Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command!

After handing Sird over to Koga, Luo Yuan cleaned up the traces left at the scene and made his way out of the forest.

By the time he returned to the Rocket base on Sevii Island, the battle was over.

Around sixty Team Rocket members had been restrained with handcuffs and were now being guarded by several League trainers.

The rest of the League trainers were combing through the base, searching for any Rocket members who might be in hiding and gathering intelligence.

Da Zhi, who was directing the other trainers, hurried over to greet Luo Yuan upon seeing him return.

"Elite Four Luo Yuan! You're back. Sird..."

As he spoke, he glanced behind Luo Yuan, expecting to see Sird.

"She got away," Luo Yuan said, his tone serious. "There were unexpected complications."

"She escaped?" Da Zhi feigned disappointment, though inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

While he had reported the League's raid to Rocket HQ and received instructions to let it play out, he dreaded the idea of a Rocket executive being captured under his watch.

From what he'd seen today, Da Zhi couldn't shake the suspicion—just a suspicion—that a massive internal purge might be underway within Team Rocket.

Otherwise, why would HQ ignore his report and leave one of their key executives, Sird, stranded in this base?

Seeing the contemplative look on Da Zhi's face, Luo Yuan couldn't tell what the man was thinking and didn't particularly care.

"How's the situation here?" Luo Yuan asked.

Da Zhi snapped out of his thoughts, his expression turning serious.

"With the help of your Dragonite, we captured sixty-three Rocket members," he reported. "As for intelligence gathering, our teams are still working on it. However, this doesn't seem to be one of Rocket's main bases—we haven't found any critical information yet."

Naturally, there was nothing important to be found. In fact, the base had been deliberately stocked with misleading data.

Although the operation was staged to impress the League, Luo Yuan wasn't about to let it compromise Rocket's interests.

Still, he maintained a regretful expression for appearances.

"Keep searching. Don't overlook anything that could be useful. Also, check on the situation at One Island—Lorelei might need our support."

"Yes, sir!"

---

While Luo Yuan handled the aftermath at the base, Lorelei was fuming.

She felt she'd been completely duped.

When she arrived at One Island, there was no trace of Team Rocket anywhere.

Signs of an attack were evident at the Pokémon Center and the radio tower, but not a single Rocket member could be found.

When she tracked down the subordinate who had initially called for help, she got her answers.

According to the subordinate, Team Rocket, led by Orm of the Three Beasts, had launched a bold attack on several key facilities on One Island.

However, the attack didn't last long. After cutting off all external communication channels, Rocket forces had withdrawn.

Recognizing the unusual nature of Rocket's behavior, the subordinate had suspected a ruse but had been unable to contact Lorelei due to the communication blackout.

What Lorelei found upon her arrival was exactly what the subordinate had described.

Realizing she had been lured away as a diversion, Lorelei's thoughts immediately turned to Luo Yuan, who had been leading the operation on Sevii Island.

Her expression hardened as she ordered her team to repair the island's communications network and boarded her plane to return to Sevii Island.

---

An Hour Later

Rocket Base, Sevii Island

When Lorelei arrived, she was greeted by a scene that didn't match her expectations.

Dozens of Rocket members sat in neat rows, handcuffed and under guard. Nearby, piles of intelligence, both useful and useless, were being sorted by League trainers.

Her expression turned to one of shock.

This was not what she had imagined.

She had assumed that Luo Yuan would be ambushed by Rocket forces and locked in a desperate struggle.

Instead, the operation appeared to have been a resounding success.

"What happened here?" Lorelei asked Da Zhi.

Da Zhi glanced at Luo Yuan before recounting the events in detail.

"In short," he said after nearly ten minutes of explanation, "under Luo Yuan's leadership, we engaged Sird..."

Luo Yuan added, "I pursued Sird when she fled, but Rocket reinforcements intercepted me, allowing her to escape."

"That's such a shame..." Lorelei said, visibly disappointed.

Sird had been a thorn in her side for years, a nemesis she had yet to bring to justice.

"To miss this opportunity... Who knows when we'll get another chance like this?" Lorelei sighed.

If she hadn't been lured away, things could have gone differently.

Reflecting on the situation, Lorelei concluded that Rocket must have caught wind of their plans to target Sird. They had used one team to distract her while another facilitated Sird's escape.

As for why Sird hadn't evacuated earlier, Lorelei chalked it up to Rocket receiving the information only recently.

Still, the fact that Rocket had known their plans in advance irked her. It highlighted glaring flaws in the League's security measures—flaws she couldn't address as long as Lance remained in charge of Kanto operations.

"Once Lance moves to Johto," Lorelei thought, "I'll propose a comprehensive overhaul of the League's internal structure to improve confidentiality."

She had even decided who to entrust with the task.

Agatha was retired and uninterested in administrative matters. Bruno's temperament made him unsuited for such work. Lorelei herself was stationed on the Sevii Islands.

That left only one candidate among the future Elite Four.

Giovanni.

As a seasoned Ground-type specialist and the author of The Secrets of the Earth, Giovanni was steady and dependable—qualities ideal for managing such an overhaul.

"Yes, Giovanni would be the perfect choice," Lorelei thought, her mind made up.

Turning to Luo Yuan, she smiled. "You've done an incredible job today. Thank you for your hard work!"

Luo Yuan returned her smile.

"Just getting a head start on my future responsibilities. I imagine I'll be dealing with Rocket quite often when I transfer to Johto."

While he said this politely, his thoughts were far less restrained.

"If Archer and the others dare to cause me trouble, I'll let the Internal Affairs Division handle them."