Team Rocket's Second-in-Command!-Chapter 377: Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command! []

Lillie had been worried ever since Luo Yuan left for his "home visit" and didn't return all night.

Although Sabrina had repeatedly assured her that Luo Yuan was more than capable of taking care of himself, Lillie still anxiously waited by the door early in the morning.

At long last, Luo Yuan returned.

What she didn't expect, however, was for her mother, Lusamine, to return with him.

Seeing Lusamine, Lillie instinctively shrank back.

Her reaction made Lusamine's eye twitch in irritation.

Last night, the entire Aether Foundation had been "cleaned out" by Luo Yuan, yet her own daughter still acted this way—completely oblivious, even siding with the person responsible.

Sold out and still counting the money, Lusamine thought bitterly, questioning whether her years of parenting had gone terribly wrong.

Noticing her mother's unpleasant expression, Lillie stiffly changed the subject.

"Teacher Luo Yuan, what happened last night? You didn't come back at all..."

"Well, here's the story..." Luo Yuan began.

He smoothly laid out the fabricated "truth" he had prepared in advance, recounting the events of the previous night in vivid detail.

In his version, Lusamine was portrayed as the victim, while Faba—one of the Aether Foundation's executives—became the villain. Luo Yuan pinned everything on Faba: the Ultra Beast research, the opening of the Ultra Wormhole, the summoning of Nihilego, and even Lusamine's parasitization.

Since Faba was already a member of Team Rocket, there was no issue with him taking the fall. As a subordinate, he couldn't exactly refuse when the organization's second-in-command handed him the blame.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

To further sell the story, Luo Yuan casually displayed the Beast Ball containing Nihilego, reinforcing the credibility of his account.

Lillie thought back to Faba's appearance.

"Faba... he does look kind of like a bad guy," she said hesitantly.

Lillie's method of judging a person's morality was simple—by their appearance.

For instance, Luo Yuan looked trustworthy and kind, while Faba's appearance practically screamed "villain."

However, upon learning that Nihilego was in the Beast Ball Luo Yuan carried, memories of her childhood encounter with the Ultra Beast resurfaced. Overcome with fear, she shrank back like a frightened rabbit, hiding behind Sabrina.

"What's going on?" Lusamine asked, puzzled.

She knew Lillie was afraid of Pokémon, but had her condition worsened to the point of fearing even those sealed inside Pokéballs?

Seeing Lusamine's confusion, Luo Yuan explained.

"Lillie's fear of Pokémon has already been cured," he said.

"Cured?"

Lusamine stared at him in disbelief. She had sought countless psychologists and tried various treatments for Lillie's condition, all to no avail.

Yet under Luo Yuan's care for just a few days, her daughter's phobia had been resolved?

"It actually only took one night," Luo Yuan added.

Lusamine's face betrayed her incredulity, so Luo Yuan elaborated.

"Lillie's fear stemmed from Nihilego. She wasn't originally afraid of all Pokémon—she was attacked by Nihilego as a child, but she repressed the memory, which caused her fear to generalize to all Pokémon."

"As a child?" Lusamine murmured, recalling a faint memory.

"And yes, the one who released Nihilego back then was Faba," Luo Yuan confirmed her suspicion.

This time, Luo Yuan wasn't framing Faba; the incident had indeed been his doing.

Hearing the full story, Lusamine felt a pang of guilt as she looked at Lillie.

She hadn't known her daughter had been attacked by an Ultra Beast. Consumed by her research, she had clearly neglected her relationship with Lillie to the point of missing something so critical.

Still, Faba remained the true culprit.

After Luo Yuan put away the Beast Ball, Lillie gradually calmed down and emerged from behind Sabrina.

Lusamine's expression softened as she pulled her daughter into a gentle hug, comforting her until her emotions stabilized.

But once Lillie was calm, Lusamine's demeanor shifted back to that of the composed and authoritative Aether Foundation chairwoman.

"What's next?" she asked.

Visiting Lillie had been her own request. Now that she'd confirmed her daughter's safety and learned her Pokémon phobia had been cured, Lusamine felt her resistance to joining Team Rocket weaken further.

She even took the initiative to ask about their next move.

Watching Lusamine slowly but surely accept her new reality, Luo Yuan was pleased.

His initial plan—to use Lillie to approach Lusamine and then leverage Lillie to influence her—had proven highly effective.

Without Lillie, convincing Lusamine to fully integrate into Team Rocket would have taken much longer.

After a moment's thought, Luo Yuan responded.

"Let's head to the Pokémon School. I'll call Kukui and Hala there so we can inform them that the Aether Paradise incident has been resolved."

---

Pokémon School

Luo Yuan, Sabrina, Lillie, Lusamine, Professor Samson Oak, Kukui, and Hala all gathered at the school.

Once again, Luo Yuan recounted the story he had shared with Lillie, painting Lusamine as a victim and pinning all the blame on Faba.

When Kukui and Hala heard that Lusamine was unaware of Faba's actions, they both sighed in relief.

Frankly, if given the choice, neither of them would have wanted to confront the Aether Foundation.

Not only was the foundation a major investor in Alola's economy, but challenging it would have cast doubts on the fledgling Alola League.

This outcome was ideal—the culprit was merely an individual employee, not the organization itself.

"Where is Faba now?" Hala asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Unfortunately, Faba escaped before the chairwoman and I could apprehend him. We searched for him all night but couldn't find a trace," Luo Yuan said, feigning regret.

So that's why Teacher Luo Yuan didn't return all night, Lillie thought, her earlier confusion now resolved.

"Still, the Ultra Beast you mentioned..." Kukui rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It sounds incredibly dangerous."

---

...

Huh. You really stuck it out all the way to the end.

Didn't think you had the patience. Guess I was wrong.

WiseTL's the one who actually made all this come together. I'm just here putting a bow on it... or, well, shoving it in a backpack and calling it a day. Same thing.

If you had fun, you know what to do:

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Heads up—Patreon's 50% off for all tiers during May. So if you were on the fence? Now's the time.

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Alright. That's enough standing around. Go on—before you make it weird.

—Leaf