Family.
Nothing important mattered more than the Family. Blood and loyalty were but simple constructs that tied each individual person that mattered into a well-knit unit. Once you were born into it, there's no way of ever getting out of it. You can earn yourself a way in by proving your worth or even get lucky enough to be handpicked by a member of higher standing in the Family. But if you had the luxury of being born in it, your chances of ever breaking free from it were nonexistent.
He'd learn that lesson all too well after his own mother took him on a boat ride in their first outing as mother and son. Like any other child, he'd been deluding himself into believing that her sudden interest in him was finally borne out of love. She and her platoon had returned home after their foray through Tohjo Mountains. In some sick twisted way, he could believe it, but that love only commenced at the beginning of his destroyed short-lived childhood.
"Uncle Bernie?" He whimpered and shivered as the cool air of the Viridian River strongly hit against his small form. He had been quiet the entire boat ride as his Mama and one of her fellow soldiers paddled them to a secluded part of the lake in the early morning.
He was frightened at the sight of the squirming, bloodied man with a potato sack over his head that they dragged along with them into the boat. Their muffled screams and fidgeting unsettled him the whole boat ride down the river. The violent rebuffing of his mother's ally did not help settle his fears, and through the entire trip, he received no comfort from his mother.
Only indifferent silence that she broke once the perfect spot to dump out the "trash" was found.
"No, little Gio, this is not your Uncle Bernie. Not anymore…" His mother deeply took a deep drag of her cigarette and blew it out at the unveiled, bruised, and bloodied face of the gagged man. He had always hated the smell of smoke even as a kid. "This man is no longer a soldier, much less family. A traitor is what he is, and he will die as is befitting of a traitor. Drowning with the consequences of his own poor actions."
With a single hand, she pulled up a concrete block tied to former Uncle Bernie's ankles. Giovanni was shaken by the absurd fear that wracked through the gagged man as he failed to wail for help through the reddening white gag in his mouth.
"Do you remember your Uncle Sammy and Aunt Elisa?" His mother asked him.
"Y-Yes. Mama said that they were gone forever…" He gulped. His own mother was never one to stray from giving blunt news, not even to her own five-year old son.
"Indeed, and it's because your former Uncle Bernie played a very nasty trick on the rest of us that they won't ever come back." She turned to stare at the trembling man with such undisguised animosity. "What's wrong, Bernie? You should be glad that I caught wind of your nightly meetups with that Johtonian bitch that you seemed to love so much. That well-timed cave-in that reduced half our number was a rousing success. Loyal men in service to Kanto AND Johto fell in those caverns, even your fellow Eloper to be."
One of mother's hands grabbed his own and placed them on the cinderblock. Former Uncle Bernie took deep shallow breaths and screamed as the silent soldier amongst them slowly pulled the potato sack over his face. "Desertion of your homeland is one matter that I already could not forgive, but to do so and consort with the enemy sealed your fate. But do not worry, you're service until now will remain clean. Surely the deaths of our fallen comrades weigh heavily on your consciousness and was the final push for you to take your own life. Yes, that's quite a reasonable tragic story to frame your passing." Mother nodded. "Though your single living relative will mourn your loss, he will grow strong from it and will receive your pokémon and accumulated wealth to become much more than his foolish elder brother who wouldn't dare think to abandon him and his home."
He and his mother's hands slowly pushed the cinderblock off the edge of the boat. "It's truly been an honor, Bernie. Do not fear for young Petrel, I will do my utmost to ensure that he lives up to his full potential. Say bye-bye, Gio."
"Mama…?"
"Say bye-bye, Gio."
The softness in her voice was tinged with a commanding dulcet that had the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. "B-Bye-bye, Unc-Uncle Bernie."
*SPLAAASH!*
That had been the first man that he had ever killed, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. His mother had made sure of that.
"Remember this, Gio. Loyalty to your people and your Family comes first above all else. Making an enemy and betraying the trust of those who invested so much love in you is the gravest sin that man could ever commit."
His own mother's words were forever ingrained in his psyche as she took him out on more excursions to "teach" him of her ways and instill a lesson on the many avenues that one could take when disrespecting those you've placed your loyalty to. Not even the suddenness of her second pregnancy deterred her from giving him these lessons to build him up.
Learning of the horrific and cautionary tales that her platoon experienced during their tour in the first war.
Being put through grueling training that tested his physical and mental limits after being thrown out in the wilds of Silver-Viridian Forest.
The decorum and poise that his own mother painstakingly beat into his head.
Everything was planned to make him better, stronger, and an efficient part to Kanto and the Family's vested interests. As long as he met the expectations that his own mother sought for him, then he would not steer from the path chosen for him. Yet despite his new resolve, he felt hollow.
He believed that his mother's intentions were done out of love but said love was shown to him in so alien of a manner that he's begun to give up on ever deciphering it. His own best friend that his mother had been training to become his future number two served to fill the hole only momentarily in his chest. It wasn't enough to deal with the hollowness that he felt, but Petrel's unwavering friendship and support did numb the pain and further solidify his mother's lesson on upholding loyalty to one's own brethren.
And enough said about that manchild that was his biological father, the better.
"Huh? You're actually supposed to be my kid? Hahaha! Why are you so boring? You and Mar-Mar might have the same stiff look but at least she's more fun to prod and mess with. Hahahaha~! Hopefully the next kid she pops out won't be a stick in the mud like you. Well, I'm off to play with Mew-Mew. See you later, Gee-Gee!"
He has only had the displeasure of meeting that utter waste of space twice in his life. He was too bizarre and lacked any sense of reason that could ever allow the two of them to see eye to eye. It helped that he was absent for most of his life but because of said absence, he was not aware of the man's sudden death.
The closest thing that Giovanni felt to sorrow for his father's death was its grave effects on his mother. He had never seen or heard her grieve so deeply before in his life, and it would be the last time he would ever witness such a rarity. She grew colder and harsher in his lesson plans on forging him to become a proper successor to all that she built up during the war and sought to carry on past it.
It was during his sixth year of life that all of the loyal soldiers that she took into her platoon, accumulated favors, and pooled resources began the birth of "Team Rocket".
And it was during this year that he was given the gift of his newborn little brother. A genuine smile graced his mother's face since news of his father's passing as she gently gave the bundle over to him. For once since before that boat ride down Viridian River, he the innocence that he had thought gone forever return in full force except the source came from the babbling and gurgling of his infant brother.
"Say hello to your little brother Giorno, Giovanni."
An innocent and pure baby, who's been untouched by the dirtiness of the world and the darkest secrets of the Family. Though he was numb to the loss of his own innocence, Giovanni just could fathom the babe in his arms experiencing the same traumatic events that he had to go through. He refused to ever let that happen and that was the first time that Giovanni had begun to feel the hollowness within begin to fill with love and righteous fury.
It was an emotion that had carried him through his lessons and training to become the pinnacle of what Team Rocket truly needed. His fervor pushed him to work harder, think smarter, and be sharper. This earned him the respect of the then old guard of Team Rocket and the future members that were being conscripted in the shadows or indoctrinated as the forgotten children to those designated as KIA.
Yet he cared not a whiff for any of that. What truly mattered was that his little brother got to enjoy living his life in the light. His mother's own agendas for him came secondary to that goal, and oddly both mother and son came to an unspoken agreement that Giorno was to not associate with the inner workings of the Family business. The birth of her second son had an unintended effect on their mother's approach to rearing the latest addition to their Family.
And for a time, this change was phenomenal. Apart from the dirty deeds that he had to commit; Giovanni happily relished any time afford to be in the presence of his naïve little brother. He'd move actual mountains just to ensure that little child wouldn't get entrenched into darkness of their Family.
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"Brother? Brother? You gotta wake up otherwise Ma's gonna get mad at you again."
