Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [211]

At August’s signal, Blue repeated the explanation she’d given earlier to Morty and Whitney.

She placed special emphasis on the Masked Man’s attempt to capture Ho-Oh.

When Jasmine heard that even Ho-Oh had nearly been captured, the seriousness of the situation sank in.
“I’m in!”

“Should I help contact Mr. Chuck from Cianwood City?”

As neighbors, she was on familiar terms with Chuck, the Gym Leader of Cianwood.

“If you’re willing to help, Jasmine, that would be fantastic...” August said with a smile.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, August noticed Jasmine’s Ampharos—Amphy.

If memory served, Amphy had fallen ill at some point.

With that thought, August reached out using his [Aura] to sense Amphy’s energy. He hadn’t noticed anything at first glance, but once he scanned its aura, the problem became clear.

Though it appeared perfectly healthy on the outside, Amphy’s aura was clearly unstable—a sign of illness.

August turned to Jasmine. “Would you mind if I examined your Ampharos?”

“It seems like it might not be feeling too well.”

“Not feeling well...?”

Jasmine looked at Amphy, who appeared in perfect health, puzzled by August’s comment.

“May I touch it?” he asked.

Jasmine nodded, and August placed his hand gently on Amphy’s body.

The sensation was similar to touching a Pikachu—short, velvety fur with the faint, tingling static unique to Electric-type Pokémon.

He released his [Viridian Power], and under its effect, a fine sheen of sweat suddenly formed on Amphy’s body.

As the sweat beaded, a pained expression crossed Amphy’s face.

“Amphy?!”

Jasmine jumped, startled by the reaction and moved to intervene—only to see a moment later that Amphy’s expression had relaxed into one of relief.

“What’s going on...?”

A short while later, once Amphy had stabilized, August withdrew his hand.

“Good thing I was here to catch it early—otherwise, this little illness could’ve become something serious.”

He added, “It’s probably just exhaustion, maybe a slight cold. I just used [Viridian Power] to treat it. Let it rest these next few days, and it should be fine.”

“Thank you so much...”

Holding Amphy in her arms, Jasmine gently stroked its head. “The unmanned lighthouse by the port’s been undergoing maintenance lately, and Amphy insisted on going every day to guide ships through the night. I guess the burden was too much.”

“You need to rest properly. No more overdoing it, alright? Amphy, did you hear me? I’ll talk to them about finishing the repairs soon—you just focus on getting better.”

Amphy gave a sheepish nod, like a child who’d just been scolded for pushing too hard.

With Amphy taken care of, August glanced at his watch.
“It’s getting late. Let’s head for Cianwood City together tomorrow.”

It had been a full day of high-intensity travel—from Blackthorn City to Ecruteak, and now to Olivine...

Even with his vastly improved physique, August could feel the fatigue creeping in. Blue, he figured, must be even more worn out.

But just as August was saying his farewells to Jasmine and preparing to rest at a hotel for the night—

CRACK.

A lightning bolt split the clear sky over the sea in the distance.

All three turned instinctively toward the ocean.

A second later, the skies over the water began to churn violently.

What had been a gentle breeze turned into howling wind. The calm sea erupted with towering waves. Blue skies darkened to a heavy, leaden gray.

But what shocked the trio the most wasn’t the wind or waves—it was the enormous atmospheric vortex that had suddenly formed in the distance, stretching across the sky farther than the eye could see.

“What’s happening?” Blue blurted instinctively.

One second it was clear skies—and the next, it looked like a storm was moments away from hitting.

It wasn’t natural.

Jasmine, stunned, narrowed her eyes. As the Gym Leader of Olivine, she knew the surrounding area well.

“That direction... that’s the Whirl Islands!”

“The Whirl Islands...?”

Hearing the name and seeing the now-familiar weather phenomenon, August immediately understood.

If I remember correctly... Lugia resides in the Whirl Islands.

He’d known Lugia might be hiding there—and that Pryce, under the mask, might target it.

But he hadn’t expected him to move this quickly.

He only just failed to capture Ho-Oh, and had his ice double destroyed… and he’s already going after Lugia?!

Damn, he’s relentless.

Feeling the rising urgency, August turned to Jasmine.

“This might be the Masked Corps trying to capture Lugia—I need to head there immediately. I’m counting on you to watch over Olivine City.”

Then he turned to Blue.

