"Sird," Luo Yuan spoke the na that made Giovanni's brow involuntarily furrow.
Giovanni hadn't expected that the person Luo Yuan would recomnd… would be Sird—the forr traitor.
"Why?" Though Giovanni had been deeply angered by Sird's betrayal of Team Rocket, he didn't imdiately shoot down Luo Yuan's proposal. Instead, he asked calmly.
Back then, it was Luo Yuan himself who had led the team to capture Sird. If he was now vouching for her, then he must have his reasons.
"First of all, Sird is extrely capable," Luo Yuan replied without hesitation.
At that, Giovanni gave a small nod.
Even if she was a traitor, there was no denying that during her ti as a high-ranking officer in Team Rocket, Sird had proven her strength—enough for Giovanni to have once placed her as the leader of the Three Beasts.
But after her betrayal, the more Giovanni had once relied on her, the more deeply he had co to resent her.
Seeing the flicker of emotion on his boss's face, Luo Yuan wasn't surprised. Sird's betrayal had indeed struck a nerve at the ti.
It was through that very incident—capturing Sird—that Luo Yuan had successfully climbed the ranks, becoming the unquestioned second-in-command of Team Rocket.
"The reason I'm recomnding Sird isn't just her strength," Luo Yuan continued. "Another key point is that Galactic is now completely under our control. As a forr officer of Galactic, Sird no longer has anyone left to be loyal to."
As soone familiar with the plot, Luo Yuan knew full well that Sird's so-called loyalty to Team Galactic had always been sothing of a Schrödinger's cat situation.
In the Special manga storyline, even though Sird had revealed herself as a Galactic spy following Team Rocket's disbandnt, her actions suggested that her supposed loyalty to Galactic had never been wholehearted.
That was why Luo Yuan had brought her na to Giovanni.
Of course, he didn't explain it in those terms—only frad it as a strategic move now that Galactic had fallen.
"........." Giovanni fell silent, lost in thought.
Luo Yuan's argunt wasn't without rit. Although Sird's betrayal still left a lingering distrust in Giovanni's heart, he wasn't the type to let emotions cloud his judgnt.
Right now, Team Rocket was severely short-handed.
Even with subordinates to help manage operations, juggling his dual roles as both Kanto's Champion and the boss of Team Rocket had drastically increased Giovanni's workload.
After weighing the pros and cons, Giovanni ultimately made his decision—bringing Sird back into the fold as a Rocket executive offered far more advantage than risk.
Of course, another key reason for this decision was the simple fact that, at this point, no other organization in the world had the resources or influence to lure a top-ranking Rocket officer into betrayal.
Team Rocket now stood as a massive powerhouse stretching across half the world.
The only remaining force that could stand against it… was the official League.
And Sird? There was no way she was working for the League.
With that thought, Giovanni looked up and said to Luo Yuan, "Do as you see fit. But keep her under surveillance."
That was Giovanni's formal approval.
Even without Giovanni's order, Luo Yuan had already planned to do exactly that.
Keeping tabs on Sird was well within the scope of his duties as head of Team Rocket's internal affairs.
"There's one more thing, Boss Giovanni," Luo Yuan said, informing him of their plan to coerce Cynthia into cooperation. "We may be able to use this as an opportunity to infiltrate the Sinnoh League."
"Leave the arrangents to ." Giovanni always granted Luo Yuan a great deal of autonomy. "I'll have Matori escort Sird to Sinnoh. That region is now your responsibility."
"Yes, sir!"
---
As for Cyrus he wasn't even sure how he'd gotten through the last few days.
After being captured by Team Rocket, he had assud they would urgently interrogate him for key Galactic intel.
But day after day passed with no one acknowledging his existence—aside from soone delivering als, it was as if he had been forgotten.
Doesn't Team Rocket care about the information I have on Galactic? Cyrus couldn't help but spiral into anxious speculation.
And he wasn't wrong.
The truth was, Luo Yuan no longer needed the intel locked in Cyrus' head.
Because he had found soone far more useful.
Now seated in what used to be Cyrus' office, Luo Yuan flipped through a stack of docunts.
After a long while, he lifted his head, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Not bad at all," Luo Yuan praised.
"As long as you're satisfied, sir," replied Pluto, grinning from ear to ear across the desk.
A rational scientist to his core, Pluto had never truly sworn loyalty to Team Galactic.
The only reason he'd joined in the first place was because Galactic funded his research.
So when it beca clear that Cyrus' capture had dood any hopes of a coback, Pluto had been the very first of Galactic's senior staff to defect and pledge himself to Team Rocket.
Luo Yuan chuckled as he looked at Pluto. He wasn't the sentintal type—and he certainly didn't look down on Pluto for switching sides so quickly.
On the contrary, Pluto's defection had significantly smoothed Team Rocket's acquisition of Galactic's assets. He'd even handed over years of research data, massively enriching Rocket's scientific capabilities.
"As we agreed—you'll serve as head of the Sinnoh branch's research division. You'll report directly to ."
"And one more thing…" Luo Yuan placed a Poké Ball on the desk.
Seeing the oddly designed Poké Ball, Pluto tilted his head in confusion. "This is…?"
"It's yours," Luo Yuan said. "Consider it a perk of being one of our scientists. It's an Ultra Beast from the Alola region."
"Ultra Beast?" Pluto repeated, rolling the term around in his mouth.
Living in Sinnoh and with no published data on Ultra Beasts, it was his first ti hearing the na.
"It's a Pokémon from another dinsion," Luo Yuan explained simply. "The one inside is Xurkitree. It's Electric-type."
In truth, it was only a few days ago that Rocket's team in Alola had made any real progress in capturing Ultra Beasts.
The first batch had been distributed to the scientific research division. Partly to improve their ability to defend themselves, but also in hopes that their brilliant minds could unlock the mysteries of these strange lifeforms.
After sending off a visibly thrilled Pluto, Luo Yuan looked up—just in ti to see Malva entering the room.
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