Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [600]

Mega Sharpedo’s Liquidation crashed into Mega Camerupt head-on.

Quadruple weakness, same-type attack bonus, plus the 1.5x boost from rain—this overwhelming strike hurled Mega Camerupt straight backward, blacking out immediately as it slammed into the ground.

To be fair, Maxie had fought impressively. But the disadvantage of type was simply too great.

Facing a quadruple weakness, Archie could afford countless mistakes, while even a single misstep by Maxie would guarantee defeat.

“Mega Camerupt is unable to battle—Sharpedo wins!”

“Maxie has no Pokémon left able to fight. The winner is Archie!”

“Hahaha!” Archie laughed heartily, making no attempt to hide his pride.

He might be a prisoner at the moment, but defeating his old rival still filled him with immense satisfaction.

In the stands, August simply nodded: “As expected.”

Given both trainers were at roughly equal skill levels, the winner being the one with the type advantage was hardly surprising.

“Let’s break for lunch. Cyrus’s battle is this afternoon,” August said, stretching lazily.

Cyrus vs Raihan—the strongest active trainer in Galar, aside from Leon.

It was somewhat worth anticipating... okay, actually there wasn’t much to anticipate.

After piling on qualifiers, Raihan could roughly be called the strongest—but facing Cyrus, the gap in their levels was still enormous.

...

The afternoon battle went exactly as August expected.

Cyrus’s match with Raihan turned out even less suspenseful than Maxie versus Archie.

Relying almost entirely on his Weavile alone, Cyrus tore straight through Raihan’s team.

Though Raihan’s Gigantamax Duraludon posed a slight inconvenience, Cyrus calmly responded by sending out Gyarados, Dynamaxing, and ending things decisively with a single Earthquake.

Only two matches remained involving trainers from the Kanto Branch:

Giovanni vs Lysandre, and Pryce vs Caitlin.

The former was essentially a Kanto internal match. Though August would’ve loved to watch Giovanni struggle, realistically Giovanni would win comfortably.

The latter, however… August couldn’t help pitying Caitlin a bit.

She’d just been knocked out of the Masters Eight by August last season, and this time, with Steven withdrawing, she could’ve easily reclaimed her position—only to run straight into Pryce…

“…Caitlin, please don’t look at me like that. You’re making me feel really guilty here,” August muttered awkwardly under Caitlin’s accusing stare.

Especially with Zinnia standing beside them, smiling mischievously; Blue casting suspicious glances; and Cynthia carefully observing the situation, eyes filled with curiosity.

Ever since their dinner together, he had no idea what secret conversations the three of them had exchanged—but they had clearly formed a unified front afterward.

Truthfully, it made August slightly uneasy.

“…Anyway, you owe me, August,” Caitlin declared solemnly.

August sighed. “Fine… How exactly do you want me to compensate you?”

Caitlin’s eyes instantly landed on Gardevoir.

“I want hugs and cuddles with Gardevoir!”

Gardevoir: “?”

August: “?”

Caitlin, I never expected you’d be like this!

You’re exactly the same as Sabrina! Was your usual elegant, ladylike persona just an act?!

Before either could react further, Caitlin had already thrown herself enthusiastically onto Gardevoir.

Faced with Gardevoir’s questioning look, August shrugged helplessly, giving her a look that said, Just indulge her this time.

With a resigned sigh, Gardevoir simply returned to her book, trying to ignore Caitlin’s presence altogether.

But Caitlin refused to let Gardevoir off so easily, leaning in curiously: “Hmm? Gardevoir, you’re reading that book? I’ve read it too! Isn’t this the one where the Pokémon ends up seducing the trai—mmph!”

Gardevoir calmly and expressionlessly silenced Caitlin with Psychic before she could finish speaking, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

Though Caitlin was herself a powerful psychic with immense telekinetic strength, in front of Gardevoir, her resistance was completely futile.

Everyone present chose to silently skip over this awkward moment.

“Anyway,” August quickly said, changing the subject. “How about we decide on dinner tonight?”

“Mew! (Cupcakes!)” Mew, having appeared out of nowhere, instantly raised its tiny paw.

It was holding a marker pen in its other paw.

“We just had those yesterday—cupcakes denied,” August said firmly.

Mew’s excitement instantly sank, flattening sadly atop Gardevoir’s head.

