Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [148]

Mew was absolutely delighted after putting on the mask.

However, while Mew was happy, the mask vendor found the scene utterly terrifying.

A Dragonite mask floating around mid-air, accompanied by a half-eaten skewer of grilled mochi—no matter how you looked at it, it was downright eerie!

For a brief moment, the vendor recalled several urban legends about Cinnabar Island.

August noticed the vendor's frightened expression and quickly realized what was happening. He patted Mew lightly.

"Mew?"

Mew also realized its mistake—it had forgotten to turn the mask and mochi invisible. Sticking out its tiny tongue in embarrassment, a faint blue light flickered, and the floating mask and mochi instantly vanished from sight.

"Sorry about that, my Pokémon can be a little mischievous," August apologized with a sheepish smile.

"H-ha… haha, so it was a Pokémon… Safe travels, dear customer," the vendor forced a laugh.

August wasn’t sure if the man actually believed him…

If not, the poor guy might have trouble sleeping tonight.

After paying for the mask, August left the stall.

---

Silph Hot Spring Villa Hotel

After presenting the membership card he had received from the Silph Co. president, August was given VIP treatment.

Come to think of it, ever since the donation from Silph Co. had been credited to his account, he hadn't really been keeping track of their situation.

He wondered if Silph Co. had passed the League’s review process.

At that moment, Blue had just finished gathering information on Blaine.

"August, based on what I found online, Blaine hasn’t been seen at the gym for quite a while. Right now, the Cinnabar Gym is officially closed," Blue reported.

"Some trainers on forums claim to have received a badge from him, but many others can’t even locate him."

"Oh, that? I already knew that," August replied casually.

"So… what do we do then? Don’t tell me you actually have a way to find him?" Blue asked, puzzled.

"Find him? Why would we need to find him?" August looked at her like she was the one being strange.

Blue was baffled by his response.

They were here for a gym assessment. If they couldn’t even find Blaine, wouldn’t this entire trip be pointless?

Seeing her confusion, August chuckled. "We’re the examiners. It’s always the examinee’s job to find the examiner, not the other way around."

"I already had Gengar post the assessment notice on Cinnabar Gym’s front door."

"He has three days. If Blaine doesn’t show up, we’ll just mark him as having failed the assessment."

Blue blinked in surprise.

Now that she thought about it… that actually made a lot of sense.

They were the ones conducting the assessment, and Blaine was the one being evaluated—why should the examiners be the ones stressing out?

Realizing she no longer needed to worry, Blue decided to reward herself with a relaxing hot spring bath.

However, upon arriving at the villa’s private hot spring in her bathrobe, she discovered something unexpected—it was a mixed-gender bath.

Just as she was about to turn back and change into a swimsuit, she heard August’s footsteps approaching from behind.

She turned to see him, Mew, and Gardevoir following along, with Eevee nestled in his arms. He looked at her curiously.

"Why are you just standing there? Is the water too hot?" he asked.

Blue didn’t answer.

Her face turned bright red.

...

In the end, Blue went back to change into a swimsuit.

Even though she felt like she and August were close, they weren’t that close yet…

"Bui~"

Eevee, with a towel balanced on its head, lay by the edge of the hot spring, letting out a contented sigh.

Gardevoir’s cheeks were slightly flushed from the steam, but even so, she never let go of the [Mind Plate] August had given her. She also kept stealing glances in his direction, watching as he played around with Mew.

"Just you wait, Mew!" August gritted his teeth after Mew splashed water right into his face.

"Mew~!"

Mew giggled mischievously, vanishing in a flash just before August could retaliate.

Unfortunately, its playful antics had unintended consequences.

Right behind Mew, a Slowpoke was tentatively dipping its tail into the hot water, testing the temperature before deciding whether to enter.

And just as Mew dodged, the water August had splashed missed its intended target and hit Slowpoke instead.

Slowpoke wobbled slightly.

It had only meant to test the water with just the tip of its tail, but now… its entire tail was submerged.

Several long seconds passed…

A faint, savory aroma began wafting from Slowpoke’s tail.

"Dai!"

Slowpoke, with its characteristically delayed reaction, finally realized what had happened and clutched its tail, tears welling up in its eyes.

Nearby, Gengar, who had been waiting for Slowpoke to test the water first, reconsidered. Watching Slowpoke’s pitiful expression, it silently turned around and returned to the warm-water section.

