Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [592]

“Chandelure is unable to battle! Swinub wins!” After confirming Chandelure's condition, the referee announced the result.

Alder recalled Chandelure into its Poké Ball and let out a heavy sigh.

“Completely defeated, huh!”

As reality hit him, he realized it was his own hesitation at the end that extinguished his final glimmer of hope, leaving Alder feeling utterly drained.

He still had the frozen Bouffalant—he could try betting on its slim chance of thawing out before being finished off by Swinub. But even setting aside the ridiculously low thawing probability, what would happen afterward if it did thaw?

Just another beating from Pryce's Swinub?

Forget it. Better to preserve a little dignity for the Unova League…

Maybe it really is time to retire, Alder thought.

Then, raising his hand, he announced, “I forfeit!”

After the referee confirmed Alder's decision, Alder nodded. Amidst cheers from the audience, the referee formally declared the outcome.

“Alder has forfeited. The final winner is Pryce!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Pryce embraced Swinub, filthy and dripping with muddy water, nodding gently toward Alder with a warm smile.

Having conceded defeat, Alder seemed to have laid down a heavy psychological burden. Smiling, he returned Pryce’s gesture.

Then, Pryce was pushed off the battlefield by a Delibird wheeling his wheelchair.

On the sidelines, Iris appeared utterly dejected.

“I can’t believe Teacher Alder lost! I wonder if he’s okay…”

Axew shared the same worried look as Iris.

“Don't worry. Alder isn't that fragile,” August reassured.

Alder had been slacking off for years now—he'd already hit rock bottom. To someone who's used to coasting by, losing a single match wouldn’t have much impact.

Sure enough, soon afterward, August spotted Alder emerging from the trainers' lounge.

As soon as Alder caught sight of August, he immediately began complaining bitterly, “You really made my life hard this time, August!”

Without August’s infamous jail squad participating, even if Alder slacked off all day, he could still have entered the Masters Eight easily.

“You should blame Rose for this.” August shrugged innocently, pushing all responsibility onto Rose.

Alder was speechless.

But when Alder saw Calyrex standing there, he immediately became curious. “What kind of Pokémon is this?”

That head is enormous!

August had no choice but to explain again.

Upon hearing it was yet another Legendary Pokémon, Alder was at a complete loss for words. He merely gave August a silent thumbs-up.

Suddenly, he understood Rose’s logic in banning Legendary Pokémon from the competition.

Allowing Legendary Pokémon in the tournament was essentially handing the championship straight to August.

Who the hell can even compete with you like this?!

Of course, Alder didn’t dare say this out loud—firstly, August had helped him back in Unova; secondly, August's pettiness was infamous across the entire Pokémon League.

Meanwhile, Giovanni had waited for a long while without seeing Silver or Pryce approach.

Just as confusion crossed Giovanni's face, August said, “Stop looking. Silver texted me earlier—he already left with Pryce.”

Giovanni fell silent for a moment before responding stiffly, “You’re overthinking things. I wasn’t looking for Silver and Pryce.”

Seeing Giovanni stubbornly denying it, August chuckled knowingly.

The undisguised mockery in August’s laughter sparked Giovanni’s irritation.

Noting Giovanni was about to explode, August knew when to stop.

“Let's head out.” August called out, “Iris, wanna come hang out at my place?”

“Sure, sure!” Iris nodded eagerly.

When August brought Iris and the others back to their temporary base, they found Iono and Malva sorting through interview transcripts on the living room table.

Curious, August picked one up. All of them were interviews conducted with random passersby.

The questions were all very odd, such as:

—[Who do you think is the most handsome trainer in this year’s World Championship?]

Or things like, [What’s the cutest Pokémon you’ve seen competing so far?]

Such strange questions.

“Does anyone even watch interviews like these?” August couldn’t help but ask doubtfully.

“Of course people watch! Not only do they watch, but my show is super popular!” Malva responded, opening a webpage for August.

August glanced at it. It was a video uploaded by Malva and Iono together.

The view count had already exceeded ten million.

At first, August couldn’t understand why—until he saw Malva interviewing a middle-aged woman who enthusiastically declared Giovanni as her favorite trainer of this year’s World Championship. August’s lips curled into an irrepressible grin.

