Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [226]

Putting down his phone, August sank into thought.

Contrary to what he’d expected, the International Police branch in the Hoenn region hadn’t run into any real trouble this time.

They were simply short-staffed, unable to keep up with the increasing activity from Team Magma and Team Aqua.

The reason they wanted him in Hoenn was mainly because of his extensive experience with Legendary Pokémon—they needed him to assess whether those two teams were truly capable of awakening Groudon and Kyogre.

And, in the event that they did awaken them, he’d serve as an extra layer of insurance.

Perfectly reasonable.

August didn’t reject the assignment from headquarters.

It wasn’t just because they’d recently approved a generous budget for him. Nor was it solely because his partnership with the Devon Corporation was tied to his income.

Mainly, it was because he was a good person!

The people of Hoenn had suffered under Team Magma and Team Aqua for far too long. This time, he was heading there to save them yet again from disaster.

I, August, stand for justice!

“You agree, don’t you, Gardevoir?”

He turned and asked the Gardevoir who was quietly reading a book.

Gardevoir didn’t really understand what he was talking about, but based on his smug expression, she instinctively rolled her eyes.

The Eevee in August’s arms, seeing this, tried to imitate Gardevoir and rolled its own eyes—only to be immediately scooped up and mercilessly squished by August.

Eevee began to question its entire life: Why can Gardevoir get away with it, but not me...?

---

Meanwhile, as August was planning his actions in Hoenn—

Mahogany Town
Team Rocket’s Underground Base

The underground facility buzzed with activity as numerous Team Rocket grunts moved briskly about.

Since the battle in Ilex Forest, this base had replaced the one in Goldenrod as Team Rocket’s new headquarters in the Johto region. Giovanni had personally ordered the transfer of a large amount of equipment from the old base.

One could imagine how Pryce might feel—he likely never expected that after his departure, Mahogany Town would become one of Team Rocket’s central strongholds.

There was something... morbidly festive about it. Like dancing on someone’s grave.

“Boss, we’ve already bailed out everyone we could... What are your orders now?” Ariana reported to Giovanni.

Despite the total defeat of the Masked Corps during the Ilex Forest incident, with the entire unit wiped out by the League—

Team Rocket hadn’t come out unscathed either...

Two executives lost, along with a significant portion of their core personnel. It had been a serious blow to the organization.

Fortunately, the League still had a bail system in place. As long as you paid enough, you could get low-level operatives released, preventing a complete manpower crisis.

In his chair, facing away from Ariana, Giovanni said nothing at first.

His gaze roamed across a world map.

“Any major developments in the other regions?” he asked.

Kanto and Johto were both long-held Rocket strongholds, but with August present in both, Giovanni no longer saw value in a head-on clash—it would only sap their strength.

Instead, he intended to take this opportunity to expand Team Rocket’s operations abroad.

Ariana quickly sifted through the latest intel in her mind. “Team Galactic in Sinnoh has been clashing with the Sinnoh League. It’s gotten pretty intense.”

“Team Flare, who we’ve dealt with in Kalos, has also been unusually active.”

“And the ones you told us to keep an eye on—Team Magma and Team Aqua—they’re on the move too. Looks like they’re about to launch their plans.”

At the mention of Hoenn, Giovanni’s eyes sharpened.

He thought of a plan—one that had once been an alternative to the Mewtwo Project.

“Those two lifeforms from outer space—are they still at the Mossdeep Space Center?” he asked.

“They are. No reports of them being moved,” Ariana replied, instantly understanding what he meant.

Team Rocket had been watching those two for a long time.

The documents they’d acquired from the Mossdeep Space Center confirmed that those mysterious extraterrestrial lifeforms were also a unique type of Pokémon.

But back then, every resource Team Rocket had was funneled into the creation of Mewtwo. They simply didn’t have the time or manpower to study these two.

So they’d shelved the plan and left the specimens at Mossdeep for safekeeping.

Now, the situation had changed. Mewtwo had been lured away by August, and even Pryce had suffered defeat at his hands. Giovanni felt there was now an unbridgeable wall between his strength and August’s.

To break through it, he needed a new trump card.

It was time to reactivate that shelved plan.

But first—he had to get his hands on the targets.

“Make the preparations. I’ll go to Hoenn myself,” Giovanni said.

“You’ll go personally?” Ariana was visibly surprised.

She hadn’t expected that something this simple would require Giovanni to act in person.

He waved a hand, gesturing for her not to worry.

“To be safe,” he said with a sneer, “and I’m curious to see firsthand how those two idiot teams plan to march straight into their own graves.”

He had detailed files on Maxie and Archie. Giovanni didn’t think much of them—underpowered fools trying to stir up apocalyptic-scale trouble. He was genuinely curious to see how many of their grunts could actually survive an encounter with Groudon or Kyogre...

There was no need to rush to Hoenn just yet.

According to headquarters, Team Magma and Team Aqua were causing a stir, but the situation wasn’t yet spiraling out of control. As long as things didn’t worsen, everything was still technically manageable.

So he could wait until the end of the Indigo League Conference before heading out.

Even though August had his doubts about that assessment, he’d already promised Lance he’d help oversee security at the tournament. In the end, he decided to finish that job first before departing for Hoenn.

---

Indigo Plateau
League Headquarters Building

August sat in Lance’s office. Lance looked at him, stunned. “You’re heading to Hoenn soon?”

“Yeah,” August said. “Got a mission from HQ. Things over there aren’t looking too good.”

Given Lance’s position, he was bound to hear about it sooner or later. August figured there was no point hiding it, so he laid everything out.

Lance sighed, a touch of unease in his voice. “Groudon and Kyogre... Steven mentioned them before, but I didn’t realize it had gotten this serious.”

He’d been in regular contact with Steven Stone, so he had some idea of what was happening in Hoenn.

And when it came to Team Magma, who wanted to expand the landmass, and Team Aqua, who dreamed of drowning the world in ocean—Lance, who normally despised Team Rocket, was starting to think they might actually be the lesser evil by comparison.

“Anyway, let’s talk about something else... The Indigo Conference is about to officially kick off. You asked to help with security, but you never said which part you wanted to cover.”

“...There’s no specific assignment,” Lance said. “Just keep a close eye on things once we get to the finals.”

---

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!