Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [560]

[Max Gold Rush]—the [Gigantamax]-exclusive move of Meowth.

Its principle was the same as [Pay Day]: creating giant coins to damage the opponent, and once the battle ended, yielding a huge payout.

Under Jessie and James’s teary-eyed, hopeful gaze, Meowth began trying to unleash [Max Gold Rush].

“Will it actually work?” Blue asked curiously.

August rubbed his chin, looking toward Meowth. “Theoretically… yes.”

Even though Meowth had burned through all its potential just to learn human speech, leaving it with nothing but [Scratch], once it [Gigantamaxed], any Normal-type move would be converted into [Max Gold Rush].

As August and Blue were speaking, a massive golden coin suddenly materialized in front of Gigantamax Meowth. Then another. And another.

Jessie and James’s eyes welled with tears of joy.

At last—their hard days were finally over?

“Yes, Meowth, that’s it!”

“Just a little more! We can rebuild the organization with this!”

But just as their cries reached their peak, the flow halted.

Not only did the coins vanish, but Meowth’s body shrank rapidly back to normal size.

It even stayed frozen in the same dramatic pose it had held mid-attack.

“W-what!? How could this happen!?” Jessie and James tumbled from heaven into hell.

Just a moment more and they’d have succeeded.

Just a little longer, and money troubles would have been gone forever.

Why—why did it end like this!

Even Meowth was questioning its very existence.

It was certain it had used the move properly. How could it have just reverted like that?

Could it be… not even [Gigantamax] could let it learn moves it had no right to know?

Its whiskers drooped.

But before they could wallow too long, August’s voice drifted over.

“…Did I just hear someone talking about rebuilding an organization?”

The trio froze. Their grief evaporated in a heartbeat.

“W-we, uh, haven’t finished sweeping today!”

“Yeah, yeah! And the tables are only half-wiped down!”

Handing the [Dynamax Band] hastily back to August, they bolted inside the dojo, brooms in hand.

August watched them scurry away.

“…So that counts as failure?” Blue sounded disappointed—she’d thought they’d found a way to strike it rich.

“Not entirely.” Sabrina had noticed something.

She stepped to the spot where Meowth had used [Max Gold Rush], and with a flick of psychic power, a coin no bigger than a fingernail lifted from the grass into her hand.

Blue examined it with the trained eyes of a former merchant. “It’s real.”

“So Meowth actually succeeded… but then why…”

Comparing the gigantic coin from earlier with this speck of a coin, Blue simply couldn’t reconcile the two.

“Maybe Meowth’s level’s too low.” August speculated.

If this were the game, payouts from Gigantamax Meowth scaled with level × 100. But this Meowth, who couldn’t even use [Fake Out]—something a level 4 Meowth would know—and only had [Scratch]… August had good reason to suspect its level was around three. Maybe lower. Given that, a coin this tiny was actually logical.

Of course, there was also the possibility his improvised Pokéblock was at fault.

[Max Soup] required three mushrooms to brew, yet he’d made an entire batch of Pokéblocks with just one.

“…Still, that giant Meowth was kind of cute.” August admitted.

[Gigantamax] had stretched its body into a noodle-like “cat stick,” resembling a plush body pillow. Its fine fur stood out more, looking extra soft and fluffy.

If only it weren’t so huge—he’d have loved to test the texture firsthand.

“It was cute,” Sabrina agreed. “Makes me want to feed it snacks. Next time, I’ll give it a little cake.” Her eyes, however, slid sidelong toward Mew.

Instantly, August knew her scheme.

Your intentions are clearer than daylight.

Sure enough, Mew’s eyes sparkled at the word cake.

She darted to Blue, snatched the tiny coin from her hand, stuck it on her forehead, and stretched her body long to mimic Meowth’s noodle form.

“Mew~!”

She thrust out her paw at Sabrina.

Give Mew cake, mew~

And just like that, with a single cake, Sabrina had Mew cosplaying Gigantamax Meowth.

August was speechless.

“How many times have I told you—have some dignity! Dignity!” he scolded, utterly dismayed.

But Mew, munching her cake, let his words pass through one ear and out the other.

Cake’s delicious! So worth it just to play Meowth for a moment!

Watching her, August realized he was powerless.

Sabrina shot him a triumphant look.

He ignored her, instead turning back to his experiment with the [Gigantamax Pokéblock].

This time, he chose Gengar.

He slipped one into its mouth. Unlike Meowth, Gengar actually liked the taste.

“Will it work?” Zinnia’s eyes were wide with anticipation.

Under her gaze, August activated the Band once more.

In seconds, Gengar’s body swelled, ballooning into a mountain-sized form.

Its body fused into the earth, its mouth gaping wide. From that maw, they could see its enormous tongue and the throat beyond.

“Gonga!”

Gengar’s face lit with joy at its success.

The others, however, stared at the abyss of its mouth.

“Careful, don’t go near its mouth!” Honey warned anxiously. “A Gigantamax Gengar’s mouth connects to the world of the dead—”

No one listened. She could only watch helplessly as all of them clustered at the edge.

