Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [219]

Pryce stared at the handcuffs on his wrists, still unable to understand why August had saved him.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to just let him die here?

Seeing the look on his face, August snorted. “Planning to die and get off easy? Not a chance.”

He had made a promise to Blue—to make Pryce apologize to her in person.

Without giving Pryce a chance to protest, August dragged him away from the time rift.

Now without his Pokémon, Pryce was no different from any ordinary old man. And after losing the [Rainbow Wing] and [Silver Wing], he completely lost consciousness.

The time rift, no longer stabilized by Celebi’s energy, began to close, eventually returning to its original form—an ordinary shrine.

“Finally out,” August muttered as he stepped from the shrine, taking a deep breath of the cold, crisp air.

Even though he had the GS Ball, the protection of the [Rainbow and Silver Wings], and had successfully captured Celebi, August still didn’t like lingering in the time rift.

After all, he didn’t fully understand the power of time—and the unknown always came with danger.

It kept him on edge.

He surveyed the battlefield outside. The fighting had already ended.

Will was suspended mid-air by Sabrina’s psychic power. His Xatu had been completely suppressed in a battle of mental force with her Alakazam, and now lay sprawled on the ground, eyes rolled back.

Nearby, Jasmine sat atop Steelix, ordering it to tightly bind Karen, while her Umbreon was pinned under August’s Eevee and getting thoroughly thrashed.

It looked like Umbreon had taken some damage earlier—it was no match for Eevee now.

Watching the two brawling, August instinctively pulled out his phone and snapped a photo.

Click.

The sound of the shutter made Eevee turn. Upon spotting August, it beamed with joy, immediately abandoning Umbreon and leaping toward him.

And then—

Poof.

It face-planted straight into the snow, vanishing in an instant.

August’s eye twitched. He reached down and plucked the little short-legged fluffball out of the snow, brushing off the clinging flakes.

By now, the others had noticed August’s return—with Pryce in cuffs.

“You did it...”

Blue stared at the arrested Pryce, and a sudden wave of emotion welled up in her. She almost wanted to cry.

Beside her, Silver seemed composed, but the faint trembling of his fingers betrayed his inner turmoil.

Bruno looked August up and down—he was completely unharmed. He couldn’t help asking, “August, just how strong are you now?”

Everyone had witnessed Pryce defeat Giovanni with their own eyes.

August stayed humble. “It was still a little close. Besides, Giovanni had already worn him down beforehand.”

If Giovanni hadn’t exhausted a huge chunk of Swinub and Delibird’s stamina, taking Pryce down wouldn’t have been so easy.

Speaking of Giovanni...

August looked left, then right. His brow furrowed. “Where’s Giovanni?”

Where’s the big man gone?

He’d still been here when August went into the shrine—how had he vanished?

Bruno coughed awkwardly. “Sorry, August. That one’s on me... Giovanni managed to slip away.”

He was more than a little embarrassed. This operation had been as close to perfect as one could hope—they’d nearly wiped out both Team Rocket and the Masked Corps in a single sweep, potentially making Kanto and Johto the safest regions in the world.

But... because of his mistake, Giovanni had escaped.

Bruno explained how Giovanni had summoned a combat airship to extract himself.

August fell silent for a moment after hearing the full account, then finally sighed.

“Not your fault. I didn’t see that coming either...”

He hadn’t imagined Giovanni had a fully armed airship waiting in the skies above.

No wonder he’d acted so boldly when threatening Pryce—he’d already secured a backup plan.

That’s Giovanni for you.

Rocket’s resources ran deep. Dealing with them wasn’t something that could be solved overnight.

Still... this operation had produced tremendous results.

August turned to the captured Masked Squad agents: Will, Karen, Sham, Carl, plus Proton, who looked positively cursed, and Petrel, still frozen like an ice sculpture.

Not a single Masked Corps member had escaped. Two of the four Rocket executives were in custody, and with the grunts captured outside, Johto’s Rocket division had taken a massive blow.

For a long time to come, Rocket in Johto probably wouldn’t have the energy to stir up trouble again.

He used [Aura] to briefly scan Petrel’s condition. “That popsicle’s still alive—bring him back for emergency treatment.”

“As for the rest, lock them up for now. We’ll deal with them later...”

“First, let’s head to the hotel for a victory dinner!”

After days of high-intensity work dealing with the Masked Corps, he definitely deserved to treat himself.

As soon as he said it, the Poké Ball on his belt holding Salamence popped open on its own.

Salamence let out an excited roar, clearly overjoyed.

August: “...”

You didn’t jump out to help during the fight, but now that there’s food involved, you come running?

Still, before he could relax, there was one more person who needed to be informed.

...

“So that’s basically it. This operation couldn’t have succeeded without your help, Lance,” August said.

Although Lance hadn’t been there in person, the way he’d persuaded the League Association to mobilize trainers from nearby cities—and sent prosecutors from his own team—had played a pivotal role in the plan’s success.

