Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [248]

Gary swallowed hard and stared at August.

Are you sure you’re talking about Hoenn and not some kind of apocalyptic scenario?

It wasn’t like he hadn’t fought Mewtwo before—and according to August, Mewtwo was also a Legendary Pokémon...

So why did the Legendaries in Hoenn sound like they came from an entirely different genre?

Tsunamis swallowing cities. Earthquakes shaking entire regions...

Wasn’t this a bit much?!

Were they going to save the world or something?!

But that wasn’t even the real issue—the real issue was that August was planning to bring him along...

Sure, he was the Champion, but even a Champion couldn’t handle that kind of disaster, right?!

“I…”

Gary had just opened his mouth when August clapped him on the shoulder with a loud smack, looking pleasantly surprised. “You’re volunteering?!”

“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you! Becoming Champion really does change a person—now you’re even taking initiative like a true Champion!”

“I…” Gary tried to object.

But August waved him off again. “I get it, I get it. You’ve just been crowned Champion and now you want to serve the League. Don’t worry—there’s no way I’d leave you behind.”

“I—”

“No more ‘I-I-I’—I know you’re eager, but come on, I already said yes, didn’t I?” August said, feigning irritation.

Gary fell silent.

Every sentence drilled the word “Champion” into him, and August had him utterly boxed in.

He wanted to refuse, but part of him was too proud to back out, and the other part? August wasn’t giving him any chance to say no.

In the end…

“I’ll go!” Gary gritted his teeth so hard he could’ve cracked molars.

Grandpa… I don’t want to be Champion anymore!

...

After some discussion, August finalized the preliminary lineup for the Hoenn mission.

The team would include: himself, Gary, Blue, Sabrina, and Mewtwo.

Putting personal reasons aside, Blue—as the current secretary of the Kanto branch—was a must. She was responsible for the bulk of document work like pre-mission intel gathering and post-mission reports. In the entire Kanto branch, no one did it better.

Mewtwo needed no explanation—he was the Kanto branch’s ace. Even if he couldn’t secure a win, he could absolutely guarantee a retreat.

As for Sabrina…

There was no choice. Aside from August and Mewtwo, Sabrina was the Kanto branch’s strongest member.

Even if it was just for show, they had to bring her along.

Otherwise, what would the folks in Hoenn think? That the Kanto branch was so underfunded they couldn’t even field a decent team?

When August announced the lineup, neither Blue nor Sabrina seemed surprised.

Gary kept his cool—though ever since August spoke, he’d been glued to his phone, looking up who knows what.

Gold didn’t seem to care either way, but Silver looked a little disappointed.

He had really wanted to take part.

But after falling short in the Indigo Conference quarterfinals, Silver knew he wasn’t strong enough yet. If he went, he’d only be a liability.

Still, he had a feeling there was more to August’s decision to leave him behind...

“I understand. Leave Team Rocket to me—I’ll take care of it!” Silver said solemnly.

August: “…Huh?”

Was that what I had in mind? Why don’t I remember that at all...?

Oh well. Let him go with it.

Absentmindedly stroking Mew, August turned to the little Legendary. “Mew, wanna come with us to raid the Hoenn trio’s dungeon? Help me farm some Groudon and Kyogre coins?”

His tone was positively dripping with temptation.

Mewtwo alone wasn’t quite enough for insurance. If Mew joined them too, that would be ideal.

Mew blinked his big eyes. “Mew~?”

...

Saffron City – Manor Grounds

After playing for a bit, August grew a little tired. He tossed Togepi and the Lapras hatchling (which he’d gotten from Pryce) over to Gardevoir for a bit of “education.”

Then he headed down into the manor’s basement prison.

As usual, Pryce was quietly reading, completely at ease—he’d adjusted surprisingly well to life in confinement.

Then there was Matori—

CLANG! CLANG!

Matori pounded on her cell door furiously. “AUGUST!”

Her voice was thick with rage.

August had come today to talk to her, yes—but he wasn’t in a hurry.

He simply smiled and watched her rage herself out.

Once Matori finally calmed down, August spoke, still smiling. “Did you know there's a traitor inside Team Rocket?”

Matori’s heart skipped a beat. That intel...

But she’d learned by now that showing any urgency around August was useless. She gave him a cold stare and said nothing.

“Tsk, tsk. Sird, of all people, turned out to be a Galactic spy... Honestly, who would've thought?”

“Can you believe it? Even Team Rocket’s getting moles planted in its core ranks.”

August’s tone was pure mockery.

Sird... a spy?

Matori was shaken. Sird was a high-ranking officer—how could that be...?

“I’m not lying to you... of course, you’re welcome to think I am,” August said, smiling casually.

That very line made Matori more inclined to believe him.

Come to think of it—when August had spoken about young Master Silver last time, he hadn’t lied. He’d just withheld the part about Silver escaping from Pryce’s hands.

So... was he telling the truth this time?

Matori fell silent, wrestling with herself—until finally, she asked, “What do you want?”

Whether the intel was real or not, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear what August wanted from her.

As long as it didn’t compromise the organization’s core interests, maybe it was worth discussing.

“Do you know the location of Team Rocket’s Hoenn base?” August asked casually. “I’m heading there soon for a mission and thought I’d crash at your place.”

Matori: “.....?”

A giant question mark practically floated above her head.

You’re a regional branch chief from Kanto, heading to Hoenn on business—and you want to crash at a Team Rocket base?!

It just felt wrong in every possible way.

Seeing her expression, August didn’t bother explaining. He simply thought Rocket bases were nice and hidden.

“So what’s the verdict?” he asked lightly. “I’ll let you pass this intel on to Giovanni. A high-level mole for the location of a non-core Rocket base—sounds fair to me.”

He smiled as he spoke.

The intel was real—Giovanni already knew—but August was playing the information gap.

Matori fell silent, weighing the options.

If the intel was fake, it didn’t matter. But if it was real—and a mole had already climbed to the executive ranks—Team Rocket was in serious danger.

She couldn’t take that risk.

In the end, it was just a minor outpost in Hoenn anyway...

Let the boss verify the truth himself.

She made up her mind.

“The base is located at... Give me a tablet.”

---

T/N: hehe is matori gonna be one of his wings, i mean matori is a hidden gem t bh

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!