Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [172]

Blaine slowly regained consciousness.

The first thing he did upon waking was reach for his arm.

Feeling that it was still there, he let out a breath of relief.

"…You really don’t trust me, huh?" August, watching his reaction, was speechless.

Was that really necessary? Did Blaine have that little faith in him?

"Ahem… Thanks, August." Blaine coughed twice to cover his embarrassment and quickly changed the subject. "I found the [Psychic Spoon] you asked me to get."

"Oh? You found it?" August’s eyes lit up, deciding to let Blaine off the hook.

"That’s right…"

Blaine swung his legs off the operating table and hopped down. "I’ll go get it for you."

August left the operating room as well. Outside, Mew was playing hide-and-seek with Eevee, while Mewtwo was sitting with its arms crossed, absorbed in studying on a smartphone… or so it claimed.

After a short wait, Blaine returned carrying a long rectangular case and handed it to August.

Now free from the burden of [Mewtwo’s Cells], Blaine felt lighter than ever. The weakness that had plagued him was gone—he felt so good that carrying a single box was nothing. He could probably lift ten without breaking a sweat.

The moment August took the case, it immediately drew everyone’s attention. As he opened it, a massive [Psychic Spoon] was revealed.

"Mew~?"

Mew curiously examined the oversized spoon inside the case.

"This is a weapon for Mewtwo. You can test it out for him if you’d like," August said.

Hearing that, Mew eagerly wrapped its little arms around the giant spoon and dragged it out of the case.

A tiny Mew clutching a comically large spoon—it was an amusing sight.

Blaine provided an explanation at the right moment. "This [Psychic Spoon] was designed to morph freely according to the user’s psychic power."

At those words, Mew’s eyes glowed blue as it enveloped the spoon with its telekinetic energy.

In an instant, the spoon’s shape shifted—turning into a fork, then a knife, then a scythe… and even more forms.

It could even extend and retract at will.

Mewtwo’s eyes gleamed as it watched, clearly fascinated. But since the spoon was still in ‘Mew Mama’s’ hands, it held back, merely watching with longing eyes.

Mew was having an absolute blast playing with the spoon, but since August had said it was for Mewtwo, it reluctantly handed it over in the end—though anyone could see how unwilling it was to part with it.

August nodded approvingly. "Now you’re starting to act like a mother."

Hearing that, Mew flew onto August’s head and playfully bonked him with a tiny fist.

Mew!

Annoyed, it ruffled August’s hair into a mess, but instead of being upset, he just laughed.

This only frustrated Mew further—yet there was nothing it could do about it.

After teasing Mew for a bit, August turned to Blaine. "Are you really not coming back to Saffron City with me?"

"During my fight with Giovanni, you didn’t reveal yourself, but as long as he isn’t an idiot, he’ll know you were involved… Once he recovers, he might come looking for trouble."

"But I can’t just abandon Cinnabar Gym. I’ve already delayed too many challenger battles, and I just passed my official Gym Leader assessment—if I disappear right after, it wouldn’t look good." Blaine had his own reasons for staying.

"Alright, it’s your call…" August said, then added, "If anything happens, let me know."

With Mewtwo by his side, August wasn’t as worried about Giovanni as before.

Blaine nodded, waving goodbye before heading off to deal with his next challenger.

---

After treating Blaine’s Mewtwo cell infection, August didn’t stay in Cinnabar Island for long.

He bid farewell to Lorelei, who was still enjoying her hot spring vacation, and returned to the estate in Saffron City with Sabrina, Blue, and a still-unconscious Matori—who had survived solely on Pokéblocks for the past few days.

The first thing he did? Toss Matori into the basement.

Sabrina and Blue, meanwhile, rushed off to the bathroom for a bath.

August didn’t understand why those two were so obsessed with bathing, but he sprawled out on the plush sofa, feeling utterly relaxed.

Cinnabar’s hot springs were great, sure—but this estate, his personal safe house, was the place that truly felt like home.

"Mewtwo, this is your home now. Have the Indeedee show you around and pick a room." August spoke to Mewtwo, who was quietly surveying its new surroundings.

"A home…?"

Mewtwo stared at him blankly, then at the two Indeedee, before finally nodding.

Once Mewtwo left, August released all his Pokémon, letting them roam freely around the estate. He then turned to Mew, who was perched on his shoulder.

"You’re leaving soon, huh?"

For the past few days, Mew had repeatedly mentioned that it needed to return to the Tree of Beginning.

