Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! [546]

[Johto Has a New Champion! Lance Falls to Luo Yuan!]

That was the headline splashed across the front pages of every major news outlet.

Luo Yuan was already quite well-known—his previous battles against Steven and Leon had earned him a massive following. The moment the news broke, it shot to the top of the trending topics.

He was soon bombarded with congratulatory messages:

[Steven]: Next time you’re in Hoenn, the meal’s on me.

[Leon]: You finally made Champion too! Let’s have another match soon!

[President of Silph Co.]: Congratulations.

[Lorelei]: Poor Lance… (lol)

[Professor Oak]: Time really flies!

[Gary]: Damn it, the gap between us just keeps growing.

[Ash]: So strong… I wanna—hey, don’t push, Pikachu… Pika, pi!

[Sabrina]: Come home for dinner tonight.

By the time Luo Yuan had replied to everyone, his hands were practically numb.

On the other side, Lance had already completed the handover procedures.

That the transition could happen so quickly was partly because Luo Yuan was already considered “one of their own,” but mostly thanks to Koga.

Koga had practically shouldered the entire administrative burden of the Johto League for the past few months. In fact, at this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire league was running on his back.

Only now did Lance realize: maybe the Johto League didn’t need him as much as he thought.

He, Lance the Dragon Master, was… expendable.

Crushed, he declined Luo Yuan’s offer to stay on as the Flying—er, Dragon-type Elite Four member. With his belongings packed and Dragonite at his side, he flew back home to Blackthorn City, determined to enter seclusion and train.

Luo Yuan wasn’t disappointed.

With Lance gone, the now-vacant Elite Four seat could go to Pryce, the highly respected Ice-type Gym Leader with deep roots in Johto.

Luo Yuan believed that under his leadership, and with the guidance of Koga, Will, Karen, and Pryce as the new Elite Four, the Johto League was heading for a brighter, more glorious future.

Sitting in the Champion’s office at the Johto League headquarters—a building designed and supervised personally by Lance—Luo Yuan felt nothing but satisfaction.

All of Johto’s resources were now fully open to him.

He dialed Giovanni’s number. It seemed to be nighttime in Unova.

“Boss Giovanni,” said Luo Yuan.

“I saw the news. Nicely done.” Giovanni’s tone was full of praise.

“With this, Johto is completely under our control.”

Though they’d technically had control before, having a Champion on their side made a world of difference.

Luo Yuan nodded, then asked, “How are things looking over in Unova?”

Giovanni had gone there ahead of time to deal with Team Plasma—the last real threat to Team Rocket’s expansion. Once Plasma was eliminated, bringing Unova under Rocket control would be straightforward. Compared to that, Galar was barely worth worrying about.

At the mention of Plasma, Giovanni’s expression turned strange.

Seeing the confusion on Luo Yuan’s face, Giovanni replied with a peculiar look: “Team Plasma… had a civil war.”

Luo Yuan, stunned, stared at the projection full of question marks. Giovanni wasn’t surprised.

To be honest, he’d been just as baffled when he first heard.

He had landed in Unova with Mewtwo at his side, bracing for a hard battle—only to be greeted with news that Team Plasma was tearing itself apart.

Rocket’s intelligence network in Unova offered only vague insights at first. But after some deep digging, Giovanni got the gist:

It seemed a power struggle had erupted between Ghetsis, who held the real authority, and N, the symbolic leader. Their ideological clash had split the organization in two.

As a result, both Team Plasma and the entire Unova region had plunged into chaos.

Rumors that Team Plasma was planning to collaborate with the League to take down Team Rocket? Completely dead in the water.

“I see,” Luo Yuan said. He was familiar enough with Plasma’s internal politics, but he hadn’t expected the Ghetsis-N schism to blow up now.

The speech he’d prepared to sway N? Useless now.

No matter who won between N and Ghetsis, neither would be able to stop Giovanni.

“In any case, the Unova issue is basically resolved,” Giovanni continued. “I’ll stay here until Rocket’s Unova division is fully established before returning.”

“As for Kanto, let Honchkrow impersonate me for now and handle League affairs. Help him cover if needed.”

Honchkrow had successfully impersonated Giovanni multiple times in the past, so the boss had no doubts about the ruse.

“And since Johto’s fully secured, I’m transferring the Four Generals to Unova. You need to wrap up the Johto division’s integration quickly—don’t let the underlings stir up trouble.”

“Understood,” Luo Yuan nodded.

After a few more logistical details, Giovanni ended the call.

Whew.

Hanging up, Luo Yuan stood and turned to the clear blue sky outside the window. “What a beautiful day.”

“Gengar!”

At some point, his Gengar had appeared by his side and nodded in agreement.

…

…

…

Two Years Later

The world had changed drastically over the past two years.

With every regional crime syndicate swept away by Team Rocket, public safety within the League had improved tremendously.

Poaching rings that once ran rampant were now on the verge of collapse.

Led by Johto Champion Luo Yuan and Kanto Champion Giovanni, tensions between the two existing systems—the Pokémon Association Model and the Champion-Elite Four System—began to escalate.

Both sides fought bitterly over which system should guide the regional leagues.

The battle spilled over into the League Council more than once. But with massive funding from major transregional corporations like Devon Corp, Silph Co., and the Aether Foundation, the Champions—already holding the upper hand—won a decisive victory.

The Pokémon Association model, which had persisted for decades, was officially dismantled.
All regional leagues now adopted the Champion-led system: Champions in command, the Elite Four assisting, and civil officials managing routine operations.

That same year, Lance challenged Giovanni… and lost.

League Chairman Damalantha stepped down. Giovanni resigned as Kanto Champion and was elected by a landslide as the new League Chairman. Luo Yuan was appointed Vice Chairman.

Lorelei, leveraging her type advantage, defeated Lance and became the new Kanto Champion.

Sabrina took Lorelei’s place and became the new Psychic-type Elite Four member.

Under the leadership of Giovanni, Luo Yuan, and the many Elite Four members tied to Rocket, Team Rocket rapidly infiltrated the League.

In the foreseeable future, Rocket’s control over the League would be absolute.

—

T/N: poor lance… also Misty has been absent for like 100+ chapters LMAOOO anyways uhhh idk the ending seems a bit rushed? yeah the author was like having trouble with the fic hmmm, idk I guess its not TOO bad of an ending, whatever its been fun! at least charizard got one last final show…

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!