“How about trying some grilled Klawf sticks with scallions?” Iono suggested brightly.

“I want Galarian curry!” Zinnia eagerly raised her hand.

“I’m fine with anything…” Cynthia said quietly.

“Me too!”
“Same here!”
“Same!”

As the echoes of lazy agreement multiplied, August finally nodded decisively:

“Klawf sticks with scallions and Galarian curry it is, then…” He paused briefly, glancing sideways at Mew’s utterly miserable expression, sighing helplessly. “Alright, add some cupcakes too.”

“Mew!”

Instantly reinvigorated, Mew sprang straight from Gardevoir’s head into the air, spinning happily and cheering.

Gardevoir: “…”

Go ahead and spoil her even more, why don’t you!

At precisely that moment, Calyrex walked out slowly, pulling along Glastrier—whose white face was now completely covered in childish scribbles—with a look of deep resentment.

Noticing them, Mew quickly hid the marker behind its back, whistling innocently, averting its gaze guiltily to one side.

“…”

...

"Welcome, everyone, to the World Championship's main arena! I'm your beloved commentator—Ball Guy!"

"Some of you might be wondering: Ball Guy, wasn't your goal to become Galar's official mascot? How did you suddenly become the commentator for the World Championship?"

"Actually, Ball Guy doesn't really know either! But since the Galar League trusted me with such an important task, I have to give it my all!"

"Now, let's turn to today’s first match—Wow! It’s Giovanni versus Lysandre! The former boss of Team Rocket battling the former leader of Team Flare… Let’s look forward to this exciting showdown!"

August stared blankly at Ball Guy in the commentary booth, question marks all over his face.

Whose bright idea in the Galar League was it to let Ball Guy handle commentary?

Granted, Ball Guy was insanely popular in Galar, but…

Well, popularity alone is probably good enough. This year's commentators barely had a presence anyway.

Compared with last season’s professional commentators, or even Iono’s impromptu commentary last season, they were a complete joke. August had basically tuned them out as background noise. At least now, with Ball Guy, the matches finally got a bit more lively.

"Look! Both contestants have entered the arena!"

"On the left side, we have Giovanni! He doesn't look much like the former leader of Team Rocket, does he? Actually, Ball Guy once met Giovanni back in Postwick. At the time, he was quietly following behind August. It seems that under August’s positive influence, Giovanni has really turned his life around!"

August nearly burst out laughing upon hearing Ball Guy’s commentary.

Turning his head to glance at Giovanni on the field, he saw Giovanni still wearing a calm smile—but as someone familiar with Giovanni, August immediately recognized that forced smile and those clenched fists.

Giovanni was clearly furious.

"And now, on the right side, we have Lysandre—the former boss of Team Flare! Though Ball Guy has never met Lysandre before, I've certainly used his Holo Caster! It's a pity that it doesn't yet integrate into Rotom Phones… Here's hoping they’ll soon develop a compatible holographic module!"

Ball Guy's comments on Lysandre were at least much more normal.

It was hard for Giovanni not to suspect that Ball Guy had taken money from August to deliberately embarrass him.

Of course, this thought was only fleeting. Giovanni quickly refocused, locking eyes onto Lysandre.

He pushed aside all other thoughts. What mattered now was defeating Lysandre and securing his spot in the Masters Eight.

If he lost to Lysandre—not only would August mock him relentlessly for years, he'd also never be able to look Silver in the eye again.

Confirming both trainers were ready, the referee announced:
"Trainers, take your positions! Let the battle begin!"

With those words, Giovanni and Lysandre simultaneously released their Pokémon.

As fellow prisoners of the Kanto branch, Lysandre had some knowledge about Giovanni—he knew Giovanni specialized in Ground-type Pokémon and also possessed a powerful ace, Beedrill.

Thus, Lysandre's first Pokémon was Gyarados.

Water-types countered Ground-types perfectly, and the Flying-type completely nullified Ground attacks while also countering Giovanni's Bug-type Beedrill.

No matter what Giovanni threw out, this was an undeniably safe opening choice.

After sending out Gyarados, Lysandre quickly glanced toward Giovanni's side—and spotted a familiar Pokémon: Kangaskhan.

With the young Kangaskhan nestled snugly in its pouch, eyes brimming with fighting spirit, Kangaskhan stared intently at Lysandre's Gyarados.

Giovanni had anticipated Lysandre's prediction.