“What a long tongue!” Zinnia tried reaching for it, but it kept slipping away.

Mew, more agile, tugged the tongue with psychic power, rummaging left and right as if searching for her snacks inside its belly. She found nothing.

“Mew!!”

She accused it of stealing her stash.

Gengar flailed its stubby little arms defensively, then pulled a bag of chips out of its throat, proving its innocence.

“…Wait, I hear August’s voice.” Blue tilted her head.

“…Me too,” Sabrina said.

“At the side of Gigantamax Gengar’s mouth, you hear the voice of the one you love,” Honey explained.

Zinnia’s eyes widened in revelation. “No wonder I heard Lord Rayquaza! I thought I was hallucinating!”

“And you, August?” Sabrina’s smile sharpened. “Whose voice did you hear?”

“…”

August froze.

Gengar, too, broke into a sweat—realizing its [Gigantamax] had put August in a very awkward spot.

But his reaction was lightning fast. After less than a second’s pause, he declared, “Of course I heard your voice!”

“…Was mine there too?” Blue pressed.

“Of course!” August said firmly. He wasn’t lying—so his tone didn’t waver.

“And probably Cynthia as well,” Sabrina continued sweetly. “What about Iono? Did you hear Iono?”

“Oh, and don’t forget your wife Lusamine. Or maybe Cogita too?”

She rattled off names like reading a menu.

August: “…”

With each one, more sweat beaded his forehead.

By the end, he was drenched.

“What about me? Did you hear me?” Zinnia jumped in, thrilled at his predicament.

“Out, out, you’re a child—go play,” August waved her away.

“…Garde?” Gardevoir tugged his sleeve.

“Of course, you too, Gardevoir,” he said quickly, reassuring her.

Balancing on a razor’s edge, juggling the names, he could only pray the act held.

Honey, listening from the side, shook her head. Inwardly, she sighed. Young people these days… such tangled messes. In my time…

After that incident, August gained a whole new appreciation for the jealousy of women.

Particularly—Sabrina needed to be punished. Severely.

They stayed at the dojo overnight.

...

By morning, Mustard had returned.

Once the undefeated Champion of Galar, now just a frail old man—it was impossible not to feel the weight of time.

From Honey, he already knew of August’s visit. Meeting August’s surprised gaze, Mustard’s eyes held easy calm. “Shocked? Everyone grows old eventually.”

August thought of Xerneas. “Not necessarily.”

“…?”

Normally, this was the moment the younger man would nod and share some sentiment about cherishing youth. What kind of answer was “not necessarily”?

Seeing his confusion, August added matter-of-factly: “Literally. I carry Xerneas’s blessing. I won’t age.”

Then, kindly, he elaborated: “You know Xerneas, right? The Kalos legend—the Pokémon of eternal life.”

“…”

Mustard looked from August’s youthful face to his own wrinkled hands.

For a moment, he wanted to flip the table.

Conversation’s over.

It took him a while to steady himself again. Then he said, “Lance already told me about your situation…”

“Mm?” August blinked.

So Lance had even sought Mustard out for his sake. That stirred a flicker of warmth in him.

“Actually, you didn’t need Lance. News of you’s already spread plenty among the Champions’ circle…” Mustard explained.

“…So you Champions have a little clique? Never heard of it!” August frowned.

He knew them all. Why hadn’t anyone invited the World Championships Champion? Did they think the title wasn’t worth anything?

Even though he liked to claim he wasn’t old at heart, Mustard found he just couldn’t keep pace with this kid’s leaps in logic.

After a moment of silence, he sighed. “No little clique. We just chat sometimes, share thoughts.”

“Oh, that’s all.” August nodded in relief.

“Anyway. Let’s get to business. I don’t recommend you going head-to-head with Rose.”

The words instantly furrowed August’s brow.

But he had patience. He stayed silent, letting Mustard continue.

“It’s not that I want to defend him,” Mustard said. “But for the sake of a single Championship title, you don’t need to drag the whole League into conflict.”

“When I was Champion myself, as age caught up and my strength waned, the League Chairman asked me to throw matches, just to preserve the Champion’s name. I refused.” His voice carried the weight of a veteran’s lesson. “For something as petty as a title, it isn’t worth war with Rose.”

As a native of Galar and Leon’s teacher, no one knew better than him what Rose and Macro Cosmos represented.

August listened, then smiled. “So in your eyes, I’m that small-minded?”

Mustard blinked.

“Anyone who knows me knows I don’t hold grudges,” August went on.

“You think I’d go after Rose just because he meddled with my match?”

“…Isn’t that it? I heard you stormed into Kalos after one interview and singlehandedly arrested Lysandre.”

“…Cough!” August choked on his tea.

“Rumors! Baseless rumors!” He denied flatly. “All lies spread by Flare’s leftovers!”

Swiftly, he shifted the topic. “Let me ask you instead, Master Mustard—what do you know about the origin of [Dynamax]?”

“…The origin?” Mustard’s brows furrowed.

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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!