Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [286]

According to Mew, it had discovered Latias near the base.

At the time, Mew had been tailing Zinnia with the intent to prank her, only to coincidentally run into Latias, who was searching for the person who had “saved Hoenn.”

“How did you know I was the one who saved Hoenn?” August asked curiously.

"We were nearby in Sootopolis City," Latias replied. "My brother and I witnessed it all."

August recalled that moment. His attention had been entirely focused on Groudon and Kyogre — he hadn’t even noticed whether there were other Pokémon around.

"And you protected our home, too," Latias added.

She and her brother lived on a remote southern island, which had been dangerously close to Kyogre’s emergence point near Sea Mauville.

Back then, she and Latios had tried their best to protect the island and the Pokémon living there.

Just as the island was about to be swallowed by a tsunami, Kyogre had suddenly withdrawn its power.

They had followed Kyogre and discovered August locked in battle with both Kyogre and Groudon.

Clearly, Kyogre’s sudden restraint had something to do with him.

“There’s no need to thank me... Anyone who saw Groudon and Kyogre wreaking havoc across Hoenn wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I just happened to have the power to intervene,” August said with a gentle smile.

Latias’ eyes lit up at his words.

Living in seclusion on a southern island, far removed from human society, she felt as though August was radiating a kind of light.

August smiled and gently stroked her glass-like feathers. “We were just about to have lunch. Want to join us?”

Latias hesitated — she was about to say her brother was still waiting for her — but looking at August, who exuded such a calming presence...

My brother will probably come find me, she thought.

With that, Latias nodded.

Watching the whole exchange, Blue and the others couldn’t help but all think the same thing: Uh-oh. Another legendary Pokémon has fallen into August’s clutches...

Lunch was lavish.

Among the gathered Pokémon, only Salamence was wholeheartedly focused on devouring food. The rest were all curiously eyeing the newcomer, Latias.

Togepi gazed enviously at Latias’ wings, while Eevee wandered over to admire her gemlike feathers.

By contrast, Milotic maintained a more dignified demeanor.

Gardevoir, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Latias.

She could feel an overwhelming presence from Latias — a kind of threat that neither Mew nor the recently joined Milotic had ever given off...

Latias, oblivious, noticed Gardevoir watching her and floated over to greet her kindly.

By the end of the meal, Latias and Gardevoir were already friends.

To Latias, August was a wonderful person, all the Pokémon were friendly, and the berry salad was delicious...

That was, until the end of the meal.

Sabrina looked at August, who still hadn’t made a move on Latias, and spoke to him telepathically: "This isn’t like you..."

August was displeased. "...Is that really the image you have of me?"

Was his reputation really that bad?

Sabrina simply smiled.

"You really don’t remember what you’ve done before?"

August: “.....”

Since there were guests present, he decided to let her off this time.

...

After lunch, Latias followed August into the office.

He had just sat down when Latias suddenly stood up: "My brother’s here..."

Latios?

August wasn’t surprised. Those two were practically inseparable.

Given how long Latias had been here, it made sense Latios would show up now.

August closed his eyes, sensing a wave of aura outside the base that closely resembled Latias’.

To be polite, he decided to personally go out and welcome him — and brought Gardevoir along.

“Mew, keep Latias company.”

Now only Mew and Latias remained in the office.

“Mew~!”

Mew expertly turned on a screen, switched to a TV drama, and pulled Latias onto the couch to watch.

Latias curiously watched the scenes flickering on screen.

To her — someone who had lived most of her life on a secluded southern island with little human contact — this was all incredibly novel.

But Mew felt something was still missing...

“Mew...”

After a moment’s thought, a lightbulb went off. Mew flew over to August’s desk, opened a drawer, and rummaged around until it pulled out a box.

Latias watched, intrigued, as Mew flew over holding the box.

“Mew~!”

Mew opened it, revealing rows of neatly arranged Pokéblocks, their delicious scent wafting through the air.

Latias was immediately captivated.

But...

"Isn’t this stealing? Should we really be eating August’s stuff without asking?" she asked hesitantly.

“Mew~!” Mew waved a paw.

It explained that it often snacked on Pokéblocks from August — and that he always gave permission.

Relieved, Latias turned her attention to the fragrant contents of the box.

She carefully selected one, picked it up, and placed it in her mouth.

Just as the Pokéblock touched her tongue, the door burst open.

August saw the box in Mew’s hands — and the Pokéblock in Latias’ — and immediately had a bad feeling.

Latias was a Dragon/Psychic-type... and female...

“Wait—”

August tried to stop her.

But Latias had already eaten it.

Looking at her brother and August at the door, Latias tilted her head, puzzled by their strange reactions—

Suddenly, an odd sensation surged through her entire body.

Eh?

It overwhelmed her in an instant. Her human disguise flickered and vanished, reverting her to her true form — cheeks flushed a bright pink...

Latios: (＃￣—￣)

What did you do to my sister?

August: (°— °〃)

Okay, he might have been guilty of this kind of thing before, but this time it really wasn’t his fault...

...

It took a lot of explaining for August to finally convince the furious Latios that he had nothing to do with what just happened.

Latios shot a glare at Mew, who was hiding behind August like a kid who’d been caught doing something bad.

After a long while, Latias finally returned to normal.

Still a little flushed, she shook her head at her brother.

"It wasn’t August’s fault... and that Pokéblock was really tasty."

Latias was being honest. She even felt like her psychic powers had grown stronger after eating it.

