Giovanni

Art by Matori

**Giovanni** is a major recurring character in the *Operation GEAR* series. He is the boss of Team Rocket, and one of Polaris's arch enemies.

## History

Giovanni first became involved with Team Rocket as a young man, as it was a family business run by his mother, the figure known only as Madame Boss. During this time he met and developed a relationship with Ariana Lalume, another member of the organization. Eventually, they worked together to overthrow Madame Boss and seize control of Team Rocket themselves. Giovanni thus became the boss of the team, with Ariana as his underboss.

Following his rise to power, Giovanni led Team Rocket to become an influential crime syndicate with presence in many regions. Its operations during its peak included the creation of Mewtwo, an experiment that resulted in the deaths of Dr. Yung's scientist parents and set him on a path of revenge against Giovanni and Team Rocket. He also took in Trevor Hastings, a former actor who fled from Team Plasma in the Unova region, and Dr. Zager, the former head of Polaris's Aball Clinic. Archer, a member of Polaris working undercover as a Team Rocket Executive, attempted to eliminate Giovanni along with the rest of Team Rocket's leadership by luring them to Goldenrod City's Radio Tower and blowing it up, but this scheme failed.

As he learned more about Polaris and their subsidiary Team Plasma, Giovanni developed an interest in gaining new power in Unova. He sent the Razor Claw Squad to the region, where they learned of the Meteonite. However, as Team Plasma was also investigating the Meteonite, Giovanni sent more agents to Unova in preparation to acquire it, intending to use it as a weapon against the rest of Polaris. Once his subordinates located the Meteonite in the Desert Resort, he traveled there to oversee its collection in person. He then brought it to a masquerade party taking place at the Join Avenue Corporation headquarters in nearby Castelia City, where he attempted to extort control of the region from some of its prominent business and political figures.

However, Team Plasma and its leader Ghetsis Harmonia interrupted Giovanni's presentation and attacked the party, stealing the Meteonite for themselves. Giovanni sent Jessie, James and Meowth to retrieve the Meteonite while he, Zager and Pierce returned to Kanto with the Razor Claw Squad, but in their battle against Team Plasma, the Meteonite was ultimately destroyed, rendering both teams' missions as failures. Following this, Giovanni sent Team Rocket on several more operations in Unova, including aiding in the final battle against Ghetsis and Team Plasma, but they were not able to acquire the kind of power he aimed for.

Because Team Rocket had moved outside its usual pattern as a business-oriented syndicate by shifting to a more militaristic strategy in Unova, the International Police became more focused on taking them down. This led to many members of the team either being arrested or quitting and going into obscurity, leaving Giovanni at the head of the severely weakened organization that now comprised himself, Stacia, Ariana, Proton, Petrel, the Razor Claw Squad, Zager, Pierce, Jessie, James and Meowth.

In *The Firestorm Rebellion*, Giovanni led an attack on the Battle Frontier's opening celebration tournament at the Indigo Plateau. However, the operation failed, and he was captured by Looker, whose International Police superiors instructed him to place Giovanni under house arrest. While under house arrest he appeared in *The Victory Star of Fate* and *The Victory Star of Fate Retake* monitoring the events in Whitegold City.

### *The Angel of Reckoning*

Giovanni mobilized the remaining members of Team Rocket after the appearance of Polaris agents at the Everton International press conference in Whitegold City. By having Nekou plant a virus in the International Police's database that erased his record, he returned to actively leading Team Rocket in their mission to defeat Polaris and prevent the cult's apocalyptic plans.

## Relation to Canon

Most forms of Pokémon media depict Giovanni as the head of Team Rocket. The *Operation GEAR* series combines his history from the anime with aspects of his video game character, placing him in a more antiheroic role than he is typically given.

## Trivia

* As RB-3, Giovanni is the *Operation GEAR* series's version of the character Essentia. In canon media, Essentia is the alter-ego of Emma, a homeless girl from Lumiose City in the Kalos region who was given a cybernetic suit that granted her superhuman abilities. The suit Giovanni is placed in by Colress Antimony when he becomes RB-3 is based on this device.