Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [133]

Aah!

The moment it poked its head out from the stairwell, Gastly was so startled it nearly jumped.

What did it see?

A wicked human commanding his minions to string up a helpless Mismagius and beat it!

There was also a ferocious Eevee sinking its fangs into a little ghost girl's arm—her pained expression made it clear she was suffering.

This is terrifying!

Gastly trembled. It was just about to retreat and slip away when that human, the one wearing a sinister smile, suddenly turned his head—looking directly at where Gastly was hiding...

For a moment, Gastly felt its entire body freeze.

August had long since noticed a Gastly trailing him.

Since it wasn’t acting with hostility, he hadn’t bothered dealing with it. But he didn’t expect it to follow him all the way to the seventh floor.

He had no idea what its goal was, but now was not the time to let it cause any disruptions.

Casually, he tossed out a Poké Ball.

With a flash of light, his massive Salamence and Gyarados materialized, flanking Gastly on either side.

"Watch it."

With that brief command, August turned back and resumed directing Gardevoir's attack on Mismagius.

Gyarados let out a deep roar, exuding an intimidating presence, while Salamence's predatory gaze locked onto Gastly as if evaluating whether it was edible.

Being trapped between these two terrifying Pokémon, Gastly was on edge.

It still hadn’t given up on escaping, though. Just as it was about to slip into the shadows—

Both Salamence and Gyarados snapped their gazes toward it, their eyes full of warning.

At that moment, Gastly visibly deflated, its form shrinking slightly as if out of sheer fear. It no longer dared to move.

Mismagius was no match for Gardevoir.

Even with a type advantage, the power gap was simply too vast.

With the [Mind Plate] enhancing its abilities, Gardevoir maintained near-complete dominance over Mismagius.

To make matters worse, Mismagius kept getting distracted by the little ghost girl's predicament. Already at a disadvantage, it was now teetering on the edge of defeat.

The ghost girl was growing desperate. Though she had the power to create illusions, they had no effect on Eevee.

Seeing Mismagius struggle because of her, she anxiously called out, telling it not to worry about her.

Hearing its trainer's plea, Mismagius instinctively turned toward her.

Such an obvious opening—August didn’t even hesitate.

"Gardevoir, finish it!"

"Na~!"

Raising its arm, Gardevoir’s eyes gleamed blue. A surge of invisible psychic energy struck the distracted Mismagius midair.

Mismagius tried to summon a [Shadow Ball] to counter, but it was hit before it could finish chanting the incantation.

Already battered and bruised, Mismagius spiraled downward, crashing into the ground, unconscious.

"Mismagius!"

Seeing Mismagius fall, the ghost girl collapsed onto the floor, her strength drained. She glared at August and Blue with hatred in her eyes.

August had never been one to care about the wails of the defeated.

Walking up to the girl, he gestured for Eevee to release its grip. Squatting down, he spoke:

"I ask, you answer. OK?"

The ghost girl refused to comply, turning her head away with a resentful expression.

"Not cooperating makes things difficult for me."

August then shifted his gaze to the Dusknoir hovering above them, smiling as he added, "If you don’t want to talk, I can always let Dusknoir handle it."

"Dusknoir is known as the Reaper Pokémon, isn't it? Considering you’re a ghost that sneaked out of the ghost world, what do you think it’ll do to you?"

Hearing this, a flicker of fear flashed through the ghost girl’s eyes.

Faced with his threat, she reluctantly nodded.

...

After interrogating the ghost girl, August got a general understanding of the situation.

To put it simply, Team Rocket had been conducting experiments in Pokémon Tower for the past two weeks, using its unique environment to try and communicate with the ghost world.

They messed up.

A rift was opened, unleashing a flood of Ghost-type Pokémon—including the ghost girl and Mismagius.

Realizing their mistake, some Team Rocket members fled, while others were captured. In response, Agatha sealed off Pokémon Tower, waiting for Dusknoir to arrive and repair the rift.

But what no one expected was that among the spirits released, one particular ghost girl managed to defeat Dusknoir by using Mismagius’ power.

She then attempted to harness Dusknoir’s energy to permanently solidify the rift—planning to pull all of Pokémon Tower into the ghost world.

"...I was so close... just a little more!" the ghost girl seethed.

If she had just a little more time, she could have completed the process. Pokémon Tower would have become part of the ghost world, giving her and Mismagius a place to call home.

August’s expression turned strange.

For a moment, he thought she had some grand evil scheme—like wiping out the entire Lavender Town.

But no.

She just wanted to take Pokémon Tower with her.

