Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [213]

Just as August was trying to figure out how to tactfully change the subject, baby Lugia tilted its head—

And then pulled out a custom energy cube from under its feathers.

August blinked.

Since when did it start hiding food...?

Still, the energy cube came at the perfect time—it spared him from further awkward questions.

Lugia sniffed the cube and caught the same strange scent it had noticed on baby Lugia earlier.

Suddenly, it understood.

"So that’s what the smell was... food..."

As for why the scent was so strong on baby Lugia—well, probably because it had eaten a lot of them.

That explanation was good enough for Lugia.
After all, it didn’t want to question the human who had just saved it.

August mentally gave baby Lugia a thumbs-up for the unexpected assist. To steer the conversation away before Lugia could ask anything else too embarrassing, he asked:

“So, what do you plan to do now? Go after Pryce for revenge?”

If Lugia wanted revenge, August figured he’d have to either stop it or start evacuating the nearby area immediately.

Considering the raw power Lugia had displayed earlier, it could probably level a city if it wanted to.

But Lugia shook its head calmly.

“There’s no need to worry. I won’t let hatred control me.”

August couldn’t help but admire the sentiment.
What a perspective. Truly, this is Lugia.

Only a legend could reframe "I lost that fight" as "I refuse to be consumed by hatred."

Ho-Oh, you could learn a thing or two...

Once he confirmed Lugia wouldn’t go on a rampage, August said, “Let me treat your wing first.”

He gestured to Mewtwo.

Mewtwo’s massive psychic spoon shifted shape into a chisel, and under its precise control, it began carefully chipping away the ice still clinging to Lugia’s wing.

After that, August dug into his backpack and pulled out an old, rarely used canister of burn and frost medicine, spraying it evenly over the wound.

Lugia flexed its wing gently. It could move it again now.

Gratitude shimmered in its eyes.

Originally, Lugia had intended to offer a [Silver Feather] as a token of thanks—but a glance at the sea, full of fallen feathers, and at baby Lugia beside August made it reconsider.

With baby Lugia around, he probably doesn’t need another feather...

It just didn’t feel right.

So after a moment of thought, Lugia’s body lit up with a silver glow.

The light wrapped around baby Lugia.

Receiving this energy, baby Lugia suddenly grew—visibly, noticeably—as if it had just eaten a box of custom energy cubes.

“Human, take good care of it.”

With that, Lugia gave baby Lugia one final look, then spread its wings, gathered up the scattered feathers on the water, and dove into the deep sea.

Gone.

Apparently, Lugia still held its fallen feathers in high regard.

Just like the [Rainbow Feather] that signified a Trainer chosen by Ho-Oh, perhaps if Lugia ever wanted to name its own champions—the “Silver Warriors”—it had just saved itself a lot of plucking for years to come.

Now that Lugia was gone, the only things left in the once war-torn sea were August, his Pokémon, and a massive glacier.

He recalled his Pokémon, bundled up the frost-covered, shivering Eevee in his arms, climbed onto Salamence, and flew back toward Olivine City.

What August didn’t see was what happened a few moments after he left.

Where the glacier had stood, a massive whirlpool suddenly formed, swallowing the entire ice mass in one go.

Pulled under by the vortex, the glacier cracked, collapsed, and finally vanished beneath the surface—leaving only a few bubbles in its wake.

The sea returned to calm.

But clearly, Lugia’s heart wasn’t as peaceful as it had appeared.

...

Olivine City.

With the storm finally passed, the city’s emergency sirens were disabled. People poured out of shelters.

Though the storm hadn’t lasted long, the disruption it caused was enormous.

The moment August landed, his phone rang.

“August, there was just a storm over Olivine City—are you on the scene?” Lance’s voice came through the receiver.

August sighed. “...Why is your first assumption always that I’m involved?”

Why does every big disaster end up tied to me? It’s not like I’m a walking catastrophe...

...Even if, yes, he did happen to be here this time.

Lance had thought he might’ve misjudged the situation at first—but hearing August’s follow-up, he was speechless.

You’re literally there!

Still, they had more important things to discuss.

“What happened in Olivine?”

He’d been in the middle of a meeting when the Johto League’s meteorological division issued an emergency weather alert.

And then, weirdly, the storm disappeared as suddenly as it arrived.

An anomaly like that—especially with the storm centered on the Whirl Islands—immediately made Lance think of Lugia.

“Nothing much. Pryce tried to capture Lugia,” August said casually. “I stopped him.”

Even though Lance had mentally prepared himself, that line still hit like a truck.

A simple sentence—but the implications were massive.

Pryce tried to capture Lugia...
Pryce has that kind of power...?

Does that mean he really is the Masked Man, like August suspected...?

And then, there was the other part.

