Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [293]

“What was that just now?” Mewtwo asked.

Before coming here, August had said they were going to visit his mom, Mew. So why had they suddenly been thrown into all this?

“Those three…” August thought for a moment, then gave the simplest explanation he could: “They’re the ones guarding your mom’s house.”

The sheer volume of information packed into that sentence took Mewtwo a few seconds to process.

“…Then why are we fighting them?” Mewtwo was confused.

By that logic, weren’t they all on the same side?

“I’d really rather not. But those guys don’t understand a word I say,” August replied helplessly.

He could talk things out with Groudon and Kyogre, but the three golems—who sounded like encrypted Morse code every time they “spoke”—were another matter entirely.

As he spoke, he dodged another glob of red liquid trying to swallow him whole.

The deeper they ventured into the Tree of Beginning, the more aggressively the Tree’s immune system responded. The Pokémon born from the red crystal fluid had evolved from Omastar and Kabutops to aggressive Aerodactyls.

But against Gardevoir and Mewtwo, they didn’t stand a chance.

“Where are we headed now?”

“The Tree’s core!”

The presence of the Regi trio flared up again behind them. August didn’t want another scuffle and picked up speed.

Before long, he, Gardevoir, and Mewtwo reached a massive stone wall.

“This the core?”

August activated Aura to check. “Through that wall.”

He turned to Gardevoir. Her eyes lit up with a bright blue glow—

Fwoosh.

One man and two Pokémon vanished from the spot.

When Mewtwo opened his eyes again, he found himself and August standing inside a vast chamber.

In its center stood a massive crystal, and beside it, a pair of gloves.

Those must belong to Sir Aaron—the Aura Guardian?

August wasn’t especially interested. He was here to find Mew.

But looking around the entire chamber, there was no sign of her.

Mewtwo glanced at him.

“Emmm… Maybe she’s out?” August offered.

That really seemed to be the only explanation.

In a corner of the room was a scattered pile of odds and ends—Mew’s personal treasure hoard, probably.

August walked over.

Among the bizarre toys and evolution stones, he found a few communication devices—all blinking with several missed calls.

So Mew really did leave her phone at home and go out to play...

Just as he was about to speak, a rumble echoed behind him.

He turned to see the stone wall he’d come through now blown wide open. The three golems stomped in, radiating pressure, their gazes locked onto August—who was currently touching Mew’s prized collection.

“….”

Sighing, August gently put the comm devices back.

“Persistent bastards.”

He wasn’t one to run forever. Besides, he still had to wait for Mew here, so—

“…Guess we’re fighting.”

“Gardevoir, protect the Tree’s core.”

“Mewtwo—[Mega Evolution]!”

His [Keystone] resonated with the [Mega Stone] embedded in Mewtwo.

Light flared—

In moments, a transformed Mewtwo X stood before August, its body more muscular, brimming with power, firmly blocking the golems’ line of sight.

Swish—

Mewtwo’s spoon slashed forward, psychic energy surging—

Mega Mewtwo X lunged toward the Regi trio.

...

Meanwhile, Mew and Celebi were returning to the Tree of Beginning, fresh from a completely free shopping spree at the Kingdom of Rota’s carnival, flower crowns on their heads and ice cream cones in hand.

When Mew saw the pile of unconscious Pokémon hunters lying outside the Tree, it froze.

But after a quick scan, it clenched its tiny fists in triumph.

Every year, jerks like this tried to poach Pokémon from the Tree, only to be driven off by the Regi trio.

In the past, Mew had been too weak and helpless to do anything but watch them escape.

But not anymore!

Now it had connections.

As soon as it got inside, it would call August and have him lock all these guys up.

Pumped up by this thought, Mew tugged on Celebi’s paw and was about to fly inside.

But then it noticed Celebi looking up at the sky.

What was so interesting up there?

That thought had barely formed when Mew sensed a terrifying energy spike.

And then—

BOOM!

A huge explosion tore through the Tree’s canopy.

Flames burst outward, stones flying everywhere.

“Bii…?”

Celebi looked at Mew, as if to ask, Was this part of your surprise plan?

But then—

Plop.

Mew’s ice cream dropped to the ground.

Staring dumbfounded at the burning Tree, Mew was completely frozen.

Several seconds passed—

“Mew!”

Face filled with panic, Mew didn’t even spare a glance for the lost ice cream. It bolted straight toward the Tree’s interior.

On their way in, Mew and Celebi saw shattered crystals, decimated tunnels, and puddles of glowing red goo splattered everywhere.

Mew couldn’t understand it. I was only gone for a little while. How did my house end up like this?

Its mind went to the poachers at the entrance—Could their leader have broken in?

That only made it angrier.

Once it got its hands on a communicator and called August, it was going to punish this intruder hard.

Fueled by rage, Mew and Celebi sped through the glowing green corridors toward the Tree’s core.

And then... they stopped cold.

What they saw left them completely stunned.

Two of the Regi golems were embedded in the walls. The third—Regice—was suspended in midair by psychic force.

“Mew? Mew?? (Mewtwo? August?)”

Mew could hardly believe it—The one who trashed my house… was AUGUST?!

August spotted Mew too.

The silence that followed was... profoundly awkward.

But August was nothing if not composed. In no time, he straightened his expression and waved casually.

Mew: “......”

I’m such a fool.
Who else but August would be insane enough to brawl his way through the Regi trio and blow a hole in my house?

Looking at the wrecked chamber, Mew’s little heart ached.

“Mew!”

It quickly ordered the Regi trio to cease their counterattack.