Now submerged in the hot spring, the plump purple ghost let out a satisfied sigh.

"Gengar!"

Gengar then tried to strike up a conversation with a nearby Marshtomp.

However, Marshtomp simply stared blankly into the distance, completely unresponsive.

...

August was at a complete disadvantage in his water fight against Mew.

So, he decided to switch strategies.

Just as Mew dodged another splash, August suddenly widened his eyes and pointed behind it. "Look! Mewtwo!"

Mew instinctively turned around.

Seizing the opportunity, August dumped an entire bucket of water over Mew’s head.

The once-fluffy Mew was now thoroughly soaked, looking like a drenched kitten.

"Mew~!"

Realizing it had been tricked, Mew was furious.

And so, the battle escalated—dragging Blue, Eevee, Gardevoir, and even Jigglypuff into the fray.

Before long, the hot spring had devolved into complete chaos.

...

There was no denying the benefits of a hot spring soak. Afterward, August felt completely refreshed, as if all the stress from dealing with Team Rocket had melted away.

If an ordinary hot spring was already this effective, he wondered just how incredible the healing springs of Mt. Silver would be.

Dinner that night was exceptionally lavish.

Aside from the hotel’s prepared meals, there was also a special hot spring egg courtesy of Chansey.

The only reason this dish existed, though, was because Blue’s Chansey had insisted on entering the high-temperature area—and had forgotten to take its egg out while soaking.

By the time they realized it, the egg had already been cooked.

In the end, they had no choice but to tearfully turn it into part of their meal.

As he enjoyed the delicious dinner, August replied to a message from Gary.

[Don’t let it get to you. Losing to Liza isn’t a big deal.]

[Gary]: [You told me you’d put in a word for me, but after I mentioned Interpol, she went even harder on me!]

[Huh? Seriously? I really did ask her to go easy on you. Look, here’s proof—][Image][Image]

[Gary]: […I get it, but why did you put quotation marks around "go easy"?]

Crap.

He forgot to edit those out.

Scrambling to recover, August quickly typed: [Ahem… Come on, this is nothing. You managed to survive against Sabrina, didn’t you? I’m sure you can beat Liza too!]

[Keep at it! Believe in yourself—you’ve got this!]

[…]

Gary stared at the messages in silence.

He didn’t reply.

Instead, he used an ellipsis to express the deep, complicated emotions he felt inside.

And to subtly guilt-trip August into feeling just a little remorse.

As for whether August actually felt guilty…

Well, let’s just say that after chatting with Gary, he ended up eating two extra bowls of food than usual.

---

The next morning, August woke up feeling something heavy pressing down on him.

The sensation was oddly familiar. When he had first gotten Eevee, it had nearly smothered him in his sleep.

Thinking Eevee had once again sprawled across him during the night, he instinctively reached out, planning to grab Eevee by the scruff and move it aside.

However, the moment his hand made contact, he realized something felt off.

It was round. Soft. Covered in fine, velvety fur…

Wait a minute—

Jolted awake, August’s eyes snapped open, only to be met with a pair of large, bright blue eyes staring right back at him.

His hand was currently resting on Mew’s belly.

August let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, you scared me. I thought you were—"

"..."

"This isn’t my fault! You’re the one who used me as a pillow! I could barely breathe all night!"

Mew, caught completely off guard by the accusation: "???"

A flash of blue light shimmered in Mew’s eyes as it transmitted the events of the previous night directly into August’s mind.

In the vision, August could be seen reaching out in his sleep, trying to grab Eevee. However, due to Eevee’s bizarre sleeping posture, it unconsciously dodged his grasp.

With Eevee out of reach, August’s hand had instead latched onto Mew, pulling it close and hugging it like a pillow the entire night.

Mew was furious. It hadn’t even struggled, yet the first thing August did upon waking up was deny everything?!

Mew puffed up angrily, staring at him with indignation.

"It’s a misunderstanding! I was sleepwalking—sleepwalking!"

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, August could only use that excuse to smooth things over.

After much coaxing, he finally managed to appease the sulking Mew.

When he stepped out of the room, he saw that Gardevoir and Blue were already up.

Even Salamence was awake, clutching a large bag of Pokémon food and MooMoo Milk as it happily devoured breakfast.

