Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [605]

Gary stared hard at Kangaskhan and Charizard battling furiously in the arena until his eyes stung—but no matter how he looked, he still couldn’t see any signs that Kangaskhan had secured victory.

Then suddenly, sparks erupted across Charizard’s body.

Paralysis!

Gary’s jaw dropped.

Giovanni’s luck was insane! And how exactly had August noticed?

August glanced at Gary’s stunned expression without saying anything.

In the games, Thunder Punch only had a pitiful 10% chance of causing paralysis, so whether or not paralysis happened was entirely a matter of luck.

But reality was different.

During Giovanni’s previous two battles, August had noticed some subtle tricks in Kangaskhan’s moves.

For example, Kangaskhan deliberately reduced its punching force, focusing more energy into generating electricity with Thunder Punch. This time, Giovanni had even intentionally ordered a Focus Energy before using Thunder Punch.

In that heightened state of concentration, not only did Kangaskhan have a higher chance of landing critical hits, but it could also execute Giovanni’s paralysis strategy more precisely.

“Charizard!” Lance called anxiously.

Paralyzed, Charizard struggled painfully, desperately flapping its wings to stay airborne and avoid crashing to the ground.

But under paralysis, Charizard’s reflexes were heavily dulled—

Just like a gamer suffering high latency: sharp mind, unresponsive body. Charizard felt unbearably frustrated.

Ball Guy finally noticed something: “Charizard seems to have fallen into paralysis! Things are looking grim for Lance!”

“Kangaskhan, press your advantage! [Rock Tomb]!” Giovanni ordered sharply.

Another boulder flew toward Charizard, and the high-ping Charizard obviously couldn’t dodge as effortlessly as it had before.

But Lance was decisive too.

“[Inferno]!”

Charizard gave up all attempts at dodging, taking Rock Tomb head-on and nearly knocked off balance by the impact.

At that moment, Giovanni noticed Charizard’s tail flame suddenly flaring from its usual orange-red into a blazing bluish-white.

“Kangaskhan!” Giovanni warned quickly.

In the next instant, Charizard unleashed a wave of white-hot flames toward Kangaskhan.

Prompted by Giovanni’s warning, Kangaskhan immediately reacted, raising a wall of earth and stone to shield itself from the scorching flames.

Under the terrifying heat of Inferno, the stone wall began to melt and crystallize.

The intense heat also impacted the baby Kangaskhan hiding in its pouch. Fearing for its child’s safety, Kangaskhan hurriedly retreated from the scorching flames.

But at that moment, hidden behind the molten barrier and unseen by Kangaskhan, Charizard enveloped its own body in roaring flames.

Braving its own paralyzed discomfort, Charizard charged straight toward Kangaskhan’s location, body cloaked entirely in fire.

Recklessly smashing straight through the half-molten stone wall, Charizard burst out from behind its cover, slamming directly into Kangaskhan.

Faced with Charizard’s desperate assault, Kangaskhan quickly responded as well.

Dodging was useless. Kangaskhan’s fist lit up with blinding electric sparks once again—

BANG!

As Kangaskhan’s Thunder Punch struck Charizard, Charizard’s flaming body simultaneously crashed heavily into Kangaskhan.

The flames immediately spread across Kangaskhan’s body as well—

Burn!

“Incredible, Lance!” Gary exclaimed in amazement, astonished that Lance had managed such a fierce counterattack even while heavily disadvantaged.

Is this what a Champion-level performance looks like?

Recalling his own one-sided losses against August, Gary couldn’t help but reflect on the enormous gap between himself and Lance.

But Charizard, hit twice by Thunder Punch and once by Rock Tomb, finally collapsed, unable to battle any longer. Lance now had only one Pokémon left.

Meanwhile, Giovanni’s situation couldn’t look any better. He still had three usable Pokémon.

Though his Beedrill was seriously injured, Kangaskhan burned, and Mega Aggron had expended significant stamina, it was still a three-on-one scenario…

“How could Giovanni possibly lose with this lineup?”

Giovanni hadn’t even spoken yet, but Gary had already popped the champagne on his behalf.

Just as Gary was celebrating prematurely, Lance sent out his third Pokémon.

As August expected, it was Gyarados.

Knowing Giovanni’s remaining Pokémon—Beedrill and Mega Aggron—Lance’s choice of the Water/Flying-type Gyarados made perfect sense.

