Giovanni stood at the center of the battlefield, surveying the chaos around him. The war had changed many things, but one thing had remained the same—power dictated survival. Kanto's forces had been losing ground in Viridian, but Giovanni had no intention of letting Johto's forces push further into his territory. The Liberation Army he had forged from the remnants of Team Rocket was still incomplete. Many of Madame Boss's loyalists had resisted his changes, preferring crime to war. Others had been common thieves, uninterested in true power. But then, there were the orphans—those who had lost everything to the war and had found a new purpose under his banner. To them, Giovanni was not just a leader; he was their savior, their general, their only hope for vengeance.
"Hold the line!" Giovanni barked as his Charizard let out a deafening roar, unleashing a Smokescreen to blind the enemy. The battlefield was uneven, but that could be turned into an advantage. "Dugtrio, Rhydon—burrow beneath them!" He didn't need to see their movements to know they followed his orders to the letter.
The Johto forces scrambled as their vision was clouded. "Whirlwind!" one of them shouted, sending gusts of wind to clear the smoke. But it was too late.
"Now!" Giovanni commanded.
Like phantoms, his Pokémon emerged from the earth, striking with pinpoint precision. Rhydon's Megahorn sent a trainer flying, while Dugtrio's Earthquake destabilized the enemy ranks. His forces advanced, cutting through the stunned Johto soldiers. The battle was turning in their favor.
Then, a smirk crossed the lips of a Johto trainer. Even in the face of disaster, he seemed amused. "You think you've won?" the man sneered, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Let's see how you handle this."
A flash of red light, and a massive Tyranitar appeared, its eyes wild with rage. But something was wrong—it wasn't just angry. It was feral. It roared, thrashing uncontrollably, attacking both Kanto and Johto forces alike.
Giovanni's eyes narrowed. This wasn't a trained Pokémon. What did they do?
The trainer laughed. "Oh, this beast? We sedated it and forced it into battle. It doesn't know friend from foe!" He grinned. "Good luck."
"Rhydon, keep it in check!" Giovanni ordered. His Rhydon was strong, but a wild Tyranitar was a force of nature. It had no battle sense, no discipline—just raw power. And yet, power alone didn't win wars.
The battle raged, each strike calculated. Rhydon and the rest of Giovanni's forces fought with strategy while the Tyranitar rampaged wildly. Slowly, carefully, they whittled it down, forcing it into exhaustion.
Giovanni took the chance. He marched forward, not toward the Tyranitar, but toward its so-called trainer. Before the man could react, Giovanni pulled out a pistol and shot him twice—once in the chest, once in the head. The battlefield fell silent as the trainer collapsed, lifeless.
Giovanni knelt down, picking up the Poké Ball the man had dropped. He could force the Tyranitar into submission, but he had no use for a mindless beast. He turned to the Pokémon, meeting its exhausted gaze. "Were you captured from Mt. Silver?"
A slow, wary nod.
Giovanni studied it for a moment. A wild-caught Pokémon like this, thrown into battle without training, was a liability. Pokémon raised by a trainer from their first stage—like his Charizard—developed skills and instincts far beyond those caught in the wild. A Machop trained by a martial artist would learn to fight with purpose, while one born in the wild would rely on brute force alone.
"Are you male or female?" he asked.
The Tyranitar hesitated, then growled lowly before nodding twice.
A smirk formed on Giovanni's lips. "Female, then. That makes things interesting."
He had wanted a Tyranitar, but not this one. However, a deal could be made. "You can't run. If you try, Johto or Kanto forces will kill you on sight. But I can offer you freedom. I'll release you into Mt. Moon—it's not Silver, but it's habitable. In exchange, whenever you have offspring, one of them will belong to me."
The Tyranitar let out another low growl, its pride and exhaustion warring in its gaze. It had been beaten, humiliated, used as a weapon. There was no future for it in this war.
Finally, it gave a slow, reluctant nod.
Giovanni released the Poké Ball, letting the beast go. He turned back to his army. The battle was over, and they had won. But more than that, a new legend was forming.
His soldiers murmured among themselves. Some were in awe, having watched their leader turn the tide of battle with sheer intelligence and ruthlessness. Others feared him, knowing that his mercy was not given freely. And then there were those who saw him as the only man who could save Kanto.
"That... That was incredible," a young recruit whispered.
A veteran smirked. "That's why he's our leader."
Nearby, a Rocket officer approached. "Boss, what now?"
Giovanni looked toward the horizon, toward the heart of Kanto. "Now?" He let out a small chuckle. "Now, we end this war."
The whispers of his name would spread far beyond this battlefield. Soon, even Samuel Oak would have to acknowledge him. And when the time came, Giovanni would not just be a leader in the shadows—he would be the one guiding Kanto's future.
Next Chap Teaser:
Flames roared across the Johto encampment before the first warning cry could be heard. Soldiers scrambled, yanking Pokéballs from their belts as explosions tore through their supply lines.
Above it all, a Charizard with battle-worn scales descended like an omen of wrath. On its back, Samuel Oak's eyes burned with determination.