“Blue, stay here and help Jasmine evacuate the residents...”

Their previous skirmish had been unavoidable, but now that he was heading into an all-out confrontation, there was no way August would let Blue face such danger.

Blue understood how urgent the situation was and squeezed his hand tightly.

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry...” August gave her hand a reassuring pat.

Then he leapt from the lighthouse, releasing Salamence mid-air, landing on its back as it soared straight toward the heart of the storm.

After he left, Jasmine didn’t hesitate—she pulled the emergency alarm on the lighthouse.

The sharp, piercing siren echoed throughout Olivine, and combined with the abrupt shift in weather, sent the whole city into a state of high alert.

Any sailor who’s spent time at sea knows—
The ocean is never predictable.

But even when the sea was at its most temperamental, extreme weather always gave subtle warning signs—just enough time for ships to prepare.

What happened today, though, was like nothing they had ever seen.

“Massive wave two hundred meters off the port bow! Hard to starboard!”

The lookout’s shout rang through the storm.

The ship veered just in time, narrowly dodging the towering wave.

But before the crew could catch their breath, another giant wave surged through the rain ahead—directly in their path.

It was coming fast. Too fast.

By the time the lookout spotted it, it was already within a hundred meters—

There was no way to avoid it.

“We’re not gonna make it!”

Despair filled the sailors’ eyes as the wave loomed above, about to crash down on them—

And then, a white silhouette dropped from the sky, placing itself directly between the ship and the massive wave.

“That’s—”

“It’s Lugia—the Guardian of the Seas!”

In both Kanto and Johto, Lugia’s title as the “Sea God” was widely known.

Even though this Lugia looked noticeably smaller than the legends described, there was no doubt—this was the real thing.

As the stunned sailors watched, the glowing baby Lugia flapped its wings, sending out a flurry of gleaming crescent blades that shattered the massive wave into fine spray.

Then, with another flap, it summoned a wind gust that gently pushed the ship away from the heart of the storm.

Job done, baby Lugia glanced toward the storm’s center—it sensed something familiar there.

But it only paused for a moment before flying off in that direction, leaving behind a crew full of stunned, teary-eyed sailors who had just barely escaped death.

In the captain’s cabin, the captain collapsed into his chair, overcome with relief.

But unlike the rest of the crew, his trained eyes had caught something else—

He could’ve sworn that around that Lugia’s neck...
It had a tag?

From atop Salamence, August gave a nod as baby Lugia caught up to him, then returned it to its Poké Ball.

His heart felt heavy.

“That’s the third one.”

That made three ships he’d rescued on the way here. Thankfully, the storm wasn’t directly over the main shipping lane—otherwise, even he couldn’t have saved everyone.

As he flew, August’s mind drifted back to the battle between Ho-Oh and Pryce...

And some earlier doubts finally began to make sense.

Why had Ho-Oh held back against Pryce’s attack? Why hadn’t it gone all-out?

Because Ecruteak had been directly beneath them. If Ho-Oh had unleashed its full power, maybe Pryce wouldn’t have succeeded—but Ecruteak would’ve been destroyed.

The Whirl Islands, on the other hand, were far from any densely populated city. Lugia had no such restraint.

As August thought this through, Salamence and baby Lugia carried him straight into the storm’s center.

From afar, two figures—one large, one small—could be seen clashing mid-air.

The larger figure was Lugia, unleashing a volley of watery orbs from its mouth.

August recognized the move: [Weather Ball].

Baby Lugia could use it too—

But the scale was incomparable. Even empowered by the Sky Plate, adult Lugia’s [Weather Balls] were several times larger. They weren’t even in the same league.

Facing off against Lugia was the same Delibird from Ecruteak, accompanied by a transformed version of the Masked Man.

Delibird countered the incoming attacks with a freezing beam of Ice, solidifying the water orbs into ice balls.

Then, using them as projectiles, it launched the ice spheres back at Lugia.

But Lugia twisted the surrounding storm winds, shattering them into shards midair.

The battle between the two sides was ferocious.

As August watched, both Delibird and Lugia took note of his arrival.

Lugia tilted its head in confusion. It sensed something familiar about him—so it didn’t immediately treat him as one of the enemy.

Hidden within the icy clone, Pryce—Pryce himself—scowled as he caught sight of August.

Why is he everywhere?!

Like a damn ghost!

---

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!