"Morning, everyone~" August greeted each of his Pokémon, spending a few moments bonding with them.

Just as he was about to sit down for breakfast, Blue handed him a letter.

"This was delivered by the hotel staff. Apparently, an elderly man asked them to pass it along to 'August'."

Raising an eyebrow, August had a pretty good idea of what it was.

Sure enough, after opening it, he found an address inside, along with a deep crimson badge resembling flames.

"Blaine sure is efficient!"

It had only been a single night since he posted the assessment notice at Cinnabar Gym. Even though the deadline was three days, Blaine had already sent his response.

"Do we need to prepare anything?" Blue asked.

She expected August to dismiss the idea with confidence, but to her surprise, he nodded seriously.

Seeing her puzzled expression, August explained, "Blaine was one of the researchers involved in the Mewtwo Project. According to the intel Sabrina provided, he left Team Rocket a while ago and stopped participating in the project."

"But we should still be prepared, just in case."

"So, what’s your plan?" Blue asked.

August smiled and pointed at his breakfast. "Eat, of course!"

Was there anything more important than a full stomach?

Salamence, currently inhaling its food like a vacuum, wholeheartedly agreed.

---

Cinnabar Gym

After being closed for several months, Cinnabar Gym had finally reopened.

This should have been great news for the trainers on Cinnabar Island. Previously, the only way to obtain the Volcano Badge was through sheer luck—stumbling upon Blaine at just the right time.

However, as they eagerly rushed to the gym, their excitement was short-lived.

Right next to the entrance was a freshly posted "Closed for Business" notice.

The joy that had filled the gathered trainers quickly turned into frustration.

One by one, they surrounded the gym staff, demanding an explanation.

...

Inside the gym, Blaine stood in the battle arena.

Beneath the bandages wrapped around his arm, something writhed.

"It’s getting closer…" Blaine muttered, gripping his arm.

His forearm contained unstable Mewtwo cells, allowing him to sense the psychic entity’s current state.

For the past week, the reaction in his arm had been growing more intense. He knew what that meant—Team Rocket had likely initiated the final phase of the Mewtwo Project.

In a little over a week, Mewtwo would be born into this world.

Blaine had originally planned to use this opportunity to secretly infiltrate New Island.

If he could steal some of Team Rocket’s research data, he might be able to find a cure for his arm.

But those plans were now ruined.

A single gym assessment notice had thrown everything off course.

For now, he had no choice but to delay his mission until the assessment was complete.

Looking at the notice in his hand, Blaine sighed.

It had been years since he last contacted his fellow gym leaders in Kanto. He knew nothing about this August, the examiner assigned to his case.

All he could do was hope the guy wouldn’t be too much of a pain to deal with.

As that thought crossed his mind, August and Blue arrived.

Under the confused gazes of the other trainers, August presented Blaine’s letter and was granted entry into the gym.

Stepping onto the battlefield, August finally got a good look at Blaine.

A white lab coat. Bald head. Sunglasses. A bushy white mustache…

These were Blaine’s signature traits.

"I didn’t expect this year’s gym examiner to be so young…" Blaine remarked in surprise.

It wasn’t meant as flattery—just an honest observation.

In past assessments, it was usually either Lance stopping by for a routine check or the League sending experienced trainers. A new face like August was rare.

August, on the other hand, was surprised that Blaine knew so little about him.

After all, the other gym leaders—whether they leaned toward Team Rocket or the League—had thoroughly researched him.

Even so, praise or not, August had no intention of going easy.

"Leader Blaine, do you have an explanation for why Cinnabar Gym was closed for several months without an official reason?"

As he spoke, August glanced at Blaine’s bandaged arm, where something was faintly shifting underneath.

Through telepathic communication, he silently reassured the invisible Mew beside him to stay put.

Blaine hadn’t expected such a difficult question right off the bat.

For a moment, he was caught in a dilemma.

What was he supposed to say? That he had been working for Team Rocket but defected midway, and he shut down the gym to avoid retaliation?

August waited patiently for an answer.

But when Blaine remained silent, he simply took out his notebook and jotted something down.

"Let’s move on. I assume everyone’s on a schedule, so we shouldn’t waste time."

"We’ll proceed with a standard 3v3 gym battle format. Agreed?"

---

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!