#RR! Giovanni makes the most sense to have one

[a-tale-of-legends]

RR! Giovanni should have his Kangaskan actually.

Edit: okay so I keep forgetting he has one in the battle agency, but I mean in a main story team, he should have his Kangaskan.

[leggerefiore]

Can I request Giovanni is s/o's ex and is jealous that theyre now dating nanu? Ever since you wrote that drabble about RR in alola its lived rent free in my head!! Its also so interesting considering Giovanni calls Nanu an "old friend" in the anime

nfjdjdnd I'm not quite sure what RR drabble you're referring to (I have a few... I can think of specifically, though you might be referring to). Time to try to write Giovanni again... also since this is RR Giovanni, multiverse confusion

cw: jealousy,

pairing: Nanu/Reader, Previous Giovanni/Reader

🚀🐈‍⬛️Giovanni & Nanu❤️‍🩹🐈

🟥 The Rocket Boss was not immune to the beauty of Alola. While his focus should have, perhaps, been entirely on his goals, he was curious about the world they had invaded. Information was most pertinent, was it not? He had to wait until the UB experiment fully was ready for acutely processing. The other team leaders that he had pulled in seemed too distracted to be of concern for now as well. So, he had picked an island and found himself wandering in more casual clothing. Of course, Rocket grunts would accompany, while his executives remained to help manage the remaining members around their new hideout.

🌑 Ula'Ula had caught his eye for the architecture reminded him like that of Johto. The garden itself made him feel as if he were back home. The scenery put his mind at ease as he wandered. Everything was going well. Giovanni always worked to make sure his plans gave him the result that he wanted. He sat on a bench to observe the passing people of Alola with an interest. What pokemon of interest were here? His ponderings were interrupted by the arrival of two familiar people. He allowed his hat to obscure his eyes as they approached the stall. Nanu... The International Police officer was Alolan if the Rocket Boss recalled correctly. But, the person at his side made Giovanni grimace. You. Your arm was wrapped around Nanu's own while he squinted at the menu. It was plainly obvious what the connection was between you two. His grip nearly shattered the tea cup in his hand.

🟥 You – his mind raced. He was not going to pretend he was the most romantic man on the planet. There were times he simply lost himself in his plans. Yet, Giovanni felt that he provided nearly everything that you had wanted. There was some rare-vested attachment that he held. You challenged him. You had the strength to prove yourself… He almost wanted to keep you like his prized Persian. It was not to be. You left. No words were spoken – Just gone. He wondered what had been the breaking point, but you were impossible to find. Except, here you were. It all made sense now. If anyone could hide you away from him, it would be Nanu. The Elite Officer was amicable, but it was clear he had some sense of justice always on his mind. His harsh exterior only masked his soft heart.

🌑 Something in him broke at the sight of Nanu's arm going around your shoulders. You leaned into him in return. Giovanni remained silent. He did not make any sudden movements. His competitive spirit burned within him. What could you see in Nanu? He appeared so dishevelled now. Whatever the Rocket Boss had seen in him as an officer was replaced with a different man. Yet, you seemed to happily enjoy a confectionery with the red-eyed man. While this you was not the same one that he held a relationship with, he doubted that the situation of this world was so far apart that this you and him were disconnected from each other. What did he lack that Nanu offered? He struggled to think of anything.

🟥 A sudden gaze from the retired International Police officer had him silenced. Had he been detected? He wondered what the next few actions would be. Part of him debated if he should simply walk away, yet another part of his foolhardy pride demanded that he stay. Nanu's arm left your shoulder. Giovanni finally tipped his hat up enough to reveal his face. Their eyes met. Words were not spoken, yet they clearly could understand the other's feelings. You turning your head to see what caught Nanu's attention led to your eyes growing wide. Giovanni almost smirked. That was recognition, purely and simply. You leaned into Nanu, trying to hide, but all three of you were aware of the situation. His envy burned brighter.

🌑 “Ah, I had always wondered where you had disappeared away from me to,” Giovanni stood up and approached you both, “Nanu… I should have suspected something like this. Who else could outsmart me?” He felt around in his pocket for a familiar box of something. “… Is he truly better than me?” His dark eyes swelled with something ominous. Doing something here was too stupid, and he was beyond a childish reaction of violence. “I assure you that I can offer you everything more than he can,” Giovanni would not say he was desperate, but he would admit he did not want to back down. Nanu cocked a brow up at him while shooting him an intense glare. A chuckle left him.

🟥 Your denial hit him hard. You still clung to Nanu. The Kahuna seemed to attempt to console you and hide you behind him. Giovanni felt his smirk fall. Stubborn. He supposed this was the end for now. Turning away from you both, he wandered out of the gardens. There was time to work on this later. Giovanni would establish himself here, and perhaps then his influence would sway you. He could only hope things continued to go smoothly.

🌑 You turned to gaze up at Nanu, searching for an answer, yet he seemed lost in his own thoughts. His arm remained around you. Lidded eyes lowered even further as his lips forced themselves into his usual frown. Something was now afoot. He could feel the upcoming stress in his bones. Looker had suddenly started blowing up his phone, but he tried to ignore it. This must have been why. “We probably shouldn't stray too far from each other,” he spoke in his usual lazy manner, “… You did date Giovanni, eh? What a choice.” You could only look at him, I'm bewilderment. Was he jealous? The situation really seemed a mess.

[wooglebear]

Rainbow Fever! Or: Team Rainbow Rocket in the EBWT AU

This is for the AU I posted about, but have been fleshing out for a while! i develloped a bit for the Team RR arc to go with it!

That's right! I’ll show you how I’d include Team Rainbow Rocket for the AU, or rather, how I’d make them worse, plus making them appear in the anime as a bonus.

Team Rainbow Rocket was one of the best Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon stuff. But WOW did the writers do them dirty in the anime. They. Did. Not. Even. SHOW! UP!

Here’s how I’d give them a bit more of an impact in the Everything's Better with Triplets AU.

I do not own all fanart used in this

Setting up the Rainbow Arc

Giovanni is gonna have his USUM design in this anime. He and Giovanni are the same person here.

The members of Team RR are gonna have the most changes.

since this AU's characterization of Ghetsis is characterized more like his b2w2 counterpart, Maxie and Archie are closer to their ORAS characterization here. And they have their ORAS designs.

In this AU, Archie and Team Aqua are more stupid, disorganized and ambitious with little regard for reality and the repercussions of their actions, while Maxie and Team Magma are more level-headed and logical. Maxie is more logical in that sense, almost like he's a babysitter to Archie and tries to keep him in line since Archie has no regard for anything other than his own goals.

Also, Maxie is hella gay and is dating Archie. So he's a babysitter and a boyfriend.

As for Cyrus and Lysandre, i might have to revise certain aspects regarding their basic background/backstory to better fit into the au?

Faba is also a member of Team RR. But full time, this time. Faba hates Team RR for being borderline sociopaths, and he refuses to go along with any of their plans. But Giovanni says it wouldn't really matter since Faba is not included in their ranks.

Also, Major Blanc is back. And apart of their ranks.

Fed up with recurring nightmares about both Team Plasma and the Aether Foundation, Crispin runs away from home, only to get captured by Team Rainbow Rocket. They make him into Major Blanc again, and subject all of Crispin's Pokemon to the Shadow Pokémon process.

Also, they have 2 new members - Courtney and Tabitha. Yup, I'm bringing back Courtney and Tabitha.

These two were also dragged along with Maxie, but it isn't on purpose.

They tag along with Maxie.

Courtney, Maxie's right-hand woman, is just as psychotic-yet-childlike as she was in ORAS. Tabitha is basically the same haughty, smug person, but now a bit ditzy (yup, Tabitha is non-binary in the anime).

this kind of makes Maxie and his Admins a bit of a parallel to the TRio dynamic.

their dynamic in a nutshell is just: "Surrender to us now..." "...or someone is going to die." "Of fun!"

Major Blanc's dynamic with Team Magma is that Maxie quickly deems him an annoyance but keeps him around for his unorthodox thinking.

This brings the Terrible Trio of Maxie, Courtney and Tabitha's numbers up to four, but Major Blanc's clearly a wildcard who’ll flip on him if it’s convenient.

Rainbow Fever - Part 1

(This two parter comes around later in Ultra Legends, to the point of it coming before "the Sun, Moon and Everyone's Dreams!")

-The episode opens with Crispin having a nightmare about Team Plasma.

-Once he wakes up, Crispin talks to Cress about his nightmares

-Cress decides he has stress

-Cue the theme!

-At the Pokémon school, Crispin complains about having nightmares about Aether Foundation, which Ash, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, and Sophocles get on his case for.

-Crispin walks off with Cilan, unaware that they are being watched…

-Cut to none other than Giovanni watching them, and people show up. None other than Archie, Maxie, Cyrus, Lysandre, Courtney, Tabitha, Ghetsis and Faba!

-Giovanni asks what they think of Ash's classmates, and they predict they will be abysmal.