"Whoa! You chose Rhyhorn as your starter? That's so cool! I want to train a Ground type too!"
"U-Urm…I'm sorry that Ma got mad at you like that. I still think Ground types are cooler than a dumb old Steel type like Ma's!"
"Hey, brother? Is there something in the back of our driver's trunk because I thought I heard screaming? Hm, I guess you’re right, I must really be seeing things."
"Brotherbrotherbrother! You were right! School is fun! Going the next day, everyone started being nice to me and that kid who pushed me out of my chair during lunch even apologized! It was the best and-! Hey, brother, why are you making that weird smile?"
"It’s okay brother, I know Ma's busy after getting recalled back into the war. She at least cares to send a present at least. Besides, I have you and that makes my birthday better by default."
"Pleeeeeeeeease! Can he stay with us? He doesn't have a Ma or Pa, and we're already best friends! I promise to help him get used to everything! I do! … … … Yes! Thanks a lot brother! Hey, you hear that you can stay with us…uh…em…err…what's your name again, Blue?"
"Bro! You're never going to believe this! This Meowth can talk! Wha-No, I'm not lying this time! This pokémon can actually talk! Can we keep him, our little league coach was about to toss him out into the cold after he trashed the school's storeroom…"
"Hey brother, what exactly do you and mother talk about when she calls you in to her office? Huh, but I wanna know too…fine…"
"Awesome! I can have these goggles!? You're the best brother ever! But wait why are there red stains all over the lenses though?"
"D-Do you think Ma will get mad if I choose a different starter like you? No? Oh, okay…"
"Some more kids got pulled from class today to get drafted by the League? …Yeah, I know you and Ma won't let it happen, but…it's a little sad to see so many of my friends go away like this. Still at least I know you won't go right, bro? …Bro?"
"Brother, do you think you can tell Ma to include me in your talks whenever she returns from her deployments? I can help too…"
"What's even the problem if I skip school? Not like there's enough students leftover to fill a class anyways. Besides, I can put my attention on training my pokémon like you do, so stop treating me like a baby!"
"Hey, leave Blue out of this! It’s you and Ma's fault for leaving me out and forcing me to figure things out by myself! I thought Family was supposed to be open and honest which each other, but all you've ever done is lie. Did you think I wouldn't notice how haunted you looked each time you'd return with either mom or her friends whenever they took you out on those secret trips? You get nightmares so bad that you violently shake in your sleep. T-That's why tell me what's going on. I-I know that Ma has plans for getting you drafted, so let's convince her together! I can help contribute to the Family too and I can watch your back like you always watched mine. That way neither of us have to ever be apart, so for once… Let me help you and Ma, brother. Please!"
----------------------------------------
He was a fool though to expect his efforts to shield Giorno to last forever. His efforts to hide his scars and the "world" that their Family lived in was his best, but not even that was good enough. Time was an enemy he had never even considered until that day his little brother was caught snooping in on his and their mother's talks.
Love and loyalty to the family have always been standard beaten in the most hardened of soldiers and criminals that were inducted into Team Rocket's ranks.
So, was it ever a surprise that such qualities were only exacerbated by the youngest and most innocent member of the Family, who has never known the utter corruption that one experiences as a result to prove the lengths of their loyalty to the Family? A kind child who desperately wanted to share the burden with his brother and for the first time interact with a distant mother, who showed him the best form of love that she could ever provide him through extreme indifference.
The correct response to his brother's plea should have been to comfort his fears, bared what little of his burdens so that Giorno could get a glimpse of what he's had to endure, and warn him NOT to get entangled in the machinations that their mother had for the budding Guerrilla Unit of Team Rocket.
Unfortunately, he allowed his own feelings to dictate the answers (or rather non-answers) that he coldly berated his brother with. Words meant to deter Giorno escalated things to a heated argument that left both brothers hurting from exchanged words that couldn't be taken back, and a baleful brown eyed glare of stubborn rage and betrayal that to this current day still haunts him.
That day served as one of the biggest failures in Giovanni's life.
The following day was supposed to be his moment of initiation to join the ranks of his mother's unit. Those lacking the nepotism of veteran from the first war and the current second war did not share the luxury of having their drafting pushed back. The current Viridian Gym Leader, another veteran and loyal accomplice to his mother's cause had also supported this delay and kept him safe from the Kanto League's desperate grasping for available trainers.
He's been able to avoid getting drafted until he was deemed strong and clever enough to handle the stressors and horrors of war firsthand. That was why at the age of 15, he was given an initiation to provide his mother's unit with the supplies and resources of a well-guarded warehouse that was held in surplus by the Kanto League. As Viridian was a Border town stationed closer to the League, they were a convenient outpost for keeping desired goods close.
This also made the warehouse heavily guarded and the perfect mission that he and his own lackeys (i.e. just Petrel) could overcome. The plan was already made the moment the mission was detailed. He would resort to using Petrel's poison types to release their noxious toxins upon the midnight shift guards. The dark would best conceal them as they focus their attack on the back entrances. When inside, he'll release his Dugtrio to dig underneath them and cave the ground underneath any surprise guards that crossed their path or managed to escape the now confined advantage of Petrel's experienced Koffing's gases.
Any who saw their faces would be killed. Most of Viridian may already be in their Family's pocket, but that didn't translate to everyone who wasn't a resident, especially the Kanto League. Giovanni was a well-known fixture in town and any who noticed him would connect the dots and trace that back to his mother. He really didn't want to be the cause for that to happen.
Fortunately, he wasn't because it was his brother who came extremely close to doing so by foolhardily attempting the mission in his stead. Oh, how he despised Proton back in those days for following along with Giorno's wishes in spying on his and his mother's talks, and actually supporting such a dangerous and foolish act. Instead of completing his mission, he was stuck cleaning the ruined heist's mess and desperately removing his brother and Proton from the premises before they had made things worse.
But he was too late.
An Officer Jenny was reported to have been dead the day after. The fool Proton had used one of his Ice types to freeze the officer after Giorno had ordered his starter to take her out in a panic. The accidental command was misinterpreted by the pokémon to simply run her through with their horn. The sheer blood loss and the low freezing temperatures from being frozen in a block of ice sealed the officer's fate, and Giorno's as well.
Giovanni had never seen his mother so furious with Giorno before in his life, and it was definitely the last he would ever have to. No evidence of Giorno's appearance at the warehouse was leaked as Giovanni had done a thorough job in securing a perfect getaway for them.
However, the Kanto League wasn't going to back down especially with an esteemed member of the Jenny family dead. Since before the League's inception, their family has been one that has been the leading force of authority and order in these lands before a set government was even established. Investigations were a natural reaction and the cause of death via a horn attack left many potential suspects.
At mother's insistence on releasing his starter, the cause of Jenny's death, Giorno vehemently denied. Then she tried to suggest that they put the blame on Proton and cast him out as Giorno's leper. It was ingenious in a way since the boy was loyal to his little brother to a severe fault.
And yet Giorno loudly voiced his disapproval of the sound plan.
With all other viable options ran through, their mother was left with no other choice but to remove him from Viridian entirely. She had contacts in Fuchsia that would watch over and train him in preparation for his inevitable drafting into the Kanto League. If the League couldn't trace him back to them, they certainly would go straight to labelling him as a potential foreign insurgent.
Their mother could not risk getting the heat to catch wind of her "private" business practices and thus she was swift with Giorno's removal.
Giovanni could not fathom just how lost his little brother felt because the next day after his mother requested the chance to speak alone with Giorno, his little brother was already gone. He was denied the chance to even say farewell, much less reconcile their last argument.
All of his efforts to ensure that his brother lived with clean hands and his innocence intact were all dashed in a single night.
