Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! [428]

Aside from Giovanni himself, the three Kanto Elite Four members—including Lorelei—along with Luo Yuan, unanimously approved the proposal for Giovanni to become the Champion.

Of course, even if it hadn’t been a unanimous vote, it wouldn’t have mattered. After all, Lorelei had already voluntarily withdrawn from the race for the Kanto Championship.

Now, Giovanni was the sole candidate. Even if only Luo Yuan had voted for him, Giovanni would still be the Kanto Champion.

“Congratulations, Giovanni!”

Agatha stood up and offered her congratulations.

Though this was just an internal vote, and Giovanni’s official promotion still required a formal ceremony, everyone present knew that was nothing more than a formality.

As of this moment—Giovanni was the Champion of Kanto!

“As the new Kanto Champion, would you like to say a few words?” Luo Yuan played the role of a well-timed sidekick.

Hearing this, everyone turned to Giovanni with smiles on their faces.

“I will lead the Kanto League to glory.”

Under their gazes, Giovanni’s response was succinct and powerful.

Given his recent display of strength in the Sevii Islands battle, his words carried undeniable weight.

Agatha and the others also believed that, under Giovanni’s leadership, the Kanto League might finally overturn its current state—one where it was completely suppressed by Team Rocket.

Of course, from Luo Yuan and Giovanni’s perspective, this development only made things more convenient for Team Rocket.

With Giovanni serving as both the League’s Champion and the leader of Team Rocket, the two entities were like two sides of the same coin.

After a period of restructuring, Team Rocket had already phased out its outdated and unsophisticated Pokémon-stealing operations, successfully transitioning into a more covert existence.

Now, as long as Giovanni wished, he could completely avoid conflicts between Team Rocket and the League—ensuring the two coexisted seamlessly.

And on the surface, this was simply seen as the effect of Giovanni’s tenure as an Elite Four member!

—

News of Giovanni becoming the Champion spread like wildfire.

The higher-ups within Team Rocket were ecstatic.

Giovanni’s rise to Champion meant that Team Rocket had effectively brought all of Kanto under its control.

To say they had influence over both the legal and underground worlds would be an understatement—”absolute dominance” would be a far more accurate description.

Beyond the unrestricted expansion of Team Rocket in Kanto, Giovanni was also planning to have Lt. Surge participate in the selection for the new Elite Four member.

Originally, the candidates were Lt. Surge and Sabrina.

However, after Luo Yuan spoke with Sabrina, she expressed a greater desire to stay by his side rather than take on a demanding position that would consume a significant amount of her energy.

Thus, the position naturally fell to Lt. Surge.

“According to the intelligence from Carr, the Alola division has been fully established. The research on Ultra Beasts is also progressing steadily, though he seems to have strong opinions about Guzma.”

At Team Rocket’s headquarters, Giovanni and Luo Yuan were discussing the organization’s latest developments.

“Their personalities don’t mesh well,” Luo Yuan mused.

Both Guzma and Carr were hot-tempered individuals with a tendency to be arrogant and dismissive of others.

Although they restrained themselves in Luo Yuan’s presence, the moment he wasn’t around, their true natures surfaced.

A clash between them was inevitable.

“We’re still facing a severe manpower shortage,” Giovanni remarked with a sigh.

Even though he had become Champion, and Team Rocket’s influence over both the Kanto and Johto Leagues was deepening, that also meant their need for dedicated executives was growing.

As Team Rocket’s domain expanded, managing personnel allocation was becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

Especially since their next target was Team Galactic.

Taking down Team Galactic wasn’t the hard part—the real challenge lay in consolidating their control over Sinnoh once Team Galactic was gone.

“Speaking of personnel, I recently spotted a promising candidate in the Hoenn division,” Luo Yuan said, recalling someone he had encountered there—Courtney.

Since joining Team Rocket, Courtney had performed admirably.

As the second-in-command to the Pokémon Hunter, she had demonstrated considerable capability.

Coupled with her own solid strength and unwavering loyalty to Team Rocket, promoting her to an executive position seemed like a logical move.

After hearing this, Giovanni nodded.

He trusted Luo Yuan’s psychic abilities—anyone who could pass Luo Yuan’s scrutiny was undoubtedly reliable.

“Additionally… once we deal with Team Galactic, we might consider bringing back Sird,” Luo Yuan added. “She’s quite capable. If Team Galactic collapses, she’ll lose the faction she’s loyal to, and at that point, recruiting her back into Team Rocket wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Sird, huh…”

Giovanni fell into deep thought.

As the first-ever defector in Team Rocket’s history, Sird’s betrayal had directly led to the formation of Team Rocket’s Internal Affairs Division.

However, as Luo Yuan pointed out, if Team Galactic was destroyed, there would be no reason for Sird to continue serving as their spy.

Her fate would ultimately depend on how she conducted herself when the time came.

After wrapping up discussions with Giovanni regarding Team Rocket’s recent affairs, Luo Yuan didn’t linger in Kanto for long.

Lusamine had already finished handling business in Hoenn and had arrived in Johto.

Bringing Lillie and Sabrina with him, Luo Yuan returned home—only to find Lusamine already waiting for him.

Dressed in a white nightgown, she sat on the sofa with one hand holding a teacup and the other flipping through a book, making herself completely at home.

As Luo Yuan walked in, Lusamine greeted him with a charming smile.

However, she failed to notice Lillie standing behind him.

“…Mom?”

Seeing her mother behaving so differently from usual, Lillie’s expression crumbled.

Lusamine: “….”

She slipped up.

Clearing her throat lightly, she quickly regained her composure, adopting a dignified expression—as if everything from a moment ago had been an illusion.

“Luo Yuan, the acquisition of Greater Mauville Holdings in Hoenn is complete,” Lusamine reported. “I must say, your name was unexpectedly useful there.”

“Hmm?”

“The Hoenn League was initially wary of our Aether Foundation. But once I mentioned that you hold shares in Aether, they approved the deal without hesitation,” Lusamine explained with a sigh.

She had always known Luo Yuan’s name carried weight.

But it wasn’t until she left Alola that she truly understood the level of prestige he commanded.

Luo Yuan smiled slightly—this was one of the many hidden benefits of defeating Steven.

In the world of Pokémon, while strength alone couldn’t dictate everything, it certainly influenced a great deal.

“What about Devon Corporation? Any issues there?”

“After being attacked, Devon has been too preoccupied to interfere with anything else,” Lusamine said with a smirk. “The Neo Mauville Project has already been restarted. In about six months, Neo Mauville will be fully operational!”

—

T/N: WOAH IS LUSAMINE GONNA BE HIS WING TOO?

This is a fan translation of 我，火箭队二把手！ by 落唯 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!