-Ghetsis then says they bring "someone" back, which everyone but Faba agrees with.

-Maxie compliments Giovanni's strategy.

-Crispin is more untalkative by the minute. His friends try to help, but everything they do only makes things worse.

-Then Cress accidentally upsets Crispin, who tells him he's done with these nightmares, and he runs off, crying.

-Crispin runs into the woods and is attacked by Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts.

-Cilan notices Crispin is gone.

-Then the triplets go to Wicke, she reports either Crispin or Faba are nowhere to be found.

-At her office, Lusamine hears knocking on the door. The person is Gladion, who asks if they have found Faba. Lusamine denies, so Gladion leaves. Lusamine stops Gladion, wishing to talk with him, who claims he does not have the time, since Faba could do his mischief. Lusamine explains they are searching for Faba, but Gladion ignores her and leaves.

-Team Rainbow Rocket have tied Crispin up. Suddenly, Faba comes across them, and demands that they let Crispin go. Giovanni refuses and says they are going to bring back Major Blanc

-Archie, Maxie, Cyrus, Lysandre, Tabitha, Courtney, and Ghetsis raise their hands, while Faba refuses to.

-The votes are 7-1, so Giovanni just goes by default.

-They make Major Blanc a thing again, and everyone just wants Major Blanc there while Faba wants an intern. In the scuffle, half of Major Blanc's uniform is torn, so they sew half a Aether uniform onto it.

-Maxie tells Major Blanc that they should dispose of his Pokemon. When Major Blanc refuses, Giovanni orders him held down and procures a "how to make Shadow Pokemon" manual from the library.

-Meanwhile, Cilan interrogates Kiawe, Ash, Lana, Lillie, Mallow, Sophocles, and Professor Kukui, and Burnet and learns that Crispin is gone.

-After piecing everything together, Cilan comes to the horrifying conclusion that Crispin was kidnapped!

-Meanwhile, Giovanni tells Cyrus, Lysandre, and Ghetsis to kidnap Ash's friends, Archie to cause drama, and Maxie, Tabitha, Courtney and Major Blanc to kidnap Ash himself.

-He gives them Netguns and Maxie the electric net

-Team Rocket are attempting to sell Malasadas near the school when they spot the trio. They know Maxie, but don't know who the heck the other two are. Maxie introduces them as Courtney and Tabitha

-While Meowth finds it difficult to believe that someone like Courtney is Maxie's right hand, James and Jessie become furious, realizing they are apparently going to be undermined by this new trio.

-After Team Rocket rips off their work uniforms and chants their motto, Maxie says they do better mottos than them.

-Then they does a parody of Team Rocket's very first motto.

-Near the Pokémon school, Mallow, Kiawe, Lana and Sophocles are hanging out. Just then, Lysandre flies in on a glider.

-He tells them he wants them. Kiawe threatens to use Inferno Overdrive on him, to which Lysandre just fires his net gun at the four of them.

-The Magma Quartet start brainstorming for ideas, and Major Blanc says they steal Pikachu first. They should dig a hole for Pikachu to fall in.

-They do so, and Maxie starts gloating about his plan. He, Tabitha and Courtney burst out laughing.

-Unfortunately, Maxie, Courtney, and Tabitha are all laughing so hard, Major Blanc forgets to steer them away from the hole trap they had set up. The trio falls in. The laughing stops at once.

-Maxie hates that they fell in his own trap.

-Then a cement truck pulls up. Mistaking the hole for a rather nasty pot hole in the middle of the road that he can't seem to fill, the driver fills the hole with wet cement.

-This causes the cement to splatter all over the three people in the hole

-"NO!" Maxie screams, him and the admins now covered in cement

-When they get out of the hole, Maxie is mad that they got covered in concrete ("On one hand, I got to dig a hole. On the other hand..." he gestures to himself, Tabitha and Courtney, "Look at us!", while Courtney and Tabitha decide to go with an alternate plan.

-At Po Town on Ula'ula Island, the grunts are lazing around the Shady House, while Plumeria (with her newly shortened pigtails to reflect her terrible fate in the alola league) is typing on her phone. Gladion is also there. Ghetsis says HELLO, Plumiera craps herself, and Gladion demands who he is.

-Without a word, Ghetsis decides to shoot Gladion with a net gun, too.

-A now cleaned up Maxie, disguised as a bush, uses a sling to throw a candy star. Ash's Pikachu wakes up, and eats the candy. It notices the trail coming to Faba's bush, who exclaims the plan is a success. Team Rocket is at their truck, trying to sell their food. Still, they comment about Faba the creep, and they prefer to work here than for him. Wobbuffet points at the bush, as Team Rocket notices Maxie and Pikachu. Meowth realizes he wants to steal Pikachu, though Jessie is more insulted that he disguised himself, which is something Team Rocket normally does. Regardless, Meowth and James plan on stealing the Pokémon before Maxie does. When at his reach, Maxie uses his net to capture Pikachu. Instead, he finds Wobbuffet in his net, much to his shock.

-Jessie calls Wobbuffet back, and retreats with James and Meowth.

-Meanwhile, Cyrus goes to Lillie's mansion. After talking to Hobbs, Lillie's butler, Cyrus gets a potato sack and throws it over Lillie's head.

-Maxie then goes to Akala Meadow with Major Blanc, Courtney and Tabitha, and is angry that another plan failed. One angry rant later, all four of them end up covered in red berry juice due to Maxie smashing a berry tree with a baseball bat

-As the trio laugh, Major Blanc is just confused. After Maxie absentmindedly, if grumpily, wipes down his glasses, Courtney concludes that the situation calls for "desperate measures".

-Later, the cleaned up quartet goes to Pikachu Valley. Maxie then grabs one of the Pikachu, who gets mad

-Whatever voltage that Pikachu was working at, it was apparently leagues more powerful than Ash's Pikachu.

-Maxie is then seen covered in soot and with frizzy hair.

-"Any other bright ideas?" he coughs out

-Meanwhile, Archie goes to the police as they asked him if he was lost or something but Archie just refuses and sends his Sharpedo after them.

-After more unsuccessful attempts to steal Pikachu, Maxie decides Team Magma really needs to step it up.

-So they attempt to shoot Ash with Major Blanc's paintball gun. Major Blanc refuses to do so, and he shoots Maxie in the foot with paint. Maxie demands that he obey him. "Not anymore," he whispers before opening fire with a cackle

-Burnet goes to the police station as Archie explains that they are on a break. He then sends his Sharpedo atter her as Burnet runs and Archie makes it back to the Resort.

-When they stop running, Maxie is covered from head to toe in multiple colors of paint. As are Courtney and Tabitha. Maxie thinks things can’t get any worse.

-But they can… Much worse!

-They’re then chased by the Bewear who'd normally bother Team Rocket.

-They jump in a river to escape.

-Team Magma ends up panicking because they're about to fall off a waterfall. As they fall off the waterfall, Maxie angrily yells about his hatred for Giovanni.

-Cut to Giovanni baking cakes. Just then, the people he sent out come back. Maxie, Tabitha and Courtney are soaked, paint smeared, filthy wrecks ready to flatten Giovanni with a steamroller if one were available.

-They roast Giovanni for sending them with Major Blanc.

-"You told us Major Blanc would watch over us," Maxie says with a sneer, "but I guess he did the opposite…"

-Team RR places Ash's kidnapped friends in prison-like cages.

-As for Gladion, he's imprisoned as well.

-The episode just ends with Team RR laughing

Rainbow Fever - Part 2

-According to the recap, the events of the last episode apparently happened LITERALLY a day after "To Z to Shining Z!". Oops.

-Cue the happy theme

-Giovanni holds a meeting with his members, and Maxie whines that being evil is way harder than you’d think, as the last episode.

-Giovanni states if he wonders if Major Blanc betraying them has anything to do with the three boys that Ash has been hanging out with as of late. He shows them a photo of the Striation Triplets, and tell me Team RR won't react the same way they did in this fanart:

-Anyway, Maxie demands what else Giovanni knows and Giovanni holds a piece of paper and inadvertently blurts out, via his nervousness, that Maxie is gay.

-The other Rainbow Rocket members aren't that surprised though. Maxie tries to cover his tracks, and digs himself into a hole.

-Giovanni concocts a scheme to take down as many people as he and the other Rainbow members can

-Courtney and Tabitha come in, and Maxie greets them.

-"Listen, there's no way that halitosis-riddled Team Rocket is going to win," Maxie says haughtily. "I've got the superior trio, in brains, brawn, and beauty. Team Rocket doesn't hold a candle to us, not in a million years."

-For that last remark, he got a bag of flour thrown on him courtesy of Giovanni, which broke open. The sight amuses Courtney and Tabitha, who break into laughter.

-"It's not funny!" Maxie screams, as he wipes his face down.

-After Maxie gets half the flour off himself, Faba comes in, holding a bowl of cake batter in his hands.