Without that added force, they might still have won, but it wouldn’t have been a clean sweep of Rocket and the Masked Squad’s outer rings.

“You’re the one who really made it happen,” Lance replied. “Still, it’s a shame we didn’t catch Giovanni.”

Team Rocket without Giovanni was like a crumbling sandcastle—its fall was only a matter of time.

But with Giovanni still alive, the organization retained cohesion and was far harder to deal with.

“Actually, it’s not entirely a bad thing,” August replied. “Rocket’s taken heavy damage twice now—they won’t be making any moves in the near future... But if we did wipe them out, there’s no telling what kind of new, bizarre organization might pop up. That’d be worse.”

The problem with Rocket had always been that they were too strong: three executives, three Beasts, four admins, and Giovanni himself. They could’ve started their own League.

But now, after being weakened, having a manageable Rocket as the resident villain of Kanto and Johto wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There would always be ambitious people in the world...

Compared to the lunatics in other regions constantly trying to reboot the world, August found the twice-defeated Giovanni... oddly tolerable.

Especially since August still held Giovanni’s greatest weakness in his hands.

As long as he had that, Giovanni would think twice before stirring up trouble again.

Lance thought about it and had to admit—August might have a point...

Changing topics, Lance asked, “What are you planning to do with Pryce and the Masked Corps?”

With so many Rocket members captured recently, the League’s prisons were overcrowded.

Even after releasing a batch on bail earlier, they were still bursting at the seams.

August sighed. “I can’t do much about that. You handle the regular members and officers... As for Pryce, I’m taking him back to Kanto’s division myself. He’ll be personally guarded.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the League... Okay, no—he didn’t trust the League prison’s security.

If Pryce ever escaped again, that would be a real disaster.

Lance had no objection to that, but he did offer one reminder: “About the Masked Corp’s executives—they were all kidnapped by Pryce as children. Convicting them might be... tricky.”

He meant Will, Karen, Sham, and Carl.

Legally speaking, they were also victims, forced into their roles from a young age.

“We’ll follow League law,” August said firmly. As an enforcer, he had to uphold justice.

Besides... the Masked Corps was finished. What happened to the remaining officers didn’t matter much to him.

After all, in the original story, Will and Karen ended up becoming Elite Four members later on...

Lance nodded. He was just giving August a heads-up—if he did plan to prosecute them, he’d need solid evidence.

But since August wasn’t interested, it didn’t matter.

“In that case, should I inform the media now? The Indigo Conference is coming up soon. This operation’s success could serve as proof that Kanto’s becoming safer.”

For Lance, this was an unexpected windfall.

He was organizing the Indigo Conference himself. If it went well, it would all but guarantee his promotion to Champion.

From that angle, August had actually done him a huge favor.

August had no particular opinion on it... but just as he was about to give the go-ahead, a thought occurred to him.

He smiled. “Give it a couple of days. I’ve got a few more things to take care of first.”

...

Goldenrod City – Silph Hotel

The victory celebration for the recent operation against Team Rocket and the Masked Corps was in full swing, held in a spacious venue generously sponsored by President Silph himself.

Click.

August snapped a photo of Salamence devouring everything in sight while Eevee faceplanted into a cake and got whipped cream all over its fur. He posted it to his Moments feed with the caption:

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Celebrating a major victory against the Masked Corps and Team Rocket!

The moment the photo went up, likes started pouring in.

[Lance]: 👍
[Bruno]: 👍
[Lorelei]: Victory dinner? Why didn’t we have one after New Island… (smile)

August smacked his forehead. Right, there wasn’t a celebration after New Island—he’d been too busy helping Professor Oak treat his arm.

[Reply to Lorelei]: Ah… right. Next time I head to the Sevii Islands, I’ll make it up to you?

[Lorelei]: I’m holding you to that~

Posting a single update and he was already on the hook for another meal.

August sighed and was about to close his chat app when he got a message from Gary.

[Next Time I’ll Behave, Please Unmute Me]: ??? There’s a celebration? Another operation? When did this happen, and why am I the last to know!?

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Huh? I didn’t tell you?

August frowned. He could’ve sworn he told Gary about it.

[Next Time I’ll Behave, Please Unmute Me]: You most definitely did NOT... (speechless)

August scrolled through their chat history. Sure enough, most of it was just Gary begging to be unmuted from their group chat.

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Okay, my bad...

[Next Time I’ll Behave, Please Unmute Me]: Then can you let me back in? (pleading eyes)

Gary wasted no time shooting his shot.

August considered it—Gary had been muted for five days. Judging by the number of apologetic DMs he’d sent, he’d probably reflected deeply on his behavior.

[GardevoirSupremacy]: Alright, fine...

[System Notification]: “Next Time I’ll Behave, Please Unmute Me” has been unmuted.
[System Notification]: “Next Time I’ll Behave, Please Unmute Me” has changed their name to “Young Master Gary, Glorious Return.”

[Young Master Gary, Glorious Return]: Your boy is BACK!
[Young Master Gary, Glorious Return]: @everyone Celebrate me! Rejoice!

