Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [269]

[Giovanni: Heh]

[GardevoirSupremacy: Heh]

The same simple word flashed across the screens of both August and Giovanni.

From it, Giovanni saw August’s frustration; August, in turn, saw Giovanni’s bluster barely hiding his nervousness.

Neither sent another message.
Their brief exchange ended there.

After hanging up...

Giovanni said calmly, "Ariana, leak all our intelligence to Team Magma and Team Aqua. Let August have a little more fun in Hoenn."

---

Meanwhile, August instructed, "Blue, call Silver. Have him cooperate with Lance to launch a new wave of clean-up operations against Team Rocket in Kanto. Let’s return the favor to Giovanni."

On both ends of the line, August and Giovanni wore matching cold smiles.

Ariana and Blue both hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but in the end turned silently to carry out their orders.

Giovanni’s antics were nothing more than a minor disruption — unexpected, but nothing August hadn’t prepared for.

Right now, the top priority was dealing with the troublemaking Team Magma and Team Aqua.

As for how exactly to handle it...

That would depend on how Steven arranged things at tomorrow’s meeting.

Then August would decide his next move.

He turned, intending to ask Blue for a cup of tea—when he spotted Gardevoir already walking over with a steaming cup.

August's eyes lit up.

"Thanks!"

He took a sip—perfect temperature, a light, refreshing aroma.

As expected of Gardevoir, August thought warmly. She even anticipated I'd be thirsty.

Gardevoir: "?"

...

The next morning.

After breakfast and supervising Slowpoke’s morning workout, August returned to his office.

Given the urgency of the situation, the meeting was scheduled for the morning.

When August logged into the conference, most participants were already present.

On the split-screen, he saw familiar faces: Roxanne, who had fought Team Aqua alongside him; Wattson, who had once come to the base to collect prisoners; and Tate and Liza, whom he'd met in Mossdeep.

Of course, two other people also caught his eye.

One was Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader.

The other was Wallace, the Sootopolis Gym Leader—and Steven's future successor as Hoenn Champion.

Sitting in his chair, August adjusted his posture, gently nudged Eevee aside (Eevee: "??"), and switched on his camera.

The moment August appeared onscreen, he captured the attention of the entire meeting.

A sharp-looking, unfamiliar young man appeared on screen.

But neither his sharp looks nor his unfamiliarity were what shocked everyone.

No—their eyes were glued to the bright red "R" logo emblazoned on the wall behind him.

Wasn’t that... the emblem of Team Rocket?

This is supposed to be a League meeting...

How did someone like that get in!?

August, seeing everyone's frozen expressions, immediately realized the problem.

"Ah—sorry, sorry," he said, quickly pulling out a remote.

"I forgot to change the background."

With a click, the screen behind him switched from the crimson "R" to a neutral map of Hoenn.

There hadn’t been time to change the office screensaver after taking over the base...

"....."

Was that really just an accident...?
The attendees remained highly suspicious.

Just then, Steven’s face appeared on the conference screen.

"Thank you all for waiting."

He greeted everyone cheerfully. But noticing the strange expressions around the room, Steven frowned slightly.

"...What’s wrong? Did something happen?"

...

After hearing Wallace’s brief recounting of events, Steven didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Still, to avoid lingering suspicion, he quickly stepped in to explain, mentioning that August had captured a former Team Rocket base during a prior operation.

Wattson also confirmed the story.

Once they understood that August wasn’t a member of Team Rocket—and that he was the trainer who had captured Rayquaza—the participants shifted from suspicion to outright astonishment.

None more so than Norman.

He had spent years tracking Rayquaza and knew better than anyone how impossible it was to capture or control such a being.

August gave a polite smile and nod.

He didn’t want to dominate the meeting, so he tactfully steered the conversation back to business.

"By the way, where are the Elite Four?" he asked.

All four Elite members were absent. At first, August had thought he was just early—but now that even Steven had arrived, it was odd that none of them were present.

At the mention of this, Steven’s face grew serious.

"About that... Just this morning, Mt. Chimney, Mt. Pyre, and the Weather Institute were simultaneously attacked by Team Magma and Team Aqua."

"Drake and the others are currently on-site responding to the incidents and are unable to attend."

The moment he finished speaking, the conference room erupted into murmuring.

The Gym Leaders were stunned by the brazenness of the attacks.

In the past, even though Team Magma and Team Aqua were aggressive, they had always acted cautiously to avoid League crackdowns.

Now...

"They’ve gone completely insane!"

Brawly, the Dewford Gym Leader, exclaimed.

Wattson shook her head.

"They were already insane."

"Still," Wallace said calmly, "for both groups to act so high-profile at once... it’s either a desperate last-ditch effort or they’re preparing for something big."

The others quickly nodded, agreeing with his analysis.

Steven also seemed to agree, but after a moment, he turned to August.

"August, any thoughts?"

August, who had been deep in thought, looked up.

"I agree with Wallace’s assessment," he said. "But I’m also wondering about something else..."

He gently pressed down the fidgety Eevee trying to climb into the camera frame and steepled his fingers before him, voice growing serious.

"Why would Team Magma and Team Aqua launch such a coordinated, large-scale assault... like a bunch of elementary school kids agreeing to storm the bathroom together after recess?"

"My gut says—there’s another hand behind this."

Steven narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"You mean..."

August’s gaze sharpened.

"I suspect Team Rocket is behind it."

"If we want to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua properly, we have to account for Team Rocket's interference."

At that exact moment—

The screen behind August, left idle for too long, automatically reverted to its screensaver.

Once again, the massive, glaring red "R" logo filled the frame.

---

T/N: AUGUST IS ACC PART OF 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!