Seeing them back off, August also signaled Mega Mewtwo X to stand down.

Still fuming, Mew flew up to August and shook its tiny fists in protest.

August held up his hands. “Not my fault! These three just wouldn’t stop chasing me!”

Mewtwo nodded along seriously.

Mew turned to the golems. Their dot-patterns flickered as they communicated in their usual cryptic way. August had no idea what they were saying, but Mew clearly did.

Mew’s expression turned into one of exasperated understanding.

“Mew!”

It called to Regirock.

Though it hadn’t responded to August’s attempts at communication, Regirock understood Mew just fine. It lumbered over to a damaged wall and raised its arm.

RUMBLE—

The shattered rock reassembled—roughly. At least now it wasn’t breezy in the room anymore.

Despite having just been beaten up, Regirock got to work patching things up…

Watching the chamber slowly return to something resembling normal, Mew finally felt its poor, broken heart start to mend.

Most importantly, the Tree’s core had been protected—thanks to August.

If that had been damaged, this wouldn’t have ended so easily...

Seeing that Mew was still downcast, August pulled out one of his last homemade energy cubes and offered it.

“Alright, cheer up. Pack up and come with me to Sinnoh.”

The moment Mew saw the cube, its eyes sparkled. It snatched it and carefully stored it away.

But then it looked confused.

“Mew?”

“We’re going to save someone. Might need Celebi’s help,” August explained, glancing at Celebi.

He was counting on Celebi’s healing powers to help treat Platinum Berlitz.

“Mew…?”

Mew still didn’t get it. If Celebi was needed, why did it have to come too?

“Just in case,” August replied.

To be blunt—he wanted backup in case he ran into that alpaca looking for its plates.

Having Mew along was extra firepower.

And maybe, if things went well, I could yank a few more plates from it...

...

In the end, Mew agreed to go to Sinnoh with August.

Not because it trusted August—oh no. It was just worried about Mewtwo. That was it. Absolutely.

After handing the stunned poachers outside over to Officer Jenny, August returned to the Saffron City HQ with Mew and Celebi.

And the moment he walked through the door—

He heard Gary bragging behind his back: “August’s off to Sinnoh. Finally, I get a break!”

Across from him, Sabrina smiled politely. Courtney's expression hinted she shared the sentiment.

Their agreement only fueled Gary’s enthusiasm.

“I just heard from my grandpa—there’s been a Suicune sighting. I’m gonna use this time to catch it and blow August’s mind!”

“I’ll show him that I—Gary Oak—will surpass him someday!”

He was on fire.

Though... Sabrina and Courtney’s smiles were starting to look a little... odd. And his back was suddenly cold.

Wait—cold?

Gary froze, turning slowly—

August was standing right behind him, smiling.

“No more suffering?”

“Going to ‘blow my mind’?”

“Planning to ‘surpass me’?”

With each line, Gary flinched.

“Ah—hah—that was just talk!” Gary grinned sheepishly.

August shook his head. “What do you mean just talk? I’m proud of your ambition, Gary!”

“Ah?”

It sounded sincere, but he had a bad feeling about this...

“As someone who’s been there, if you want a legendary Pokémon to acknowledge you, you need a strong body,” August said, patting his shoulder. “Starting tomorrow, train with Slowpoke.”

Gary looked relieved.

Oh, just train with Slowpoke? That’s not so—

Wait.

Train with August’s Slowpoke?

He looked over at the dozy Pokémon sprawled on a blanket and remembered its nightmare training regimen—

His soul left his body.

Of course.
August’s inhumanity was always so... consistent.

Gary collapsed onto the couch, bracing for a hellish future.

“...?”

Slowpoke lifted its head in confusion.

Did someone just call me?

...

August wasn’t worried about whether Gary could handle the training.

After all, Gary was a “Super Newbie”—physically, he was leagues ahead of where August had been before he got [Mewtwo’s Cells].

This wasn’t even high-intensity training.

After watching Gary begin his torture, August left for the Indigo Plateau.

Before departing, he had something to discuss with Lance.

In Lance’s office—

“…You’re saying Giovanni and Team Rocket stole a space-born Pokémon from Hoenn—Deoxys—and that just one of them has legendary-tier power?” Lance looked stunned.

“Technically, it’s a species. There are two Deoxys,” August corrected.

“…That makes it worse,” Lance muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. I was going to handle it myself—but then this Sinnoh thing came up out of nowhere,” August said, spreading his hands helplessly.

“So, what—you want me to help you take down Giovanni and his two Deoxys?”

If it were just Giovanni or just a legendary, Lance could handle it.

But Giovanni plus two Deoxys? That was beyond his pay grade.

August knew that, and shook his head. “Nope. Just want you to keep an eye on Giovanni while I’m in Sinnoh. I can’t be in two places at once.”

Lance nodded. That much was doable.

Still...

“Team Rocket really never settles down, huh?” Lance sighed.

August grinned. “If they did, they wouldn’t be Team Rocket.”

They both laughed.

Still, compared to the old days, things were a lot better now.

Back when the League was practically Swiss cheese from Rocket infiltration, it had barely been able to breathe.

“Anyway, that’s all I came to say,” August stood. “Time to head to Sinnoh. They came to me for help—I can’t just brush them off.”

Lance nodded.

The Berlitz family—Sinnoh’s wealthiest, with centuries of history—was a powerhouse.

It was said that with their backing, you might not become Champion, but you'd definitely be qualified for the Elite Four.

As August turned to leave—

Lance suddenly remembered something. “Hey—do you know about that thing?”

August paused. “What thing?”

“The World Championship.”

---

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!