Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [597]

Kicked squarely by Hawlucha’s dive, Nidoking stumbled backward.

But even while staggering, Nidoking didn’t forget to counterattack, immediately swinging its massive arm toward Hawlucha. Seeing this, Hawlucha used the recoil from its kick to flip neatly through the air, landing gracefully on the ground.

However...

As Hawlucha landed, its knees buckled, dropping it into a kneeling position. Pain twisted across its face.

[Poison Point].

Hawlucha had been poisoned by Nidoking’s toxic spines upon kicking it.

“Hawlucha!” Bea called anxiously.

Gritting its teeth, Hawlucha forced itself to stand again, but its face looked pale. Poison continuously drained away its stamina.

By now, Nidoking had stabilized itself completely.

Looking at Hawlucha, suffering from poison, Nidoking revealed a vicious smirk, raising one arm and firing a lightning bolt straight at it.

[Thunderbolt]!

The electric blast shot forth; Hawlucha desperately leaped back to evade, but Nidoking’s Thunderbolt relentlessly chased its movements around the battlefield.

Several times, Hawlucha tried to close in, only to be repelled again and again by the electrified assault.

Clearly, among various strategies, Gary had chosen the simplest—wearing Hawlucha down by exploiting the poison status.

Simple didn't mean ineffective.

Under Nidoking’s relentless assault, Hawlucha’s movements slowed, becoming heavier and clumsier. Several times it nearly took a direct hit from Thunderbolt.

Realizing things couldn't continue this way, Bea’s gaze sharpened. Remembering the advice August once gave her, she decisively waved her hand.

“Hawlucha, [Quick Attack]!”

With a flash, Hawlucha forcibly ignored the crippling effects of poison, turning into a blur that charged straight toward Gary’s Pokémon.

Gary had seen plenty of high-stakes battles with August. Watching Hawlucha’s desperate move, he instantly understood Bea intended this as a final gamble.

If I were August, what would I do right now?

Gary’s mind flashed with sudden inspiration. He blurted out immediately, “Nidoking, [Dig]!”

Instantly shifting from aggression to retreat, Nidoking kicked up a cloud of dust and disappeared underground.

Hawlucha lunged at empty air, standing dazedly on the field, staring at the hole Nidoking left behind.

If it knew [Earthquake], this would’ve been the perfect moment—unfortunately, it didn't.

All it could do was watch helplessly as the last sliver of its strength drained away from poison.

Only after Hawlucha collapsed and was declared unable to battle did Nidoking climb back up from underground.

“Hawlucha is unable to battle—Nidoking wins!”

Gary smugly flicked his hair and called out to Bea, who had just recalled Hawlucha into its Poké Ball, “That’s the wisdom I learned from August!”

In the spectator stands, August, reading Gary’s lips, felt his expression darken.

What nonsense is Gary spouting? When did I ever teach him anything like that?

But seeing August’s stare, Gary mistakenly thought August was praising his victory, causing his smile to brighten even further.

Next to August, Zinnia secretly chuckled at the misunderstanding.

The battle quickly entered its second round.

Gary once again sent out Nidoking, while Bea’s next Pokémon was Falinks.

Falinks lined up in perfect formation, looking disciplined and well-trained.

“Your second Pokémon’s Falinks, huh?”

Gary wasn't the least bit worried. According to his research on Bea’s lineup, after Hawlucha was defeated, Bea’s remaining Pokémon were purely Fighting-types.

Against a pure Fighting-type, his Nidoking held a huge advantage!

Especially after training tirelessly with Giovanni on Ground-type moves these past few days, Nidoking could finally showcase its strength.

“Nidoking, [Earthquake]!”

At Gary’s order, Nidoking stomped fiercely, unleashing shockwaves that rippled outward, violently shaking the battlefield and splitting the ground with jagged cracks.

Falinks couldn’t fly, making it impossible to dodge Nidoking’s [Earthquake].

But Bea was prepared. “Falinks, [Agility]!”

Arranging themselves neatly into a line, the Falinks formation endured the [Earthquake] damage head-on, charging directly at Nidoking.

“[Counter]!”

Having absorbed the [Earthquake]’s impact, the lead Falinks lit up brilliantly, guiding the formation straight into Nidoking!