Thinking about it, it made sense. If she truly wanted to attack the town, she wouldn’t have spent two whole weeks hiding here.

Blue, however, focused on something else.

"Is real estate expensive in the ghost world too?"

She knew Saffron City’s housing prices were sky-high, but did ghosts also need to buy property?

August shot her a curious glance.

The ghost girl refused to answer, turning her head away.

But her expression was an answer.

Wow… is the ghost world having a housing crisis too?

Had he just crushed a little girl’s dream of owning a home?

For a brief moment, August felt an odd pang of guilt.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

Regardless, Pokémon Tower was not her personal property. It was a place where many people came to honor their Pokémon. There was no way he could let her take it.

"You’re guilty of illegally occupying League property," August stated. "But since there aren’t any laws regarding ghost crimes, as the head of the Kanto division of the International Police, I hereby order your deportation to the ghost world. Any objections?"

The ghost girl remained silent, looking toward Mismagius.

Mismagius?

Based on how desperate it had been when she was in danger, August figured the two must have been inseparable in the ghost world.

Since she hadn’t harmed many humans, he didn’t make things too difficult for her. He gestured for Gardevoir to bring Mismagius over.

Taking the unconscious Pokémon in her arms, the ghost girl silently held it close and began slowly making her way toward the rift.

Watching her leave, Blue hesitated before calling out.

When the ghost girl turned, confused, Blue rummaged through her bag and pulled out a camping kit she had taken from Team Rocket’s Game Corner.

"Take this!" she said, pressing it into the girl’s hands.

"Live well with Mismagius. Don’t do anything like this again."

The ghost girl stared blankly at the gift.

"...Thank you," she murmured, almost inaudibly, before stepping through the rift.

...

"Didn’t expect you to be so kind," August remarked.

"I just… remembered my childhood," Blue said wistfully.

Back when she was kidnapped by the Masked Man, her only companion had been Jigglypuff.

She was lucky to have escaped. She had met August and found a new life.

"Thank you, August," she said seriously.

August was taken aback.

"Why so sentimental all of a sudden..." he muttered, waving dismissively.

Blue chuckled.

From where it was still hanging on the wall, Dusknoir let out a silent sigh.

Uh… guys? Can someone take me down first?

Meanwhile, Gastly shuddered.

Can we stop talking? I’m still trapped between these two monsters! I didn’t even do anything—why am I suffering?!

After a while, August finally remembered that there was still a Dusknoir hanging on the wall.

This was the key Pokémon needed to close the rift to the ghost world—he couldn’t just leave it there.

He signaled for Gardevoir to snap the chains, releasing Dusknoir.

Once freed, Dusknoir silently hovered in place, staring at August for a long moment. Then, its gaze shifted to Gardevoir—and more specifically, the [Mind Plate] in Gardevoir’s hands.

Finally, without a word, it sank into the floor and disappeared.

What happened next left August speechless.

Dusknoir began making trip after trip, carrying the unconscious Ghost-type Pokémon that had been defeated earlier and tossing them one by one into the rift.

It completely ignored the Gengar and Haunter from the first-floor lobby.

Judging from how unresponsive those ghostly Pokémon had been, August suspected that the ones from the ghost world were… different.

Dusknoir must have gone back and forth at least ten times before stopping.

Just before stepping into the rift itself, it hesitated—its gaze lingering on Gastly.

Gastly shrank back instinctively.

But after glancing at August, Gardevoir, and the two massive Pokémon looming over Gastly, Dusknoir ultimately chose not to act and disappeared through the rift.

With Dusknoir gone, the rift to the ghost world collapsed in on itself, sealing shut.

Though the atmosphere in the tower remained a bit eerie, things had mostly returned to normal.

"How rude," August muttered, glancing at the spot where Dusknoir had vanished. "We saved it and even took care of this whole mess, and it didn’t even say thanks."

He turned to look at Gastly.

"Don’t you think so?"

Gastly, who had been relieved that the terrifying Dusknoir was gone, instinctively nodded in agreement.

Then it froze.

It had just agreed with August.

Slowly, it looked up to see August’s knowing smirk.

Sweat beaded on Gastly’s face.

August took a step forward, smiling as he looked Gastly in the eye.

"Now, let’s talk about you."

"Why have you been following me this whole time?" His tone was casual, but his gaze was sharp. "And why did Dusknoir look at you before leaving?"

"I’m really curious—mind explaining?"

Gastly’s entire body stiffened.

Right now, it desperately wanted to go back in time and slap itself with a Shadow Ball.

Why?

Why didn’t I just leave Pokémon Tower when I had the chance?

Curiosity kills ghosts too!

---

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!