“I underestimated you. This truly is an excellent show. Do you need funding? I’d be happy to sponsor a bit!” August offered with a perfectly straight face.

Giovanni, overhearing this from the side, had a face as dark as the bottom of a frying pan.

“Funding would be even better!” Malva immediately agreed.

Under the guise of investigating Rose’s criminal activities, August generously allocated funds to Malva and Iono.

At this moment, a suspicious-looking Sabrina suddenly grabbed August and pulled him upstairs.

Inside the room, aside from Sabrina, was Blue, wearing a peculiar expression.

“What’s up with you two…? Where’s Cynthia?”

The three had gone out together—so how come only two came back?

“Cynthia ran into Diantha and Caitlin, so she went to catch up with them... Anyway, forget that—Blue has a surprise for you!” Saying this, Sabrina gave Blue a little push.

Blushing furiously, Blue stammered without managing to get a single word out.

August had never before seen Blue—who normally handled Kanto Branch affairs with flawless composure—look this flustered.

Just what kind of surprise was this?

August's curiosity intensified.

Sabrina nudged Blue several more times, but Blue remained frozen.

Sabrina wore an expression of utter frustration—she couldn’t believe how spineless Blue was acting. They’d agreed on this earlier, yet now she still had to lend a hand herself.

Then August watched as Sabrina stepped behind Blue, reached out, and unbuttoned the top button of Blue’s shirt despite her embarrassed squirming.

A faint glimpse of pastel-pink lace appeared before August’s eyes.

August: “?”

This is how you’re testing the resolve of your own executive cadre?

Seeing Blue instantly turn beet-red, Sabrina wore a victorious grin.

However, that grin lasted barely a second before August looked away from Blue and shifted his gaze onto Sabrina.

“And what about you?”

Sabrina: “...Huh?”

Realizing she was suddenly in trouble, Sabrina prepared to make a swift escape—but Blue, whom Sabrina had just been holding onto, suddenly spun around and firmly embraced her, reversing their roles completely.

It was her turn to panic!

...

August felt he couldn't let life pass him by like this!

The meaning of life lies in dedicating one’s finite existence to exploring infinite unknowns.

What sort of information did the existence of the Unown aim to convey to humans?

Exactly how many Pokémon are there in the world?

Did Eevee have evolutions beyond those already discovered?

All these mysteries awaited him—awaited him to explore, to uncover the truth.

When August tidied himself up and came down to the living room to ask Cogita these profound questions, Cogita’s expression went utterly blank.

Your way of exploring unknowns is just to come straight to me?

Also, could you at least wipe the lipstick marks off your face first?!

“Huh?” August jumped, quickly checking his face in a mirror. Hastily wiping away the lipstick, he stated earnestly, “Mew is just unbelievable! To think she'd sneak a kiss while I was asleep!”

Mew, who had been napping atop August’s head, woke up with a puzzled, “Mew?”

She tried to protest, but August hugged her tightly, covering her mouth.

“......”

Cogita rolled her eyes and refused to dignify that with a reply.

You know exactly what you’ve done.

August coughed awkwardly to hide his embarrassment, turning to see Zinnia and the others, who were pretending to play Pokémon Monopoly while clearly straining their ears to eavesdrop.

Noticing August’s gaze, the group quickly returned their focus to the board game.

Just as August was about to walk over, there was a knock at the door.

“Hm? Who could it be at this hour?” August wondered aloud.

Everyone from the Kanto Branch was already here. Cynthia had a keycard, so who was knocking?

Opening the door, August was surprised to see Lance standing there with his younger sister Clair and Koga.

Lance smiled faintly. “What’s wrong? Not happy to see me?”

“Of course I am... It’s just, why are you here so soon?” August asked curiously.

Lance had previously mentioned he wouldn’t arrive until the Masters Eight matches began, so why the sudden change?

After inviting Lance and the others inside and seating them, Lance explained, “Koga’s match is tomorrow...”

“Koga has a match?”

August glanced at Koga. Since he himself didn’t need to compete, he hadn’t paid much attention to the match schedule and usually relied on Silver or Blue for information.