-Faba decides that Team Rainbow Rocket will test Ash's mettle and the triplets’ bonds as a family. Maxie counters that villains are people, too.

-Maxie is irritated by Faba's antics, so he attempts to get Major Blanc to shoot him with paint. But Major Blanc shoots the ground

-Faba throws the bowl. Causing it to sail through the air and splatter cake batter all over Maxie.

-"Oops!" Faba remarks. "Looks like you've got a bit of something on you, Maxie!"

-Maxie vows that he'll get Tabitha and Courtney to hold him and one of his Pokemon next time Faba comes to him. After this, he walks away in indignation.

-Meanwhile, Ash and the triplets watch a TV, hoping to find clues as to Crispin's whereabouts.

-"Attention vermin!"

-Suddenly, Giovanni comes onto the TV and announces they've got Crispin. He then tells them about Team Rainbow Rocket. The central premise of this sinister team is that its members are parallel instances of villainous leaders who were successful with their schemes, like a Cyrus who rewrote reality or a Lysandre who obliterated Kalos. And he tells them to go to the Rainbow Resort to stop them in an event called "The Rainbow Rocket Trials".

-Ash is horrified as Giovanni signs off the TV announcement.

-Cilan says they have to go to the Rainbow Resort.

-Chili gets a paintball gun, and Cress brings a baseball bat. Ash and Cilan bring the Z-crystals.

-They go to the Rainbow Resort.

-But Faba shows up, telling them not to enter.

-Cress roasts him, and he leaves

-The triplets and Ash enter the castle, and the Rainbow Rocket Trials begin.

-Ash fights some Team RR grunts

-am i thinking of a scenario where Team Rainbow Rocket essentially splits Ash and the Triplets up by re-randomizing the floor they’re on, effectively acting like the Mysterious Wind in the PMD games? Yes I am

-Cress and Chili end up in one room and get grabbed by Courtney and Tabitha. Maxie turns around and sees them. Cress introduces himself, and introduces Chili, his brother

-Maxie tells them how he got here, and Cress butts in to give his thoughts. Courtney says they also got pulled away, but it wasn't on purpose if they recall.

-Cress asks where's Maxie's Magma Grunts, and Maxie looks at him, flashing a malicious grin. "they’re gone."

-Meanwhile with their brother Cilan, he and Ash get stuck with Archie.

-I think Cilan would drive Archie up the wall with his incessant gabbling… until he tells them he's going to flood Alola

-Cilan is horrified, and he tells Archie that pirates should be "cool guys, sailing around, enjoying freedom", not murderous brutes.

-Then Cilan and Ash get into a battle with Archie.

-If you're wondering about Cilan's brothers, Cress tells Chili to handle Courtney and Tabitha, while Cress himself battles Maxie.

-His Pokemon make good work of his Crobat, Mightyena, and Camehump. But then Cress has a horrible realization that Maxie has a Groudon.

-Regardless, Cress brings out his vespiquen for the Groudon, and in a case of type moves being skewed, uses his Z-ring for a powerful Savage Spin-Out attack.

-Back with Cilan and Ash, they also come to the same realize that Archie has a Kyorge. Meaning that both are inescapably screwed

-Or so it seemed, until Cilan decides to take command of that situation and save Ash from Kyorge immediately by using a Z-Move (in this case, Bloom Doom) on it.

-Meanwhile with the other triplets…

-"NOOOOO!" Maxie shrieks to the heavens

-He then says that they will dry up Alola anyway

-Cress gets angry, and tells Maxie that he threw his grunts under the bus.

-Maxie nods, happy that he, Tabitha and Courtney are the last remaining Magma members. He also mentions that all of Team Aqua but Archie drowned

-Cress decides to teach Maxie a lesson

-Chili shoots him with his paintball gun several times (and I have the humorous image of that scene in tetocu being recreated with Maxie)

-Then Cress pins him down and proceeds to torment him

- For example, Cress spreads glue all over Maxie and throws leaves onto him.

-He then has Panpour use Mudsport on Maxie

-Then Chili hits Maxie in the chest with Cress's baseball bat.

-Cilan and Ash then run out of Archie's room, and Cress and Chili join up with them

-Just then, Archie shows up, and he flirts with Maxie. Maxie is less covered in glue, mud and leaves, but his clothes are a bit stained and are in need of thorough washing

-Just then Guzma shows up.

-And as Guzma refuses to be part of Team RR’s regime, Maxie tells Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts to take him to the place where everyone else is. Which they do, and the triplets and Ash nope the hell out of there

-The four are on their way to Cyrus, but are caught by Major Blanc. Major Blanc's mind-controlled Pokemon attack them. Thanks to Ash, Chili, Cress and Cilan peforming Gigavolt Havoc, Inferno Overdrive, Hydro Vortex and Bloom Doom respectively, they free Crispin's Pokemon. They turn Major Blanc back into Crispin, and they escape.

-The Cyrus scene would mostly play the same as the original USUM.

-When Cyrus tries to take a look at Rotom, Ash and the brothers get into a fight with him

-The battle is one-sided; all of their Pokemon are no match for Cyrus's. Even Palkia is dealt with thanks to Crispin doing Never Ending Nightmare

-After the fight, Ash falls down a hole in the ground

-Then the brothers run into Lysandre of Team Flare. He tells them that he had just unleashed the Ultimate Weapon to end all foolish life, leaving only Team Flare alive, but he got zapped to this world instead. He attempts to make the brothers turn the Ultimate Weapon on, but they refuse and they get into another one sided battle with him.

-Chili lands the finishing blow with his Beartic's Subzero Slammer

-Then Crispin falls down a hole

-"There is no room for Team Plasma, but with all these other rooms, I think we're good for a while." Cress tells them

-The triplets then ahead towards the room where everyone else is kept

-Or, they would have if they weren't stopped.

-"Well now, what do we have here...? I come out wondering what the commotion is... only to find the door to the center of the castle ajar, and intruders running wild! It seems those team leaders from other worlds are not nearly as useful as I had hoped."

-It's Ghetsis of Team Plasma. He gets into a fight with the three at once

-The battle is long and brutal

-At the end of the battle, Ghetsis tries to get Cress turned into a human kebab, however Cilan pulls out his Uno Reverse Card, Colress roasts him and Ghetsis gets erased from existence

-Cilan and Chili fall down a hole, and Cress follows

-Then Cress confronts Giovanni

-Giovanni sends out his Pokemon, forcing Cress to send out all his

-As Giovanni runs roughshod over Cress's Pokémon, he offers him a choice: either die, or join them. Archie and Maxie both decry what Giovanni has done, and even Cyrus soon turns against Giovanni.

-Cilan and Chili try to help, but the cage prevents them

-This incites Giovanni to declare that brotherly love doesn't exist.

-Cress shouts "No, that's wrong" like a Danganronpa protagonist.

-Cress told Giovanni he loved being a triplet. He punched away Nidoking as he said he loved the way Cilan lets bugs crawl out of his food instead of crushing them like Chili. His Dugtrio jumped at him again as he said he loved how Chili says the dorkiest things when trying to sound cool. Giovanni sent his other Pokemon at Cress, but that didn’t stop him, as he said he loved being a waiter most of all.

-Just then, Faba, who had been lurking in the shadows for most of the episode, gleefully revealed himself as the Aether Foundation's first ever traitor. He tells the triplets that he works with whoever he damn well pleases.

-Team RR give him the stink eye, and Courtney tells Faba that at least she currently has no plans to betray Maxie, given that she's his right hand

-Faba then snaps like a waistband, screaming "Idiots! I specialize in psychic types, which will destroy you! You'll all be ruined! Forgotten! Spending eternity rotting in the Distortion World!"

-Then Giovanni sends out the big, bad Mewtwo.

-Deciding this will be a piece of cake, Cress decides to step it up. However, over the course of this battle, Mewtwo sweeps most of Cress's team.

-Cilan is uncertain of his brother's chances to defeat Giovanni as his Pokémon’s numbers keep decreasing, but Chili gives his brother words of encouragement to face Giovanni alone.

-Realizing how much the triplets have changed since Unova, Giovanni drops his innocent facade and uses Mewtwo to turn Cress into stone.

-That's right: Giovanni's Mewtwo can turn people into stone here.

-As Cress stands motionless, Panpour rushes over to check on his Trainer, but he is unresponsive. Panpour tries one Bubble Beam after another, but his attempts are all in vain. Panpour begins to tear up and cry aloud, fearing his Trainer is now gone. Cress's other Pokémon are also drawn to tears by this, and the cumulative effect brings Cress back to life and frees everyone.

-Cress gets a confidence boost as a result, distracts Giovanni by throwing a bowl of cake batter in his face, and decides that Giovanni could benefit from a little 'fun'.