"Mew…"

Mew nodded, though its expression showed reluctance.

During its time with August, it had grown fond of him—it didn’t want to leave. But it had been away from the Tree for too long. If it didn’t return soon, things over there might spiral into chaos.

"Mew~!"

Mew rubbed its head against August’s face.

"Don’t act like this is some tragic farewell. The Tree of Beginning isn’t even that far… I’ll bring Mewtwo over to visit when I have time. And once you’ve handled things, you can come here whenever you want," August reassured it.

The Tree of Beginning was just beyond Mt. Moon’s northern range. Even without Gardevoir’s [Teleport], he could fly there on Salamence in half a day at most.

"Mew~!" Mew nodded.

"Oh, right, this is for you."

August pulled out a box and a communicator.

"The communicator is an International Police-issued one, solar-powered. You’ve been teaching Mewtwo how to use devices these past few days, so I assume you know how to use this too. If you run into trouble or can’t find me, give me a call."

"Mew!" Mew took the communicator and—poof—made it disappear somewhere unknown.

August then held up the box. "Inside are Pokéblocks I made just for you."

Mew eagerly opened the box and found it filled with its favorite Pecha Berry-flavored Pokéblocks. Its eyes gleamed with delight as it popped one into its mouth, savoring the taste.

Then, as if remembering something, August smirked. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention—I left a surprise in there for you. One of the Pokéblocks is made with my special secret seasoning~"

"Don’t bother trying to find it. I used a special method—it can’t be distinguished by smell or psychic power."

"Hope you enjoy it~"

At first, Mew didn’t quite register what he meant.

Then, after a long pause, realization dawned.

"Mew???"

Mew’s eyes widened in shock as it stared at August, replaying its recent snack in its mind.

Within moments, its face flushed red, and suddenly, the Pokéblocks didn’t taste so good anymore.

...

After lunch and saying its goodbyes to Mewtwo, Mew disappeared into the sky.

Seeing Mewtwo looking a little down, August patted its shoulder. "Mew added you as a contact, right? If you miss it, just send a message."

"And if that’s not enough, I’ll take you to the Tree of Beginning myself."

Mewtwo felt much better after hearing that.

...

Just as August was about to contact headquarters to deal with his ‘esteemed seniors’ in the basement, the estate’s front gate swung open.

In walked Gary, radiating confidence.

"August, get that newbie Mewtwo out here! I’m gonna battle him and teach him to respect his seniors!"

August: "…"

Blue: "…"

Sabrina: "…"

After a long silence, August sighed and patted Gary’s shoulder.

"You just got home… Maybe take a break? You won’t win."

It was sincere advice.

But Gary—having learned his lesson—wasn’t falling for it again.

"Yeah, right! I’m not buying it this time!"

August looked at the stubborn Gary, sighed, and called upstairs, “Mewtwo, someone wants to challenge you.”

Moments later, under Gary’s astonished gaze, Mewtwo floated down from the upper floor, landing gracefully in the hall.

Studying Gary for a moment, Mewtwo finally spoke: "You’re ‘Beware of Online Scams’ from the group chat, aren’t you? You want to challenge me?"

“A Pokémon… that can talk?!” Gary was so shocked that he started stammering.

Being the grandson of Professor Oak, Gary was highly knowledgeable about Pokémon.

He knew that Pokémon capable of telepathic speech were either Legendary Pokémon or incredibly powerful ones—like August’s Gardevoir.

“It’s the real deal, Mewtwo. And you were the one who initiated this challenge,” August emphasized, putting extra weight on initiated.

“But I thought…” Gary tried to find an excuse to back out.

However, August clicked his tongue and sighed dramatically. “If it were Ash, he wouldn’t even hesitate.”

“…” Gary wanted to walk away.

But the moment Ash was mentioned, he just couldn’t let it slide.

He swallowed hard.

After an intense internal struggle, Gary clenched his fists.

What’s there to be afraid of?

It’s six against one—I have the advantage!

Behind him, August turned his back to Gary and flashed an "OK" sign to Blue and Sabrina.

The two women rolled their eyes in unison.

You just love finding ways to mess with Gary, don’t you?

But August felt they completely misunderstood his intentions.

Was he bullying Gary?

No—he was helping Gary adapt to battling Legendary Pokémon ahead of time.

Opportunities to fight Legendary Pokémon in a safe setting were incredibly rare.