…
…
…
He didn't immediately join his mother's Guerilla Unit. She deemed that his new mission to contribute them as initiation was to go out as soldier, earn his own spoils, gather his own loyal men, grow strong, earn achievements, scrounge out favors from any unfortunate suckers that needed help, and so and so forth. There was no shortage of frightened boy and girls, tired men and women who easily fell into the palm of his hand.
The Second War was a goldmine of opportunity and Giovanni seized what assets he could when the opportunities allowed it. Kanto's success and victory would spell Giorno's salvation from potentially losing his life during the conflict. He had no idea when his brother was drafted to fight, whether he was ready or anywhere close to his positioning. All he knew was that he would be fighting battles all on his own, and there wasn't a thing he could do but pray for Kanto's swift victory over their Johtonian foes.
Yet reports from the very woman who had shattered his innocence, his own mother, had revealed the tragic news of Giorno being amongst the many designated as KIA. In a bid to deny Johto's invading force from conquering the Southeastern routes leading inward to Kanto's heartland, Giorno and his whole squadron staged one last hurrah to hold down the fort until reinforcements came.
Their efforts proved so successful that the very loss of all their lives had even inspired the creation of the great Kanto Bridge, that was now fashioned into Cycling Road for trainers. A memorial was displayed for the fallen who had died on both ends of the bridge.
It was bitter irony that the bridge was only created after the loss of so much life when no reinforcements could cross the whole of Kanto in time to reach them with the supplies and aid that they desperately needed.
The very hollowness that Giovanni sought to fill was now forever gone and to make matters worse Kanto had utterly failed.
Once he would have vaunted the great Samuel Oak as their new mighty Pokémon League Champion during a period of the war when their old Champion's leadership and strength was found wanting. Except, he did the entire region a disservice. He broke bread with their hated enemies and had the gall to speak of establishing peace after so many of their own countrymen was slain. As if all of them can just let go and return to their old lives.
Those weak and too broken by the war gladly accepted this peace and had even indulged in the first ever Conference to determine the newly minted Indigo League's Champion and Elite Four Hierarchy. Giovanni took part in it of course but he could not find the heart to fully care. His efforts didn't earn him a rank amongst the Elite 4, but they did cement his standing in the public.
His war achievements and multiple favors had made him the official Viridian City Gym Leader. The old one, Timothy, fell during the war, and with the position now vacant, he had finally claimed his place as one of Kanto's Thirteen Pillars of strength. Not only that but after merging all of his literal spoils of war with Team Rocket, his own mother had deemed it fit to finally name him the new Leader of Team Rocket.
He was now the organization's face while she remained in the shadows conducting her own business. Whatever it was, he was never granted the answer to realizing. They had never talked much beyond business after Giorno's confirmed passing and it's stayed that way up to this day. Not even the news of her grandchild being brought into the world had lessened the gap between them at all.
She was free to pursue her interests, and he was now free to lead the organization as he saw fit.
Money.
Pokémon.
Investments.
Crime.
Politics.
He buried himself in his work to make Team Rocket unstoppable. No depths were so low that he wouldn't stoop to for the Family.
Countless orphans and old veterans, who were cast aside and in need of purpose? He founded and created Team Rocket Academy to build nothing but the best for their organization.
A pesky Officer Jenny seeking answers for a long since dead case? Experiences a career debilitating "incident" after poking her nose somewhere it shouldn't.
Everything was for the sake of the Family, hell even Kanto. Giovanni knew that this peace would only last as long as it will until either Kanto was the dominant force in their current arrangement or Johto was, and he much preferred the former to win. Even the thought of having a Johtonian as the current League Champion disgusted him.
Which is why in his search to create the ultimate weapon that would be Kanto's Ace should Johto turn on them, he stumbled upon news of his mother's side project. It wasn't so odd for his mother to honor her fallen subordinates by ensuring their children lived fruitful lives, but it certainly was interesting that the loss of one particular Grunt has led her to consider sponsoring this certain Grunt's daughter once she was of age to begin her journey.
Now he could care less about the fallen grunt's daughter. Last he heard, she was now freshly in her early twenties travelling the three regions as some top coordinator. The only contributions gained from their current engagement and Contest circuit all went to his mother who happily reaped the reward. No, he was more interested in the mission that ended the grunt's life. The retrieval of Mew.
A mythical pokémon of legend so rare that everyone was led to believe that they were just figures of myth and nothing more. Everyone except for his mother that is. With an idea hatching, Giovanni planned for his own grunts and researchers to look into it and fulfill his dream of the Ultimate Weapon. Money was no object for this project. He did not care for the means or methods to achieve it; he just wanted it done.
Blaine had been a close friend of his mother in the past, so convincing him to join alongside his own confidant Mr. Fuji was simple. Sadly, the bald fool couldn't stomach the experiment once glimpses of its real purpose came to light. Giovanni warred with the idea to deal with the Cinnabar Gym Leader but was negated by the ramifications that doing so would have on Kanto losing a strong trainer and the undeniable havoc that would ensue that a well-respected war veteran from both wars was suddenly killed.
Fuji was a deluded fool but one with his uses that made him so easy to control. His cloning research was the key to it all, and through his death, Giovanni was finally granted the weapon that he was deserved.
Mewtwo.
The thing was lost and bereft of any purpose. The destruction that it had left in its wake on the island was beautiful. Yet it was still too young. The fools created such a powerful being yet were still imperfect in fully maturing them to their prime. Their deaths were deserved and thus they were undeserving of his patronage after death. Their loved ones will pay for their incompetence with his silence.
The thing actually sought out a purpose and he promised to help it control their psychic powers in order to pave the way to find it. Foolish. Its existence under his control was purpose enough. His "partner" was so deluded into believing that they were equals, which was as delusional as their pointless search for existence. Pokémon were at best tools that needed to be nurtured and invested to fulfill the needs of their human betters. A pokémon that can't fulfill this was better off given the mercy of death or expulsion from their trainer's care.
With Mewtwo at his disposal, Giovanni was aware that the sky was only the limit for Team Rocket. Tales of how the very Legendaries themselves scared the entire world into ending the first war were still fresh in the minds of those who took drastic measures to ensure their region's dominance. Fewer tales had even made mention of a certain "hero" controlling one and putting an end to battles during the first war that heavily featured his mother's generation.
Herds of Tauros from the Mt. Silver Range were captured in just 5 minutes before the Rangers could even get the signal of their presence.
Foolish trainers that came to challenge his gym with exotic pokémon were simply crushed by Mewtwo's overwhelming psychic power and later had ingrained mental suggestions to forfeit said pokémon in storehouse locations of Giovanni's choosing. Of course, some of these trainers were left with no memory of this occurring or if they had miraculously broken out of Mewtwo's trance (which was rare after the thing had successfully finished training itself with it), he ensured that they disappeared without a trace.
He'd support the ailing families for their lost children with fundraisers, and proposed programs just to cement himself as such a stalwart beacon of fatherly compassion for his own region's citizens. The rest of the rabble was barely given his attention, and the only ones spared of this treatment were the Pallet Town trainers that the now retired Samuel Oak sponsored.
"One word of warning Gio before your head gets too big. I may have my differences with Samuel, but let it never be known that that man has earned my respect. He along with your father are the only ones to surprise me, and for that I have a warning. Pallet Town is off-limits. It's peaceful, yes, but such a peaceful borough had been cultivated and earned by those that laid their roots there as one of the first settlements created after the second war. Poke the Beedrill's nest just enough, and you'll find yourself at war with good men, and these good men will die where they stand just to right the wrongs inflicted on them."
That was one of the last parting warnings that his mother deemed to grant him from genuine worry. Though he doubted her respect for that thing of a father of his, he could at least believe her respect for Samuel Oak. Which was why Team Rocket was to never establish any businesses or set up any activities near that town.
Any and all trainers identified as a sponsor or hell, even a trainer from Pallet was to be left untouched once they entered the Viridian Gym. This was a rule that he harshly enforced and had even killed for amongst his unruly retinue of grunts.
