Giovanni (EntityTopic, 12)

From Compile Worlds

Giovanni is a Gym leader from the Kanto region found in the original Pokémon games. However, he is also the leader of Team Rocket, the villainous gang that conducted the illegal activities throughout the game. Unlike his other fellow Gym Leaders, Giovanni did not return in Pokémon 2 to challenge Ethan and Krys(Until their Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Giovanni conducted a few Team Rocket crimes personally, but he usually left his incompetent grunts to do his dirty work. When he was encountered for the final time at his Gym in Viridian City, Giovanni finally acknowledged Red/Leaf's strength, both verbally and with a badge. Giovanni also suddenly had an epiphany or something, because he suddenly decided that he would train his Pokémon and treat them with kindness and dignity. With that being said, Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket, took their 9000 moneys, and fled to parts unknown. He likely went to Johto to find his red haired son. However, in HG/SS, it was revealed that exactly the opposite had taken place; Giovanni had fled to a cave in the Tojoh falls to train his team in private, all while abandoning a confused and angry Silver. Later on, Ethan and or Krys' replacement, Lyra, must fight Giovanni at the falls in order to stop him from responding to Team Rocket's desperate call from the Goldenrod Radio Tower and pwning Ethan/Lyra in the tower with his high-leveled Honchkrow. Nevertheless, Giovanni fails here, and flees again, and this time, he and Team Rocket disappear for good.

In the anime, Giovanni is a much more mysterious and sinster character, occasionally appearing as silhouette or as a delusional fantasy of Team Rocket. Further adding to the enigma that is Giovanni is the fact that he and Ash Ketchum only meet once in the entire anime(and that was only during a T.V. special). Ash never faces Giovanni, as he has to take care of business and leaves Jessie and James to face Ash, probably leaving Gary ridiculously jealous(after all, Giovanni had just pwnd him with Mewtwo. Furthermore, he still runs Team Rocket and is insanely obsessed with Mewtwo and other rare and powerful Pokémon. Once again adding mystery to the character is the fact that some have elected him as a possible candidate for the role of Ash's father. Support for the theory involves Delia being a part of his high-school gang for a time, and Delia even went out with him while in the gang. Further evidence shows that Giovanni resembles the silhouette in the only photo of the man that is Ash's dad. However, denouncing the theory is that Giovanni doesn't even know Ash when they meet. Furthermore, Delia suggests she broke up with Gio before she graduated, and Rockets themselves say Giovanni's kid has red hair.

Giovanni: Silver's Father?

Yes, fans have long time been speculating the idea of Silver being the son of Giovanni. Strong points going for this speculation are the fact that Giovanni's kid DOES have red hair, and that the two in classic artwork share similarities in the facial region. Silver and Giovanni were also father and son in Manga adaptions(However, we must consider that this is also the same manga that depicts the Kanto Elite Four as a group of PokéTerrorists). Going against this argument however, is considering Silver's hatred of Team Rocket, his HG/SS redesign(which now looks less like Giovanni), the presence of other red heads(Whitney, Misty, Lance and Lorelei)in the generation(s), and the manga's ridiculousness.

The long awaited answer

Much as the fan-base suspicioned since the refrence in FireRed and LeafGreen, Silver indeed turned out to be related by blood to Giovanni. However, unlike the Manga, where Silver eventually can resolve with his father and help him turn a new leaf, Silver is abandoned by his failure of a father, and never gets to see him again. Furthermore, the event fuels Silver's rage for Team Rocket, Giovanni and the weak even more and all at once. Hence, some dark tones were taken away from his character, but a major plot hole was filled.

Region of origin

Since the revelation of Giovanni and Silver's relationship, a new question has emerged; from which region to both of them hail? There are only two possibilities, Kanto and Johto. While one may conclude Viridian city is Giovanni's origin, some other Gym Leaders, such as Blue and Fantina run Gyms in towns and regions not of their birth. Furthermore, if Silver was abandoned in Kanto with nothing but an empty Gym, there is no explination as to how Silver could have possibly crossed the continental border and survived. A more likely possibility is that Giovanni based himself in Kanto, but actually hailed from Johto, where he had temporarily left Silver in order to conduct his schemes.