-Sophocles' Togedemaru and Charjabug use Zing Zap and Discharge, to fuse with Ash's Pikachu's Electroweb. primaina uses sparkling aria, and Tsareena fires Magical Leaf. Turtonator uses Flamethrower, and Snowy adds a Powder Snow to the mix. Crispin has his Passimian use All-Out Pummeling. Gladion's Lycanroc uses Devastating Drake, Chili uses Never Ending Nightmare, Cilan uses Shattered Psyche and Cress uses Acid Downpour.

-By the end of the battle, Mewtwo is unconscious. Faba is in shock, as Cress should have been weakened after he was turned to stone. Cress says wrong, and he's now stronger than ever.

-As he is surrounded by a blue aura, Cress takes Ghetsis's cane and slams it into the ground. Causing blue energy to cover the ground, teleport the parallel leaders (plus Courtney and Tabitha) somewhere and turn the Rainbow Resort is returned to normal (it's basically Lusamine's mansion from the games, except it was retooled to be the Aether Foundation's backup research place instead.)

-Cilan and Chili compliment their brother, and Crispin tells him he did great

-Cress thinks it's nothing, but is glad that the backup Aether place is back to normal.

-"Okay, brothers. We should never speak of the Rainbow Resort and Team Rainbow Rocket again" Crispin tells them

-Cilan nods.

-After the brothers call it a day, we see giovanni already plotting his next move.

-"Those kids have beaten me for the last time, for the last time! They say fight fire with fire. Well, I will create an inferno! An inferno that will bring me dictation! Because we're not quite done with you, Ash Ketchum." He vows.

-While baking chocolate chip cookies later on, Cress pets Panpour in Professor Kukui's house, and tells about how he learned a new Z-Move during the "never-to-be-repeated or spoken-of-again adventure". While Chili and Crispin want Cress to do Acid Downpour again, Cilan doubts that his brother would be angry enough to unleash that move.

-Cue the credits!

Fun Facts

As you saw here, this wouldn't be shot-for-shot line-for-line USUM's post game, just animated. While it's true that whole lines of dialogue and even camera angles from the 2017 game would be remade in this, this would be a two parter, because, let's be honest, there are too many changes to the arc not to do so.

It allowed me to show Team RR capture Ash's friends.

And the ending was changed to make it less ambiguous than USUM

In Japan, the two parter would probably be called "The Treacherous Rainbow Rocket Trials!"

Crispin knows from experience that he doesn't want to be Maxie, and being Maxie means to be manipulative. Crispin wants nothing to do with that, and that's why he helped Cress in the final battle

Team Aqua and Magma are way closer to their ORAS versions, to the point that they’ve probably been getting worse (in the good way) than in canon.

Maxie already exhibited a lack of morals in canon ORAS, so being successful in causing Hoenn to dry up would only ramp those up, despite not treating Tabitha NEARLY as horribly as Faba treats Crispin.

I just wanted to make sure that this version of Cress is neither a gary stu nor a background character.

the first part of this two parter is basically Maxie teaming with Major Messy lmfao

As for Ghetsis being Melvinborg'd? I wanted to give Ghetsis the cruelest end I could imagine, go way beyond the “and he's arrested lol”. Also I wanted Colress to have a moment to stand up and tell Ghetsis to his face that he sucks.

Don't worry, this isn't the last you'll see of Ghetsis, or Team RR for that matter ;)

[ghostchanuwu]

Okay, does the anime still have the TRio? Or does everything that happened to the TRio in canon happens to the evil teams?

(Because I have the humorous mental image of poor Archie and Maxie getting drawn upon by Jigglypuff…)

Also does ash win Kalos league? And what happens to every evil team leader?

AniRedux TRio act more as a monitering group using the excuse of trying to steal Pikachu during the Kanto section but after the truth about Team Rocket is revealed they mainly just keep tabs on Ash and his group to make sure that they're alright (Leaf's direct orders since they don't want a suprise Lance 2.0 situation happening again)

(Oh hey look another cut who would have guessed)

-------------------

RR Alola bit it does hilariously enough happen to RR Ghetsis after his Hydregon got obliterated the dragon never stood a chance

Also fun little thing Jigglypuff is technically Meowth's little cohort!

-------------------

The Kalos League gets interrupted a bit earlier during Ash and Alain's match (theyre both down to their final 2 mons each) and that year's league is fully cancelled after most of the surrounding area had been deemed unsafe

They do however get their rematch in Masters 8 and Ash wins but just barely

---------------

AniRedux Team Rocket deviates HEAVILY from canon, Giovanni originally formed it as a defensive force for Viridian and Saffron along with it actively funding excavations into Mt Moon and assisting in natural growth of Diglett Tunnel making sure that it didnt disrupt any infastructure (Giovanni basically used is knowledge of ground types for some really good things), during Kanto arc he gives partial command to Leaf while he still acts as the face of Rocket to deture any attention that Leaf's opperations might attract from the league (Giovanni ends up getting one of the best ends out of all of them being able to reconnect with Silver since he was still an absent father)

Archie ends up disbanding Team Aqua and leaves it in Matt and Shelly's hands (they end up pairing off with Hoenn's Ranger Corp) knowing that his time as leader is at a close while Maxie on the other hand fled the region completely and was never heard from again although there are unsubstantiated rumors that he is still in contact with Archie, Tabitha completely took over dissolved Team Magma and had a little merger with Devon (Roxanne took over as head of Devon since neither of the Stone siblings wanted anything to do with it) while Courtney now seeing very little interest in Hoenn returns to Kalos (she was originally one of Lysandre's Admins and returns to that position)

Cyrus is much closer to his PokeSpe counterpart that in Cynthia smasks some sense into him when they duke it out (Red Chain controlled Palkia and Dialga vs Giritina) and he eventually mellows out choosing to live in a more secluded area of Sunnyshore having taken interest in building machines again (he does have a Rotom and all the appliances in the Eterna Galactic base were built by him as a little side project)

Ghetsis ends up getting frozen by Kyurem after it had went into an uncontrollable rage upon being freed (both N and Iris have to calm it back down with the both of them nearly getting frozen too when Reshiram was absorbed trying to guard Zekrom)

Lysandre almost is sucuessful in firing the Ultimate Weapon since it had a full charge, it doesnt hit itself and instead wipes Geosenge Town off the map completely (also the routes south and east of it) along with damaging quite a bit of Mirror Cave and Cyclage City, he is struck down by Yvetal since it still craves life energy and he is the only one left in the area that had not either been killed or turn to stone by the blast (Xerneas does bring life back to the area along with unpetrifying everyone although there were still heavy casualties)

Lusamine still gets hit with a heavy dose of Nihilego toxin but recovers even though it is much slower than she wished, her relationship with her children is still rocky but it is much better than it was before

Guzma opened up a café themed around bug types (Hau and Mallow decided to work there too to spread the joy of Alola's cuisine and culture through specialty malasadas) the Ultra Recon Squad has also claimed it as their favorite rest stop since its close to the motels and Zossie of course became addicted to the Tapu Cocoa

Rose handed off ownership of Macro Cosmos to Oleana literally minutes after Eternatus had been quelled and was almost completely out of the region until out of everyone Peony catches him as he was just about to leave the Crown Tundra and drags his ass back to Wyndon of course after thrashing his team to bits (steel v steel but Peony has much more battling experience along with an Aggron that knows flamethrower)

[chaserainbows]

Since @rockcitychic reminded me of this topic I’m about to unleash more cursed content upon the world

We all know that the reason why Team Rainbow Rocket is, well, Team Rainbow Rocket, with Giovanni as the leader, is for Gen 1 pandering. I know, he’s the original villain, the more easily recognizable one, so technically it makes sense for him to be the face of that crossover episode.

But realistically, if every criminal organization in canon combined into one, Giovanni would have no chance because the leader would most certainly be Ghetsis and that’s for two reasons

1) Ghetsis is the only villain with enough charisma to keep everyone together focused on the same goal as well as the only one with enough ambition to join forces with a mafia and not one, not two, but four doomsday groups. Giovanni’s goals are on a MUCH lower scale, and I think that the only villain in team RR more charismatic than Ghetsis would be Cyrus but he genuinely would not care about teaming up with these people (as he doesn’t in canon)

2) If Giovanni tried to take over Ghetsis would backstab him expeditiously dude was ready to shank the hero of truth and he’d totally do the same to an italian

[handcat]

NOPE. Book Tag

Source: here

thank you @sunel0 <3

Questions:

1. NOPE. Ending: A book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage, or simply because the ending was crappy.

everything, everything, it has been years since i read that but that twist/ending was bullshit, i have never felt more rage in my life, fuck that book, fuck, i dont remember all of the details of it but in general it felt like shit, it just brushed away all of the stakes and demonized people with mental illnesses and generally felt like garbage, god i am pissed

2. NOPE. Protagonist: A main character you dislike and drives you crazy.

main guy of giovannis room i forget his name because im dumb, first of all, i love that book, i really do, im not saying i dont like it i just want to make that clear dfasafds, but i would kick main guys ass any day of the week <3

