Pokémon: My Titles Know No Limits! [556]

Gardevoir’s body hovered in midair, eyes locked level with the Gigantamax Machamp.

Against the towering forty-meter form of Gigantamax Machamp, Gardevoir looked impossibly small.

And yet, the aura radiating from her—no weaker than Machamp’s own—created a strange, unsettling sense of dissonance.

The two sides only confronted each other for a brief moment.

When the BGM inside the stadium swelled to its most stirring part, Bea shouted:

“Shishou, watch out! We’re coming in!”

She dropped her weight low, then suddenly swung her fist forward.

“Machamp—[Max Darkness]!”

Gigantamax Machamp raised all four of its arms. Dark-type energy gathered overhead, swelling into a dark red mass above its head, pulsing, ready to strike.

“So this is [Dynamax]? Incredible!”

Zinnia felt the crushing pressure pouring off Gigantamax Machamp and couldn’t stop her thoughts from running wild. If Lord Rayquaza could [Gigantamax] too… how terrifying would that be!

But compared to Zinnia on the sidelines, it was Gardevoir, facing Machamp head-on, who felt the weight most vividly.

Internally grumbling about August’s irresponsible habit of throwing her into battle with no preparation, Gardevoir’s hands nonetheless moved without hesitation. She raised them to her chest, pink light flaring to life.

[Dazzling Gleam]!

The two unleashed their moves in near unison.

The dark mass of [Max Darkness] crashed down, colliding violently with Gardevoir’s radiant blast.

Her body was instantly engulfed by the immense torrent of dark energy.

“Gardevoir got wiped out!” Zinnia gasped.

Beside her, Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Impossible. Gardevoir isn’t that weak.”

Even as she said it, shafts of pink light suddenly pierced through the surging flood of darkness—one, then another, then another…

Beam after beam ripped outward from within [Max Darkness]’s maelstrom, until the dark energy was shredded apart completely.

At the very heart of that radiance, Gardevoir stood.

The glow was blinding, her form like a sun too brilliant to gaze upon.

“She actually took it head-on!?” Bea couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t even spot a trace of injury on Gardevoir’s body.

Up above, Gardevoir climbed even higher into the air, then lowered her gaze upon the giant below.

The [Mind Plate] flew out, orbiting around her form. Blue light flashed in her eyes as terrifying psychic force poured downward toward Machamp.

The psychic pressure was silent.

But Machamp felt the danger descending.

Its four arms crossed before it, and a massive barrier formed above its head.

[Max Guard]!

The crushing psychic power slammed into the barrier with a sound like grinding teeth.

The pressure forced Machamp backward, its enormous feet scraping trenches into the battlefield.

Bea’s eyes went wide.

“Just how strong is her psychic power!?”

August rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Honestly? I’ve never really measured it properly… but if I had to guess, I’d say it could bring down a skyscraper without trouble.”

Bea went a little stiff at that.

Behind her, Blue and Sabrina both fell silent. Couldn’t he use a different comparison? Who in their right mind uses ‘leveling a building’ as a unit of measurement?

Meanwhile, the clash on the field reached its conclusion.

As the [Dynamax] form of [Protect], [Max Guard] did not fail Bea’s expectations. It just barely held against Gardevoir’s psychic onslaught, strengthened further by the [Mind Plate].

But it only endured once.

Before Machamp could even catch its breath, Gardevoir launched her second wave of offense.

[Psyshock]!

The crystallized psychic strike connected seamlessly after the previous assault, slamming directly into Machamp’s abdomen.

The impact bent the massive body forward, its face contorted in a grimace of pain.

And now Gardevoir had more or less gauged her opponent’s strength.

[Gigantamax] size granted Machamp fearsome power, yes—but at the cost of agility.

In short: after burning through its only real defensive measure, [Max Guard], Gigantamax Machamp was nothing but a giant target before her.

I’ll forgive August for now, Gardevoir thought, and immediately pressed a third wave of attack against Machamp, who had just managed to recover from the shock.

[Psybeam]!

The multicolored beam surged forth.