[GardevoirSupremacy]: ...
[Jigglypuff Is The Cutest]: ...
[Silver]: ...
[Gold]: Is that... Senior Gary?
[Cinnabar Island Riddler]: Yeah... that’s him.
[Psychic Girl Extraordinaire]: @Gardevoir No.1 can you mute him again, please?

Gary had barely stepped back into the group and already made it a noisy mess.

August regretted unmuting him almost immediately. Still, he decided to let Gary enjoy his short-lived freedom.

He wasn’t a monster, after all.

But just to keep Gary’s ego in check, August figured he’d have to challenge him to a battle soon—remind him who really ran this chat.

With that decision made, he opened his streaming app.

---

To Iono, today felt like another wonderful day.

Ever since the two high-profile incidents that had unexpectedly boosted her popularity, she’d become a minor celebrity on her streaming platform.

Whenever she saw her steadily growing viewership, she’d think back to that fateful morning when a mysterious viewer named “Still Slacking Off at Work Today” had dropped a huge donation.

Though fans often teased her as the “Grim Reaper of Gym Trainers,” Iono remained grateful to that early supporter.

That said, she really hoped no more Gym Trainers would get arrested—even if it meant her popularity took a hit. At least then, she wouldn’t get teased during Paldea Gym Leader meetups...

Sitting down at her computer, Iono shook the random thoughts from her head, struck a pose, and started her stream.

“Good morning, afternoon, evening, everyone~! Welcome to another episode of Iono's Curious Corner!”

“Today is everyone’s favorite: Q&A time! Yesterday I asked Bellibolt to randomly pick twenty viewer questions—we’ll be going through them live today.”

“First up, from a viewer named ‘CuteTailMeow’: Does the Paldea region have Pokémon Contests?”

“Nope! Paldea doesn’t have contests. Right now, only Hoenn runs official Pokémon Contests. But I did hear from a friend that Sinnoh might be introducing them soon, so keep an eye out~!”

“Next, from a viewer in Alola going by ‘Gotta Work To Eat Today’: Any quick tips to get rich overnight?”

“Iono says—don’t believe in get-rich-quick schemes. Be careful of online scams, and don’t take any illegal shortcuts, okay?”

“Third question—this viewer asked to remain anonymous: Got silenced in the work group for telling the truth. Any tips on subtly mocking your boss?”

“Uh... yeah... about that... I really can’t help you there.”

August had just entered the stream when he heard Iono answering viewer questions.

But that third question... it gave him a weird sense of déjà vu.

Why did that sound so much like something Gary would ask...?

Did Gary watch her stream?

He wasn’t sure.

Unfortunately, the user had submitted the question anonymously, so August couldn’t confirm anything.

Still, he made a mental note to bring it up with Gary later—just in case. If it was him...

Heh.

With that thought, August opened the donation page and casually activated a "Fleet Admiral" membership.

After all, they’d just arrested Pryce. As per tradition, it was time to make a little splash in Iono's stream.

Why Fleet Admiral, you ask?

Simple—Devon Corp’s profit-sharing from their PokéBlock line had just hit his account the other day. He had way too much cash lying around. A membership like this? Pocket change.

Iono was still flipping through questions when she noticed nothing strange at first.

Then her floating Magnemite hairpiece started spinning wildly, letting out a mechanical bilibili chirp.

Her eyes widened.

“Someone just bought a Fleet Admiral membership?!”

According to her setup, that alert was exclusive to Fleet Admiral-tier gifts.

Sure, she had a solid fanbase now. She even had several “Captains.” But up until now, zero Fleet Admirals.

Everyone was way too frugal these days.

This was her first ever Fleet Admiral!

Overwhelmed, Iono didn’t even see the chat going absolutely bonkers—she immediately went to the gift page to check the donor’s name and record this milestone in her streaming career.

Then—

She saw the name.

And her hand on the mouse went stiff.

“St... Still Slacking Off at Work Today?”

Her eyes went wide.

The chat had already exploded into chaos. Viewers flooded over to Kanto news sites, searching for any major breaking headlines.

But there was nothing.

“No huge headlines? Maybe the boss is just... supporting her stream?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t find anything.”

“Same here, +1.”

Staring at the screen, Iono froze.

Could it really be just... a donation?

Just to be sure, she opened Kanto's major news pages herself.

Nothing about any Gym Leader getting arrested.

She let out a long sigh of relief.

If another Gym Leader had been caught, that "Grim Reaper" nickname would’ve stuck for real. I wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight...

Just as she exhaled—

A single chat message appeared on-screen:

“Check Johto News!”

“...?”

A chill crept over her. Uneasy,Iono clicked on the highly visible Johto section of the Kanto news site.

Then, a massive headline filled the livestream screen:

[Mahogany City Gym Trainer Pryce Confirmed to Be the Leader of the ‘Masked Corps’—Now in Custody!]

Iono’s screen went dark.

---

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!