3. NOPE. Series: A series that turned out to be one huge pile of NOPE. after you’ve invested all of that time and energy on it, or a series you gave up on because it wasn’t worth it anymore.

this was awhile ago lol but the maze runner books, i loved the first one and then i got part way into the second and realized i hated where the story was going and stopped reading, that was in like middle school and i do not remember what i didnt like but i was pissed

4. NOPE. Popular pairing: A “ship” you don’t support.

idk, i cant really think of a specific one offhand, aside from like obviously gross ones but yeah idk, best i can think of is in trc when ppl ship kavinsky with people, or really like any dream pack stuff, but to each their own, i just dont vibe with all that lol

5. NOPE. Plot twist: A plot twist you didn’t see coming or didn’t like.

can i say everything, everything again? it really pissed me off, i still remember the pure rage i felt reading that 

6. NOPE. Protagonist action/decision: A character decision that made you shake your head NOPE.

every decision made by zebulon in the death and life of zebulon finch, i love those books but he is stupid as fuck <3

7. NOPE. Genre: A genre you will never read.

okay i have read high fantasy before but generally i just don't vibe with it, idk its hard to get invested for me :/

8. NOPE. Book format: Book formatting you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition.

not super applicable but i CAN’T read ebooks, my brain just does not comprehend, similar thing with audiobooks, i only listen to audiobooks of things ive already read bc i space out a lot and miss chunks lol

9. NOPE. Trope: A trope that makes you go NOPE.

stories that are like super futuristic technology stuff with like tech genius characters??? is that a trope??? does that make sense??? anyway i hate that, i dont think ive read many books like that so ill use the mcu as an example :) it just feels like theres no stakes because everything can be solved by just inventing a new machine! also most uses of time travel, i forgot that one (exceptions would be like bill and ted or paper girls but they are rare)

10. NOPE. Recommendation: A book recommendation that is constantly hyped and pushed at you that you simply refuse to read.

i haven't seen it much recently, but captive prince, just the whole premise and shit that ive heard about it makes me very uncomfortable

11. NOPE. Cliche/pet peeve: A cliche or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes.

too many pop culture references and shit like that, i feel like i dont see it a lot in stuff i read, but like an example is more recent rr stuff, like it just rarely works and takes me out of the story and i just do not like it

12. NOPE. Love interest: The love interest that’s not worthy of being one. A character you don’t think should have been a viable love interest.

i couldnt think of one soooooo colin greenmantle! he’s a weak bitch who didn’t deserve piper and im glad she killed him!

13. NOPE. Book: A book that shouldn’t have existed that made you say NOPE.

all for the game... its bad

14. NOPE. Villain: A scary villain/antagonist you would hate to cross and would make you run in the opposite direction.

dr leather from zebulon finch!!!!!! why was he like that???? hweee.... fweee..... bitch ill kill you!!!! he was my first thought, idk if hes the scariest but he was fucked up!!! meat etiquette???? people garden????

15. NOPE. Death: A character death that still haunts you.

noah czerny, i do not see it <3

16. NOPE. Author: An author you had a bad experience reading for and have decided to quit.

cassandra claire, i started the mortal instruments in middle school but tbh with just everything ive heard about her and the content of her books... no

okay! now tagging people! i said i wouldnt tag more people but im actually curious so im going to! as usual no pressure! @audikatia @darkadam @pynches @gaynanlynch @adamparrishthot @czernydefencesquad uhhhh and anyone else who wants to! yeehaw!

[themattress]

I Grade: Giovanni

The original and most prevalent villain in the whole franchise.

Games: In the mainline game series, Giovanni has made many appearances across many generations. He’s been in Red/Blue/Green/Yellow in Gen I, FireRed/LeafGreen in Gen III, HeartGold/SoulSilver in Gen IV, Black 2/White 2 in Gen V, Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, GO, and Let’s GO Pikachu/Eevee in Gen VII before appearing in Pokemon Masters during Gen VIII. And for that matter, he was the invisible hand who set events in motion for Gold/Silver/Crystal in Gen II. Only in Gen VI was Giovanni truly MIA. He is THE villain of the game series.

I’m going to be totally honest here: for the longest time, Giovanni didn’t do all that much for me in the games. In every game he appears in from Gens I through V, he is very one-note. He’s a thug with delusions of grandeur, a guy with super tough Pokemon that he’s always promising to use to inflict “a world of pain” on opponents, and whose driving motive is to rule the world of Pokemon as “the strongest trainer” via basic plans that are easily thwarted. The twist toward the end of Gen I about him also being the Viridian Gym Leader was executed in a way that made no sense (Nobody knew? How!?) The games couldn’t even stay consistent on his resolution: in Gens I and II it’s suggested that he reforms after being defeated thrice by the same kid, while the remakes of those games in Gens III and IV change it so that he’s still evil and merely disbanded Team Rocket while going off to train to become stronger, always intending to reforge the gang and becomes it leader again once he’d truly become the strongest trainer.  But in Gen V, which is set place after those games, he’s ultimately shown to have reformed anyway, so what exactly was the point of that whole change in the first place? Giovanni’s own son, the Gen II rival, is a far more compelling character than him!

It’s only in Gen VII that Giovanni’s iconic status finally got a depiction to match. In US/UM’s postgame Episode RR, as the boss of Team Rainbow Rocket, Giovanni has a much smoother, cooler, more charismatic and intelligent characterization. He’s shown to be good at planning and executing those plans, level-headed enough to maintain a level of control over other villains with differing agendas, and can back up his swagger with more than just strong Pokemon - after gracefully leaving upon being defeated, it’s revealed that he swiped an Ultra Wormhole device and can fall back upon another evil scheme in another world, which he does with an evil smirk on his face. This new and improved Giovanni actually ends up being carried over to Pokemon GO, changing his team’s name from Rainbow Rocket to Go Rocket and declaring that Earth, the real world, our world, is where he will make his next endeavor to take control over all Pokemon. That’s right, Gio’s so cool that he’s transcending realities! 

Once he’s defeated in GO, he uses the Ultra Wormhole device again and moves on over to the Pokemon Masters IOS game for the Legendary Event “Lurking Shadow”, where he uses Mewtwo to attempt an evil scheme to take over Pasio and can be fought over and over and over again until finally he comes to respect your strength and actually joins your party, while still maintaining his deliciously diabolical personality. He is voiced by Andrew Russell, who gives him a perfectly sinister and silky-smooth voice which greatly adds to the excellent writing for him that’s carried over from US/UM (I can’t unhear Russell when I play it now!)  

Furthermore, the Let’s GO remakes of the Gen I games retained this new characterization, making Giovanni appear as more of a suave schemer than a glorified bully.  As we’ll see below, it’s actually his portrayals elsewhere in the franchise that led to his depiction in the games becoming this way, in order to fall more in line with them, which is just as it should be.

Score = 4.5

Anime: As the boss of the Team Rocket trio whom they are always desperate to please, Giovanni is basically the overarching villain of the anime franchise, appearing in every show (Original Series, Advanced Generation, Diamond & Pearl, Best Wishes, XY, Sun & Moon, and Revival Series), though only relevant in half of them (OS, BW, the Z third of XY, and SM).

In the OS, Giovanni establishes himself right away as the Moriarty of the Pokemon world. He’s a shadowy, sinister presence, doing little himself but planning and observing, while the numerous agents of his vast criminal organization exercise his will, and he shields himself under the cover of legitimacy in multiple legal enterprises, including being the Gym Leader of Viridian City. However, once he comes into the light, he reveals that he does have a master plan that he’s taking an active part in: the creation and training of Mewtwo, the world’s most powerful Pokemon. When Mewtwo achieves his full potential, Giovanni intends to put him at the head of an army of all the powerful Pokemon that Team Rocket has acquired, and with it he can take over the world. But this plan goes awry when Mewtwo rebels and escapes. Giovanni subsequently becomes obsessed with recapturing Mewtwo, and it all comes to a head in the OVA Mewtwo Returns, where Gio is in full Wrath of Khan mode as he makes a terrifyingly ruthless attempt to bend Mewtwo to his will by force. But with help from Ash and his friends, Mewtwo is able to persevere and utterly defeat Giovanni in spectacular fashion.

This was Giovanni at his best in the anime. He never fully hit the same stride again, and in the case of AG, DP and XY he was simply portrayed as the TRio’s employer and not an active villain or threat of any kind. This was especially bad in the case of AG and DP, where in the former he was fed up with the TRio and just sent them out on fools’ errands to get rid of them and in the latter he cared so little for the TRio that he actually forgot who they even were...all the while, his image gets demeaned in the repetitive “Boss fantasies” of Meowth, which by DP had become insufferable. At least in XY, he took an active interest in what the TRio was doing in the Kalos region, especially when they came to blows with Team Flare.  