Letting Mewtwo push Gary to his limits now would help him avoid panicking in future battles—whether against Groudon and Kyogre, Ho-oh and Lugia, or even Arceus!

I really do have Gary’s best interests in mind.

With that noble thought, August personally escorted Gary and Mewtwo to the battle arena, had the Indeedee serve as referees, and—most importantly—set up a camera to record everything.

Sabrina, who had followed along, couldn’t help but marvel.

Every time she thought she had found August’s bottom line, he managed to dig even deeper.

...

The battle was over in a flash.

"Ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds." August saved the footage and looked at Gary in surprise. "Wow, you actually lasted over ten minutes. I underestimated you."

Gary, however, was as pale as a ghost, completely unresponsive to August’s words.

He kept muttering things like "impossible" and "that’s cheating."

Meanwhile, Mewtwo idly twirled its massive [Psychic Spoon].

On average, each of Gary’s six Pokémon lasted less than two minutes against it.

Even his strongest—Charizard and Arcanine—were effortlessly defeated.

It was a total massacre.

August patted Gary’s shoulder. "Don’t look so down. I wasn’t being sarcastic just now. You should know—Team Rocket’s leader, Giovanni, took a [Shadow Ball] from Mewtwo and ended up in critical condition. His survival is still uncertain."

Gary’s ears twitched slightly.

Seeing that he had his attention, August continued, "Giovanni was Champion-level, and he still lost. You’re just a four-month rookie trainer—lasting this long is already impressive."

With August’s encouragement, the light finally returned to Gary’s eyes.

"Hah…"

He exhaled deeply, as if forcing out all his frustration.

Then, he turned to Mewtwo with a determined gaze.

"One day, I’ll defeat you."

Mewtwo: "?"

It didn’t quite understand Gary’s thinking, but seeing his resolve—and considering they were now coworkers—it gave a small nod.

Sabrina and Blue exchanged a look of amazement.

August really did have Gary wrapped around his little finger.

The poor guy had no idea he was being expertly manipulated.

With the battle over, August brought Gary back to the estate.

But then, something clicked in Gary’s head.

"Wait… you said Mewtwo defeated Giovanni, and Viridian Gym was just recently shut down… That means you guys were actually taking down Team Rocket?!"

He finally pieced together what August and the others had really been doing during their so-called "team-building trip."

"Why didn’t you take me with you?!" Gary looked utterly betrayed.

If he had been there, he wouldn’t have suffered such a humiliating defeat against Mewtwo—he would have known what he was up against!

August sighed. "It’s not that I didn’t want to bring you. This was an infiltration mission."

"Sabrina was my undercover agent in Team Rocket, Blaine pretended to be captured, and both Blue and I had disguise techniques."

"The four of us were the perfect team. Your skills may be decent, but your stealth abilities are nonexistent—bringing you along would’ve been a liability."

His reasoning was airtight. Gary had nothing to say in response.

He was completely useless when it came to espionage.

August clapped him on the shoulder. "Take some time to learn from the Indeedee. They’re all veteran officers in the International Police—maybe they can teach you a thing or two."

"The Indeedee?"

Gary hadn’t expected the mansion’s Indeedee to have such a background.

He made a mental note to ask them for advice later.

Then, another question popped into his head.

"Also, about that ‘good thing’ you mentioned—the one you wouldn’t even tell Ash about… You weren’t messing with me, were you?"

Gary had developed PTSD from August’s "surprises." He was terrified of being tricked again.

"Relax, I’m not messing with you this time," August reassured him.

"You always say that," Gary muttered.

"What was that? I didn’t hear you."

"I said, ‘August would never mess with me!’" Gary quickly corrected himself.

Good. He’s learning.

August smirked. "Alright, listen up. This is actually a mission from the International Police."

"You know Giovanni’s been stripped of his title and is now a wanted man. Viridian Gym’s leader position is currently vacant."

"Lance asked if I had a recommendation for a temporary replacement…"

At this point, August’s gaze landed directly on Gary.

"So I recommended you."

Gary: "!!!"

He was utterly stunned.

Not because he doubted August—

But because for once, August actually wasn’t messing with him.

Becoming the interim Gym Leader of Viridian City—that was an opportunity everyone would fight for!

And August had handed it to him…

Gary couldn’t shake the feeling that this was too good to be true. He had an overwhelming suspicion that there was some kind of hidden trap waiting for him.