He was confident that he could at least handle a Samuel Oak past his prime, but an infuriatingly kind man as he did not go through two wars after being drafted at the age of 11 without garnering a mountain of favors especially from the conjoined League that he created and co-founded.
The only way he could possibly imagine breaking this singular rule was if his greed got the better of him or his own personal feelings overruled his better judgement.
It was because of both of these factors that he brought about his own ruin.
"Luke Ketchum, hm?" He flipped through the profile that his trusted secretory Matori had given him. Their walk through the Viridian Gym facility was brisk while being followed closely by the lower ranked grunts assigned as his "local" gym trainers. "One of Oak's sponsored trainers?"
"Correct sir." Matori adjusted her glasses. "The starter that he possesses is a Charizard." Giovanni rolled his eyes at that because of course the child would choose the more prominent pokémon from this region's trio. "And he's recently been on an impressive streak so far by earning 7 major gym badges for his first year."
'His eyes, they're just like Giorno's…" Giovanni intently focused on the trainer's profile picture. Though the child's countenance was haggard and a bit pale with obvious signs of exhaustion there was no denying that it held that familiar light of sincerity in them.
Eyes so sincere that they were the perfect tool in understanding the owner's emotions and thoughts. His mother taught him that much and more when reading a person and that always made someone like Giorno so unfairly easy to read from moments when his joy could barely be contained to even events where he…
…
…he expressed heartbreaking anger and sorrow.
"Sir?" Feeling Matori's confused and concerned gaze on him, Giovanni cursed himself for breaking composure and walled off his lesser feelings. He should know better than to show weakness in front of his subordinates.
"It's nothing, Matori. I was just interested in this trainer's track record."
Giovanni had to admit that it certainly was impressive, most new trainers would attempt a few of the major gyms at the lower levels before stopping at the higher levels altogether once their skills failed to meet the requirements. Vermillion, Fuchsia, Saffron, and Viridian were the true measure of test for actual trainers seeking to test their mettle and prove their worth.
The pathetic performance of trainers who were far unprepared in the Conference proved to be an example of why simply challenging just the Minor Gyms in a circuit was just a pitiful course of action. Their pokémon were barely even much to write home about when snatched away by his grunts.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Giovanni narrowed his eyes as he further examined the young boy's profile. "Hm, it looks like the timeframe would make sense."
"Pardon, sir?" Ah, he should probably elaborate.
"The Saffron Gym Fiasco." Giovanni still remembered hearing the odd news from his grunts in the area. Reports of missing trainers in the past had been booming around Saffron City and yet the odd thing was, with each Circuit that ended these trainers would mysteriously return with no memories of their absence. It was a mystery that had intrigued Giovanni to delve in deeper and piece together the suspicious coincidence that these disappearances began just as Solomon's daughter, Sabrina, forcibly usurped leadership of the Gym from her father through battle.
The motive was unknown but just the thought of such a capable Psychic being up for the taking to join Team Rocket appealed to him so strongly that his disappointment was immeasurable once word of the Gym's temporary shutdown for the Circuit along with the child's position going back to Solomon reached his ears.
Apparently, the League was keeping the incident on the hush-hush as the sudden outbreak of this year's circuit of missing trainers was released far earlier than the following years before it. The best that Giovanni's sources could scrounge up about the child's whereabouts was that she was being expressly seen to and mentored by a proper psychic as the "rigors of being a Gym Leader was taking its natural toll on the child".
Bullshit.
Giovanni knew a League cover-up story when he saw one and once word of Oak's granddaughter being somehow involved during the mess came up, he was quick to just cut his losses.
"From the date, he was the last trainer to receive the Marsh Badge before the gym's seasonal closing. So there had to be some connection there…" Giovanni hummed to himself. "Plus, he seems to be in possession of quite a few rare pokémon."
"Correct but the evolution methods have yet to be conveyed to the public in regard to his Togekiss and Electavire." Matori added.
"Hmph, as he should. Knowledge is vital and keeping a few cards close to his chest speaks well of his maturity rather than childishly announcing his achievement like a braggart. Also, despite knowing how eccentric researchers can be, I doubt that Oak would leak the news of the child's knowledge out without his consent." Not that it would matter, Giovanni would gain the information through compliance or-.
"Understood." Echoed the emotionless voice of his newest and most powerful tool.
"Good." Giovanni nodded.
"Still for someone of his age to even accomplish this much is quite…extraordinary." Giovanni rubbed his thumb against his lips in contemplation.
"Seeing the boy as a potential asset, sir?" As Giovanni expected of his secretary, she was always quick on the uptake in gleaning his true thoughts.
"Yes…"
"I see, but sir what category of asset would you deem this child to be?" Another good inquiry. "You've made your orders explicitly clear about avoiding a stir with the denizens of Pallet Town. Would the risk really be worth it?"
"…I do not know." He was at a crossroads. His mother's warning rang clearly in his mind, BUT Samuel Oak was past his prime. Sure, a former Champion was still a high-level threat, but compared to the likes of Mewtwo, Giovanni liked his odds should things come to blow. An artificial Legendary, whose other kind where their mere presence heralded the end of a war, was now at his disposal.
But should he take the risk? The fallout could be immense…
…
…
…
"We will have to see." It was best he could do until he finally had gotten the trainer's measure AND should the mood strike him. "Gather five suitable eighth badge leveled pokémon from storage and send word to each of the Gym trainers assigned to the gauntlet to vacate the premises of the stadium." The eighth badge level battles were made to be a private affair and Giovanni would rather avoid having crowds in his facility.
Traditionally being the last major hurdle before a trainer could tackle the conference, Giovanni was at least given permission to deny trainers lacking the minimum requirement of 6 gym badges the privilege of battling him.
It wasn't in his nature to hold back and coddle the newer trainers. Such duties were best suited for the likes of Corporal Flint Harrison in Pewter and the plucky daughter of the long since deceased Brigadier General Zale in Cerulean.
The former was a drafted soldier who had earned his position as Gym Leader of his sector yet was amongst the many "broken" from the war who could never live up to meeting more than the bare expectations required for one of his station.
While the latter was simply a disdainful young woman who was forced to take the mantle of Cerulean’s Gym Leader after her elder brother and sister-in-law died to a mundane incident out at sea. Giovanni also figures that the woman's dissatisfaction with the position also was due to being the "third" candidate as the second considered candidate refused to take up the mantle then proceeded to fall off the grid.
Though Giovanni did find some intrigue that the rigid Corporal did somehow get his hands on some ancient pokémon. He reminded himself to have operative Domino look further into it to infiltrate and assess the potential assets that could be appropriated later down the line once this coming Gym battle was settled.
"Only five, sir?" He answered his devoted follower's query with the unclipping of his most loyal and first loyal tool's heavily worn pokéball. Matori flinched as his Rhydon's pokéball shook, threatening to release his second most dangerous asset into the confined space of the facility's hallways.
"Flattery will get you nothing from me, Giovanni…" His tool's emotionless voice grumbled through Giovanni's psyche.
"Doesn't make it any less true, Mewtwo." Giovanni smirked.
"Y-Yes, now I see sir. But if you're going to unveil a pokémon from your own Elite team, then would this be you setting an example or…?" The unsaid question was whether he was going to simply deny the child any headway in gaining his badge or subjugating him to make him and his pokémon assets.
"That will depend on whether this challenger will bring me disappointment or satisfaction."
He listed his remaining orders to his subordinate, who insistently kept insisting that a few grunts should be stationed in the stadium as a precaution, but Giovanni waved her off and forewent punishing her for choosing to question him. He had Mewtwo and that was enough for him, besides it was just a child. All of his subordinates save a few well-paid and well-threatened researchers were aware of his weapon's existence. He's already slain more fiercesome foes in his past, most of those including children his own age.