But what really amused August was Lance’s Pokémon lineup today: Dragonite, Charizard, Gyarados…

Lance sure was dedicated to maintaining his identity as the “Flying-type Champion.”

Immediately after entering battle, Gyarados gave the burned Kangaskhan a fierce glare.

This time Giovanni didn’t switch Pokémon—there was no more uncertainty, with Lance down to his last Pokémon. Changing Pokémon now would achieve nothing but giving Gyarados a free hit.

“Kangaskhan, [Rock Tomb]!” Giovanni commanded.

Could Kangaskhan beat Lance’s Gyarados?

A healthy Kangaskhan might’ve had a chance, but now…

With Kangaskhan’s Attack halved by its burn, Giovanni himself had no expectations. He simply hoped Kangaskhan could exhaust Gyarados’s stamina as much as possible.

Clearly, Kangaskhan understood this too.

Its eyes filled with determination, Kangaskhan gently removed its child from its pouch and carefully set it aside. With that weakness temporarily set down, it began hurling rock after rock toward Gyarados.

Unlike Charizard before it, Gyarados chose an entirely different approach: it met Kangaskhan’s attack head-on.

In Lance’s view, he couldn’t afford to stall. Although Kangaskhan was burned, every second wasted would only drain more of Gyarados’s stamina—as had happened with his previous Pokémon.

Gyarados destroyed one rock effortlessly with Hydro Pump.

With a flick of its tail, it smashed another incoming rock into fragments.

But a third rock, accompanied by shards from the second, crashed into Gyarados’s tough scales with a dull thud.

Ignoring the hit, Gyarados surged toward Kangaskhan, unleashing Waterfall directly into its opponent.

Boom!

After that single crushing attack, Kangaskhan fainted, collapsing heavily to the ground.

“Kangaskhan is unable to battle! Gyarados wins!”

Giovanni’s face remained emotionless as Kangaskhan’s baby quickly returned to its mother’s pouch. Giovanni recalled Kangaskhan to its Pokéball and immediately sent Beedrill back out.

After a short rest inside its Pokéball, Beedrill looked noticeably refreshed compared to earlier.

With a quick flick of its stingers, Beedrill instantly unleashed a flurry of poison-tipped needles, glowing purple, straight toward Gyarados!

Gyarados calmly twisted its huge body, shifting air currents around it to deflect part of the attack.

Countless needles embedded themselves harmlessly in the ground, while the few that reached Gyarados simply bounced off its armored scales with tiny metallic tings—

Not even breaking its defense!

A very human-like sneer appeared in Gyarados’s eyes.

Water surged around Gyarados’s body as it prepared another Waterfall, clearly intending to finish Beedrill off just as it had Kangaskhan moments earlier.

But this time, Gyarados severely underestimated its opponent.

In the blink of an eye, Beedrill’s wings blurred, and it completely vanished from sight.

Gyarados’s powerful Waterfall attack slammed harmlessly into empty air.

Before it could even react, Beedrill abruptly reappeared behind it.

“Gyarados! Behind you!”

Lance’s warning was clearly a step slower than Beedrill. By the time Gyarados registered it, Beedrill’s purple-glinting stinger had already slid neatly into the seam of its scales, piercing its body.

[Poison Jab]—!

Gyarados reacted instantly. Without even looking back, it whipped its tail in a savage Dragon Tail, forcing Beedrill off its back.

But when Gyarados turned to locate its attacker, Beedrill was no longer behind it.

Beedrill had just defined what it meant to be an assassin.

Bloodshot with rage, Gyarados stared at Beedrill—now somehow back at its original position—as if the insect were openly mocking it.

“Calm down, Gyarados!”

Lance, catching the shift in Gyarados’s mood, adjusted immediately.

With his guidance, Gyarados slowly regained its composure.

At that moment, Beedrill fired String Shot.

The fine, tough, spiderweb-like strands wrapped around Gyarados’s massive body.

If it were Dragonite, an Air Slash would slice the threads in an instant. If it were Charizard, a simple flame would burn them away.

But Gyarados… with only Hurricane as a Flying-type move, it had no quick answer except brute force.

Seizing the moment, Beedrill blurred into another afterimage, lunging toward Gyarados once more.

