Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [610]

“Swampert is unable to battle—Eevee wins!” the referee declared.

After exchanging blows several times, Swampert had ultimately fallen to Eevee. Another Return from Eevee had finished it off.

“Vee~!”

Though clearly tired, the moment she heard she’d won, Eevee’s expression lit up with joy, bouncing happily across the field.

Watching this small, springy creature, Wallace found it hard to reconcile the playful Eevee before him with the one that had just taken down his Swampert.

“She actually won…” Gary’s face was pure disbelief.

“Shh! Don’t let Boss August hear you!” Gold hissed, glancing around nervously as he spoke.

Gary waved him off with an oh please look. “Relax. August is down there battling, he doesn’t have time to worry about us.”

Gold thought about it and agreed Gary had a point… but for some reason, he still had a bad feeling.

At that moment, a voice came from behind.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Turning, Gary and Gold saw Iono streaming live with Malva.

Zinnia also noticed Iono. “Iono, why are you only just showing up? The match already started.”

Iono stuck out her tongue and blamed: “It’s all Bellibolt’s fault. Bellibolt overslept and didn’t wake me up.”

Hearing this, the livestream’s chat erupted:

—[Bellibolt: How is this my fault?]
—[You were clearly gaming till midnight.]
—[Iono, stop scapegoating your Bellibolt again.]

Iono flushed crimson at the scrolling barrage, muttering under her breath things like “Gaming is part of streaming…” “Sleeping in happens to everyone, it’s normal…”

The whole chat and arena filled with a buoyant, playful air.

Even Cynthia at the sidelines couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

Meanwhile, Wallace had quickly steadied himself.

Time to send out his second Pokémon.

“Your turn, Ludicolo!”

With a flash of light, a Ludicolo appeared on the field.

“Wallace has sent out his second Pokémon—Ludicolo,” Ball Guy announced.

Ludicolo’s body swayed left and right, like dancing to some internal rhythm—mirroring Eevee’s own bouncy movements across the battlefield.

Ludicolo drummed its hands like a beat.

“Vee?”

While Eevee curiously sized up the dancing Ludicolo, a sudden flash of light shot out from Ludicolo’s palm.

[Fake Out]!

Completely caught off guard, Eevee tumbled head over heels.

Shaking her little head woozily as she stood up, Eevee glared at Ludicolo, bristling with indignation.

A sneak attack!?

But Ludicolo just kept swaying its body in that cocky rhythm, exuding an infuriating vibe that made you want to hit it even harder.

At first, Eevee’s anger spiked, but after glancing back at August she quickly calmed, gave a soft humph, and refused to take the bait.

Instead she lifted a paw and shot a spray of star-shaped energy at Ludicolo.

[Swift]!

Ludicolo, prepared for just this, twisted its body and easily dodged the glowing stars.

Seeing Eevee refusing to be provoked, Wallace felt a twinge of regret.

It seemed that, despite August’s Eevee looking childlike, her battle instincts were razor-sharp.

Good thing he had a backup plan for when Eevee didn’t fall for his traps.

“Ludicolo, [Rain Dance]!”

If Eevee wouldn’t take the bait, then he’d simply change the weather to his advantage.

Upon command, Ludicolo whipped out a wooden stick tied with white paper charms from who-knows-where and began spinning in circles, dancing a rain-calling dance.

Before their eyes, the sky darkened visibly.

“[Swift]!”

Eevee swiped her paw again, sending another barrage of stars at Ludicolo.

But Ludicolo didn’t dodge this time. It tanked the hit head-on, finishing its Rain Dance despite the damage.

Raindrops began to fall, spattering off Ludicolo’s lily-pad head.

Its Rain Dish ability activated, steadily healing the HP lost to Swift.

Under the rain, Ludicolo seemed even more energetic.

It raised its hands to launch a Hydro Pump at Eevee—

But just as Ludicolo finished charging the attack, a lump of mud smacked square into its face.

[Mud-Slap]!

The mud splattered across Ludicolo’s eyes, obscuring its vision. Its hand trembled and the Hydro Pump shot wildly off to nowhere.

Seizing her moment, Eevee, delighted at her new discovery, began scooping the rain-soaked ground into clumps of mud and hurling them at Ludicolo again and again.

The damage wasn’t high, but the humiliation factor was immense. Ludicolo’s accuracy plummeted as it became coated head to toe in mud.

Yet another move you almost never saw in high-level tournaments was being played into an art form by August’s Eevee.

Water-soaked mud clung stubbornly to Ludicolo’s body, hard to clean off—and while trying to wipe it away, it also had to stay wary of more mudballs flying from Eevee.

“…”

Watching his Ludicolo get pushed into this kind of passive state, Wallace felt like he’d hoisted a rock only to smash his own foot.

Meanwhile Eevee was having the time of her life.

Spectators all around the arena wore complicated expressions.

Before the match started, no one would have guessed a Champion-tier battle would look like this… playing in the mud?

Unlike Eevee’s previous match with Swampert—pure power versus power—this one looked stranger and stranger by the minute.

It felt as though Eevee had dragged Ludicolo down to her own “level” and was now using her wealth of experience to toy with it.

Wallace, too, had realized this.

After yet another mudball from Eevee slapped onto its face, Ludicolo completely gave up on the futile attempt of wiping away the mud.

