Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [236]

When Gary heard that, he froze on the spot.

Groudon and Kyogre—what kind of nightmare was that supposed to be?

He knew August was headed to Hoenn to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua.

But no one ever said anything about bringing him along—let alone facing off against legendary Pokémon!

“Um... is it possible not to go?”

It wasn’t that he was scared, per se. He just felt like, at his level as a Trainer, it made way more sense for him to focus on dealing with Team Rocket and making sure they didn’t rise from the ashes again.

August responded with a smile. “What do you think?”

Gary wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

How many times now? Why can’t I ever keep my mouth shut?

Off to the side, Cynthia raised her brows in surprise. “August, are you seriously going to Hoenn to deal with Groudon and Kyogre?”

She’d heard bits and pieces about the current state of affairs in Hoenn—how Team Aqua and Team Magma had been unusually active lately, pushing the region’s League to the brink.

But this was the first time she’d heard anything about Groudon and Kyogre.

“I’ve got reliable intel,” August said. “Team Magma and Team Aqua have already figured out how to awaken Groudon and Kyogre.”

He paused, then added lightly, “But honestly, it’s nothing to worry about.”

Because over in Sinnoh, your guys are trying to control Palkia and Dialga to build a whole new world.

At least Hoenn’s just dealing with natural disasters—your side’s trying to hit reset on the entire planet.

Cynthia thought of Sinnoh and couldn’t help letting out a sigh.

“The League really can’t catch a break. Can’t any of those lunatics just behave for once...?”

If she had her way, she’d rather be picking out a delicious ice cream and spending her afternoon in a café with an ancient text in hand... a perfect little day...

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, the preliminaries were over. As one of the chief security heads for this year’s Indigo Conference, August had fully expected some kind of strike from Team Galactic—but it never came.

It was like the plane hijacking incident had been their final desperate move.

Still, August didn’t let his guard down—he hadn’t forgotten that inside Team Rocket, there was still Sird, the Galactic spy.

So for now, all he could do was stick it out a bit longer and keep protecting Cynthia...

He sighed. Just as he was debating whether to bait a trap by intentionally exposing a weak point—

Gary suddenly let out a triumphant shout from the desk nearby.

“I got it! I got it!”

August, pulled out of his thoughts, looked over, deadpan. “What’s with the yelling? What did you get?”

Snapped back to reality by August’s dry tone, Gary managed to rein himself in a little—but he still couldn’t contain his excitement. “I drew Ash in the Top 16 match!”

Both Gary and Ash had breezed through the prelims—Ash mainly thanks to his trusty Charizard.

Meanwhile, Gold and Silver barely scraped by, having only recently received their starter Pokémon.

Now that August understood what Gary had been yelling about, it all made sense.

Still, he couldn’t help splashing a bit of cold water. “Don’t get too excited just yet. What if Ash pulls off something unexpected and knocks you out?”

Logically, that shouldn’t happen.

But if it was Ash... it wasn’t impossible.

“Not gonna happen!” Gary said confidently. “I’ve studied all of Ash’s Pokémon inside and out.”

Sure, he almost lost to Ash’s Charizard in their previous Gym battle—but that had been pure carelessness. This time, he was going in steady and cautious. No way he was losing again!

Looking at him, August couldn’t see anything that resembled “steady and cautious.”

Shaking his head, he turned to Gold and Silver, who had just finished their draws. One of them had drawn a top student from a Pokémon Research Academy, and the other was up against a Trainer traveling from Johto.

Compared to the hyped-up Gary itching to knock out Ash, Gold and Silver were far calmer.

After all, they’d only come to the Indigo Conference because August pulled them in last minute—for them, this was more about the experience than anything else.

Just as August was about to offer a few words of encouragement, the communicator at his waist buzzed.

Caller ID: Lance.

August pressed the answer button. “Lance? What’s going on?”

“My men found signs of Team Galactic on the Indigo Plateau,” Lance said.

August’s brows shot up. So they’ve finally shown themselves. Could it be Sird...?

“Send me the location. I’m heading there now.”

...

Indigo Plateau

In a quiet alleyway, Lance stood talking to an officer with a bandaged arm.

“Lance!” August called as he approached. “This is the officer who spotted Team Galactic?”

Lance nodded, signaling to the officer to explain the situation again.

The officer began: “It was like this...”

As the officer recounted what had happened, August’s brows knit tighter and tighter.

When the explanation ended, August frowned. “...So you’re saying you identified the guy as a Galactic agent because he accidentally exposed the team’s emblem? Then in a single round, he knocked you out and left?”

The officer nodded.

August’s expression darkened. “Sounds like he wanted to be seen.”

Among the criminal organizations, Team Galactic might not be quite on Team Rocket’s level, but they still ranked near the top. August seriously doubted that the agent sent to sabotage cooperation between Kanto and Sinnoh would be careless enough to flash his insignia in front of Lance’s men—only to vanish right after.

Lance nodded. He thought the same.

Whatever their actual goal was, the act of exposing themselves so obviously felt far too deliberate—like it was done just to be noticed...

“What kind of Pokémon did they use?” August asked.

“A Crobat!”

August rubbed his chin. “That’s a common one—won’t tell us much about who we’re dealing with...”

Just then, another officer jogged up and reported to Lance: “We’ve pulled all surveillance footage from the area—no trace of the target anywhere.”

Lance looked disappointed.

Ever since August told him that the taxi drivers on the Indigo Plateau were Rocket informants, he’d pushed the League to install cameras everywhere—but it seemed it hadn’t helped this time.

August, though, had a different take.

“To be able to completely avoid every single camera, there are only two possibilities: either he used a Porygon or a Rotom to alter the footage... or he knows the Indigo Plateau like the back of his hand.”

“Any signs the footage was tampered with?” August asked.

The newly arrived officer shook his head. “We ran diagnostics—no signs of tampering or remote access.”

“Then there’s only one explanation...”

---

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!