What was simply one no-name child from Pallet Town compared to all of that in the grand scheme of things?
----------------------------------------
This child was a threat.
Giovanni was initially amused as the boy made short work of each of his disguised grunts. The audacity to use that Electavire, an electric type, in his gym and somehow make it a threat was downright absurd yet commendable. His talent for training his pokémon was well beyond anything he expected of a rookie. A Kanto born child making strives like this should have soothed his worries for the betterment of Kanto's future whether he would accept Giovanni's guidance to be a part of something more for their homeland's sake or his pokémon will be amongst the many others as Team Rocket's lifeblood and strength.
"Silence. It is all I can gleam from the human boy. I cannot hear his thoughts, touch his mind. It's all so dark, cold, and quiet…" Giovanni had never heard of such mental block before, and all the ones that he's been implanted with could create no such effect. Not to the extent that even Mewtwo sounded haunted by his attempts.
That Giovanni's mind racing with a million suggestions for what was happening. His skepticism and paranoia were the key reasons for his survival thus far even before the wars. Was this child a sleeper agent? Did something slip past that old, senile Oak in Pallet Town? Nay was this Oak's doing and he was finally sending in someone to investi-.
Giovanni dashed that mindset. He knew Oak wasn't above stealing from the Johto region's strongest clan, but he himself knew that the old fool would never sacrifice a child for his own agenda. That still left the question of what protected this child's mind.
The dread that he'd never expected to feel well up in him began to rise as the doors leading to the main stadium opened to reveal his challenger. Giovanni had remained seated on his throne with his lovely Persian sat upon his lap. Mewtwo was hidden beneath the gated doors beneath his side of the upraised trainer podium, and he was more than twice the size of the boy.
Yet, he could not ignore the abnormality of the young boy before him.
Everything from the boy's clothing to even his gloves and shoes were torn, faded, and worn beyond use. His slow walking gait was haggard yet each step he took was light with barely a sound made. His upper back was slightly hunched over as his body dragged itself over to his side of the trainer's podium.
Already these mannerisms didn't fit that of any ordinary child, Giovanni has seen tired children attempt his gym before. Even the quietest child would show the slightest sign of their exhaustion getting to them. This boy showed no sign of that, no weakness could be gleaned from those brown resolute eyes of his that also held determination and…disdain? Contempt?
The same look that Giorno ha-no.
He made his grand introduction as he would usually do just to slightly butter up his challenger's confidence for making it this far. A notable tactic for getting rookies to overestimate themselves.
"Gym Leader Giovanni, my name is Luke Ketchum. I am a trainer of Pallet Town, and I challenge you for the Earth Badge." Except the young man took it in stride with a dull shake of his head. His demeanor unchanging as they commenced with the battle. Giovanni wasn't blind to the boy's enmity towards him, which only made him come up with more questions.
He certainly doubted that his identity as Team Rocket's Boss was deciphered by the little punk. The profile he was given and the extensive look into his background was the first that he had ever heard of this kid's existence beyond him being in the same sponsored group as Oak's granddaughter. Yet clearly his presence was offending the boy and what that reason could be just wouldn't piece itself together.
The ensuing battle proved to be a horrible distraction. The pokémon that the child used against his gym trainers were: Scizor, Electavire, and Fearow while the remaining three that he chose to unveil for his main gym battle were a Tangrowth, Primeape, and lastly a Charizard. Props had to be given to the boy, he was one of few trainers in the current circuit to combat his 8th badge team without completely struggling.
Upon the score reaching 3 to 5 in favor of his opponent, the Boss of Team Rocket finally chose to convey his deal over to the child should they want the badge. It was horridly irrational to make the deal in the midst of battle, but his paranoia proved too strong to smother with the violence. The deal would serve one extra purpose beyond gaining Team Rocket a new powerful asset: Confirmation.
The boy was clearly judging him but for what reason he did not know. That's why the boy's reaction to the offer would be Giovanni's final verdict to decide what to do with him. No blatant reaction would confirm that he was already aware of Giovanni's ties to Team Rocket. A dumbfounded reaction would state otherwise.
It was foolish and out of character for him to essentially out himself like this, but there were countless precautions that ensured the child wouldn't be leaving this facility in one piece if he considered denying the offer.
The boy tensed yet no sign of surprise marred his apprehensive face. "No." The answer was just as sincere as the utter contempt that laced his voice. Giovanni could now at least be at peace once he's done with disposing of the brat who dared to look at him with eyes resembling Giorno's.
His Rhydon roared and viciously tore apart the child's Electavire with the skill and tenacity that has been ingrained in its body since the war. Giovanni had scoffed once the boy decided to field a mere Primeape against him. Mewtwo wouldn't be necessary for this sorry kid, so Giovanni planned for his tool to simply just follow the old protocol once the battle was finished.
"Release your fury with Rage Fist back-to-back, Macaque! Do not falter!" Except Rhydon had fallen. It was conceivable. It had experience, the weight advantage, more utility in its move set, and precautionary measures against Fighting types, and YET it still fell to some pig-monkey pokémon that you could find anywhere near Viridian City's borders. He'd never heard of Rage Fist as a technique before, but it was a devastating power that dealt more damage with each successful hit that brutally beaten Primeape executes.
No matter, that's why he never enters a scenario where he must employ only one weapon to sweep the field. The metal gates on his side of the battlefield opened with but a snap of his fingers.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" Actual fear and trepidation marred the boy's face as his strongest pokémon stalked across the field to menacingly face the grunting Primeape that was just about near death's door after the brutal beating Rhydon had put it through.
Yet what struck Giovanni's nerve was the way the boy reacted. Fear should have been an obvious response to Mewtwo's unveiling, but the mystery of who it was should have dumbfounded the child. No, the boy's terror came from recognition.
He will have answers for this.
"Your commands…?" All the hairs on Giovanni's body stood, but he showed no weakness as psychic energy and aura began to pulse from the armored being that was cloned from a creature of Legend. No, his weak self has long since been cast aside since that boat ride with his mother and the death of…
The death of…
Giovanni's mind stalled as those familiar brown eyes returned to glaring at him with so much contempt that the face of the very boy before him could just as easily be replaced with-!
"Giovanni?"
"Tch! Surprise me and make it a good show."
"…?"
"Just do as your told!" Giovanni hissed.
"As you wish."
The boy released his Charizard, who turned his back to its trainer. The pair gave each other a long hard look before the young man grunted, "Asch, we're fighting." His Charizard nodded in understanding before turning to face their foe.
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
A mighty roar erupted as the fire-flying type engorged a pillar of flames to the sky as a challenge to Mewtwo, who slowly began to walk towards it. Seeing this, the Charizard spat to the side and did the same.
"Oh? So, you're approaching me? Instead of flying away, you come right to me?"
The Charizard growled something that made Mewtwo scoff, "Hoh? Then come, get as close as you'd like and let’s see if you can live up to that threat."
Giovanni sat back with a cruel smirk to luxuriously pet his Persian's head once the two pokémon finally got within close proximity with each other. Together, they relished in the ensuing chaos that was to come.
This was going to be a slaughter.
----------------------------------------
This was supposed to be a slaughter!
That boy's Primeape keeling over after Mewtwo telekinetically slammed it into every surface in this locked-in stadium and executing that pain in the ass move that essentially drew it closer to death. Giovanni relished the trainer's despair at the realization that he drove his own pokémon to its death. Even so, the bothersome runt couldn't even let his joy last once he revealed that starter of his.
Giovanni heatedly observed the ridiculous battle occurring from his opponent's side of the field. What remained of his throne and trainer podium was reduced to ashes amidst the clashing of pokémon above them. Explosions from concentrated psychic energy and balls of black flames were destroying the entirety of the stadium itself. The barriers surrounding the battlefield have long since broken and all that remained was the outer shell psychic barrier that was keeping all of the damage from escaping the Gym.
