Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! [475] [100 PS]

During the video call, representatives from Silph Co., the Aether Foundation, and Malva, who now oversaw the former Flare Labs, all expressed great interest in Luo Yuan's proposal.

Although they were all part of Team Rocket, that didn't mean there were no lines drawn between them.

Where there are people, there are cliques.

Team Rocket was no exception.

In terms of roles, the organization was broadly split into three factions: the combat faction, led by Trainers; the research faction, made up of scientist-trainers; and the business faction, represented by groups like Silph Co., the Aether Foundation, and Flare Labs.

Now, with Luo Yuan—Team Rocket's second-in-command—personally leading an expansion into the Galar region, the business faction had no intention of letting such a golden opportunity slip by.

"Does Mr. Luo Yuan already have a concrete plan?" the Silph Co. president asked.

As Luo Yuan's strength continued to grow, and the scope of Team Rocket's control expanded rapidly, the way people addressed him had quietly begun to change.

Luo Yuan didn't comment on it. He simply smiled and said, "I have a rough idea."

Everyone immediately perked up. No one truly believed it was "rough"—that was just Luo Yuan being modest.

As all eyes turned to him, Luo Yuan began:

"You all know how tightly Macro Cosmos has Galar in its grip. Trying to topple them through commercial means alone is impossible."

The others nodded in agreement.

Over there, the Galar League had all but become Macro Cosmos's plaything.

One look at the Champion Leon's cape—plastered with corporate logos—was enough to see that the League had taken the shape of Macro Cosmos.

"So, I've drafted a three-pronged plan to deal with Macro Cosmos."

Luo Yuan held up three fingers.

"First: under the pretense of cooperating to counter Team Rocket, we'll draw part of Macro Cosmos's attention toward Kanto. Once their focus is split, Silph Co. will coordinate with Boss Giovanni to eliminate that portion of their influence."

"Second: we launch a public opinion offensive, targeting Chairman Rose's reputation. I've already deployed people to dig up dirt on him. When the time is right, we'll push that material through Silph Co.'s holo-comm network. Combined with our economic push here in Kanto, it's bound to trigger internal unrest in Macro Cosmos."

"What about the third step?" Lusamine asked.

The first required cooperation from Silph Co., the second from the Flare Labs team and Silph's communications branch.

That left her as the only one without a clear role—yet.

"Of course you have a role to play," Luo Yuan replied, smiling slightly. "This time, we'll need the Aether Foundation's funding."

Although the Aether Foundation was rooted in the Alola region and didn't command a corporate empire on the scale of Silph, it had one significant advantage—

Massive liquid capital.

Unlike Silph, which was burning through cash expanding into telecom, the Aether Foundation had spent years quietly accumulating wealth.

And in the current landscape, that gave it immense leverage.

"I plan to use that capital to acquire Macro Cosmos assets the moment they fall into chaos," Luo Yuan explained.

He hadn't gone through all this effort just to destroy Macro Cosmos, only for their assets to be scooped up by someone else.

What he really wanted… was to swallow the entire company whole.

Lusamine nodded at first, but then raised a concern.

"Will the Galar League just sit back and let the Aether Foundation take over Macro Cosmos assets?"

Every regional League was a territorial little circle.

For the Aether Foundation to enter Galar would be no easy feat—

The League might retaliate. Especially now, when it was practically under Macro Cosmos's thumb.

How could they possibly stand by and let someone else take the prize?

To that, Luo Yuan only gave a knowing smile.

"No need to worry. By then, they'll be too busy to bother us."

Though she still had doubts, Lusamine didn't press the issue.

She trusted Luo Yuan—and more importantly, she trusted his strength.

Once the overall framework had been established, the group spent the entire afternoon hashing out the details.

By the time the call ended, the sun had already begun to set.

Sabrina handed him a tall glass of freshly squeezed Pecha juice.

"All done?" she asked.

Luo Yuan stretched his back with a groan. "The general plan's locked in. Now we just have to head to Galar and carry it out ourselves."

With that, he pulled Sabrina into an embrace, burying his face in her hair and inhaling deeply.

"So tired…"

He had only just returned from Sinnoh, and now he'd spent an entire day strategizing an incursion into Galar.

Even with his exceptional stamina, Luo Yuan was starting to feel the fatigue.

If not for the long-term consequences, he honestly would've considered sending his Legendaries in to just flatten the region outright.

Sabrina didn't say anything in response to his complaints.

Instead, she held him gently, a tender expression on her face.

She adjusted her psychic frequency to resonate with his, merging their spiritual waves and helping to carry the weight of his exhaustion.

In that moment, their minds became one—a perfect, wordless harmony.

The next morning, Luo Yuan rose early.

Thanks to Sabrina sharing the burden of his fatigue—and thanks to his own remarkable recovery rate—one good night's sleep was nearly enough to get him back to peak condition.

As for Sabrina…

Maybe she'd taken on a bit too much last night, or maybe it was due to… other unspeakable reasons, but she was still curled up in bed.

Downstairs, in the courtyard, his Pokémon were already in the middle of morning training under Mewtwo's supervision.

With the number of Pokémon under his care growing by the day, Luo Yuan no longer had the time to personally oversee every training session.

So he had simply assigned the job to Mewtwo.

And truthfully, when it came to theory, no one in the world could compare to Mewtwo.

Armed with a vast mental library of books and Team Rocket's classified research materials—read and absorbed through sheer psychic power—Mewtwo's knowledge of Pokémon training now surpassed that of any professional breeder alive.

Every one of Luo Yuan's Pokémon was giving it their all, striving to grow stronger and become more useful to him.

Well… almost every one.

"Daaaay…"

A sleepy voice echoed behind Luo Yuan.

Slowpoke emerged from its room, eyes half-lidded, dragging Shellder along by the tail.

It completely ignored Luo Yuan's presence, wandered over to the fridge, pulled out two sandwiches—one for itself, one for Shellder—and began munching away at its lazy breakfast.