Seeing the doubt on Gary’s face, August immediately guessed what he was thinking. “Relax, I’m not setting you up.”

“Until the Indigo League starts, all you have to do is handle challengers and distribute Gym Badges as usual. That’s it. Not a hard job, right?”

“Of course not…”

Good pay, easy work, close to home, great for battle experience—plus, it came with prestige.

And when Ash eventually came to challenge Viridian Gym, he’d get the best surprise of his life.

As far as Gary could see, it was a win-win situation.

But once the initial excitement passed, he suddenly thought of a problem.

“I’m planning to compete in this year’s Indigo League. Being a temporary Gym Leader won’t disqualify me, right?”

“I already asked Lance—it won’t,” August reassured him. “Also, don’t you still need badges from Fuchsia and Cinnabar Gyms?”

“Cinnabar’s Gym Leader, Blaine, has been swamped lately. Once he’s free, I’ll arrange a battle for you. As for Agatha… well, she has a grudge against your grandpa, but as long as your strength is up to par, she won’t make things too difficult for you.”

Hearing how thoroughly August had planned everything, Gary suddenly felt guilty for ever doubting him.

From now on, if anyone badmouthed August, I—Gary Oak—would personally shut them down!

[‘Beware of Online Scams’ has changed their username to ‘August Will Always Be My Big Bro’.]

Seeing the notification, everyone in the group chat was speechless.

Gary, do you have a Psyduck’s memory?

That’s all it took for August to win you over?

The only real question was… how long would that username last?

...

August sent Gary off to Fuchsia Gym to deal with Agatha, setting their rendezvous at the estate in three days. After that, they would head to Viridian City together.

With that matter settled, August was about to start training Mewtwo in battle techniques when his communicator suddenly buzzed.

Checking the screen, he saw it wasn’t a call—just a message from HQ.

HQ had approved his request to transfer his beloved seniors to their custody for further investigation.

Additionally, for uncovering Giovanni’s true identity and leaving him critically wounded, August was being promoted again. His position as Acting Director was now official.

"As expected of the frontline division—HQ’s efficiency is insanely fast," August muttered in admiration.

After appreciating his promotion, he continued reading.

Besides the good news, HQ also mentioned two other major developments.

First, the intelligence he provided about Hunter J’s suspected activity in Sinnoh had been confirmed by Looker.

Team Galactic was plotting to target the Lake Guardians—Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.

Thanks to August’s timely warning, Looker managed to foil their initial operation.

But Team Galactic wasn’t known for giving up easily. The situation was still tense.

The second matter was a new assignment.

HQ had received reports that the Masked Army and Team Rocket were at war in Johto.

Once August’s vacation ended, they wanted him to investigate the Masked Army’s true identity.

“So HQ’s caught wind of the Masked Army too?”

August wasn’t surprised.

The conflict between them and Team Rocket had even made it into Johto’s newspapers. The articles vaguely described the events as a battle between Team Rocket and an “unknown organization.”

HQ’s intelligence network would have no trouble uncovering the group’s name.

What did intrigue August, however, was that HQ had not assigned Johto’s division to investigate.

Instead, they wanted him, from Kanto’s division, to handle it.

[August]: [What happened to the Johto division?]

To his surprise, HQ responded almost immediately.

[HQ]: [Johto division encountered the Masked Army’s leader. Heavy casualties. Significant losses. They are unable to take on further missions for the foreseeable future.]

"…"

August didn’t know whether to call them reckless or just unlucky.

They actually charged at Pryce head-on?

The fact that they were still alive was only because Pryce had spared them.

At least they weren’t as pathetic as his former colleagues.

At least they hadn’t been completely wiped out.

Sighing, August replied:

[I’ll take the mission, but I need time to make preparations.]

[HQ]: [Understood. You have full authority over this operation. All resources in Johto will be at your disposal.]

Whoever was handling this mission at HQ clearly knew August’s working style. They immediately granted him full control.

[Received.]

As he ended the conversation, August couldn’t help but reflect.

Both the International Police and the Pokémon League were part of the same faction.

But compared to the Indigo League—full of corrupt officials and incompetent leadership—HQ actually knew how to use talent properly.

His decision to join the International Police had definitely been the right one.

With that thought in mind, August stood up.

“Where’s Sabrina?”

Blue, who was nearby, gave him a puzzled look. “Didn’t she say she was heading back to Saffron Gym for a bit?”

---

T/N: Gary gary gary....

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!