Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [220]

August casually recorded a screen capture of Iono’s moment of shock and blackout, then closed the stream with a satisfied smile.

As he put his phone away, he realized that at some point, Sabrina had appeared behind him.

At the moment, she wore a look that screamed, “I know your little secret.”

“What’s with that look?” August asked.

Sabrina smirked and pointed at the phone in his hand. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Blue?”

“Secretly donating to a female streamer... and even recording it? If Blue finds out, I’m sure her reaction will be very entertaining.”

“If you don’t want—”

“Then go ahead and tell her,” August said, completely unfazed.

Sabrina’s smile froze. That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected.

According to her mental script, after getting exposed, August should’ve panicked, gotten flustered, submitted to her will, and allowed her to have the upper hand.

Why wasn’t he playing along!?

Seeing her expression, August clicked his tongue. “You didn’t really think you could use this to threaten me, did you?”

Sabrina raised her chin proudly. “Isn’t that how it works?”

August sighed. “No matter how much you puff your chest, it’s not gonna make a difference. Think about it—I literally fed you handmade Pokéblocks in front of Blue. Tipping a streamer is nothing in comparison.”

The moment he brought up the Pokéblocks, Sabrina’s entire body stiffened. Her face flushed red—ears and all.

She said nothing more, turning on her heel in a panic. In her haste, she nearly tripped over herself on the way out.

August dropped the sighing act and broke into a smug grin. Tch, and she thought she could play games with me?

Sabrina still had a long way to go before she could blackmail him with anything.

“What games?” Blue walked over just then. “What happened to Sabrina? I called her name and she didn’t even respond.”

“No idea. Maybe she drank too much soda and had to run to the bathroom,” August replied smoothly. “Anyway, how’s that operation report coming along?”

At the mention of the report, Blue groaned. “Can we not talk about that right now...?”

This Johto report was way more complicated than the one from New Island. She’d been so stressed, she felt like her hair had started falling out.

“Just throw something together. No one reads those things anyway,” August said breezily.

Blue shook her head. “It’s going to HQ. I can’t just scribble some nonsense.”

...

August didn’t linger long in Johto.

Once he handed off all follow-up duties to Bruno, he brought Blue and the others—along with Pryce—back to Kanto.

Since there were too many people, August didn’t ride Salamence this time. Instead, they drove.

When they arrived, August turned to Silver and Gold. “Silver, pick a room for Gold, and give him a little tour of HQ while you’re at it.”

Blue went straight to her room to continue working on the report.

Sabrina had to return to her Gym to check on things.

So August, alone, brought Pryce down to the underground cells.

...

Inside the holding cells

Matori was reading the news—her only source of outside information these days. The two Watchog on guard were specially trained, extremely cautious, and only gave her outdated newspapers to ensure she couldn’t follow Team Rocket’s movements.

She was reading about the upcoming Indigo Conference when the heavy basement door creaked open.

Peering through the bars, she saw August entering with Mewtwo floating behind him—using telekinesis to carry an unconscious old man.

She recognized the man instantly—Johto’s Mahogany Gym Trainer.

Having been imprisoned so long, she was already in a foul mood. Seeing this scene, she couldn’t resist sneering.

“What, the Kanto branch is locking up their own people now?”

She expected August to look shocked or confused.

Instead, he stopped, glanced at her with a strange look, and tilted his head.

Matori began to feel uneasy under his gaze. “What, did I say something wrong?”

As Team Rocket’s secretary, she knew Pryce wasn’t one of their people—so she was sure August had made a mistake.

“Oh, you said something very wrong,” August said, gesturing toward the old man. “Just so you know, the person in front of you is none other than the infamous leader of the Masked Squad—the Masked Man. Just a few days ago, he utterly crushed your own boss Giovanni in battle.”

“What...?”

Matori stared in disbelief. Pryce was the leader of the Masked Squad? And he defeated Giovanni?

“Then... the boss...” A horrifying thought dawned on her.

If even someone stronger than Giovanni had been captured... then what about Giovanni?

Seeing her face twist with anxiety, August smirked, saying nothing. He left her to draw her own terrifying conclusions.

As he placed Pryce into a cell, he added with mock sincerity, “You know, this whole operation wouldn’t have gone so smoothly without you. If you hadn’t passed along the wrong intel to Giovanni, he might not have fallen for it so easily—and he and Pryce wouldn’t have ended up tearing each other apart.”

“You’ve done so much for the League. Wanna switch sides and join us?”

“Keep dreaming!”

August just shrugged and left, unbothered, leaving behind a deeply anxious Matori and an unconscious Pryce.

When August returned to the main hall, he found Gold already getting along shockingly well with the Pokémon in the estate.

At that moment, Gold was playing poker with a Marshtomp and a Slowpoke.

August twitched at the sight. Well... at least he knows how to pick his opponents.