With much less cheerfulness than before, Ludicolo rushed forward through the barrage of mud, hoping to get close enough for melee combat.

Initially, Ludicolo intended just a feint—to force Eevee to stop throwing mud.

But when Ludicolo was almost upon Eevee, it realized that Eevee was still happily flinging mud.

Seeing this, Ludicolo’s thoughts immediately shifted from a feint to a real attack:

[Brick Break]!

Its hand sharpened into a blade, chopping straight down at Eevee.

Just as Ludicolo felt victory within reach, it noticed that the "mudball" Eevee tossed felt somehow off.

Why does this mudball carry Ghost-type energy?

The thought flashed through Ludicolo’s mind, and the next instant it was flying backward even faster than it had charged in.

[Shadow Ball]!

Eevee, her paws entirely caked in mud, wagged her rain-drenched tail proudly.

She’d learned Shadow Ball from Gengar, and hiding the attack inside a mudball was something Slowbro had taught her. Thanks to both “teachers,” Eevee had combined the two techniques beautifully.

Ludicolo, sent rolling on the ground by the hidden Shadow Ball, wore an expression that questioned its whole existence.

Am I seriously battling just an Eevee?

But no matter what it thought, the fight had to continue.

Reflecting briefly on his earlier mistake, Wallace quickly adjusted his strategy: “Ludicolo, [Surf]!”

Eevee’s stamina was already running low. As long as they kept calm and pushed just a little further, victory would be theirs!

Facing the incoming surge of water, August immediately commanded without hesitation:

“[Protect]!”

Instantly, a barrier materialized around Eevee, fully enclosing her tiny body.

The wave slammed repeatedly into the energy barrier, producing muffled thuds.

Seeing this, Wallace’s eyes flashed triumphantly.

Perfect, Protect is now spent!

Next, he just needed one decisive strike to finish Eevee…

“Ludicolo, [Surf] again!”

Confident, Ludicolo charged forward once more. However—

“Veeee—!!”

A deafening sound wave burst from Eevee’s tiny mouth, shattering Ludicolo’s half-formed Surf attack and blowing Ludicolo violently backward.

“Ludicolo is unable to battle—Eevee wins!” the referee, now clad in a raincoat, announced loudly.

After enduring Swift, Mud-Slap, Shadow Ball, and now a fully powered Hyper Voice, Ludicolo’s Rain Dish couldn’t possibly recover HP faster than the damage was inflicted.

Eevee, soaked like a drenched mop, still wore a beaming smile.

“Eevee’s so strong!” Iono exclaimed, eyes wide as she watched Eevee’s whole fight unfold.

Just yesterday, she’d been happily cuddling that same Eevee.

She never imagined that inside such a tiny body lay such incredible power!

Iono’s chat exploded with excitement.

—[See that? That Eevee who won two straight matches in the Masters Eight is Iono’s fan!]

—[We’re fans of Iono too, so by rounding, that means we just defeated two of Wallace’s Pokémon!]

…Wait, why did that logic seem kinda weird?

Absurd.

If Wallace had to summarize the battle between Ludicolo and Eevee, he’d simply call it absurd.

The whole rhythm of the match had felt utterly bizarre, full of inexplicable turns. Wallace felt he hadn’t even managed to show half of his true strength.

But… if he were transported back to the beginning of the match to redo it, he still couldn’t figure out any better solution.

Maybe his only real shot had been at the very start, using Fake Out to stagger Eevee and then pressing relentlessly, never giving Eevee a chance to control the rhythm.

Yet even then, it’d only be a chance.

Who knew what other weird tactics August’s Eevee might pull out? After all, Eevee had straightforwardly defeated his Swampert in the previous match through pure force.

Though dissatisfied, Wallace admitted he hadn’t lost unfairly.

Clearing his chaotic thoughts, Wallace inhaled deeply and reached for his third Poké Ball.

Before the match, he’d thought August’s strength would plummet without access to legendary Pokémon, believing he might have a chance at victory.

Now that he’d faced August head-on, he knew just how outrageously wrong he’d been.

“Milotic!”

Wallace called out his ace Pokémon, simultaneously revealing the Dynamax Band on his wrist.

He had prepared specifically for this year’s World Championship.

Dynamax was part of that preparation.

With Dynamax, favorable weather, and Eevee’s remaining stamina nearly depleted, Wallace simply couldn’t see how Milotic could lose to August’s Eevee.

Just then, Eevee—whose fur was soaked through—sneezed miserably.

“A-choo!”

Seeing this, August, worried about Eevee catching a cold, reluctantly called her back into her Poké Ball.

Then, under Wallace’s stunned gaze, August sent out Gardevoir.

Gracefully, Gardevoir appeared on the field, the Mind Plate hovering quietly beside her. Rain fell from the darkened sky but halted inches from her body, blocked by an invisible barrier.

“August has also chosen to switch Pokémon—and wow, it’s Gardevoir!” Ball Guy announced excitedly.

The moment Gardevoir appeared—August’s iconic Pokémon, whose popularity was unparalleled—the entire stadium erupted into deafening cheers.

Among August’s many Pokémon, Gardevoir’s popularity was unquestionable, surpassing even Rayquaza’s.

Wallace, however, shot August a slightly resentful look.

Just when he was so close to winning at least one round, August had switched Pokémon on him…

August cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

He had to admit, this move had been a little unfair.

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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!