However, Giovanni had stronger showings in BW and SM, as in both of them he reclaimed his position as the Big Bad with a master plan for world domination. In BW, he launched a long-running operation to conquer the Unova region so that it could be his stronghold from which to conquer the rest of the world from, even donning a military-style uniform to reflect his sinister ambitions. This culminated in Operation Tempest, where Giovanni directly took control of the Kami Trio via Meloetta and an ancient artifact and engaged Ash and his friends directly in combat, ultimately being defeated by a super-charged Electro Ball from Pikachu. Later, in SM, Giovanni sought to claim the legendary “Blinding One” of Alola, aka Necrozma, a mission he entrusted to Team Rocket’s elite unit Matori Matrix, led by his secretary Matori.

All in all, the anime’s Giovanni is excellent, especially when voiced by the superb Ted Lewis in the English dub, and it’s such a damn shame that the show’s writers seldom utilized him.

Score = 4.5

Manga: Let’s get this out of the way right now - this is the best incarnation of Giovanni across the whole franchise, bar none. No other version is as fleshed out into as full of a character, or as much of a badass in almost every area possible. He’s like the best of the game version and the best of the anime version merged together and topped off with new qualities that enrich him even further. He is, if not the manga series’ best villain, one of its best characters.

Giovanni is the Big Bad of the original Red/Blue/Green Chapter, and he plays this role superbly. His master plan is a relatively simple one, and yet the way he executes it is so intricate and interconnected to events spanning the whole arc that it catches you as off guard as it does Red. His battle with Red in Viridian City is the stuff of legends, showing just how charismatic, brilliant and imposing he is as both a crime boss and a Pokemon trainer. 

He has a brief yet badass stint toward the end of the Yellow Chapter where he engages in an Evil vs. Evil showdown with Lance. After that, he goes underground for a while before finally resurfacing to retake the Big Bad role in the FireRed/LeafGreen Chapter. Here he does even more ruthless deeds and has another, even more intense battle with Red. But perhaps most noteworthy of all is that this was the first time the franchise confirmed that the Gen II rival, called Silver here, was Giovanni’s son. And for all his many faults, Gio does truly and deeply love his son and has an amazing moment in which he rescues him from a blazing inferno that actually gets us applauding him and hoping he survives the illness he reveals that he has.

And survive he does, as his illness is cured in the HeartGold/SoulSilver Chapter where he teams up with the other two OG villains of the manga, Lance and Pryce, to take on the rogue Creation Trio unleashed by his subordinate Archer’s stupidity. Giovanni takes on Giratina, since matter was always what he has sought to control, just as space-obsessed Lance fights Palkia and time-coveting Pryce fights Dialga. The resolution Giovanni’s character comes to in this arc is also perfect: he concedes that he is a bad man and will never stop being one, and he retakes his position as boss of Team Rocket, who are like family to him, while also telling his son to stick to the path of goodness and continue training to get stronger. Silver agrees, vowing to be the one to defeat his father and bring him to justice for good...and Giovanni smiles, as he would not have his ultimate defeat any other way than at the hands of the son he’s so proud of. The level of nuance this version of Giovanni shows is truly incredible. This nuance persists in the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Chapter, his latest appearance, while despite still being an active crime boss he travels to Hoenn to help in the Delta crisis since he rightfully suspects he played an unwilling part in causing it (Grand Meteor Delta is actually the original Deoxys, whom Giovanni experimented on and then discarded in the FR/LG Chapter).

I’ve gushed about Adventures!Giovanni enough, you should expect his score by now.

Score = 5

TCG: Yep, Giovanni has been an influential villain even in the Trading Card Game.

He first enters the scene in the Team Rocket expansion, which is dedicated to his criminal organization, their Dark Pokemon, and all their fiendish tricks. He appears on the Ken Sugimori-illustrated card “The Boss’s Way”, shrouded in shadow and giving a diabolical smirk. Two expansions later, in Gym Challenge, we get a lot more of Giovanni, this time in his alternative occupation as Viridian City Gym Leader. He has many Pokemon, plus the cards “Giovanni” and “Giovanni’s Last Resort” dedicated to him, and even his own deck.  Later on, “The Boss’s Way” was reprinted in the US-exclusive Legendary Collection set.

Team Rocket Returns had Team Rocket back and evil-ing it up in order to promote FR/LG, but Giovanni himself was nowhere to be seen in any cards in that set. Suddenly, in the XY era BREAKthrough expansion, Giovanni resurfaced with the card “Giovanni’s Scheme”, which referred to his plan to capture and control Mewtwo and its new Mega Evolved forms. He must have failed, since in the Sun/Moon era expansion Unbroken Bonds, he has been banished to Alola as shown in the card “Giovanni’s Exile”. But the evil grin on his face is clear indication that his spirits are far from broken, and that he’s ready to strike back once more. And strike back he does in the Sword/Shield Era expansion Rebel Clash, where he leads Team Rocket in full force to invade Galar. So Giovanni’s not leaving the TCG anytime soon.

Score = 4

Other: Giovanni appears in two different Nintendo 64 games: Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Puzzle League. In the former, it’s the mainline game series version who has his own tower in Gym Leader Castle like all the other Gym Leaders of Kanto. In the latter, it’s the anime version, who has created Mewtwo to be the Puzzle Master (yeah, this game is weird). 

The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, adapted from the anime, features Giovanni in one chapter and...oh dear Arceus, what did they do to you, Gio!? The man shown here is a buffoon, a total kook who doesn’t seem any more competent than his underlings. If this wasn’t enough, he barely physically resembles Giovanni as he is in any other medium! Among all the versions of Giovanni out there in the franchise, this is definitely the worst.

We get two animated versions of Giovanni outside of the main anime, in the OVA Pokemon Origins and the web series Pokemon Generations. The version in Origins is basically the Let’s GO! version before it existed, adapted from the original games but given a more charismatic and calculating portrayal. We also get a look into his childhood as he faces Red in the Viridian Gym, and the reasons behind him disbanding Team Rocket are because he is ashamed of losing his innocence and wants to see if he can reclaim the same passion for Pokemon training he had as a child - a very interesting take on the character that hasn’t been done before. He also has a fantastic voice, in both Japanese and English. Unfortunately, the version in Generations who appears in episodes 2 and 5 is not nearly as impressive, as here he’s adapted to the letter from the 2D games and thus possesses all the flaws from them that I brought up before: being a boring thug instead of an evil mastermind, with a voice to match.

Score = 3.5

TOTAL FRANCHISE SCORE: 4.5 out of 5

Giovanni is and always will be the most iconic BIg Bad of the Pokemon franchise, and when looked at on the whole with all of these incarnations, it’s easy to see why: the man is cool. Everything about him, no matter how evil, is just so admirable: his simple but sleek design, his powerful array of Pokemon, his confidence, his intelligence, his ambition, his hold over a large criminal network, and how he’s constantly evolving even while fundamentally remaining the same guy we all know and Love to Hate (or maybe Hate to Love). He’s just the best.

BONUS:  Which version is my personal favorite?

Yeah, I know. After I praised the Adventures version to high heaven and gave it a perfect score, you’re probably wondering why that one isn’t my favorite. But damn it all, the anime’s Giovanni in all of his shadowy, orange suited glory was my first exposure to the character! This version is why I even ended up discovering all the other ones, and for that I love him.

[illustrious-rocket]

ultraericthered said:                                                                                                                            The problem still remains that Anabel as a major returning character and her being older while Ash is still 10 wouldn’t make any sense given how she was in AG, which is why I can’t see her ever being adapted into the SM anime. She, the International Police, and the whole Fallers business were as likely to make it in as the Ultra Recon Squad.                             

I don’t know, I’m clicking back and forth between her official art from Emerald and from SM to compare them, and I’m not seeing something that couldn’t be easily disregarded by at most just letting the SM anime style balance out the change in her appearance. She doesn’t have to age to have long hair and different clothes, and the anime already changed her personality dramatically from the games years ago so her serious personality from SM wouldn’t be brought in now anyway. The shipping hints from Battle Frontier would simply be ignored. I can’t imagine the writers would want to poke that hornet’s nest by bringing back any other crush on Ash from the past when it looks increasingly likely Serena isn’t going to appear this series.

As for the International Police, there is one thing that’s been bothering me from a recent episode that relates to them.

The way this scene is set up initially, Faba could have accessed any public documentation of Team Rocket. It certainly wouldn’t be hard when the aircraft had giant R logos on it.

....but where did Faba get this file? Would detailed information on an elite force within Team Rocket just be publically available to anyone, especially when the unit appears to be unknown enough for Jessie, James and Meowth to appear to not know about it themselves?

As far as I think there’s only two places Faba could have gotten that specific information from. Either he got it from Nanu, and Nanu had it because of whatever his past connection to Giovanni is, or he contacted the International Police.