He sat on the sofa, and as if on cue, Eevee leapt into his lap like a conditioned reflex.

Taking the juice Gardevoir handed him, August began reviewing the results of this mission.

First up: the Pokémon.

He pulled out two Poké Balls from his pack.

One standard Poké Ball held Lapras—Glacier—whom Pryce had entrusted to him back in the time rift.

Through the semi-transparent casing, he could see Lapras curled up sadly inside.

As for the other one—the GS Ball...

“Uh...”

August blinked. Inside the GS Ball, Celebi was glaring daggers at him.

He had no idea what it was so mad about.

Sure, he’d been busy with the victory banquet and hadn’t had time to check on it, but he had saved it from Pryce, hadn’t he?

It had only been a few days—no need for this kind of attitude, right?

Thinking there might be some kind of misunderstanding, August opened the GS Ball to have a proper talk.

Pop!

A flash of white light burst out, and Celebi appeared in the living room—still fuming.

August was just about to say something when his eyes caught on something above its head.

What was supposed to be Celebi’s smooth, aerodynamic onion-like head... now had a very noticeable lump on it.

“Uh...”

Seeing the bump, August suddenly understood.

Okay, yeah. That explained a lot.

But seriously—he didn’t mean to! He’d just thrown the ball a little hard, used a tiny bit of [Aura], and...

How was he supposed to know Celebi had such a low concussion threshold?

Looking at the furious Celebi, August decided to go with a tried-and-true tactic.

With one hand, he pulled a handmade Pokéblock from his pocket; with the other, he released a touch of [Viridian Power].

Feeling the forest-like energy, that warm and deeply familiar presence, Celebi’s furious expression softened. It hesitated but didn’t resist as the healing wave passed over its head.

The bump faded.

Then August handed over the Pokéblock.

Celebi glanced at him... then at the treat. After a brief hesitation, it popped the block into its mouth.

Boom— a burst of incredible flavor exploded on its tongue. The fusion of multiple berries and August’s secret seasoning struck a perfect balance.

Delicious.

Celebi’s eyes lit up. Just as it opened its mouth to say something—

“Biiiii~!”

A sudden heat surged through its body. A strange sensation bubbled up from deep within—something it had never felt before.

At that moment, Mewtwo had just come downstairs.

He paused.

Then, in silence, turned around and walked back up.

A moment later, he opened a communicator and sent a message to Mama Mew.

Mom, if you don’t come back soon, there might not be a place for you in this house anymore.

...

After returning to normal, Celebi looked even more indignant — though not nearly as hostile toward August as before.

Instead, it got down to business.

As it spoke, waving its little arms around to help illustrate its points, August’s expression gradually turned a little... odd.

“…You’re saying you want me to hand Pryce over to you, and let you take him back into the time rift?”

“Bi~!” Celebi nodded seriously.

Its onion-shaped head looked oddly adorable when it was trying to be solemn, and August couldn’t help but give it a pat.

“Bi~!”

Celebi squeaked in protest, clearly impatient.

“Don’t get worked up... I get what you’re saying,” August said. “But can I ask why? I went through a lot to arrest Pryce. And you — I caught you, remember? You can’t just ask me to hand him over.”

Celebi hesitated, then began explaining: “Bi~!”

According to its story, the reason it appeared at the shrine was because it had foreseen a grave threat to the future. In that timeline, it saved Pryce from the time rift — and, in the future, with his help, was able to prevent the catastrophe.

When August heard that, all he could say was: Well damn.

Isn’t that just the exact plot of the Special manga?

If that were true… then handing Pryce over might actually be the right thing to do.

But…

August immediately spotted a hole in the story.

“Did you see me in that future?” he asked.

Celebi tilted its head, confused.

“In the future you saw — I probably wasn’t there, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been captured by me…” August rested his chin in his hand.

If what Celebi saw was the definitive future, then his presence should’ve been unavoidable.

And the events that had just happened — shouldn’t have happened at all.

As for why Celebi hadn’t foreseen him…

August had a pretty solid guess. It likely had to do with the fact that he was a transmigrator — and had a system.

After all, this system of mine can even rip Arceus’ plates out of the universe and give them to me as rewards.

The more he thought about it, the more confident he felt.

“The future you saw — that was just one possible outcome,” August said calmly. “My appearance is proof that the future has already changed. The Pryce you saw in that timeline may no longer be the same Pryce who stands here now.”

Celebi’s head was practically spinning from all this. It took a moment to digest what August was saying — then fell into deep thought.

He… kind of has a point.

As a Pokémon capable of moving through time, Celebi knew better than anyone that the future was never set in stone — it branched into endless possibilities.

But if August was this powerful — strong enough to defeat Pryce — then why hadn’t Celebi sensed him in that vision of the future?

Still frowning, Celebi floated closer and took a gentle sniff of August’s scent.

