Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [192]

August studied the four Eevee Brothers in front of him, his gaze pausing for an extra moment on the red-haired Pyro.

Feeling uneasy under August’s scrutiny, Pyro couldn’t help but speak up. “Yeah, that’s us. And who are you?”

Anyone who dared come looking for trouble despite knowing their reputation couldn’t be ordinary.

“Who are we?”

August snapped his fingers in midair.

Like a magician performing a trick, a warrant materialized in his hand.

“Stone Town is under investigation for [Evolution Stone] smuggling and tax evasion. Everyone, step away from any electronic devices and cooperate with the League’s Audit Division!”

“To all trainers present, this may take some time. We ask for your patience and understanding.”

The moment his words fell, all eyes turned to the Eevee Brothers in shock.

Smuggling? Tax evasion?

Most of the guests had been invited online and knew little about Stone Town’s affairs—aside from a few locals.

Still, since August had made it clear that it would only delay them for a bit, the guests expressed their understanding and agreed to cooperate.

Meanwhile, the Eevee Brothers—except for the youngest, Mikey—were visibly shaken.

They knew what they had done.

They really had been smuggling [Evolution Stones].

But still, was all of this necessary?

Helicopters in the sky, a full-blown operation? All for a little smuggling and some unpaid taxes?

“You must have the wrong people. We’ve never been involved in smuggling…”

The eldest brother, Sparky, was still trying to talk his way out of it. At the same time, he discreetly signaled his younger brothers to send a message—erase the evidence.

But before Rainer, the second brother, could act, a black shadow flashed past him.

A Sneasel darted in and snatched the communicator right from Rainer’s hands, moving so fast that even the Vaporeon beside him couldn’t react in time.

August took the device from Sneasel, glanced at the half-written message on the screen, and clicked his tongue. “Trying to pull something even now? Guess you didn’t take my words seriously.”

“Mark it down—attempted obstruction of an audit. That’s an extra 20% fine.”

This whole surprise raid had been planned specifically to catch them off guard. If they’d had time to react, gathering evidence would’ve been much harder.

August put the warrant away and once again looked at Pyro, standing next to his Flareon.

Under August’s persistent gaze, Pyro felt an increasing sense of dread.

He had no idea why this guy kept staring at him, but it couldn’t be good.

August’s gaze swept over the three brothers before he casually walked over to the large table in the center of the party. Picking up an [Evolution Stone] from the lavish spread, he turned it over in his palm. “Quite the display of wealth, huh?”

“We really haven’t been involved in smuggling…” Sparky insisted, forcing himself to stay composed.

Admitting to the crime was out of the question. Denying it, though? Maybe they could get away with it.

August smirked. “You know, I’ve caught poachers before. And every time, they claimed they weren’t poaching.”

He placed the stone back on the table. “Do you really think I’d bring in this many people if I didn’t have solid evidence?”

Then, he turned to the eager audit team and said, “Gather the evidence. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, Investigator August!”

The auditors had worked with August before. Without hesitation, they split into teams and started searching the mansion.

Seeing them spread out, Sparky, Rainer, and Pyro all turned pale.

But since August had already presented a search warrant, they had no legal grounds to stop it.

As for Mikey, he had no idea what was happening, but judging by his brothers’ grim faces, it was definitely not good.

At that moment, August once again fixed his gaze on Pyro.

“Anything you’d like to confess? The League has always been lenient with those who admit their wrongdoings, Mr. ‘Flareon is the Best in the World.’”

As soon as he said that, everyone turned to stare at Pyro.

Pyro himself froze in shock.

Flareon is the Best in the World?

That was his online username. How did the League know about it?

Behind August, Blue pressed her lips together. She knew August wouldn’t just randomly decide to help Lance out of kindness.

At that moment, an auditor emerged holding a ledger.

“Investigator August, we found this hidden in a secret vault.”

The moment the Eevee Brothers saw the ledger, their faces completely changed.

They no longer had the luxury of wondering how August knew Pyro’s username.

Panic-stricken, they blurted out, “We’ll confess! We’ll confess!”

August raised an amused eyebrow. “Oh? Now you want to confess?”

He shook his head in mock regret.

“Too bad… You’re too late.”

He opened the ledger.

Inside was a meticulous record of Stone Town’s unpaid taxes and details of [Evolution Stone] smuggling operations—every stone accounted for, shipped to various regions.

Not too much, not too little.

Under normal circumstances, the League wouldn’t have bothered cracking down on something like this. After all, they were already overwhelmed dealing with Team Rocket.

But unfortunately for these guys…

They had the bad luck of running into August, who loved upholding League regulations.

No crime would go unpunished.

August waved a hand, and the auditors pulled out a pre-prepared document. They quickly cross-referenced the records and calculated the total amount of tax evasion and smuggling profits.

Then, they wrote up an astronomical fine.

August smiled as he handed the fine over.

The brothers took one look at the number and felt their vision go black.

This fine… It would wipe out two-thirds of their family’s wealth.

“Since this is your first offense and no major harm was caused, we’re only imposing a fine…” August said casually. “You should be grateful you have no ties to Team Rocket. Otherwise, the League would’ve had a nice little prison cell ready for you.”

Cold sweat dripped down the brothers’ faces.

Suddenly… a fine didn’t seem that bad.

August felt great after delivering justice.

But just as he was about to say something, a voice called out from the entrance.

“Excuse me, we found an Eevee in the forest. Is it yours…?”

August turned around and was surprised to see a familiar group—Ash, Brock, and Misty.

The moment they saw him, their eyes widened in recognition.

“August? What are you doing here?” Ash asked in surprise. “Don’t tell me you’re here for the party too?”

Brock reached over and gave Ash a discreet tug on the arm.

Does this place look like a party to you?

He had recognized the League’s Audit Division members right away.

And with August here, it was pretty obvious what was going on.

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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!