He quickly opened the World Championship official website.

When he saw Koga’s name and his opponent listed clearly for tomorrow’s match, August’s expression instantly turned subtle.

On the official page, it was plainly written: Koga VS Lysandre.

Had Koga been facing someone like Maxie or Archie, August might have believed Koga had a chance of victory.

But with Lysandre as his opponent, August could only say…

“My condolences,” August said, patting Koga comfortingly on the shoulder.

No wonder Koga had remained silent since arriving. August fully understood now.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Lysandre for you…”

Koga’s spirits immediately lifted. Could August actually be suggesting Lysandre go easy on him? That wouldn’t feel right…

But just as Koga began to feel slightly embarrassed, August continued, “I’ll make sure Lysandre gives it his absolute best so that the audience can enjoy a truly high-level match!”

“......”

Koga’s vision darkened.

Already feeling down, Koga now felt utterly hopeless.

He wasn’t confident he could defeat even a restrained Lysandre—facing a fully committed Lysandre… Koga felt like he was about to die.

If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn’t have signed up for the World Championship!

But it was too late now; all he could do was take one step at a time…

Seeing Koga wallowing in despair, clearly set for a swift elimination, August shifted his gaze toward Clair. “What about Clair?”

“Clair just wanted to experience the World Championship atmosphere,” Lance explained.

Just then, Calyrex strolled past holding a carrot, instantly capturing the trio’s full attention.

“What is…that?” Lance asked, unable to look away.

No matter where it appeared, Calyrex’s peculiar form was simply impossible to ignore.

August had no choice but to repeat introductions again: “Allow me to introduce—this is Calyrex, the King of Bountiful Harvests from Galar. He’s also helping me deal with Ro—uh, Eternatus!”

…You were definitely about to say Rose just now!

Also, what exactly is Eternatus? Could Rose’s conspiracy involve this thing?

Speaking of which, Lance asked again, “You mentioned over the phone before that you’d reached an agreement with Leon?”

“Leon is furious about Rose’s actions and has decided to join us in opposing him!” August answered confidently.

Lance nodded at first, but quickly realized something wasn’t right. “Wait—us?”

August looked at him strangely. “Of course, us. Or were you planning to just stand by and watch?”

Lance: “......”

In his opinion, August alone was enough to deal with Rose. With Leon joining, it was already guaranteed. Lance’s original plan—to quietly slack off at the World Championship and enjoy a vacation—had utterly fallen through.

August rose early the next day, eager to arrive at the World Championship stadium in time to watch Koga’s match against Lysandre.

He had initially planned to bring Blue and Sabrina along, but the two turned out to be lazier than Mew at getting up. August had tried every method possible to wake them but ultimately failed.

With no other choice, he reluctantly took Zinnia, Malva, and Iono instead.

Seated at the stadium, August glanced around. Mew atop his head also scanned the area but didn’t spot the generous trio with their popcorn cart.

Unknown to them, the Team Rocket trio had already spotted Mew from afar and were now nervously hiding in a corridor, hearts pounding wildly.

That freeloader almost spotted us again!

The trio promptly decided to find another place to sell popcorn.

As music filled the stadium, the contestants entered the arena:

On one side stood Koga, Johto Elite Four, Poison-type expert, and modern-day ninja.

Facing him was Lysandre, leader of Team Flare, a renowned genius inventor from Kalos who developed the Holocaster.

Their battle immediately captured significant attention, rivaling even Pryce’s previous match with Alder.

Next to August, Iono and Malva had already turned on their cameras, starting a livestream.

“Good morning, noon, and evening, everyone! Welcome to your super-charged streamer, Iono’s Electric Talk live broadcast!”

“Today, we’re honored to have renowned news anchor Malva-san and August himself joining us as guests to bring you firsthand coverage of the World Championship matches!”

Iono enthusiastically introduced Malva and August to the audience.

The chat instantly exploded at August’s rare appearance on stream after so long.

—[It's Big Boss August!]

—[Does Big Boss August feel confident about winning the championship this year?]

—[With a face like that, he’s done for—I don’t see it happening.]

—[What nonsense—clearly he has the look of an unbeatable king!]

---

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!