Though still reeling from the pain in its abdomen, Machamp realized it had no choice but to counterattack.

Otherwise, even in its [Gigantamax] state, it would not withstand Gardevoir’s relentless strikes.

Forcing itself to focus, Machamp crossed its lower two arms over its chest.

“[Max Hailstorm]!”

A frigid blue beam fell from above, carrying the bite of deep winter as it struck toward Gardevoir.

Under its effect, hail began pelting down from the stadium sky.

Seeing this, Zinnia instinctively tried to drag Blue and Sabrina to cover, but the spectator protection system activated first. A shimmering energy dome rose, shielding them from the hail.

“Galar’s this considerate, huh?” Zinnia poked at the glowing barrier, where hailstones burst into sparks.

Sabrina ignored her foolish remark. For a region where [Dynamax] battles were routine, reinforcing stadium defenses was a necessity.

Otherwise, by the end of every match half the audience would be carted off to the hospital. A few more matches like that and how many normal people would Galar even have left?

Compared to the safely shielded spectators, the trainers on the field had only themselves to rely on.

Bea, not being Machamp’s target, wasn’t in too much danger.

But on August’s side, the hail fell far denser. Luckily, he had a certain “hat” over his head.

August shook Mew a few times, but there was no reaction.

Until—

A hailstone fell.

Thunk!

“Mew!”

Fast asleep, Mew was smacked right on the head, yelping as it jolted awake, hurriedly putting up an energy shield to protect both itself and August inside.

Rubbing its forehead with tiny paws, Mew glared at August, angry, demanding why he hadn’t woken it up.

August felt exasperated.

I called you and you didn’t wake up—how is that my fault?

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Gardevoir, facing down Machamp’s [Max Hailstorm], chose the simplest counter.

Her figure blurred—and vanished.

Gigantamax Machamp’s strike missed entirely.

“Behind you!” Bea shouted.

The upper two arms of Machamp instantly swept backward.

But the Gardevoir who had [Teleported] behind it was caught straight in its grasp, two massive hands clamping down tight.

“Gardevoir’s been caught—it’s dangerous now!” Zinnia cried.

But August only shook his head. “No. It’s over.”

As soon as the words left him, a brilliant light burst from between Machamp’s hands. It forced its way through the giant palms, exploding straight into Machamp’s chest.

Boom!

With a muffled crash, Machamp’s whole body reeled backward.

Zinnia immediately clapped her hands over Blue and Sabrina’s ears.

Well… only one ear each.

Sabrina gave her a long look full of speechless disdain.

But Zinnia’s heart was in the right place, so she didn’t make fun of her.

And then—different from what Zinnia had pictured—Machamp’s body shrank rapidly as it fell, until by the time it hit the ground, it had already reverted to its normal size.

Defeated, unable to battle, Machamp lay sprawled on the floor.

With a thought, Gardevoir’s psychic power lifted the fallen giant and placed it gently back beside Bea.

Looking at her partner, Bea recalled Machamp into its Poké Ball, face tinged with frustration. “As I thought… I’m still no match for Shishou.”

But August shook his head. “No. You’ve already grown a lot.”

Even if she couldn’t compare to him yet—within the entire Galar League, her current strength as a Gym Trainer was easily among the top three.

Hearing August’s praise, Bea’s eyes lit up. “Really!?”

“Really.”

The match ended. Staff from Stow-on-Side Arena came onto the field to begin clearing the traces of battle.

Seeing the wrecked state of the grounds, August couldn’t help thinking that Galar’s battle format wasn’t all advantages.

Compared to Kanto, the workload for Gym staff here had to be at least tripled.

...

Living Room.

August and the others sat on the sofa.

Mew was perched in front of a snack tray, stuffing its face with treats while rubbing the bump still left on its forehead from the hail.

August offered to treat it with the [Power of Viridian], but Mew, still sulking over him not waking it earlier, flatly refused.

“…”

Fine, then keep hurting.

Turning away, August instead soothed Gardevoir.

Just then, Bea reappeared, now dressed in loose casual clothes, holding a box in both hands.

