Ok, so, Pokémon is pretty dark for being directed towards kids. Between the species based on "my mother is dead, so I wear her skull, and my cries attract my predators" to a balloon that kidnap children, but "doesn't like fat kids". But even with the many villains that Pokémon has had, I think Lusamine is the most terrible, and one of the worst parents in videogames.
She's also my favorite villain just because of the concept behind her
So, as mentioned before, she's a horrible mother (perfect pair for Ghetsis), but she also: abuses Pokémon while she claims to "protect and share her love" with other Pokémon by cryogenizing them
(yup, every single one of those squares? That's one of the cute creatures called Pokémon. It may even be your favorite one); she also put up a façade of defending pokemon with the aether foundation, thus augmenting the number of Pokémon for her collection, and throws of the balance of space (Palkia will be maaaad) only for one thing.
Nihilego.
Now, the game makes it so that we think it's all just because she thinks the ultra beasts are beautiful, exquisite beings, and all she desires is to get one of them just because they're beautiful. However, you are capable of hearing a description from Wicke after the ultra beast episode.
"There have been sightings reported of this beast in Alola's past. Its most distinctive feature is its parasitic capability. When Nihilego latches on to a host, it does not manipulate its actions directly. Rather it awakens the host's own capabilities and boosts them to an extreme extent in order to protect itself. It injects the host with a sort of neurotoxin to achieve this effect. This neurotoxin of Nihilego's is incredibly stimulating and inspires feelings of extreme excitement and a lack of inhibition in its host. In other words, anything or anyone that a Nihilego latches on to will have its native skills forcibly activated to their fullest extent and will then act as it naturally desires to"
But, this doesn't really matter at all, right? It's not like she came in contact with it, right...? Well, actually, Gladion mentions a bit towards that subject:
"It was my father who started it. He was the one who first confirmed the existence of Ultra Wormholes and Ultra Beasts. But my father... He disappeared during an experiment. Trying to connect to an Ultra Wormhole. All that he left behind was a weakened Cosmog and his papers about Nihilego... Lusamine's obsession with Ultra Wormholes... and her obsession with the Ultra Beasts... I think it was all basically her way of trying to reach him again. That's what I had to believe. To get through it."
Well, connect the dots. Her husband disappeared during a certain experiment. While investigating Ultra beasts. Nihilego is an Ultra beast, specifically, one that is said to have been in Alola before. Lusamine probably grows depressed and desperate,with two children left without their dad, and creates Type:Null to combat the beings that took off with her husband.
Then, she could have been infected by a Nihilego. She losses her own restrictions, becomes more aggressive, taking out every problem she has on her children, and fully controls them, and calls off the Type:Null project since she doesn't want to attack the source of her liberation from her sorrow.
But then... Nihilego goes away. Lusamine mentions how she HAS to get Nihilego again, right after you fight it for the first time in the aether paradise. She used Cosmog as a tool to get the ultra beast back, putting it through such harsh things, that she made her other child, Lillie, take off with poor Nebby.
Lusamine is addicted to Nihilego's neurotoxins. To the that she abuses of her family and stop caring about them, and only looks for the substance that makes her stop feeling bad, that she "needs" desperately, while imposing her desires on everyone else, hurting them if they get in the way of her consume, while disregarding anything that doesn't follow her order or serves her towards her goal.
I started thinking about this while hearing both of her battle themes, and thinking they sounded more like someone in deep sorrow and sadness, like being in pain.
And that's basically why I love her like a villain. Because she's manages to reflect very well both the lore of a creature, a proper and profound character, and a real life situation of addiction.