Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! [472] [30 PS]

Luo Yuan's mind spun with possibilities.

He couldn't deny—it really wasn't a bad idea.

Among the dark organizations absorbed by Team Rocket, not everyone had the sense to willingly join up. Handling those people was proving to be a tricky matter.

If they were just a bunch of small fry, Luo Yuan could've simply handed them off to the League and been done with it.

But for those mid- and high-level members holding sensitive intel about their original organizations—especially since Team Rocket had inherited many of their secret bases and assets—turning them over to the League would only bring trouble.

So Team Rocket's policy had always been to detain and monitor them closely.

At first, it wasn't a problem. But as Team Rocket expanded rapidly, the resources and manpower required to keep them under control became a growing burden.

But what if the Distortion World became their exile zone?

From a logistics standpoint alone, Luo Yuan realized, it would free up a massive portion of Team Rocket's personnel.

In fact, the Distortion World was huge—desolate and chaotic, yes—but there had to be mineral deposits or something valuable buried in there. Sending these prisoners to mine them would be an efficient way to utilize resources.

Even high-pollution factories could be tossed in.

The more Luo Yuan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

There was just one catch—

Given how he'd just bullied Giratina, there was no way he'd be able to call it out again anytime soon. It would take time for Giratina to forget the "misunderstanding" between them, and to realize Luo Yuan truly meant no harm. Only then could this plan be put into motion.

Just as Luo Yuan sighed in regret, thinking it would have to wait, Giratina—who had finally relaxed and was now drifting through the Distortion World with Cyrus dangling from its wing—suddenly shivered.

An ominous feeling crept over it.

It glanced around warily, scanning its surroundings for the source of that feeling… but nothing stood out.

Unable to find the cause, Giratina grew increasingly irritable. It looked down at the still-dazed Cyrus, who was quietly taking in the warped landscape, and recalled Luo Yuan's two "simple" instructions. Its expression darkened slightly, thoughtful and vaguely resentful.

Luo Yuan probably didn't know whether Cyrus's days in the Distortion World counted as humane treatment… but either way, he'd already washed his hands of it.

Once the situation in Sinnoh was resolved, and after escorting Pachira back to Kalos, Luo Yuan returned to Johto with Matori.

"By the way," Luo Yuan asked as he turned to her, "what excuse did you use to leave Johto?"

Before departing for Sinnoh, Luo Yuan had tasked Matori with impersonating him to keep up appearances. Now that she'd accompanied him to Sinnoh, that meant…

"Sabrina came over to help," Matori replied.

Hearing her name, Luo Yuan immediately relaxed.

With Sabrina's deep familiarity with him, there was no chance of her slipping up while playing his role in Johto—even for a short time.

...

Back in Johto…

Though it felt like he'd been away forever, in truth Luo Yuan had only been gone for half a month. Johto looked much the same as when he'd left.

Or at least, that's how it appeared on the surface.

In reality, ever since the Silver Conference ended and Will and Karen had risen to become the third and fourth Elite Four—following Luo Yuan and Koga—the changes had been far-reaching.

Much of Koga's previous workload had been split between Will and Karen. Add to that the tasks outsourced to Team Rocket's Strategic Division, and Koga now only had to sign a few documents a day. The man was practically on vacation.

Of course, none of this had much to do with Luo Yuan.

His responsibilities were still handled by Matori.

Luo Yuan merely marveled at how smoothly Johto had come under Team Rocket's governance.

Since Matori needed to return to headquarters to catalog and archive the assets they'd seized from Team Galactic, Luo Yuan returned to his private estate alone.

The moment he walked through the door, he saw Sabrina lounging on the couch, one hand holding a glass of juice, the other flipping through a book.

Beside her, her Ditto lay sprawled across the cushions like a puddle, basking in a beam of sunlight.

Seeing Luo Yuan return, Sabrina's face lit up with a soft smile.

Luo Yuan, on the other hand, looked slightly puzzled.

"Didn't Matori say you were still pretending to be me?"

Logically, she should've still been at his office.

At his question, Sabrina tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "I didn't have time to tell you—I knew you'd be back soon."

She waved her hand, and a folder floated from the nearby table into Luo Yuan's grasp.

"This is for you."

Luo Yuan glanced at the cover: Galar Region Cultural Exchange Program.

He flipped it open and skimmed the contents. The document was full of details about a proposed cultural exchange with the Galar region.

"…What's going on?" Even Luo Yuan was caught off guard. He'd just returned home, hadn't even had a sip of water, and now this?

"It was a request from the Galar League," Sabrina said with a light laugh. "They want to initiate a cultural exchange with Kanto. Originally, they invited Lance, but he couldn't make it. Since you have experience working with Alola, the responsibility ended up falling to you."

"..."

Is it really this hard to catch a break?

He had just gotten back from Sinnoh, and now he was being packed off on another out-of-region assignment.

Luo Yuan could already picture the conversation he'd be having with Giovanni once he reported this.

The Boss would definitely want him to use this as an opportunity to take Galar too. If they succeeded, the only region left outside of Team Rocket's control would be Unova.

Fine, he thought. I'll treat it like a free vacation.

He was already familiar with Galar's political landscape. With his strength, there wouldn't be any issues.

The only real challenge would be figuring out how to get Team Rocket into Galar in a steady, sustainable way.

As Luo Yuan skimmed through the documents, Sabrina's voice drifted over again.

"Oh, and there's some good news—do you want to hear it?"

"What good news?" Luo Yuan looked up, curiosity piqued.

"This time, the Galar League invited both the Kanto and Johto Leagues to participate. So Kanto will be sending someone too."

Her lips curved into a warm smile.

"I'll be going to Galar with you."

Strictly speaking, Sabrina wasn't the best candidate from the Kanto League. That should've been Lorelei. But everyone knew about Sabrina and Luo Yuan's relationship, and Lorelei, being on good terms with him, had quietly given up her spot in Sabrina's favor.