They’re not going to show up for the UBs like they do in the games. They’re going to show up to help stop Giovanni and the Matori Matrix in the anime’s adaptation of Episode RR. The UBs will just be a small part of that, so all the lore involving Fallers is unnecessary. There’s even a space that opens up for them to play a role because of another character who would be even harder to translate from the games’ Episode RR to the anime:

There’s no way the anime could reasonably explain away Colress being a hero after how he was in Episode N, let alone how he got out of jail. I guess the closest they could come is saying that he cut a deal to help the International Police, but his relevant appearances prior to Episode RR have already been cut (thanks to the Ultra Recon Squad being gone and the N-Solarizer and N-Lunarizer being unneeded)  and his biggest moment in Episode RR is his confrontation with the alternate timeline Ghetsis, which absolutely is not going to happen in the anime.

So the outside help the Aether Foundation could call for against Team Rocket almost certainly won’t be Colress like in the games. The likely source for the information Faba received would be the International Police investigating Team Rocket like they did with Team Galactic and Team Plasma, so that scene with Faba could be a very early start to set things up for later. There’s also Nanu’s connection to Giovanni that likely won’t be revealed next week still to come, so while Giovanni said he was surprised Nanu became a police officer we simply do not know enough of anime Nanu’s past to understand the context of that comment yet. For all we know, he could have been an undercover agent within Team Rocket spying for the International Police back then.

I mention all of that because it establishes a plausible case that the International Police already have an investigation of Team Rocket underway, hence the existence of a case file on the Matori Matrix that Faba was then able to acquire. If this is correct, the International Police will absorb Colress’s role in the adaptation of Episode RR, and if they do then the agents sent to Alola would be Looker and Anabel to cover the SM Looker Episode as well.; Anabel being assigned to the mission not because of anything involving her being a Faller but because of the recurring use of Ultra Aura and the one-sentence handwave of her having stronger Ultra Aura than normal to explain it. Everything else aside from a brief mention that Ash battled her in the past would be irrelevant to the story now and go unacknowledged, while she would maintain her more lighthearted personality the anime already gave her. Her empathic abilities, if they were acknowledged, might actually be a useful loophole to demonstrate what “unusual Ultra Aura” actually means.

[togwtos]

Episode RR

Or I scream about shit that doesn’t actually matter for a large amount of words AGAIN

Hello yes okay how do I start this? Rapid fire round- Pros: Guzma gets character development. He gets the most development of all the returning characters in SM, first with Hau’s push to reform (which by the way was kinda cringy with Hau shouting about ‘you might not be a captain, but you could be the first of something else,’ or some shit) and ending here, and its good development too, but it is fodder for that pairing you know I love so much (sarcasm.) Cons: I had to go to festival plaza I don’t like Team Rocket, never liked Team Rocket, and I’ve played games with Team Rocket in them. I get that RR is meant as fanservice to those people who do - but I don’t, and that’s a recurring issue here. The Aether Mansion does not exist in digital space the same way Festival Plaza does, so how was it hacked to become Rainbow Rocket’s castle? Lillie is relegated to support, not just in the sense that she is your ‘pokemon centre’ for the arc, but also in battle. Her Clefairy is a support pokemon, and it’s her only fucking Pokemon. This makes me so upset, so fucking upset. When I saw that movie-style poster for USUM and Lillie holding that Poke Ball I was overjoyed at the idea that we got to see a stronger Lillie, a better Lillie, one who was even more developed than in SM. But the choice to make her single Pokemon purely support based - it says something about her in USUM in general. She’s been moved from main character to support character, and it breaks my heart that an inspiration to my personal recovery was changed so horribly. I wanted her to help, to show her strength, and i could have fooled myself into believing it was SM Lillie fallen through one of those wormholes.  Lusamine seems pathetic. She gets bodied by you, Necrozma, and Gio in that order and she never has a moment like becoming the Mother Beast in SM where you get this level of threat and fear from her. Her character loses a lot of strength, like any other. Archie and Maxie are... i mean, I couldn’t struggle though ORAS cause I was too bored so I don’t give a fuck. Cyrus and Lysandre have a bunch of hilarious issues. Cyrus claims that he created a world without spirit, but then was whisked away by a being of shadow. So he succeeded, then Giratina showed up. Was Giratina late to the party? Was Giratina sleeping in in that timeline? Is Giratina an Ultra Beast or did Giratina hand Cyrus off to Necrozma to teleport into the USUM dimension? How could Necrozma teleport all the team leaders to one place if its under your command by this point? Did it go behind Ray/Ailey’s back to bring together all the evil from seven dimensions? If Cyrus succeeded why was anything left and why did Giratina bother stopping him or even dragging him into the Distortion World in the first place? Is the Distortion World a part of Ultra Space? Yeah. Now for Lysandre- HE REBUILT THE ULTIMATE WEAPON THAT CAN DESTROY ALL LIFE OR CAUSE ETERNAL LIFE BUILT BY A KING 3000 YEARS AGO IN AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION IN ABOUT HALF AN HOUR ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS SPECIFY THAT THE WEAPON CAME THROUGH THE PORTAL WITH HIM AND THERE WOULD BE NO PLOT HOLE, HOW DOES HE HAVE THE MONEY TO BUILT A LIKE 15 FOOT CRYSTAL FLOWER LASERBEAM Ghetsis is a funny one too. He claims to be attempting to make Giovanni a king, as he can’t trust ‘freaks with no heart,’ referencing N. Does this mean in all timelines where Ghetsis is successful N still betrays him or goes against his wishes? It’s implied all the villains are from timelines where the protagonists did not exist, and as such, N would’ve had no reason to have his ideals shook and betrayed Ghetsis. He also hits Lillie cause he beats kids. He should have done this before the battle so I could kick his ass after he did that shit, USUM Lillie or not I’ll protect her to my dying breath. Colress is a demigod who can turn invisible and transport matter into pocket dimensions. This is not important apparently, and he can’t make Gio vanish cause he wants to study the castle. Okay. Then the dumbest part, Gio. He’s keeping Lusamine around to convert into a servant (he knows about PS and wants to get revenge for Sun ecks dee haha self referential humour) and claims to be doing so with ‘the power of the Ultra Beast.’ What? What Ultra Beast? NO UB CAN BRAINWASH! GIO DOESNT HAVE A FUCKING UB! It can’t be Necrozma cause WE have Necrozma, and Nihilego only INFLUENCES, it doesn’t manually CONTROL. Is he talking about Mewtwo? HE MADE MEWTWO! ITS NOT A UB!  I havent finished the arc yet as I closed the DS on reading that crap and I don’t care about Gio. I KNOW ITS DUMB FANSERVICE BUT IT’S REALLY SHIT DUMB FANSERVICE also I will never forgive you for not making SM Lusamine part of RR and making another version of her see what she became 

[doubleddenden]

Okay, so I wanna talk about something something. Mainly the music.

Okay so you know how in SM they just reused themes, even Cynthia's from back in DP? If you're worried about that happening, YOU ARE IN FOR A PLEASANT SURPRISE.

All the music for RR and it's Leaders are remade. Even Lysandre and the RSE bois. Cyrus and Ghetsis also have remade or remastered themes, and the latter is super imposing. You'd expect him to be the big bad but naw naw naw. It's Giovanni. Crime Daddy has his own theme song. After 20 years.

And it is amazing.

Other than that, I also listened to the Ultra Dorks theme and it's pretty cool. Not quite ground breaking imo but it fits them and it works awesome.

The one piece I'm most hyped for, however, is Necrozma's theme.

There's this really odd quality to it thst i cant quite figure out. I super enjoyed Solgaleo and Lunala's theme, but somehow this feels less imposing as a monster and more like... an amazing, heart pumping, final battle between friends. It's strangely nostalgic in a way that doesn't make sense. It doesn't pay much homage to anything and is completely unique. However, I feel the kinship between my partner and I as we fight Necrozma.

Not just standard Necrozma either, nor it's mascot forms, but it's true form.

Possibly visual spoilers but people have been saying recently that there's a face hidden in the combined logos of USUM. There's also a lesser talked about leak of a golden Pokemon with 4 wings.

I think that is Necrozma's true form. And I can't wait to catch it if it's the same Pokemon that this theme goes with.

Edit: Mantine surf was already kinda given to us in a trailer but it is officially a club HIT now. That's the theme I want playing when I walk in the room.

Let's also talk about two more leaks:

poison boy evolves into a poison dragon upon learning dragon pulse, apparently. I sorely want one for my team since it's a fast special attacker supposedly, but my fear is that you'll have to wait til post game for it. I can live with that I guess.

There's another one that is most likely a new mythical Pokemon. I forget what it's called, but imagine if you made Lucario a pure electric bobcat and gave it Electivire arms. That's what it looks like. Honestly it sucks that it's mythical because it looks cool enough and honestly normal enough to be wild on its own or at least a mascot for gen 8 like Lucario and Zoroark were.

Anyway, the only other noteworthy spoilers are a Kanto gym simulator and confirmation of no new Alolan forms as of yet.

I'm so damn excited for these games that I can barely contain myself

[jewelwriter]

My Two Cents:  Why yez, Gen 7 is the worst of them all.