August looked at her with a puzzled expression as she walked over.

“My gift of apprenticeship before was far too simple. So this time, I specially prepared a proper one for Shishou!” she said, holding the box out with both hands.

“What’s this?” August accepted the box.

Opening it, he found—

A wristband.

“A [Dynamax Band]?” August asked.

“Mhm.” Bea nodded, her face coloring slightly. “Originally I wanted to give it to Shishou when we first met. But I thought maybe, using the advantage of [Dynamax], I could defeat you… in the end, I still lost.”

August chuckled at that.

Taking the [Dynamax Band] from the box, he was just about to put it on when he caught sight of Zinnia blinking her eyes rapidly at him.

“You want one too?”

He dangled the [Band] in front of her.

Zinnia nodded furiously.

She wanted to see Lord Rayquaza’s magnificence with her own eyes.

But as she watched, August smiled, slid the Band onto his own wrist, and said: “Nope.”

Zinnia’s face froze stiff.

She puffed her cheeks and turned her head away angrily.

Fine, keep it. I’ll just buy my own!

Meanwhile, Bea continued explaining the details of [Dynamax] to August—how it could only be used in Gyms linked to [Dynamax] energy, how only certain Pokémon could [Gigantamax], and how a special [Max Soup] could let normally-only-Dynamaxable Pokémon [Gigantamax] instead.

August thought over his own Pokémon. The ones that might be able to [Gigantamax]…

Lapras, Eevee, Snorlax, and Gengar.

Eevee, Lapras, and Snorlax weren’t with him. The only one at his side—was Gengar.

August turned toward the shadow at his feet where Gengar lurked.

Gengar froze under the stare.

“Gon-ga?”

Without hesitation, August stood. “Come on, let’s test it out.”

...

On the field, Gengar stood before him, looking a little nervous.

August touched the [Dynamax Band] at his wrist.

The surface was smooth to the touch. Its principle: crafted from [Wishing Stars], materials able to absorb Galar particles, and then channel them into Pokémon, enabling [Dynamax].

Once you understood the mechanism, using it wasn’t hard.

With Blue and the others watching, August activated the [Band], recalled Gengar into its Poké Ball, then guided Galar particles inside.

The Poké Ball swelled in his palm.

When he threw it, light flashed—and Gengar’s body inflated like a balloon, rapidly expanding.

“Gon-ga?”

Gengar tried to look down at itself, but with no neck, it couldn’t see, so it turned to August for help.

Am I [Gigantamax] now?

August studied its form—then shook his head.

As expected. No surprise.

A Pokémon born in Kanto not being able to [Gigantamax] was normal.

Gengar drooped with disappointment.

“It’s fine. There’s still [Max Soup], isn’t there?” August reassured.

At that, Gengar perked right up again.

“Mew!”

This time, Mew couldn’t hold its sulk anymore—grabbing August’s arm, demanding that she get to play too.

“You can’t [Gigantamax]. What are you getting excited for?”

“Mew~” Mew whined, tugging his arm like a child begging.

“…Fine, fine, you win.”

After releasing Gengar back to its ball, he waited for the [Band] to recharge. Then, following the same process, he [Dynamaxed] Mew.

Before everyone’s eyes, an enormous Mew appeared in the arena.

“So big!” Zinnia gasped.

“Cute!” Bea exclaimed.

“Your tummy just got even rounder,” August muttered.

The giant Mew floated up into the air, spinning once and whipping up a gale, which automatically triggered the arena’s defensive systems.

Mew, suddenly huge, was thrilled as it looked around—

Especially when it noticed how tiny August seemed now.

At once, it hatched a daring idea. Reaching out its massive hand, it tried to scoop August up and set him on top of its head.

“?”

August stared, bewildered.

And before this upside-down, heaven-and-earth sort of behavior could even start, he quickly canceled the [Dynamax].

Mew, still reaching, blinked in confusion as it shrank back to normal size.

Looking up at August, now “big” again—

Her mouth puckered, lips trembling, as if about to burst into tears.

---

T/N: heh

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!