This time Gyarados was clearly on guard. Before Beedrill could close in, a violent gale rose around it.

[Hurricane]!

The wind howled—if Beedrill wanted to strike, it would have to endure the storm.

With so little stamina left, could it withstand it?

Beedrill knew it couldn’t. But distance attacks were also an option.

[Sludge Bomb]!

A ball of venomous sludge hurtled toward Gyarados.

The storm shredded the single blob instantly, splattering poison across Gyarados’s whole body.

Even worse, some of the venom atomized into toxic gas, merging with the air and slipping into Gyarados’s lungs. The very blow it had dodged before—Poison Jab—now came back to bite, poisoning it from within.

Lance: “……”

He’d never expected a defensive move to twist the fight like this.

With Gyarados poisoned, his whole plan had to change.

Originally he could have defended, waited for Beedrill to attack, and struck back at its opening. But after all that stalling, the clown turned out to be himself.

“Gyarados, [Crunch]!”

Gyarados lunged forward to bite Beedrill, but Beedrill’s wings flickered, slipping away by a hair.

Using its smaller size, Beedrill kept dancing around Gyarados, forcing it to turn and twist, all while the poison steadily drained its strength.

Through long years of partnership and battle experience, Beedrill dragged the fight out in the sky for a full ten minutes. Gyarados’s spirit eroded, its flying movements grew heavier and heavier.

Watching closely, Giovanni decided it was time for the final strike.

A single glance was all it took. Beedrill understood instantly.

It flickered forward, appearing before Gyarados. Its twin stingers flared with light, splitting into countless afterimages that pierced Gyarados from every angle—

[Fury Attack]!

The rainstorm of blows hammered Gyarados backward.

But from somewhere, Gyarados dredged up one last surge of strength. Its eyes flashed with a savage gleam, jaws snapping toward Beedrill.

[Ice Fang]!

But Beedrill, locked onto Gyarados’s every movement, was faster still. It shifted sideways, and Gyarados’s fangs only closed on Beedrill’s stinger.

Ice spread up the stinger, creeping toward half of Beedrill’s body.

Just before it could freeze entirely, Beedrill struck with its final move—

[Pursuit]!

BOOM!

Gyarados and Beedrill crashed to the ground together.

After checking both Pokémon, the referee raised his flag.

“Gyarados and Beedrill are simultaneously unable to battle!”

“Since Lance has no remaining Pokémon, the winner is Giovanni!”

...

“What a pity—Giovanni still managed to win.” August’s expression turned wistful at the referee’s announcement.

If Lance hadn’t been baited into using Dynamax at the start, the match might not have been completely hopeless.

Of course, if that had happened, Giovanni likely wouldn’t have spent his Mega Evolution so easily on Aggron either.

Who knew—he might’ve just whipped out some G-Max Cloyster instead, Shell Smash + Icicle Spear, and wiped Lance’s team outright.

But in the end, Lance lost because there really was a power gap between him and Giovanni.

Just then, Ball Guy’s voice boomed excitedly over the broadcast.

“Giovanni has successfully defeated Lance and advanced to the Masters Eight—let’s congratulate Giovanni!”

The crowd erupted in cheers. Even some of Lance’s own fans were clapping.

“Viewers at home, don’t go anywhere. The Masters Eight group draw is about to begin.”

Hearing this, August grabbed the invisible Mew currently riding his newly hatched Ponyta, then beckoned to Gardevoir. “Time for the draw.”

Guided by staff, August stepped back into the World Championship arena. This time, the applause was even louder than it had been for Giovanni’s advancement.

August smiled, waved at the crowd, and glanced over at Giovanni.

Giovanni: “…”

Do you seriously have to turn everything into a competition? Don’t you ever get bored?

As the Masters Eight assembled—

August, Cynthia, Leon, Iris, Diantha, Wallace, Giovanni, and Pryce.

A single glance, and it was practically all familiar faces.

Then Oleana appeared, holding a lottery box.

Seeing her, August thought: Rose isn’t even pretending anymore—he won’t even show his face at an event like this? Rose, what are you afraid of?

Still thinking about Rose’s cowardice, August noticed Oleana stop right in front of him.

“Champion August, please draw your number!”

August reached in casually, pulled out a ball, and opened it. Number 5.

Cynthia drew number 1.

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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!