Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [270]

"—Cough, cough..."

Steven, who had just seen the scene, nearly choked on his own saliva, coughing uncontrollably.

Everyone else looked at August with equally strange expressions.

August: "....."

Damn this stupid screensaver.
I'm switching it the first chance I get!

Expression perfectly calm, August quietly pulled out the remote and shut the screen off.

He continued smoothly, "Anyway, my point is that while dealing with Team Magma and Team Aqua, we also need to stay alert for Team Rocket’s involvement."

Steven, having recovered, quickly followed up:
"August’s right. We absolutely need to guard against Team Rocket trying to infiltrate Hoenn. We can’t let ourselves defeat Magma and Aqua only to have Team Rocket show up afterward."

This made many of the gathered Gym Leaders nod in agreement.

With that matter settled, Steven began formally arranging the plans to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua.

Unfortunately, the League didn’t have much actionable intelligence.

Aside from a few confirmed hideouts, they would have to rely on Gym Leaders exerting their influence in their respective cities, trying to track the movements of Magma and Aqua members.

And they needed to prepare for the worst case—
If Team Magma and Team Aqua succeeded in awakening Groudon and Kyogre, protecting civilians would become the highest priority.

Just then, August’s phone buzzed with a new message.

[Doga: Sorry! My phone broke during the attack, just saw your earlier message now. Your prediction was right. Thankfully, we did install the tracker on the submarine as you asked. Please—you have to stop them!]

Finally, a piece of good news.

Steven was about to continue with specific assignments when—

"Steven," August interrupted, "I just received important intel."

"What intel?"

August switched the big screen back on—where the Team Rocket logo flashed briefly again before he connected his phone to the display.

Steven stared at the blinking red dot on the map.

"This is..."

"I met with Doga, the chief designer at the Shipyard, and suspected Team Aqua might target the Submarine Explorer 1," August explained.

"So I asked him to secretly install a special tracker."

August tilted his webcam toward the screen.

Now everyone else could see the red dot clearly too.

"It's in Mossdeep City!"

Everyone turned to look at Steven.

Because the Pokémon Association headquarters—the heart of Hoenn's League authority—was located right in Mossdeep. And Steven himself was currently stationed there.

Steven’s expression darkened.

He hadn't expected Team Magma and Team Aqua to be so audacious—hiding their stolen submarine right under the Association’s nose.

It was a direct slap in the face to the League.

"Leave it to me!" Steven said grimly.

August had initially thought of handling it himself, but Steven was closer—and besides, Steven had volunteered.

"I’m sending you the coordinates now."

With that, Steven quickly wrapped up the meeting.

The Gym Leaders stayed briefly to coordinate backup plans and arrange communication channels, then one by one logged off.

Only Roxanne and Norman remained.

Roxanne wanted to thank August personally—after August helped clear out Team Aqua from Rustboro City, her workload had lightened considerably.

Norman, on the other hand, had been tasked years ago by the Association to track Rayquaza. Now that he knew August had captured it, he was eager to meet him.

Naturally, August welcomed the connection.

He had a deep impression of Norman’s legendary Slaking.

"I heard you’re from Johto originally, Mr. Norman. Back when I was in Johto, I..."

...

August and Norman chatted pleasantly for a long time.

Norman even warmly invited August to visit his Petalburg Gym sometime.

After exiting the video meeting, August checked the time and was startled to find it was almost noon.

Time really flies.

Stretching a little, he got up, ready to head to the cafeteria to see what was for lunch.

But just as he opened his office door, he bumped straight into Sabrina.

"You need something?" August asked.

Recently, Sabrina had been obsessed with her novels. She normally wouldn’t seek him out unless it was important.

Sabrina calmly sipped her coffee and said:

"That woman you abandoned is at the door again."

August: "???"

Lady, watch what you're saying! That’s slander!

When have I ever abandoned a woman?

Wait a minute...

"You’re talking about Zinnia, aren’t you..." August said, expression darkening.

Sabrina gave a strange look.

"Who else would it be?"

"That wasn’t abandoning—that was..." August paused, correcting himself, "That was releasing her!"

Sabrina just gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Same thing."

".....Forget it," August muttered, deciding it wasn’t worth arguing.

With quick strides, he headed toward the main entrance.

I gotta see for myself what kind of nonsense she’s up to this time.

...

When August reached the gate—

He found Gary already there, watching the surveillance feed showing the hidden entrance.

August glanced at the monitor—and sure enough, there was Zinnia, standing pitifully right outside the camouflaged door.

She looked like an abandoned Goomy—big eyes, drooping posture—absolutely miserable.

August couldn’t help but laugh.

This was a first.

A released prisoner showing up at the gates, begging to be let back in.

"Did she say anything?" August asked.

"She says she wants to join our division," Gary reported.

"Rejected," August said instantly.

"We don’t need unstable elements in the International Police."

Especially not someone who clearly has her eyes on my Rayquaza.

Gary, unfazed, continued:

"But she said she has something to turn in."

"Something to turn in?"

As August spoke, the surveillance screen flickered—

Zinnia opened her coat dramatically.

Inside, draped across the inner lining, were dozens of shimmering, gleaming gemstones.

"Those are..."

"She says they’re [Mega Evolution] stones!" Gary said, voice rising with excitement.
"And she’s willing to hand them all over if we let her join."

[Mega Evolution] stones...!

The second Gary said it, August could hear the barely-contained excitement in his voice.

[Mega Evolution]!
The holy grail!

Back when August first demonstrated [Mega Evolution], Gary had been practically green with envy.

Not to mention—this was a brand-new battle system that Ash hadn’t even touched yet!

If he could bring [Mega Evolution] stones back to Kanto, he could show off so hard in front of Ash!

Just imagining it had Gary so hyped he was practically shaking. He quickly tried to persuade August:

"Let her join! It’ll strengthen our organization!"

August: "......"

Buddy, you're not trying to strengthen the organization—you just want to flex on Ash, don’t you?

---

T/N: as expected gary is thinking with his ash again

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!