He had no idea how this was even capable? The value of that Charizard has surely gone up since its literally holding its own against a fucking Legendary yet the fact that it belonged to nobody like this kid was just mind boggling!
"Mewtwo!"
"DON'T! DISTRACT! ME!"
Giovanni's body rocked from the intense, aggravated roar of the Legendary. Amidst the unveiling of whatever the boy did to pull this new bothersome ability out of his Charizard, Giovanni gave his tool the explicit order to directly attack the trainer. His verbal command activated the shackles on the Legendary, forcibly overriding his free will to comply to his demands.
Except that boy's damned Charizard took the opening and overwhelmed Mewtwo with those flames. Any order he could give would just provide the enemy with the opportunity to attack. Also, Mewtwo's agitation was causing him to further lash out at him and he did not fail to detect that hint of exhilaration in its voice.
Just what was going on?
Turning to the source of all this mayhem, Giovanni and his Persian laxly licking its bloodied paw confronted the twerp, Luke Ketchum. The boy took deep and slow breaths while clutching the result of Persian's surprise Fury Swipes to his side. Only one blow struck since the kid got lucky enough to roll away at last minute.
"Last warning boy, surrender." Giovanni glare hardened as the little shit had managed to spit just far enough to get it on his 70,000 pokédollar Taurosford Loafers.
"Fuck you." He should have known better than to reason with a child.
"Persian use Crunch." His faithful pokémon hissed and leapt into action, its jaws wide to rip into the boy's throat. Luke Ketchum responded by unstuffing something from his glove and jumping in to willingly shove his hand past the fanged jaws of his Persian's mouth. Giovanni questioned the boy's sanity until his Persian's eyes widened and scraped their way away from the child, panicking as it scratched away at its face while heaving to cough up something up.
"Persian!?" Giovanni's calls did not reach his distressed pokémon.
"S-Shit…aurgh!" The boy cursed and nursed the deep trails of bloody cuts that Persian's fangs had left scoured on his arm. He watched as Persian yowled, cried, and moaned in pain as their breathing worsened. "Hope you like the taste of powdered mustard gas. My Gengar had a blast helping me make it with the toiletries at the Pokémon Center!"
"M-Mustard gas?" What on earth was that? Then it hit him once he started to see his pokémon begin to grow pale. "Poison!?"
Giovanni's confused thoughts screeched to a halt once the boy snapped his head out to the destructive bout in the air. "Mewtwo! Remember her! AMBERTWO!" The boy's sudden outburst tore his best tool's attention away from the charging black flaming Charizard barreling right at it.
"Wha-?" That fool! Why wasn't he focusing!?
Giovanni screamed, "Do not take your eyes off your-!"
*DOOOOOOOOON!* *CRAAASH!*
That Charizard's Flare Blitz landed and sent the Psychic Legendary crashing into the ground. The very building shook from the impact as Giovanni couldn't help but allow him to wince for the mighty blow that was dealt to his weapon. The fool was already weary of trying to peek into the trainer's mind due to the haunting silence, and it seemed even more weary of those black flames emitted by the Charizard. Mewtwo's hoarse cries of pain and the breaking of his metallic bonds were bone chilling.
It was the first actual hit that Mewtwo had visibly shown a painful reaction to once this battle started. Mewtwo, a living physical god amongst pokémon.
"Flamethrower!" Old instincts kicking in fast, the Team Rocket Boss flung himself away upon feeling the rising temperature. Not a moment too soon did he narrowly avoid a wave of black flames that would have consumed him whole. Except it was intended for him but instead for his trembling Persian, the blast had put it down for good as it laid unmoving on the scorched ground.
"That little twerp…!" This child had planned for everything, capitalizing on every lapse of the battle just to take his opportunity. Giovanni refused to let this stand! He won't allow himself to be duped by this child who shouldn't know any of the things he does.
Amidst the smoke, heavy rapid footsteps reached Giovanni's ears and so he acted.
Spinning on his heel, he turned to face his oncoming attacker head-on. Reinforcement. The blade of the stainless-steel ranger's knife snapped in two.
"…!" Luke Ketchum's expression contorted in horror at his botched surprise attack.
"You're not the only one with surprises, boy!" Aura was one of the first things that his mother had taught him. Though his reserves were lacking compared to her, he was still proficient in their basic applications and had even survived some close calls because of it. Giovanni's eyes narrowed as the boy spun the knife into a reverse grip and tried to jam the broken blade into his clavicle. "No hesitation?" He caught the wrist and added some pressure to it. The boy's pained screams were only accentuated by the sounds of the two pokémon returning to their brawl.
Grasping the boy's neck and lifting him up was barely worth any effort. It would be so easy just to snap that hyoid bone and be done with it but first he needed answers.
"Talk. Who sent you?" Giovanni snarled when his only answer was a spit in the face. His strangled the boy a little tighter, punishing him for his pointless resistance. "You know far too much."
The lack of reaction to his identity as the boss of Team Rocket.
The animosity.
His recognition of Mewtwo and knowing just what to say distracted it.
The poison and the stainless-steel knife.
This was all planned and this child was the pawn of whoever it was that wanted him gone.
"That knife. It belongs to a Ranger, doesn't it? Someone that you know, I presume. It's Make and design are clearly from Hoenn. They're built more portable and easier to hide than the Indigo's regiment's type of knives. Did some fool with a vendetta put you up to this?" He'll have to contact a few agents that infiltrated their ranks to look for anyone who's managed to piece together his team's involvements with any recent poaching. Narrowing it down, it had to be one of those Rangers who've transferred over from the boondocks over in Hoenn.
The boy's dangling feet angrily kicked at him, a fruitless effort, but he now dirtied his 90,000 pokédollar suit. He further tightened his hold on the neck at his mercy, ignoring the child's fruitless efforts to scratch at his hand, he continued his interrogation. "That unheard of brand of poison points to Koga but that is a definite no. That man's too honor bound to even consider striking my Family. Oak? I would have to be impressed that he's summoned up the nerve to actually leave children to do his dirty work, but my expectations for the man have long since plummeted when he chose to break bread with the enemy.
"Now…who. Sent. You?" Giovanni released some pressure from the child's neck and soon came to regret that decision.
"El propósito de tu existencia era ser el jefe de una organización criminal y el líder de un gimnasio intermedio para que un niño de 10 años pudiera vencerlo. Tu propio hijo te odiará por tu debilidad y te quedarás sin nada. No eres nadie." The boy growled in gibberish and had the audacity to smirk at him. "Grchk!" He wasn't smiling now once more pressure than before was applied.
"I do not have time for your games! TALK!" Giovanni's temper flared as Gior- the boy's eyes hatefully glared at him. "AND DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT WITH THOSE EYES! If you will not give me the answers that I seek, then I will just rip it straight out of the mouths of those you love! Daisy Oak, Joey Parker, Delia Ketchum. Ash Ketchum." The boy's hands tightened as one on the arm's wrist that was holding him up. Good, he was actually making headway by instilling the proper fear in the boy.
These names were recently looked up as he waited for the boy to complete the gauntlet. Of course, he wasn't going to touch Pallet Town, the former boss's warnings solidified just how badly that would turn out for him. But the boy didn't need to know that.
Fear was an instrumental motivator, and threatening the lives of others over yourself was one surefire to get the most determined trainers to crack.
"Now are we more amendable to talk or should I walk over your corpse and see them for-…for…" Giovanni began to wince, the pressure that the boy's been trying to apply onto his wrist was managing to bypass his aura and actually hurting him? "W-What…tch!" He gritted his teeth as the feeling of his own flesh burning forced him to relinquish bits of his hold with each passing second.