A head Falinks and its five comrades crashed fiercely into Nidoking.

“[Protect]!”

Gary would’ve dared take other hits directly, but never [Counter]. Hawlucha’s [Acrobatics] had already seriously damaged Nidoking earlier—if it took Counter now, Nidoking would certainly faint on the spot.

Under the leader’s command, each Falinks slammed in succession against Nidoking’s protective barrier.

Each collision sent ripples across the barrier’s surface. After six consecutive strikes, Falinks, blocked repeatedly, appeared visibly frustrated.

Gary didn't care how Falinks felt right now. He swung his arm decisively.

“Nidoking, [Earth Power]!”

Nidoking stomped again—

—and immediately, countless rocky pillars surged upwards beneath Falinks’ feet.

Falinks had just been readying an attack to exploit [Protect’s] ending effect; now forced to scatter chaotically, their neat formation was thoroughly disrupted. The rocky pillars isolated the Falinks soldiers, leaving them scrambling and confused, searching blindly for their leader.

But Gary had already identified Falinks’ leader as crucial for coordinating the formation’s movements.

Therefore, Nidoking’s Earth Power deliberately targeted the leader.

“Nidoking, [Poison Jab]!”

Nidoking’s arm glowed purple, and it charged forward fiercely, thrusting directly toward the lead Falinks.

Seeing their leader targeted, the scattered Falinks instantly rallied, charging Nidoking in a collective fury.

Yet Nidoking’s eyes remained locked only on the leader, casually swatting away the attacking Falinks soldiers. With a single precise thrust, it struck the leader, who barely managed to raise its shield-arm defensively.

Bang!

The leader Falinks was flung backwards, crashing heavily to the ground.

The previously scattered Falinks swiftly regathered around their fallen leader, forming a protective circle around it.

Gary’s gaze fell upon the Falinks leader, his expression soon twisting into disappointment.

No poison, huh? What a pity.

Falinks’ golden armor and shield-like arm had successfully absorbed most of [Poison Jab’s] force, preventing the poison from seeping into its body.

Surrounded protectively by its squad, the leader barked an order, and Falinks immediately changed formation.

With the lead Falinks’ horns pointed forward like a spearhead, they arranged into an arrow-shaped assault formation and charged straight at Nidoking with disciplined strides.

“[Earth Power]!”

Gary planned to repeat his earlier tactic.

But Falinks clearly learned from experience. As the rocky pillars rose, the soldiers behind the leader swiftly scattered on command, charging Nidoking from multiple angles simultaneously.

Facing so many opponents at once, Nidoking momentarily faltered.

Luckily, Gary remained calm.

“[Earthquake]!”

Nidoking stomped fiercely again. Two Falinks soldiers failed to evade in time, blasted aside by the powerful tremors and crashing painfully onto the battlefield.

But the remaining Falinks had already leaped high into the air, bearing down relentlessly on Nidoking.

“[Close Combat]!” Bea commanded sharply.

Instantly, the airborne Falinks lunged fiercely toward Nidoking.

Bam-bam-bam-bam!

Aside from the two soldiers blasted away earlier, Nidoking was simultaneously struck by four Falinks. Two fists alone couldn’t fight off so many opponents; Nidoking, who had clearly held the upper hand until now, suddenly found itself pinned down and pummeled.

Nidoking tried to shake off Falinks, but this was precisely when their smaller size became an advantage. Nidoking was like a giant trying to swat fleas—possessing great strength yet unable to catch the tiny Falinks scrambling all over its body.

“Is Gary going to lose like this?” In the stands, Zinnia couldn’t help asking.

“Wait a bit more...”

Disadvantaged, definitely—but August didn’t think Gary would go down this easily.

Not that August truly had such strong faith in Gary, but rather, he believed in Giovanni.

After being trained so thoroughly by Giovanni, Gary must have learned at least some of those tactics, right?

Just as that thought crossed August’s mind, Nidoking suddenly roared. A fierce sandstorm instantly whipped up around Nidoking’s body, and the ground beneath rapidly turned into loose sand, swallowing Nidoking whole.

“[Sand Tomb]!”

While the flowing sands engulfed Nidoking, they also dragged the Falinks attacking its body down into the shifting sandpit.