August defeated Pryce... meaning he’s even stronger?

Questions flooded Lance’s mind. He didn’t even know where to begin.

August, sensing the long pause, could guess what Lance was thinking.

So, he briefly recounted the whole incident.

Then added, “If you want visual proof, I can send you the footage.”

He’d had his portable camera rolling since the battle began. Pryce being the Masked Man wasn’t just speculation anymore—this was solid evidence.

Given that it involved a Gym Leader, Lance naturally wanted to verify it personally.

He quickly received the video.

Watching Pryce—supported only by a Swinub and Delibird—take down Lugia with ease, Lance fell silent.

And then a terrible realization dawned on him.

Based on that video... I might not be able to beat Pryce myself...

Why would someone that powerful—a former Gym Leader—create something like the Masked Corps instead of challenging for the Johto Champion title?

Lance couldn’t wrap his head around it.

But to his credit, after all of August’s “surprises,” his mental resilience had leveled up significantly.

“I’ll report this to the League Council immediately. Bruno is still in Johto—I’ll have him back you up. Stay sharp.”

This one video was enough to fuel League meetings for days.

Lance hung up in a hurry.

Afterward, August sent a copy of the video to International Police HQ, both as an update and—let’s be honest—a little bragging.

Then he messaged Kurt, briefing him on Pryce and asking him to hide the GS Ball crafting scroll at home, and maybe take his granddaughter, Chihiro, somewhere safe for a while.

Finally, August clipped a short segment from the battle—Pryce versus Lugia—and sent it to Giovanni.

[Pryce has obtained the Silver Feather. —August]

Hopefully, daddy Giovanni would take the opportunity to ambush Pryce hard in Azalea Town.

August felt he was being extremely generous, giving Giovanni such a prime shot at revenge.

Only after taking care of all that did he dust off his coat, pick up Eevee, and start walking toward the Olivine Gym.

Blue had just messaged him. She and Jasmine were there waiting.

“So Pryce really is the Masked Man?” Jasmine gasped, covering her mouth.

She had met Pryce a few times during past Johto Gym Leader meetings. Her impression of him had always been that of a kind, humble elder.

She never imagined he was hiding such a secret identity.

“I’ve already reported it to the League. The wanted notice should be issued soon,” August replied.

Though, knowing how slow the League Council moved, he figured it would take them three or four days just to reach a decision.

Still, no harm in saying it out loud.

Hearing that the League had been informed, Jasmine let out a breath of relief. In her mind, the League was still strong. After all, hadn’t they just dealt a heavy blow to Team Rocket in Kanto?

“Then we should contact Chuck right away. If Pryce has feathers from both Ho-Oh and Lugia, he must be planning something big.”

She made to head for Cianwood at once.

But August stopped her.

“Now that Pryce’s identity is out, there’s no need for secrecy. Just call Chuck. We’ll meet up in Goldenrod City.”

Then he turned to Blue. “Blue, you’re in charge of contacting the other Gym Leaders.”

Blue nodded.

August thought about it again. Since this was Johto Division turf—even if the division had been hit hard by the Masked Corps—it still made sense to include them.

He sent out a message, inviting them to join the operation.

According to legend, Celebi appears at the Ilex Shrine during every full moon.

And there were exactly three days left until the next full moon.

---

Team Rocket Base

Giovanni stared at the message August had just sent him and nearly laughed from sheer frustration.

He’s not even pretending anymore—just outright using Team Rocket like a tool?

In all his years as the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni had met plenty of League Trainers who claimed to stand for justice. But someone as shameless as August? This was a first.

His mood was already in the gutter, what with the heavy losses his subordinates had suffered in their recent clashes with the Masked Corps.

And now this? The more Giovanni thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help but fire off a message in reply:

[If you want to deal with Pryce, do it yourself. —Giovanni]

It was mostly just to vent.

But the next second, a response came in from August.

[Pryce didn’t kidnap my son. —August]

Goddammit, August...

Giovanni clenched his fists where he sat, the unshakable calm he usually wore beginning to crack.

He seriously considered grabbing a Porygon and using it to crawl through the internet and punch August in the face.

Fortunately, a report from one of his subordinates brought him back to focus.

“Boss Giovanni, the data you asked for has been compiled. It looks like the item that requires Ho-Oh’s feather is a legendary type of Poké Ball... one that’s said to be able to ‘capture time’ itself,” the agent said, holding out a file.

Team Rocket’s archives were second only to the League’s. Given enough time, they could dig up just about anything ever documented.

“A Poké Ball that captures time?” Giovanni raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, sir!”

The agent handed over the report.

If only Matori were still around, Giovanni thought idly. He would’ve just given me the summary instead of making me read the whole thing myself.

