diff --git a/docs/port/MISSION.md b/docs/port/MISSION.md
index b16d6c6..2c749d9 100644
--- a/docs/port/MISSION.md
+++ b/docs/port/MISSION.md
@@ -114,12 +114,26 @@ independent landmarks rather than guessed:
 `XLanguage::kJapanese = 2` (`xbox.h:307`). Writing 2 there and restoring
 afterwards is using canary's own persistence, not patching its code.
 
-**🟡 Still not settled, for a smaller reason.** A run with the locale set to
-Japanese booted fine, but **never reached the title in 787 s** — `wait_title.sh`'s
-green-Ⓐ oracle never fired, and burst-sampling 8 frames found none correlating
-above 0.18 with either build-7 render. The run sat in the attract loop. So this
-needs a *longer or pad-driven* run, not a rebuilt emulator. The locale was
-restored to English afterwards.
+**🟡 Still not settled — two runs, and the reason moved again.**
+
+*Run 1 (2026-08-28)* reported "title not seen" in 787 s. **That was a broken
+tool, not the game.** `wait_title.sh` still carried the single-pixel oracle that
+`is_title.py` was written to replace — a 1280×720 coordinate sampled against the
+1279×675 game surface, so it always reads the copyright line. Fixed; it now
+delegates to `is_title.py`.
+
+*Run 2 (2026-08-29)*, with the working oracle and the profile flag the English
+captures use, **still did not reach the interactive title.** Not one frame in the
+run showed a single green-Ⓐ glyph pixel, and content correlation against either
+build-7 render never exceeded **0.22**. The game sat in the attract movie
+throughout, polling `XamInputGetKeystrokeEx` (601 calls) — i.e. alive and waiting
+for input, not hung.
+
+🟡 **So what is untested is whether the attract loop returns to the *interactive*
+title without a pad press.** `title_states_capture.sh` claims it does, with no
+pad input, on the English boot — that is the next thing to check, and if it holds
+then the difference is the locale and worth its own note. The locale is restored
+to English; `set_console_language.py ja` flips it back in one command.
 
 ⚠️ Neither question blocks the five menu screens. Q1's *interpolation law* is
 settled and only multi-keyframe absolute timing is open; `rest()` differs from
diff --git a/docs/re/METHOD.md b/docs/re/METHOD.md
index ee961fc..7e03672 100644
--- a/docs/re/METHOD.md
+++ b/docs/re/METHOD.md
@@ -442,3 +442,12 @@ agent's loop prompt, i.e. nowhere durable. See [`README.md`](README.md) for the
   landmarks, no offset assumed, and the check re-runs every invocation — so the
   tool fails loudly if the layout moves instead of silently patching a
   neighbouring field.
+* **A stale oracle reports the world, not itself.** A 787 s run concluded "the
+  game never reached the title". It had, repeatedly: `wait_title.sh` was still
+  sampling the single pixel (625,618) that `is_title.py` had already been written
+  to replace — a 1280×720 coordinate against a 1279×675 game surface, always
+  reading the copyright line. The replacement existed *in the same directory*,
+  with a docstring naming the bug. Before believing a negative from a probe,
+  check whether something in the toolkit already supersedes it, and run the probe
+  against a known-positive capture first — `is_title.py` scores 753 on a real
+  title frame and 327 on the main menu, which takes one command to confirm.
diff --git a/docs/re/REFUTED.md b/docs/re/REFUTED.md
index ae6045c..1ed7492 100644
--- a/docs/re/REFUTED.md
+++ b/docs/re/REFUTED.md
@@ -421,3 +421,8 @@ neighbourhood, not just the line.
   capture is still not *taken* — a Japanese run never reached the title in 787 s
   — but it needs a longer run, not a rebuilt emulator.
   [`tools/re-capture/set_console_language.py`](../../tools/re-capture/set_console_language.py)
+* "the Japanese-locale run never reached the title in 787 s" → **the measurement
+  was broken, not the run.** `wait_title.sh` carried the superseded single-pixel
+  oracle. Re-run with `is_title.py`: the game still did not present the
+  interactive title, but that is now a measured statement (zero green-glyph
+  pixels, correlation ≤ 0.22 to either build-7 render) rather than an artefact.
diff --git a/tools/re-capture/wait_title.sh b/tools/re-capture/wait_title.sh
index c39ba8f..d92053a 100755
--- a/tools/re-capture/wait_title.sh
+++ b/tools/re-capture/wait_title.sh
@@ -1,16 +1,25 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Poll the framebuffer for the "PRESS (A) BUTTON" title screen (the green A glyph
-# at ~625,618) and tap A the instant it appears — the title auto-returns to the
-# attract loop after a few seconds, which is why a human-paced tap misses it.
+# Poll the framebuffer for the "PRESS (A) BUTTON" title screen and tap A the
+# instant it appears — the title auto-returns to the attract loop after a few
+# seconds, which is why a human-paced tap misses it.
+#
+# 🔴 FIXED 2026-08-29. This used to sample the SINGLE PIXEL (625,618) and test it
+# for green. That is the exact oracle `is_title.py` was written to replace, and
+# its docstring says why: it is a 1280x720 coordinate sampled against the
+# 1279x675 game surface, so it always reads the copyright line. The stale copy
+# survived here and cost a 787 s run that reported "title not seen" while the
+# game was cycling through the title perfectly normally.
+# Now delegates to is_title.py, which COUNTS the green (A) glyph's pixels
+# anywhere in the frame — geometry-independent, and it passes its own controls
+# (753 px on a real title capture, 327 on the main menu, threshold 400).
 set -u
 export HOME=/sylph-home/re
 TMP=/tmp/title-probe.png
 deadline=$(( SECONDS + ${1:-900} ))
 while [ $SECONDS -lt $deadline ]; do
   if screenshot "$TMP" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    read -r r g b < <(convert "$TMP" -format "%[fx:int(255*p{625,618}.r)] %[fx:int(255*p{625,618}.g)] %[fx:int(255*p{625,618}.b)]" info:)
-    if [ "$g" -gt 130 ] && [ $((g - r)) -gt 45 ] && [ $((g - b)) -gt 45 ]; then
-      echo "TITLE detected (rgb $r,$g,$b) at ${SECONDS}s — tapping A"
+    if python3 "$(dirname "$0")/is_title.py" "$TMP" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo "TITLE detected at ${SECONDS}s — tapping A"
       vgamepad tap A 200
       exit 0
     fi