workings was limited.

Naturally, someone like Blaine, who had worked there personally, would know far more.

Hearing August mention New Island, Mew—who had been playing with its tail—perked up its ears, clearly interested in learning more about the place.

Seeing everyone looking at him expectantly, Blaine fell into deep thought, reminiscing.

"New Island… Back when I was doing research for Team Rocket there, the facility was divided into two main sections.

"The outer section was where Team Rocket’s combat personnel were stationed—it was heavily fortified."

"Team Rocket had set up a radar station there. Any unauthorized ships approaching New Island would be immediately attacked by the Gyarados they kept patrolling the waters around the island."

"As for security personnel on the island itself, from my observations, there were at least three hundred of them, all elite Rocket members with extensive combat experience..."

"The inner section was where the researchers lived and worked. It was divided into different areas: one for technological equipment research, another for Pokémon life sciences, and a section for historical records and legendary Pokémon studies. As for the Mewtwo Project, that had its own separate department…"

After Blaine’s explanation, August had a much clearer understanding of New Island.

In short—it was an impenetrable fortress.

Anyone without Champion-level strength who tried to force their way in would be signing their own death warrant.

And even if they did have Champion-level strength, if Giovanni showed up, their chances of survival would be slim.

This alone showed just how much Team Rocket valued their New Island base.

"I see. Then, Blaine, when do you estimate the Mewtwo Project will be completed?" August asked the key question.

Blaine instinctively rubbed his arm, thought for a moment, and then gave a precise answer.

"Five days!"

As a former participant in the Mewtwo Project—and considering the feedback from the Mewtwo cells inside him—Blaine was able to determine the timing fairly accurately.

"Five days, huh… Got it. Then we’ll set out two days in advance—give Team Rocket a little surprise," August said. "At that time, we’ll probably need you to guide us, Blaine."

Blaine had no objections—after all, this was in his own best interest as well.

Since Blaine’s gym had been attacked and suffered some damage, he needed time to deal with the aftermath.

So, after arranging to meet at Cinnabar Gym in three days to set off for New Island, August and Blue returned to their hotel.

...

At the hotel, Blue watched as Mew happily played a board game with Chansey, Clefable, and Jigglypuff. But despite the lighthearted scene, she couldn't shake her worries.

"August, are we really going to infiltrate New Island?"

Hearing her, August paused the video of Leon vs. Raihan he had been watching on his tablet.

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s just… isn’t it way too dangerous for just a few of us to storm Team Rocket’s main base?" Blue said anxiously.

Right now, even counting everyone from the Kanto branch—including Gary, who was still stuck in Celadon City—they only had five people capable of fighting.

According to Blaine, New Island had over three hundred Rocket trainers stationed there, making it at least as large as the Celadon base Lance had previously wiped out.

And that wasn’t even factoring in Mewtwo, or the possibility of Giovanni and his top executives showing up.

Even with Mew on their side, breaking into such a heavily guarded base was beyond reckless.

Blue voiced all her concerns to August.

"So that’s what you’re worried about…" August chuckled. "Since when have I ever done something I wasn’t confident about?"

"Besides, I actually brought this up with Lance before. I told him I discovered a Team Rocket base at sea and asked for his help."

"Lance is going to help?" Blue asked.

If it was August and Lance working together, then maybe it wasn’t impossible after all…

But August shook his head.

"He’s tied up with the Indigo League Conference. He already skipped several meetings because of the Koga situation—this time, he really can’t step away."

"Not just him. Agatha is acting as the temporary Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, and Bruno is off in Johto investigating the conflict between Team Rocket and the Masked Army. None of them can come."

Blue frowned in confusion. That meant all of Kanto’s Elite Four were unavailable. So where were they supposed to find reinforcements?

Seeing her puzzled expression, August smirked.

"There's still one Elite Four member left, isn’t there?"

Blue's eyes widened as realization hit her. "Lorelei!? But isn’t she in the Sevii Islands?"

Everyone knew Lorelei was dedicated to her homeland—she spent most of her time eliminating Team Rocket's influence in the Sevii Islands and rarely left.

Yet August had actually convinced her to come?

August explained, "Normally, yeah, she’d be too busy. But after I injured Sird last time, Team Rocket in the Sevii Islands has gone into hiding, so Lorelei finally has some free time… That’s why when I asked Lance for help, she offered to take his place."

"This time, she’ll be joining us as reinforcements."

August grinned. "Sure, we might be small in numbers, but we’re definitely not fighting alone."

Hearing this, Blue finally let out a breath of relief.

August, on the other hand, thought she was worrying too much. The only reason he even asked Lorelei to come was because of his own habit of playing things safe.

Realistically, he figured he and Mew alone would be more than enough.

First of all, according to the original timeline, after Mewtwo was created, it completely wiped out all of Team Rocket’s forces on the island. He could just wait for Mewtwo and Team Rocket to weaken each other before stepping in.

Secondly, even if Mewtwo didn’t turn against Team Rocket this time, with both him and Mew in play, there was little chance Mewtwo would follow Team Rocket’s orders.

And even in the absolute worst-case scenario—if Mewtwo decided to side with Giovanni and attack them—he still had the [M2 Restraint Armor], a trump card powerful enough to remind Mewtwo who was really in charge.

Foolproof. Completely foolproof.

August leaned back on the couch with a satisfied sigh.

Blue, however, had a bad feeling—like August was setting himself up for disaster.

But looking at how well he had planned everything, she had to admit…

If they still couldn’t handle this with their lineup—including Mew—then as August himself would say…

They might as well pack their bags and move to Hoenn.

---

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!