Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [259]

Doga was completely thrown off by August.

This is the first time we've ever met... How does he not only know who I am but even my old position at Mauville Corp?

Wasn’t the job listing on the forum claiming this was for a public welfare organization?

Something felt very, very wrong.

Doga grew even more alert.

Noticing the change in Doga’s demeanor, August chuckled.

He tilted his head toward Gary as a signal.

Gary immediately pulled something out of his pocket — a badge — and slapped it down in front of Doga.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves. We're with the International Police. I'm Gary Oak, and this is our division chief, August."

...

After taking some time to properly absorb the situation, Doga finally understood what was going on.

"So what you're saying is... you're with the International Police, here to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua. You're recruiting former Mauville Corp employees because you need local operatives familiar with Hoenn?"

At last, the confusion in his heart was cleared.

No wonder they had been able to find his information so easily. If they were with the International Police, it all made sense.

Back when Mauville Corp was still around, they had collaborated with the Pokémon Association a few times. During that period, Doga had encountered International Police operatives before — and remembered them vividly.

And now, these officers from a classified agency were revealing their identities directly to him...

"Is there anything you need from me?" he asked cautiously.

He didn’t take August's earlier comment about him being a “talent” seriously.

He didn’t think of himself as anything special.

"You must've heard about how President Joseph Stone was attacked by Team Aqua, and how they stole the core component of the Abyss One, right?"

Doga nodded.

"Team Aqua didn’t go to all that trouble just to get their hands on a useless core. If they want to reach the deep sea to awaken Kyogre, they’re going to need the Abyss One."

"We've already tightened the security around it..." Doga said.

"And do you think your security can stop Team Magma or Team Aqua? What if they teamed up?" August countered.

Doga fell silent.

No matter how confident he was, he couldn’t possibly claim that their shipyard's security could fend off both of those teams combined...

"So you mean to say..."

"Originally, I planned to personally visit Kusunoki Shipyard," August said. "Didn't expect to bump into you here."

As he spoke, he summoned Gengar, snapped his fingers, and watched as Gengar pulled a box out of its belly and placed it on the table in front of Doga.

Under August’s gesture, Doga opened it.

Inside was a strange-looking device.

"This is a tracking unit, specially developed for the International Police. Its signal strength can reach even the deep sea," August said.

"As the engineer of the Abyss One, I'd like you to install this onboard — somewhere Team Magma and Team Aqua won’t easily find."

Doga: "....."

You're just assuming they’re going to steal the Abyss One, huh?

But he didn’t argue.

Even if he didn’t fully understand why August, knowing this was going to happen, wasn’t trying to prevent it...

Given that they were International Police, there must be some deeper plan in play.

At least, that’s what Doga told himself to believe.

"Is there anything else you need?" he asked stiffly.

His mood was understandably sour.

No one would feel great thinking about the submarine they'd worked so hard to build ending up stolen.

"There’s one more thing..." August said. "How much do you know about the Pokémon Association’s 'Rayquaza Capture Project'?"

At those words, Doga’s entire demeanor stiffened.

...

After seeing Doga off — looking much heavier in spirit than when he’d arrived — Gary, who had been holding back his curiosity, couldn’t help but blurt out,

"August, was that 'Rayquaza Capture Project' you mentioned... real?"

Growing up beside Professor Oak, constantly taught to value harmonious coexistence with Pokémon, Gary had never imagined that the Pokémon Association in Hoenn would pull something so wild:

They had actually attempted to capture Rayquaza for research.

"Of course it’s real," August said. "They even succeeded once. There isn't much public information about it, but it's archived in the International Police database."

Hearing this, Gary immediately whipped out his phone and logged into the International Police network to look it up.

And then—

Gary stared blankly at the words on his screen: Insufficient Permissions.

"..."

"Now you understand why I keep pushing you to improve yourself?" August said.
"If you were just a little more diligent, you wouldn’t run into issues like this."

With that, August used his own clearance to unlock the documents for Gary.

Gary quickly scrolled through the files, feeling more and more stunned the deeper he went.

The way the Hoenn Pokémon Association operated was beyond "unconventional" — it was borderline insane.

The Pokémon Association, leading the effort, had partnered with two of Hoenn's corporate giants — Devon Corporation and Mauville Corp — as well as the distinguished Berlitz family from Sinnoh, and through highly irregular means, they had forcibly captured Rayquaza for research purposes.

Although Rayquaza eventually escaped due to an accident, the fact that they had successfully captured it at all was already insane.

To be honest, August had always wondered about something:
How was Rayquaza so forgiving?
After escaping, it hadn’t gone after the Hoenn Pokémon Association for revenge.

"And you were asking Doga about this because..." Gary ventured.

"I was hoping to dig up some inside information," August said.
"It would've been useful for my own plan to capture Rayquaza. Unfortunately..."

Although Doga had once been responsible for commercial intelligence at Mauville Corp, the Rayquaza project had been so highly classified that even he knew little about it.

Gary was stunned.

"Wait, wait — you're planning to capture Rayquaza?"

"You’re thinking of doing what Mauville Corp, Devon Corporation, and the Pokémon Association did — restarting the Rayquaza capture project?" Gary asked, his voice rising.

August glanced at him.

"Do I look like that kind of person?"

"I, August, capture Pokémon fair and square!"

Slowpoke: Yeah, right...

"Fair and square..." Gary repeated, his face filled with disbelief. "You’re seriously thinking of going after Rayquaza alone?"

Gary felt like August had completely lost his mind.

Sure, he admitted Mewtwo was incredibly strong — but this was Rayquaza!

The legendary ancient Pokémon that lived in the ozone layer and fed on meteorites — one of the mightiest Pokémon in existence.

"Not exactly," August said.

"I thought so..." Gary started to breathe a sigh of relief — until he heard the next words.

"You’re coming with me. I mean, how could I leave you behind for something this epic?" August said, patting Gary’s shoulder with a huge grin, as if saying, See how much I care about you?

Gary: "....."

I want to go home!

---

T/N: yippe i love rayqyaza

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!