Although the Pokemon franchise has over 25 years under its belt, there are few characters more memorable than Giovanni, the original antagonist of both the games and anime. Although Giovanni has been largely replaced by other villains in the main series as time passed, he made a grand return in Pokemon GO as the leader of Team GO Rocket. This sly and scheming mastermind has a new set of tricks up his sleeve for determined Pokemon GO players to counter.
During the original Pokemon Red and Blue, Giovanni was introduced as the secret Ground-type Gym Leader of Viridian City. However, he was also the leader of the malicious crime syndicate known as Team Rocket. At this early stage in his career, Giovanni can't be considered the most evil Pokemon villain, but his double life and fierce personality led to him sticking around in fans' minds.
Giovanni's Master Plans
In the beginning, Giovanni's goals were mundane as far as Pokemon villains go. Unlike several of his successors - including Cyrus from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, who carried out terrorist bombings, tortured innocent Legendaries, and intended to destroy the world - Giovanni simply wanted to gather rare or strong Pokemon. Team Rocket started out as an organized crime syndicate that stole powerful Pokemon in order to sell them, exploit them, or experiment on them. While this may not seem particularly bad compared to some of the villains who came after, Mewtwo exists because of Giovanni's belief that Pokemon are tools.
Pokemon Red and Blue saw the player bring Giovanni's criminal ambitions to a halt, both by defeating him and by reawakening his enjoyment of Pokemon battles. This led him to disband Team Rocket and leave, stating that he intended to better himself. Aside from a few cameos during time travel events, it appeared that Giovanni's criminal days were over until Episode RR of Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. There, Giovanni appeared as the leader of the new Team Rainbow Rocket, made up of the villains previously defeated by players in other games who seek multiversal conquest with the help of the Ultra Beasts. After being beaten once again, Giovanni accepted his loss, but declared that he wouldn't be disbanding his organization this time. Afterward, Giovanni set his sights on the world of Pokemon GO.
Leader of Team GO Rocket
At the head of Team GO Rocket, Giovanni appears to have gone back to his old ways, but on an entirely different scale. Not only is he once again at the head of a criminal organization that's stealing Pokemon around the globe, he's extended his goals to taking over PokeStops as well. His intentions are to hoard all the resources PokeStops can offer for himself, and he leaves members of Team Rocket to guard the PokeStops they've claimed. On top of this, Giovanni also appears to be responsible for the Shadow Pokemon found in Pokemon GO.
Giovanni can be battled and defeated by players willing to take on his arsenal of Shadow Legendaries, but he refuses to let it get him down. Although players have the opportunity to foil his plans, his hard work is already paying off. The world of Pokemon GO is a world under siege. Trainers are encouraged to stay vigilant for the machinations of Team GO Rocket, and are often faced with the tormented Shadow Pokemon that Giovanni and his people have brainwashed and abused. Even incredibly rare and powerful Pokemon like Suicune, Mewtwo, and Ho-Oh are shown to have Shadow versions, which may suggest that Pokemon GO's rendition of Giovanni is the most successful one yet.
Pokemon GO is now available for mobile devices.