Unless Lysandre had started with Mienshao, Kangaskhan was similarly a safe and reliable choice as an opener!

A vicious-looking Gyarados radiating a terrifying aura.

And a calm, steady Kangaskhan with an intense fighting spirit.

"Both Pokémon have demonstrated extremely impressive performances earlier in the tournament!" Ball Guy called out excitedly. "Especially Giovanni's Kangaskhan—the mother-and-child tactics left an unforgettable impression on everyone!"

"So, who will emerge victorious? Let’s watch… The battle has started!"

After only a brief standoff, both Pokémon immediately launched their attacks.

Gyarados opened with a violent Hurricane.

The fierce winds blasted straight toward Kangaskhan, who briefly assessed the storm’s strongest points before gracefully evading most of the damage, its heavy body dancing nimbly through the gusts.

Then it swung forward fiercely, its fist sparking with electricity, aiming directly at Gyarados.

Gyarados was quadruple weak to Electric moves. Even if this was Lysandre’s ace, it absolutely wouldn’t survive one direct hit.

Lysandre clearly understood this too—he instantly shouted orders upon seeing Kangaskhan rush forward:

"Gyarados, [Surf]!"

Gyarados spewed massive torrents of water from its jaws. Under its control, the water transformed into a crashing wave, barreling straight toward Kangaskhan, trying to force it back!

Lysandre’s physically-oriented Gyarados had been forced into a Special-attacker role by Giovanni’s Kangaskhan.

Ball Guy: "Gyarados uses Surf! How will Kangaskhan respond?"

Facing the incoming wave, Kangaskhan roared, opening its mouth to exhale a powerful freezing gust.

[Icy Wind]!

The cold blast instantly froze part of the surging wave in mid-air.

Though only a portion froze, it was enough to form a makeshift dam, blocking the initial impact of Surf for Kangaskhan.

Quickly sensing Surf’s energy fading, Kangaskhan smashed the frozen wave with a decisive punch—

Boom!

A single Mega Punch shattered the wall of ice completely. Kangaskhan continued charging straight toward Gyarados like an unstoppable armored tank.

Seeing this heavy charge, if Lysandre had earlier only vaguely suspected Kangaskhan's Thunder Punch would heavily threaten Gyarados, he was now completely certain: if that punch landed, Gyarados might very well be knocked out instantly.

"Gyarados, [Bounce]!"

Despite being a Water/Flying-type Pokémon, Gyarados actually had very few Flying-type moves at its disposal. Aside from Hurricane, only Bounce remained usable.

Responding swiftly to Lysandre’s command, Gyarados flexed its massive body like a spring, catapulting itself high into the sky, becoming nothing more than a small dark dot overhead.

Seeing this, Giovanni furrowed his brows slightly, finally issuing his first verbal command of the battle:

"[Dig]!"

Kangaskhan swiftly clawed into the ground, disappearing instantly, leaving behind only a deep, bottomless hole.

The very next second—

With a piercing whistle, Gyarados plummeted from the sky and crashed down violently onto the battlefield.

BOOM!

Its massive body smashed heavily into the ground, fracturing the battlefield and creating a huge crater ten meters wide.

Despite missing its target, Lysandre remained calm: "[Earthquake]!"

With Kangaskhan underground, it was a perfect opportunity to unleash Earthquake.

Yet, using Earthquake in front of Giovanni—famous for Ground-type expertise—was truly like showing off in front of a master…

Before Gyarados could even unleash Earthquake, Kangaskhan burst upward through the ground, having pinpointed Gyarados’s position precisely from underground, guided by the vibrations of its landing.

Erupting from beneath, Kangaskhan emerged alongside its baby, and most importantly—with its fist crackling brilliantly with electricity.

[Thunder Punch]!

A powerful strike smashed squarely into Gyarados’s body. Gyarados let out a furious roar of pain.

But Gyarados was a Pokémon notorious for losing control when provoked. Jolted by intense pain, a fierce savagery flooded Gyarados’s eyes as it simultaneously unleashed Earthquake!

RUMBLE—!!

The powerful tremors slammed into Kangaskhan.

Ball Guy shouted excitedly from the commentary booth:

"Kangaskhan’s Thunder Punch landed squarely on Gyarados! But Gyarados’s Earthquake has also struck Kangaskhan! Has this first battle already reached its boiling point!?"

---

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!