Yet [Sand Tomb] was entirely under Nidoking’s control. Within this swirling sand, Nidoking maneuvered effortlessly. In contrast, Falinks sank helplessly into the sand sea, forcibly separated from Nidoking, then swallowed up one by one.

By the time Nidoking emerged from the Sand Tomb, all the Falinks soldiers had already vanished beneath the surface.

Staring down at the Falinks still struggling desperately in the swirling sands, Nidoking bared a cruel smirk.

“[Earthquake]!”

As [Earthquake] erupted, the trapped Falinks were struck heavily. Their already dwindling stamina was immediately drained to zero.

“Falinks is unable to battle—Nidoking wins!” the referee declared.

Bea’s fans sighed collectively from the stands.

It had been so close... Who would’ve guessed Gary would pull out a trick like using [Sand Tomb] to shake off Falinks?

August glanced over at Giovanni, who chuckled softly and said nothing.

Gary, meanwhile, could no longer hide the smug grin tugging at his lips.

A mere rank-30 Great Ball-tier battle—handled with ease!

Bea recalled Falinks into its Poké Ball. Though strong-willed, losing two consecutive rounds against Gary still left her somewhat disheartened.

She took out another Poké Ball, gently running her fingers over it. Determination filled her gaze once again.

“The next battle will be extremely difficult—let’s face it together!”

As she finished speaking, she hurled the Poké Ball forward decisively.

With a flash—

—a robust, muscle-bound female Machamp emerged onto the battlefield.

“A Machamp, huh?”

Gary naturally knew Machamp was Bea’s ace Pokémon, and his expression grew serious.

“Machamp, [Bullet Punch]!”

Bea chose lightning-fast tactics.

The moment Machamp appeared, before its feet even firmly touched the ground, it surged forward at incredible speed.

Its fists, cloaked in metallic silver energy, crashed toward Nidoking like cannonballs.

Nidoking reacted swiftly. Though there wasn’t time to counterattack, it hurriedly raised both arms to defend.

Bang-bang!

Two fists were stopped by Nidoking’s claws, rocking it backward slightly.

But before Nidoking could recover—

Two more heavy fists slammed directly into Nidoking’s chest.

With only two arms, Nidoking simply couldn’t defend itself against Machamp’s four.

As Nidoking staggered backward, Machamp didn’t give it any room to breathe, immediately leaping into a flying kick.

[Low Sweep]!

Hit squarely in the leg, Nidoking lost its balance, crashing hard onto the ground. Finally, its stamina had reached its limit.

“Nidoking is unable to battle—Machamp wins!” the referee announced.

Barely ten seconds into entering the battlefield, Machamp had decisively defeated Nidoking.

Bea’s fans erupted into wild cheers at her dramatic comeback.

Yet Bea herself frowned slightly, watching the field without a hint of ease.

As someone deeply attuned to Machamp, she knew very well—though it hadn’t shown on the surface, Machamp had been poisoned during its brief contact with Nidoking.

August noticed this from the stands as well.

“Bea…really has terrible luck.”

After all, not every part of Nidoking’s body had toxic spines.

In the games, [Poison Point’s] chance of poisoning was just 30 percent. Yet Bea’s Hawlucha and Machamp had both become poisoned back-to-back…her luck was truly awful.

Despite this, Machamp concealed any outward signs of poisoning.

If Machamp revealed it, Gary would immediately stall for time—disastrous for Bea, who had no Pokémon left in reserve.

At this point, Gary sent out his second Pokémon.

With a flash of light, Arcanine appeared on the field—the same Arcanine that had battled Slowbro fiercely yesterday, ultimately losing.

The instant Gary released Arcanine, Bea didn’t hesitate. She activated [Gigantamax] immediately.

A giant Poké Ball was hurled skyward—

As epic music thundered throughout the stadium, Machamp’s figure swelled dramatically, quickly occupying half the battlefield, gazing down imposingly upon Arcanine from above.

Arcanine, normally a Pokémon of considerable size, suddenly appeared tiny before Gigantamax Machamp.

Though not the first time seeing a Gigantamax Pokémon, Gary still felt a powerful surge of awe at the overwhelming sight.

---

T/N: AHHHH ICANT DECIDE THE HIGHLUGHTS

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!