And instantly, it felt… everything.

Viridian Power. Aura. Ho-Oh’s energy. Lugia’s trace. Even the scent of Mew.

All layered on top of one another — on this one human.

And finally… it even smelled its own scent.

Wait. What?

Celebi blinked.

When had it ever given August its blessing?

It hugged its head with its tiny arms, trying to remember… but no matter how hard it thought, it couldn’t recall ever meeting him before.

August watched with some amusement as Celebi racked its brain and realized it must have picked up on the “Blessing of Celebi” from his system.

No matter how hard it thinks, there’s no way it’ll guess that I’ve got a cheat system.

“If you can’t figure it out, don’t force it.”

“All you need to know is: the future has changed.”

“So Pryce can’t be handed over.”

Celebi looked conflicted — but in the end, it nodded.

Not that it had much of a choice. After all, it had been caught too.

It had only come to retrieve Pryce — and ended up getting itself caught in the process.

Now curled up on the sofa with a berry in its arms, Celebi took a sullen bite.

Life is hard, it sighed.

Now that the Celebi situation was resolved,

August turned his attention to the system.

Ever since discovering that the system could completely mask his presence even in potential future timelines — to the point that even Celebi couldn’t detect him — his expectations for the system had only grown.

He opened it.

The first notification was from when he had caught Celebi:

【You used a defective GS Ball to trick Pryce, causing him to lose the chance to capture Celebi. Taking advantage of the chaos, you then knocked Celebi unconscious with the GS Ball and successfully caught it. Title acquired: “Critical Hit! Celebi, Down!”】

【Choose your reward:】

• Crimson Orb

• Indigo Orb

• Verdant Orb

“….”

August stared at the list and fell silent.

The [Crimson and Indigo Orbs] had appeared before — multiple times, even.

The new option, the [Verdant Orb], he didn’t recognize as well — but from the name alone, it clearly had to do with Rayquaza.

System, do you have a personal grudge against Hoenn’s Legendary trio or something? What did they ever do to you?

Still, a reward was a reward — no way he’d pass it up.

Originally, if it were just the Crimson and Indigo again, he would've gone with Crimson.

Sure, Groudon couldn’t fly — but August was totally down to help it flatten Kyogre.

But now? Now there was a new contender — Rayquaza’s representative, the [Verdant Orb].

His previous loyalties vanished in an instant.

Groudon who? I don’t know her.

I’ve always been a loyal Rayquaza fan!

【System, I choose the Verdant Orb!】

Shwoop—

A vibrant, emerald-green orb appeared in August’s hand.

Celebi, who had been arguing with a Pecha Berry, suddenly froze — having felt the overwhelming presence of Rayquaza’s energy.

It whipped its head around, then let out a relieved sigh when it saw the source was August’s hand.

But now it was looking at him strangely.

Where the heck did you even get that from?

August didn’t explain. He just casually slipped the orb into his backpack.

Then he looked at the next notification.

【Using underhanded tactics, you tricked Giovanni into weakening Pryce. Then, you used Mega Evolved Mewtwo and Gardevoir to defeat an already depleted opponent. Title acquired: “Lure, Bait, Ambush!”】

“….”

How is it considered an ambush if I’m the good guy?

August sighed. All I’ve ever done is fight for justice, and yet I’m constantly misunderstood...

Wounded, he turned to the list of rewards.

【Choose your reward:】

• Icicle Plate

• Silver Mask

• Aurorus (Elite-level)

Despite being disappointed in the title, August was very satisfied with the reward list.

This batch felt way more generous than the last one.

After glancing over them, he immediately eliminated the Aurorus.

Sure, Aurorus was adorable. But he had a principle: unless there were no better options, he wouldn’t use randomly gifted Pokémon.

That left the [Icicle Plate] and the Silver Mask.

The Silver Mask was probably the one Pryce wore — and might come with an ice clone technique as a bonus.

If that were true, it’d be a pretty solid choice. August had been coveting Pryce’s ice clones for a while now.

But that was just a guess. For all he knew, the Silver Mask could just be… a mask.

Besides, he still had Pryce in custody. He could just extract the method from the man himself.

So—

【System, I choose the Icicle Plate.】

Shing—

A beam of light flashed, and an icy-cold slab, clear as frozen crystal, materialized in August’s hand.

As he touched it, he suddenly remembered something.

Wait. Do I even have any Ice-types?

No… wait, he did!

He glanced down at the Poké Ball containing the Lapras Pryce had entrusted to him.

Perfect match.

Meanwhile, Celebi — who had been quietly watching this whole time — was now completely stunned.

It looked at August, then at itself, waving its arms in disbelief.

How… how did you just pull out an Arceus Plate like it was nothing?!

And you’re not even hiding it! Aren’t you afraid Arceus is going to come after you!?

---

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!