Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! [500]

Rose and Oleana had never imagined that signing a cooperation treaty with Kanto would have such a massive impact on Galar.

It had only been a single night since the treaty was finalized.
And on the very next day…

As the people of Galar were still reeling from Leon’s unprecedented and crushing defeat, they noticed something strange: an unfamiliar kind of store had begun appearing across their streets.

These stores were planted right in the heart of Galar’s busiest commercial districts. Massive advertisements stretched across buildings, practically wrapping entire city blocks.
No matter where you walked in Galar, you could not ignore them.

A few inquiries were all it took for locals to figure out what these shops were selling.

“Silph Co. Holographic Communicators?”

It wasn’t an unfamiliar name to Galarians.

Though Macro Cosmos had monopolized nearly every industry in the region and kept holographic communicators from ever entering the local market, people still knew about them — through the internet, through global news. These devices were renowned worldwide, hailed as cutting-edge tech.

Many Galar citizens had long dreamed of owning one, frustrated by the lack of access under their region’s trade barriers.

But now, Silph Co. was distributing them en masse across Galar.
In just a single day, the holo-communicator craze had taken Galar by storm.

Macro Cosmos’s own communication devices were instantly rendered obsolete — thrown straight into the trash, like yesterday’s news.

At the top floor of Rose Tower, Chairman Rose stood silently by the window, gazing down at the long lines stretching in front of the Silph Co. flagship store. His expression had turned utterly grim.

He had anticipated some impact from opening Galar’s communication sector to Silph.

But this… this was far beyond anything he’d imagined.

In just five days, Silph Co. had swallowed up half the market share held by Macro Cosmos Communications.

And the only reason they hadn’t taken the other half…
Was because those customers were still waiting in line to get their hands on a communicator.

At this rate, within a week, Galar’s entire communications industry would belong to Silph Co.

Macro Cosmos’s analytics team had attributed the phenomenon to the appeal of new, advanced technology combined with Silph’s overwhelming marketing blitz.

But Rose… saw something else in all this.

The people of Galar had been under Macro Cosmos’s thumb for far too long.

Everything — from what they ate and drank to the homes they lived in and the vehicles they rode — had been under Macro Cosmos’s control.
They were like Wooloo raised in a pen, completely reliant on the company from birth to death.

If that control had been earned through genuine technological innovation, perhaps Galar’s citizens would have accepted it — maybe even taken pride in it.

But Rose knew exactly what his company had been doing all these years.

Using their control over the League to build trade barriers, shutting out companies from other regions… they were masters of the tactic.
Because of that, countless advanced technologies had never reached Galar. The holo-communicator was just one example.

And that long-standing deprivation had festered into resentment.

Even if they weren’t fully aware of it,
Galar’s people had been yearning to break free from Macro Cosmos’s control.

That unspoken desire was what had turned this market shift into a miracle.

And now, Rose was beginning to regret just how casually he had agreed to Luo Yuan’s request to open Galar’s communication sector.

But it was too late.

If he tried to walk it back now, not only would he be unable to explain it to the League Council, the citizens who had just bought their new devices would never accept it either.

So Rose could only grit his teeth — and swallow the consequences whole.

He turned away from the window to avoid looking at the celebration playing out below.

Pressing a button on his desk, a holographic projection of Oleana appeared before him.

“Oleana, how’s the exchange program coming along?”

Since Galar’s losses in the communication sector couldn’t be reversed, Rose intended to claw it back on Kanto’s turf.

Oleana’s projection spoke crisply, “Per your orders, we’ve assembled a team of five hundred Trainers to be sent to Kanto. Leon will lead the delegation, with Raihan as his deputy. They’ll coordinate with Champions Lance and Giovanni to combat Team Rocket.”

“On the business side,” she continued, “we’ve established a Galar branch office in Saffron City. Many Kanto companies have already approached us to discuss partnerships. Several initial agreements are in place — we can begin operations immediately.”

Rose nodded at the report, his expression easing slightly.

While Silph Co. had been sweeping through Galar these past few days, he hadn’t been idle either.

Sure, Macro Cosmos couldn’t compete with Silph’s holographic tech in communications. But in other industries, they still held the upper hand.
And look — just the name Macro Cosmos was enough to attract Kanto companies to the table.

Let’s see if Silph Co. is still smiling when I take over their home ground.

With that thought, the sour mood Rose had been carrying since his earlier defeat finally began to fade.

“But Chairman Rose…” Oleana’s image hesitated, her expression clouded.

“Sending both Leon and Raihan to Kanto… are we certain Galar won’t be left too vulnerable?”

After all, outside of Rose himself, Leon and Raihan were the two strongest individuals Galar had.

Her concern was clear — Galar might be stretching itself too thin.

—

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!