Disclaimer: "My Two Coins" are to be read as such, someone's two coins about the topic at hand. IF at any point you disagree with it or agree, remember they are just my coins about said topic and the value you have of it will differ from my own because of religion, upbringing, beliefs, and logic based on your own experiences. Do not assume my coins are the international equivalent for it may be considered of a lesser value in the bank of public exchange. Thank you.

Pinks,  You asked for it.  YOU KNEW how stupid your commentary to defend Gen 7 is and yet you did it and I gotta rip you some new ones.  I’ll even go...

Yea.  I’m going this far TO KICK YOUR ARGUMENT and banish it in all it stands for to the Shadow Realm!  Though first things first.

Welcome ladies and gentlemen. You've found a wild Jewelwriter.

And here’s the reason why I’m going at it and I’ll be commenting on it non stop so if you value your gen 7 souls then escape and don’t look back.

Oh boy...  You seriously were that worried that it is a not belonging in the place where it belongs and is going to be ripped by me where I wouldn't hold back.  Trust me... I know your brain is deep in Gen 7's cave of wonders but it's time to get your head out of there and get with bleeping reality.  Trust me I'm tempted to use memes to say you are so wrong that it hurts.  And I'll get even the pictures that you point out so I'll be thoroughly ripping this up with a sword and not a chainsaw.

OH, it is... I mean seriously do I got to list them... but if I gotta say it there's going to be a gen 7 of that bleeping picture and your call of calling hypocrisy so allow me to poke of each point you pull up.

-If not counting all the added Pokemon the difference is 7 more for everyone thinks Ultra added more.  This wasn't a bugger to me since I expected a low number and its clear people aren't getting it.

-Exp isn't too bad and I was keeping it on since it was meant to be on and I still felt the challenge was more with two of the 3 starters and everyone's frog was the easy mode for people when I felt the "Charizard" of the generation is Chespin and Fennekin gets it easier at least as well be the next second since through the playthrough of X and Y, gym one has bugs with one a bug water, followed by rocks, then fighting types (Fennekin's evolution gets psychic moves to soften this) then grass types (Unless you got a poison move, Fennekin gets this faster) and then we get to electric which isn't good for both and then fairies (with fully evolved Pokes now, Chespin's line is in trouble sans poison.) then Psychic and then ice (Poor Chesnaught times two more) And Chespin and Fennekin's line doesn't get love at all in the Elite 4 either.

-Story is not bad but it's true that story wasn't good but it wasn't going for hyper twists, it was more on the nose and wasn't ashamed of it.  Pluse there was more expressions in that than both su and moon games.

-This is true that I can't fight it but I'll say that I saw them as a copy of team rocket if Giovanni decided to return just in time for a new kid to smack them stupid and if Giovani had a death cannon.

-Only the true rival of sorts being your opposite without the hat and the others...mixed.

-Skip since this is true for all Pokemon but it doesn't last longer than both Sun and moon and Ultras.

-Customization was first introduced so it would be limited.

-Fairy Pokemon is the first big shake up and I like it.

-Depends on your mega.  OH, gods.... it ranges from ...Garchomp to Mega Rayquaza (who was introduced in ORAS) though I will say this....this should have been the end of Smogon's reign.  I still want it gone!

-Postgame was in Lumiose, and it was short and otherwise, it was the battle house. (Delta episode in ORAS)

-This I don't mind... And here's the funny thing...you never could get out of that Linear road in a sense unless you are thinking gen 1 at when you take on Saffron City and gen 4 which allowed you to break that norm when crossing Mt Coronet.

-This I can get on ORAS on for teasing that and it not showing up since post battle content really shrunk in gen 6 but it's worst in gen 7 so it's not getting off that hook.

I was willing to buy X and Omega Ruby (and gained Alpha Sapphire as a gift which I thanked.) which was a good thing overall.

And now...let's see how right you represented how it is the worst....which you tried to hide.

-This is wrong... the number where it stopped before getting the special Pokemon is 78.  And I'm not counting Alolan forms.

-The Island Trials don't feel as rewarding since you only get emergen-z gemstones and nothing really marking progress.

-This is a sad truth that hurts making it fun.  Super Training allows one to EV how you want without battling and having to plot how to grow your Pokemon there.  Triple Battles I can say I'll not miss as much as Rotations since Rotations is battle intelligence pushed into one great format that you don't have to worry about Rocks and other entry hazards in a sense.  Just tactical play!  Contests came back and were lost is a sad thing since there could have been more potential if done right.  And HMs I see is sad because they were a better gate block than what those silly borders and the HM rides are which were so underused it's ridiculous.

-SOS battles are the only way to get high IV Pokemon from the wild and yet they were able to annoy to no end since it means you might get a Pokemon Interrupting your catches and will burn more resources.  They kind of fixed it with the Ultras but still exists the moment you trigger SOS.  Hypertraining is an IV copout while breeding your best mon isn't loved anymore.  Festival Plaza....oh gods that is a mess more of a mess than what happened at Gen 4's first steps into Wifi.  And the Ultra Beasts...I can't tell if they are legendary or out there Pokemon that are in the wrong series.

-This is entirely correct with how many Pokemon of Gen 1 got not only representation but given special forms....and guess what...no extra Alolan forms!

-If you picked Primarina's line you were on easy street, even on Ultra when taking on Necrozma after dealing with the BS handicap of the Pokemon getting boosted artificially to make difficulty.  Rowlett is able to take on only the first Kahuna, the new Kahuna of Poni island and for a while Team Skull/Aether President...Keep in mind of who has poison type but otherwise...You'd be recked with the owl... and Litten..let's see Bubble beam with the Kakuna of MElemele, Rocks with Akala's Kahuna, Team Skull's Bugs when you go john Incenaroar on top of the water type and bugs while on Ula Ula, And Poni island's new Kahuna if you can endure the dragon of the north star.

-I mentioned it earlier....tutorials are needed but this did it so wrong and had nearly all of island 1 be this.  You get pushed to a school of it, you get forced into battle with the false rival, and you get guided by the Nosepass by Rotom.

-Returning to Hau... he's the 'Bianca' rival which I didn't mind but knew people would uproar but I guessed it wouldn't show up at all.  I was wrong.  It was the Professor who is the true rival (as in get the starter strong to yours and would be the real challenge) and they pull that off with the best First championship battle of Alola in Sun and Moon.

-Skip since I already covered this in gen 6 but it's worst since it is to nearly all of island 1.

-This was less forgiving as we got such fewer options than before as far as attire.  Least you can lose the hat.

-the Emergen-z moves are in fact worthless.  As I stated in a bit of a comparing document.  Z-Moves are Hyper Combos that can be 'blocked', countered, or even snuffed out before you pull them off.  Mega Evolution is a boss character with upped stats that can be harder to take down in battle and would be on the field still until you KO the Pokemon.

-This has less postgame than what X&Y had and this is when counting the Looker missions vs the UB hunt for the startups and the Delta Episode vs RR Episode is at least a stronger fight to one side....and while I give Zennia the lore and potential aspects, the RR gets you all villains of the past trying to get the world with grandpa Giovani at the top who should have RETIRED by now but nope...

-(sarcasm) It's so linear here that you got a Pokedex pointing the way to where to go.  Great job Programmers. (sarcasm ends here.)

I at least hold my ground when it comes to this kind of argument.

For the picture comparing B2W2 to USUM...

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Pleasantly surprised [Vs] worried and sickened.

Didn't come to mind [Vs] Why would the series leave the 3DS?  Which I say is a stupid idea still!

I had a good surprise on this and took it [Vs] WAIT will you...the fact you can still play them is proof you can wait.

This was a great surprise and showed they cared [Vs] Super rushed game that barely got out before 1 year of the game's release...which most of the other mainline Pokemon games weren't released in under a year.

New story and set in a truly different timeline [Vs] it barely changed and any changes were mostly seen near the end and were cheap shots.

This would be entirely wrong Vs IT is highly true!

That's because nothing really did change sans Ultra Recon Squad as far as plot goes and the killing of an already weakened char when USUM came up.

On sales, this would be one thing on its own and yet I was able to smell bs and not buy them (somehow I still got them because someone didn't get the note I DIDN'T WANT THEM!) and it's good I rate games based on what is within them...not the sales and that.

So sorry, it still belongs to gen 7!  And there's a diff between good changes and BAD changes.  You kept ignoring all the bad changes while also trying to make it look like the other generations did it worst.... sorry but This is utter BS to the nth degree.

I haven't claimed that 8 will be worst but I have a worry about what will be in it if certain games sell well.

Also Funny you use someone that you hate for someone to be the big comment here.  I can't help but laugh it up.  (I got stories of this but that's a need to know a thing)

[-|-|-]

So excuse ME for killing all your hopes and dreams but they are really nightmares and falsehoods that you have tried to hide behind all this time.  TIME to come into the light and maybe wear this while you're at it.

As for me... this wild one runs away!