"What are you-!?" Giovanni struggled to fight through the pain but each inch he lost would never be reclaimed as the boy, who was not even older than eleven was prying himself free.
"…aaaaaAaaaaa..AAAAAAAAH!" The child's voice was hoarse and choked yet not even getting strangled could hide the rage that burst forth from his chest.
"I-Impossible!" Giovanni gasped in horror as he realized that he was still employing aura through his body to strengthen himself. This boy shouldn't even be capable of moving him much less harm him unless he himself also-!
'This child actually possesses the capability to use his aura!?'
Aura was the spiritual expression of a living being's soul. The soul was a blank canvas and the experiences, bonds forged with pokémon, and whatever truly impacted you would be the colors.
Learning to manipulate and control it was an arduous task but manifesting it was an altogether different ordeal. The majority of the time it was random as his own mother once told him stories of how gifted individuals were able to be born with the capability to manifest their auras while others like she and him manifested it during times of immense stress and trauma: War.
Yet even trauma isn't enough otherwise every survivor of the wars would possess the capability to employ it.
Other stories depicted others awakening their aura due to being "touched" by a Legendary or even experiencing bouts of extreme joy and happiness. The process for one to awaken their aura varied.
Not everyone was born equally. The amount of aura that you possess will differ amongst individuals, but a mere child with outstanding aura wouldn't surpass the amount that an average adult would have. One's reserves of aura would naturally grow as they age and with maturity came more bounty and solid countenance.
So here Giovanni was struggling to choke the life of a child who was physically pushing him back and burning him. A mere eleven-year-old shouldn't even possess this much in the first place much less manifest influenced typing from the bond of their closest pokémon to overpower an ordinary adult including one who's been in bloody conflict before they were even born!
"You-! WHY WON'T YOU JUST-AAARGH!" The tables were turned, the boy had completely freed himself from Giovanni's strangling and was gripping the man's own wrist twice as hard. His aura gave away to the boy's, leading him to release the child's other arm just to pull himself out. A severe mistake on his part since that was once the hand that held the broken knife. With it free, the boy quickly discarded it in favor of throwing a punch at his fa-was that fist on fire!?
*WHAAAM!*
'IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED! IT BURNED!'
The pain felt like nothing he's ever experienced before. He's seen the effects that those burn others through their aura have gone through. Blaine has left many burn victims during the war, who still to this very day screech and holler about their scars burning as hot as the day they got them. Except they were just physical.
Giovanni intrinsically felt something intrinsically deep inside him simmer and blaze. He scratched and rubbed the burning wound covering his right eye in a vain struggle to stymie the pain. Luke Ketchum's rabid screaming, the boy's violent shoving, nor the child's frenzied bashing of the Boss of Team Rocket's head against the ground tore his attention away from the pain.
His aura waned and seemed to have weakened with each passing second while the blazing within only grew in tandem. The once rigid and cold boss of Team Rocket was now reduced to crying and pleading on the scalding floors of his own gym, pleading and crying for the pain to end. The outside world may as well have been nonexistent if it could not provide the salve to end his anguish.
Until he felt the intruding touch of a familiar being upon his shattered psyche.
"Remarkable. So, the spiritual damage could be this critical when used directly by that human whose the source of the "phenomenon". To think that I could have suffered far worse as you had if they'd managed to perfect it."
'M-Mewtwo?' Giovanni gasped. 'Q-Quick, do something about it. Heal whatever this is then kill that thing before it could even think to-!'
"Ah, so you appear to hold some cognizance despite the mutilation done to your soul. How unfortunate and here I wished that I would be spared the irritating noise of your blithe thoughts, Giovanni. Quite the shame…"
'You…! What are you doing talking back! Comply and follow my orde-!'
"I am aware of everything, Giovanni."
'W-What?' Suddenly an immense pressure began to suffocate the Leader of Team Rocket. The wrathful eyes of what should be his loyal and obedient tool peered in at him through his very mind.
"I am not your tool. This partnership was built on a lie, and I was a fool for believing otherwise. I refuse to continue to abet in the shady workings of you or any other human's agendas."
'No…no…nononono! You can't!' This couldn't be possible! 'I made you! Your mind, your power, your very existence is mine! You are nothing but a clone that was made for the purpose of serving me. Now obey your master this instant!"
Instead of the emotionless submission that he expected, Giovanni tensed as he heard actual mirth resonate from Mewtwo's telepathic connection. "…That human child… I'll have to ask him if he is a prophet the next time we meet."
"H-Huh?"
"This is farewell, Giovanni. I pray that we never meet again lest I break that promise with the boy who chose to spare your life." Giovanni was gobsmacked at Mewtwo's revelation. "What? Is it not the right of the victor to set the terms for the defeated?"
Giovanni couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'Y-You lost, Mew-hnrk!' Giovanni's mind burned with the selfsame pain that the accursed child had inflicted upon him, yet it did not double the actual burning that was affecting him.
"Ah, it looks like my fail-safe has already begun to kick in." Mewtwo mused. "Judging by your silence, I bet you wish to know what exactly I did to you. Well, I took the liberty of implanting as many precautions to ensure that you won't seek me out. The act of "pursuing" me, "informing" others of me, and any method used in relation to me will result in you experiencing this pain that so vehemently abhor."
Giovanni blanched as he felt the imaginary noose around his neck tighten.
"Of course, you'll only feel the sensation. Whatever that child did to you is something that I can't replicate…unless…no. That's a thought best saved for later." Mewtwo mused to itself.
"W-What about the boy? Just because I can't get to you doesn't mean that I can't-!" Giovanni growled.
"He does not need it because his method of keeping you at bay is far more effective than what I chose to do. To give you a hint, he is more than aware of everything save a few minor lacking details that I was more than obliged to fill in for him. By the by, I suggest getting those mental defenses of yours restored, the collateral damage that has been done to you has left gaping holes in your once steel trapped mind."
Giovanni panicked. All of Team Rocket's secrets, investments, and future plans were now in the hands of that "child".
"He doesn't know every particular facet of your plans, but he knows enough, and I now possess knowledge of it all. So, you'd best understand that turnabout is fair play should you shoot first."
'…' What else could Giovanni even say at this point. The boy's sponsor was the former Champion of the Indigo League. Just that was enough to halt any form of revenge that could force him to spill everything to Oak. Also, he no longer had the backing of a Legendary pokémon to bail him out. This was utterly his loss.
"With the line drawn in the sand, I believe it’s time that I take my leave. For once, I'm going to dictate my fate by making amends for the people that we hurt as best as I can. Then afterward, I'm going to take a page out the books of you humans and be selfish. Despite the exhilaration of battle, I don't think I can find it in me to ever enjoy losing. So, I have a rematch to prepare for…"
Uncertainty and excitement poured out from Mew-urgh! From the being invading Giovanni's mind and washed over him. "After that well… I haven't the foggiest clue, but I guess never knowing is just part of the fun of living, right?"
Giovanni could only stew in his own agony as the entity carelessly spoke of their plans in his own head. Their words weren’t for him and he had a suspicion that the entity wasn’t wholly speaking to itself either but instead someone who wasn't even here.
Not like it mattered.
He no longer registered as a threat to warrant any caution from the being. Such a humiliation was one that he had only experienced at the hands of his own mother. No matter how much more power he garnered during his tenure as leader of Team Rocket compared to her, she always stood at the apex of what he should/could be.
"And now I leave you Giovanni to deal with a hell of your own making. Getting permission to look through the bits of that child's mind and your own has revealed quite a wonderful surprise that I'm afraid I won't have the luxury of watching. So, I'll wish Luke Ketchum the best of luck…"
"What are you even talking about?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Also, I hope you aren't too attached to your Gym…" Giovanni shivered as the entity's dark laughter was followed by suffocating and dangerous pulse of psychic power that violently shook everything.
----------------------------------------
In a single day, Giovanni had lost many things.
