Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [257]

Steel Valley – Team Rocket Base

Inside the office, August sat back in the chair, shaking his head after several failed attempts to reconnect the video call.

"Such poor mental fortitude — how does someone like that manage Team Rocket?" he muttered.

Sitting off to the side, Sabrina had watched the entire thing unfold. Hearing August's comment, she genuinely didn’t know what to say.

The fact that Giovanni was holding himself back from rushing over here already showed remarkable restraint.

"Alright, we’ve informed Giovanni," August said, patting Slowpoke’s head. "Since he didn’t object, this base is now officially the property of our Kanto branch!"

Sabrina cast a glance at the increasingly dazed Slowpoke under August’s hand and couldn’t help but retort, "Are you sure that’s what Giovanni meant?"

"No objections mean agreement," August said with complete confidence.

Anyway, he had already notified Giovanni. If he didn’t outright oppose it, that was tacit approval.

Even if he didn’t approve... with August and Mewtwo here, would Giovanni really dare to come and start a fight?

Sabrina could only sigh — running into August like this, Giovanni was truly unlucky.

Still, she said nothing more. After all, it was Giovanni and Team Rocket who were getting the short end of the stick.

"What about the prisoners?" Sabrina asked. "We’ve got over a hundred Team Rocket members — we can’t just keep feeding them forever..."

Even though they had Mewtwo to guard them, meaning there was no risk of a prison break, the four of them simply didn’t have the manpower to manage over a hundred captives.

August thought about it. Yeah, this was a problem.

But solving it was simple enough.

With practiced ease, he pulled out his phone and dialed Steven Stone.

"Hey Steven, are you busy?"

"Nothing much, just a small favor."

"You know how I was out looking for a place to stay? Well, I found one... No worries, Team Rocket’s hospitality has been very enthusiastic — it’s just that there are too many prisoners to handle."

"How many? About a hundred or so... I didn’t count exactly. Anyway, I’m gonna need your help."

"Thanks! I’ll owe you one — next time, let’s go dig for fossils together."

In just a few minutes, August had handed the problem off.

Noticing Sabrina looking at him, August flashed a small smile. "What can I say? That’s the benefit of having lots of friends."

---

As the Gym Leader of Mauville City, Wattson had always kept a close eye on the security of the surrounding areas, especially with Team Magma and Team Aqua causing chaos throughout Hoenn. He prided himself on doing a good job — right up until Steven called, asking him to go to Steel Valley and take custody of a group of Team Rocket captives...

To be honest, when Wattson first got the news, he and his Magneton were completely stunned.

He couldn’t understand it.

Why was Team Rocket — an organization that only operated in Kanto and Johto — suddenly showing up in Hoenn? And with so many people, no less... Especially when Steven said there was an entire Team Rocket base hidden in Steel Valley.

For a Gym Leader who considered himself vigilant and responsible, this was nothing short of humiliating.

Determined to get to the bottom of it, Wattson brought his team to the location Steven had provided...

Standing before a rocky cliff, Wattson was just starting to wonder if he had gotten the wrong place when the cliff face suddenly shifted aside, revealing a tunnel leading downward.

Stepping inside, the sight that greeted him left him absolutely floored.

A massive underground hall — easily twice the size of his Gym’s battlefield — was packed with prisoners in Team Rocket uniforms, all huddled on the ground under the watchful eye of a strange Pokémon, trembling like leaves.

While Wattson stood frozen in shock, a spiky-haired youth walked up to him, looking utterly exhausted.

"I’m Gary Oak from the Kanto International Police branch," the boy said. "You must be Gym Leader Wattson, here for the handoff. The prisoners are all here."

As he spoke, Gary carefully sized Wattson up... According to rumors from disgruntled former workers of the Mauville Company, this Gym Leader had once been a top executive there, but had turned traitor, shutting down their "New Mauville" expansion project and leading the company to bankruptcy.

Wattson, unaware of Gary’s thoughts, finally snapped back to his senses.

"Nice to meet you... but wasn’t the handoff supposed to be handled by someone named August?" Wattson asked.

Despite his age, his memory was sharp — he clearly remembered Steven saying the handover contact was named August, not Gary Oak.

He noticed a subtle shift in Gary’s expression at the mention of that name.

Gary clearly remembered how August had originally given this job to Blue. But Blue had been busy organizing the data they’d recovered from the base, so she had passed it to Sabrina.

And Sabrina, citing the need to catalog more information, had finally thrown the task onto Gary’s lap.

Poor Gary hadn’t even gotten a proper rest before being sent to meet Wattson...

"About that... August had more important matters to deal with," Gary said, sighing.

"More important matters?"

What could possibly be more important than the handover of over a hundred Team Rocket prisoners? Wattson couldn’t understand.

Gary just let out another sigh, unwilling to explain further.

Meanwhile, back in the office...

August was lounging comfortably in Giovanni’s swiveling chair, staring at the system notifications flashing through his mind.

[Your base is now officially mine... Successfully seized a Team Rocket base through surprise tactics. Title unlocked: "Seizing Another’s Nest."]

August: "....."

System, can you use better phrasing next time?
If you don’t know how to use idioms properly, just don’t! 'Seizing Another’s Nest' — it makes me sound like the bad guy!

Still, complaints were complaints — rewards were rewards.

He shifted his attention to the rewards the system listed:

【1. Deep-Sea Diving Equipment】
【2. Base Waterproof Module】
【3. Base Earthquake-Resistance Module】

August: "......"

What’s that supposed to mean?

System, are you that certain I won’t be able to stop Groudon and Kyogre? Are you just flat-out betting that something bad will happen to the base!?

And seriously — if you’re going to give me modules, at least bundle them together!

Now you’re making me choose separately, and Hoenn’s storyline is so far removed — how am I supposed to know whether Mauville will be flooded by Kyogre or shattered by Groudon?!

August was practically speechless.

Looking at the options, neither the waterproof module nor the earthquake-resistant module felt like a safe bet. He figured it might be better to pick the Deep-Sea Diving Equipment — maybe it’d come in handy if he had to track down Kyogre underwater someday...

For now, though, August decided to hold off on choosing. The rewards weren’t going anywhere.

Stretching lazily, he got up from Giovanni’s comfy chair, nudged the dozing Slowpoke with his foot to get it moving, and made his way toward the base’s main hall.

---

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!