Still, he flipped through the contents.

Poké Ball that captures time... Ho-Oh and Lugia’s feathers... Azalea Town... Ilex Forest...

Looking at the details, the pieces suddenly snapped into place in Giovanni’s mind.

“So that’s it...”

He finally understood Pryce’s true objective.

“His goal is Celebi, isn’t it?”

Giovanni stared at the crudely drawn image of Celebi on the report—more abstract than accurate, more myth than Pokémon.

Time manipulation... mysterious and powerful. It made sense as a target.

After a brief pause, Giovanni gave his orders.

“Notify Ariana. Tell them to shift the search toward Ilex Forest—look for the Celebi shrine.”

“And alert Archer, Proton, and Petrel. They’re coming with me to Azalea Town!”

Pryce wanted to create a Poké Ball that could “capture time”?

Then Giovanni would strike first—take the crafting scroll from the hands of its keeper, Kurt.

If Pryce wants the method, fine—trade me Silver.

The grunt snapped to attention. “Yes, Boss Giovanni!”

---

Meanwhile, as both Giovanni and Pryce made their way to Azalea Town...

August arrived in Goldenrod City alongside Blue and Jasmine.

As the largest city in the Johto region, Goldenrod held the same weight and prestige as Saffron City in Kanto.

August landed in front of a hotel.

Waiting at the door was Sabrina.

The moment she spotted Jasmine arriving with August, she gave him a sideways glance. “Another one? August, did you trick another person into joining?”

Jasmine had been about to greet her, but froze at Sabrina’s words, clearly confused.

“What do you mean ‘tricked someone into joining’...? This is Jasmine, the Olivine Gym Leader,” August said with exasperation. Sabrina always assumed the worst about him.

He turned to Jasmine. “This is Sabrina—Saffron Gym Leader.”

Sabrina didn’t deny it, but gave Jasmine a polite nod.

Then she looked back to August. “The conference room is set up. But is Pryce really as strong as he looks in the footage?”

She’d seen the video August sent. And even though she trusted him not to lie, the power Pryce displayed in that battle seemed absurd.

It left her with a sense of unease—like something wasn’t quite real.

“He’s absolutely that strong. Probably stronger,” August said.

Even though their fight had seemed intense, it had only been a tactical skirmish. Pryce had been focused on acquiring the [Silver Feather] and preparing to capture Celebi. He hadn’t fought August seriously.

If they’d truly gone all-out—if August had used Mega Mewtwo instead of Mega Gardevoir—even then, he wasn’t sure he’d have made it out unscathed.

That was exactly why he was bringing together this many Gym Leaders—and trying to bait Giovanni into helping.

Sabrina didn’t know what to say to that.

“Whitney’s already confirmed,” she said instead. “She’s recording her radio show. Gold and Silver got here ahead of you—they said they’re heading to the station.”

August didn’t even need to guess. That had to be Gold’s doing.

The guy was a diehard fan of DJ Mary. No way he’d pass up the chance to meet her.

“Let them enjoy it. It’s not time to move yet anyway.”

For now, August’s role was to coordinate the Gym Leaders and wait.

And to see how Giovanni, thoroughly provoked, would deal with Pryce.

In short:
Sit back, watch the show, and strike when the timing’s right.

“So... get me a room. I’m dead tired.”

---

Azalea Town – Kurt’s House

Kurt had already received August’s message earlier that morning. The instructions were simple:

Leave the GS Ball crafting method behind. Let Pryce take it. Take your granddaughter Chihiro and get somewhere safe.

But Kurt hadn’t followed the advice.

He only handed Chihiro over to the “Hoothoot” agent August had sent.

He, however, stayed behind in his home.

As an old friend of Pryce from their youth, Kurt couldn’t understand how someone once so kind could have fallen so far.

He needed answers—from Pryce himself.

And maybe... just maybe... he could convince him to turn back.

Now, Kurt knelt seiza-style on the tatami mat, facing the front door with his eyes closed, waiting.

Then, he heard movement outside in the yard.

“You’ve come...” he said, eyes opening.

He was just about to confront Pryce—

But what he saw was... not quite what he had expected.

Standing before him was neither Pryce nor the Masked Man in disguise.

It was—

A squad of Team Rocket grunts.

As Kurt sat there stunned, the grunts parted, and out stepped Giovanni—flanked by Archer, Petrel, and Proton.

A pleasant smile graced Giovanni’s face.

“Mr. Kurt. Seems like you were expecting us? In that case, I’ll make this simple—hand over the plans for the Poké Ball that can capture time.”

Kurt: “.....”

You’re not the one I was waiting for...

---

T/N: why is he so strong

This is a fan translation of 人在实教，一之濑你会后悔的 by 作者：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!