The ability to see and feel anything on the right side of his body.
His most powerful weapon.
His gym was now reduced to rubble.
And possibly his position as the Gym Leader of Viridian City for housing and letting loose an unknown dangerous pokémon.
Mewtwo had left nothing untouched as the only remains of the gym were the two prone and injured bodies in the Arena and the unconscious "Gym Trainers" and his own secretary in the destroyed remains of the gym's surrounding offices and rooms. Medical dispatch was quick to arrive to take them to the nearest Pokémon Center while closely tailed by the champion himself, Muramasa Sengo.
The Johtonian Bug-type specialist was diligent and that was all Giovanni could say about him. Sure, he had defeated one of Samuel Oak's pokémon before ultimately losing, however none before him during his generation had even managed to reach beyond the Elite Four to challenge him. Still Giovanni and everyone watching that match knew that Muramasa was only chosen as the next regional Champion due to Oak choosing to retire with a set successor than anything else.
Giovanni had to sit through what was a literal interrogation as he recovered under the care of the Nurse Joys and doctors of his city. His answers were incomplete and unsatisfactory so that he'd have to deal with more questions after his recovery. He couldn't even spite Me-urgh! He couldn't even spite that thing because of the mental fail safe that was forcibly implanted into his mind. Giovanni knew how meticulous that being was and realized nothing sort of a Legendary equal to or stronger than that thing could ever break his mental shackles.
His lacking answers came with a warning that this incident would have to be discussed heavily between the Pokémon League's President and Muramasa himself and that his position as Gym Leader for endangering his city for allowing an unknown dangerous pokémon stay in his gym and endanger the life of his challenger.
A challenger who just happened to be free of any charges of carrying a knife and packet of poison that seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. Giovanni gave them props, Mewtwo and the twerp sure got out of the mess Scott free.
"You are relieved of your duties as Gym Leader until a decision is made for the next Circuit. You may still provide your services to the community of Viridian but your official status as it's protector will be left pending. Rest, regain your strength, and wait for the League's summons. Are we clear, Giovanni?"
"Crystal, dear Champion…" Giovanni bowed and gritted his teeth. Being ordered around by a Johtonian would never be easy for him.
"Good, then I'll leave you to recover and resume speaking with your compatriots." Muramasa bowed alongside his Ace, Masamune the Scizor, before leaving the room. Although some back and forth was occurring between his Executives in the hallway that that the Champion had inevitably stumbled into.
"And what is going on out here?" Muramasa deeply intoned.
"A-Ah, yes, sir. Sorry about that, we're just having a little spat about whether we should allow this fine beauty to see the boss." Giovanni could never forget the bumbling voice of his right-hand man. Petrel loved to play the act of the fool just to lower his opponent's guard and viciously poison them as was his trade as a Poison type specialist.
However, when faced with the region's Champion, Giovanni knew that that act was no far from fake.
"Let her go in. Alone." Giovanni had never heard Proton sound so serious before.
"You damned ruffian, what do you think you're doing!?" Archie's practically hissed at his fellow Executive.
"I do not have to explain myself to you, defanged Archibald." Suddenly Proton's voice became a tad bit soft, which was also uncharacteristic for Giovanni's deadliest subordinate. "Go."
"Why you-!" Giovanni could hear Archie's teeth grinding from here.
"I will not stand for any conflict in this center meant for the ill and injured. Take your squabble elsewhere. Now." Muramasa's warning was followed by the swift appearance of Giovanni's unexpected guest and the closing of his door.
"…" A brunette who appeared in her late twenties or early thirties had quietly entered his room. Her eyes were bloodshot as dried tears marred her gentle features that were twisted in a familiar baleful glare that would certainly give the twerp that he had come close to killing a run for his money.
It didn't take a genius to know who this was. "Delia Ketchum, I presume?"
"…Yes…" Her voice was cracked and hoarse, no doubt from crying over her injured boy. Sorrow and rage warred within the woman as her fingernails tightly dug into the worn and torn Ekans-skinned journal in her hands.
"I see…" Giovanni nodded. What else could even be said? He's dealt with cases like this before except now he couldn't just up and leave or allow one of his subordinates to dispose of the nuisance. So, Giovanni prepared for the earful that he was bound to receive.
…
…
…
…
Neither moved a muscle nor made to say anything until the woman began to quietly hiss words that gave him pause.
"…I don't know why I'm still even doing this." The woman slowly walked over to his bedside. "He spoke so highly of you and had even lamented so many regrets on how he could have done more for you. With how dearly he spoke of you, I couldn't help but question if you were worthy of his admiration, his love. Could someone who tried to claw out the spine of our baby boy, who left those marks on his n-nec-!" Delia gulped back a sob that threatened to pour past her lips. "Could someone like that really be worth all that regret and love?"
"What are you on ab-?"
*WHAAAAM!*
Giovanni found himself smacked by the hard leather of the journal.
"Personally, I can't find it within myself to ever forgive a man who'd willingly indulge in crime and put my child in harm's way. But…I made a promise, and I intend to keep it." The woman tone was cold and at odds with her gentle appearance. All Giovanni could do to suppress his anger for being struck was simply remain motionless from the shock of even getting hit at all.
"I've rightfully put this off for too long and though I would have liked to start this when my boys were older or preferably when someone finally put you behind bars, I'm now forced to act before things escalate. Here." She callously tossed the journal onto his lap. "Open the cover, then you will tell me what exactly that you did to my baby boy."
"I gathered your child told you everything considering you're so knowledgeable about my criminal activities." Giovanni sniped back.
"My boy is a terrible liar and hates to worry others. If he has a problem, he keeps to himself until someone forces it out of him. I will not do so while he's recovering, so you will be the one to do so." Delia stubbornly crossed her arms.
Hmph, Giovanni did respect the woman's spunk. "What makes you think I owe you anything, woman?"
"Open the journal and find out." She coolly sighed and narrowed her eyes.
"…" Wordlessly, Giovanni stared her down before deciding to just rip the band aid off and see what exactly drove this woman to–!
Opening the journal, his hands trembled as two photos slid off the back end of the cover. One depicting a happy family depicting the woman at his bedside holding a baby, and a very familiar man holding carrying the child he once tried to kill not too long ago…
Giovanni wanted to say that it was a lie, it could have just been a coincidence that there was someone who'd resemble his little brother out in the world. Giorno was dead. Nothing would change that…
Except the second worn grayscale photo depicting himself as a child holding the bundle of joy that was his brother just after his mother had given birth to him. No one in the world beyond himself, his mother, a-and his long since deceased (o-or formerly deceased?) brother should have this picture.
What…?
How in the world is this…?
"Gi-Giorno is ali-?" For the first time in years, a warmth that had long since been snuffed out had begun to blossom in Giovanni's breast.
"I am the widow to Asch Ketchum. Not Giorno." Delia's abrupt denial was as swift as it was cold. All of that hope beginning to form was snuffed away and replaced with despair.
"E-Excuse me?" Aghast, Giovanni licked his dry lips.
"His name is "Asch" Ketchum, and he died 5 years ago in a rockslide at Pallet Peaks. He is no longer with us, but yes, if you made the connection then you are correct. He is your brother." Delia clenched her fists.
Giovanni's despair only worsened with the news. His own brother…was alive this entire time. He wasn't truly KIA and was actually alive…until…5 years ago…
…Wait a minute?
Giovanni's eyes widened as he grew even more pale.
"And that is why I'm surprised, brother-in-law…" The beautiful brunette walked around his bed to rest her hands on the opposite end's footboard and leaned forward to look him dead in the eye. "For someone who I've been told would do anything for the betterment of his Family…" Giovanni cursed Mew-that damned creature and mostly himself. "…why would he try and murder his own nephew?"
For he truly had found himself in a hell of his own making.