Latios, watching his sister defend August, was equal parts furious and helpless.

He couldn’t beat August in a fight, and now even his sister was on August’s side...

Still, August had saved both Hoenn and their island. Despite his irritation, Latios took out a flute.

“This is the [Eon Flute]. Blow it, and I’ll come to your aid.”

With that, he dragged a reluctant Latias and left.

August let out a sigh. Unjustly slandered... again.

At that moment, Gardevoir walked in carrying freshly brewed tea. She looked around the now nearly empty room in confusion.

Where were Latios and Latias?

...

The days that followed were uneventful.

Hoenn’s reconstruction proceeded smoothly. Steven led several raids with League trainers against remaining Magma and Aqua bases — with great success.

Most of the remnants were captured. Within a short time, both Team Magma and Team Aqua had practically vanished from Hoenn.

Zinnia, who still bore a grudge against the Devon Corporation, had tried several times to stir up trouble.

But every time she saw Devon helping locals rebuild their homes, she returned, sulking and muttering things like “I’ll let you off for now” or “I’ll come after you later.”

After trying the [Eon Flute] a few times and discovering it always summoned a grumpy Latios, August decided to stop using it.

Summoning Latias anytime soon was a no-go — he’d have to wait.

Once things settled down, August informed Steven of his plan to return to Kanto.

Steven, unsurprised, said, “You’ve done a lot these past days. On behalf of Hoenn, thank you again — you’re welcome back anytime...”

“Let’s skip the formalities,” August replied.

As for being welcome in Hoenn...

He just hoped the next time he came, it wouldn’t be because of another meteor crisis.

He ended the call, handed the sleeping Eevee in his arms to Gardevoir for safekeeping, and stepped out of the office — only to immediately spot Zinnia whispering into her phone in the corner.

Even from a distance, he could hear her.

“Don’t worry, Elder. I will reclaim Lord Rayquaza’s favor from that guy!”

“What? You think he might be the prophesied heir? You want me to serve him? No way! Absolutely not — that guy... There’s no way it’s him!”

“I’m hanging up!”

Having heard something she clearly didn’t want to believe, Zinnia quickly ended the call.

“That guy... there’s no way he’s—”

“Is what?”

August’s voice came from right behind her.

Startled, Zinnia turned around to find August standing there with a half-smile.

“What exactly did you hear?” she asked, flustered.

“Oh, not much,” August replied.

Just as Zinnia started to relax, he added, “Something about a prophecy, a successor, oh, and something about serving someone...?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Panic flashed across her face. “You must’ve misheard...”

Then she bolted — fleeing without a second glance, afraid he’d ask more questions.

August chuckled.

He sent a quick message to Norman, letting him know that if Ruby ever wanted to join the International Police, Kanto branch would always have a place for him.

Then—

“Let’s go, Gary!” August clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, just as Gary finished packing. “Time to head home!”

It had been a while since he’d returned to Kanto. Team Rocket must be missing him by now.

...

Kanto – Indigo Plateau

Inside the Pokémon League headquarters.

Though he’d already read the reports and seen the news, hearing the firsthand account from August left Lance deeply shaken.

“I never expected Magma and Aqua to do so much damage to Hoenn...”

He used to envy Steven — thought Magma and Aqua were easier to deal with than Team Rocket.

Now... he kind of missed dealing with Rocket instead.

At least Archie and Maxie weren’t in Kanto.

“Speaking of which,” August asked, “has there been any news on Rocket since I left?”

With the intel August had given him, Giovanni should’ve already dealt with Sird by now. That alone should’ve caused quite a stir within Rocket.

“There has been some news,” Lance said, pulling a folder from his drawer and handing it over.

August glanced at it — and froze.

[Team Rocket internal conflict. Former executive Sird defects. Whereabouts unknown.]

Internal conflict — just as expected. But something had clearly gone wrong.

“No way... Giovanni couldn’t even handle one Sird?” August muttered as he took out his phone.

Lance raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Texting Giovanni.” August hit send.

[August]: Seriously? I hand you intel, and you let Sird escape? Come on.
[August]: Embarrassing. You should just step down and let me run Rocket instead.

A few seconds later—

[System]: You have been blocked.

“Tsk.” August clicked his tongue and looked up at Lance, who was eyeing him curiously. “He’s mad. Giovanni’s mad.”

Lance didn’t know what August had written, but for Giovanni to block him... it had to be very spicy.

Maybe he was spending too much time with August, because even Lance was starting to find this all kind of entertaining. A smile crept onto his face.

August sighed. “Let’s talk Rocket later. I came back for something important.”

Lance blinked. “What is it?”

“I brought Maxie and Archie back with me!”

“.....?”

Lance had just been feeling relieved that those two weren’t in Kanto — and now August dropped this bombshell.

He felt his mind breaking a little.

...

Thankfully, the situation wasn’t as dire as it sounded.

After learning that Magma and Aqua had been almost completely wiped out, with only scattered remnants remaining, Lance calmed down.

No wonder his initial reaction was so intense.

Team Rocket had only recently been weakened. If Magma and Aqua had come to Kanto right after that, the entire region would’ve descended into chaos.

“Even if they had come, wouldn’t I still be here to deal with it?” August said casually.

With him around, even a reborn Magma and Aqua wouldn’t be able to stir up much trouble.

Kanto had — and would always have — only one real threat.

Team Rocket.

---

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!