Giovanni sat in his private office in Viridian City. The large screen in front of him showed footage of the battle on Mt. Silver.
He leaned back in his chair and pressed play again. The moment Mega Tyranitar appeared, Giovanni paused the video zoomed in on the transformed Pokémon.
'I have not seen this since the war,' he thought. 'Who would have thought that something Kalos prided themselves on would fall into the hands of a trainer from Kanto? I would have loved to see their faces when they find out about it.'
He remembered one of Gladion's answers during the press conference. The boy had said he would share information about Mega Evolution soon. Everyone would be able to use it—not just in Kanto, but in Johto and Hoenn too.
Giovanni gritted his teeth and mumbled under his breath. "The boy could help grow Kanto stronger than ever, but he chose to spread such power. Fool. He is giving that advantage to regions his grandfather fought against."
He switched the screen to a news channel. It showed Latios and Latias destroying the fake military base. Giovanni watched the destruction in silence for a moment.
"I would have never imagined that the boy would have such trump cards with him," he said out loud.
Ariana, one of his most trusted executives, stood beside his chair. She crossed her arms and spoke calmly. "I don't think it is wrong to say the boy is the strongest trainer in the League currently. Maybe even the whole world. An alpha Tyranitar as his ace that can Mega Evolve. A solid team around it, including another pseudo-legendary like Metagross. And most importantly, he has two legendary Pokémon of dual dragon and psychic type. I don't think even the Champion and the entire Elite Four would be able to handle those two legendaries together."
Giovanni gave a small nod. "It does not matter if he has stronger Pokémon. At the end of the day he is still a boy. Inexperienced in how this world really works. It is the game of brains that decides the winner, not raw power."
Ariana smirked. "Like you outsmarted the boy and the League today? You got rid of two birds with one stone."
Giovanni's lips curved into a satisfied smile. He remembered exactly how he had planned everything that happened in Kanto over the past week.
He had two main goals when he started this operation. The first goal was to test the true strength of the Kanto Aura Guardians, Gym Leaders, and ace trainers who could threaten him later.
He needed to know what secret aces they hid. Especially Gladion. By forcing the boy to fight Moltres and then baiting him to attack the decoy base, Giovanni had seen everything: Mega Evolution, the full power of Collosus, and finally the Eon duo. Now he knew exactly what Gladion could do.
The second goal was far more important. It was personal. Giovanni wanted to eliminate his mother, Madame Boss, the original founder of Team Rocket.
There were two factions inside the organization. Giovanni controlled the larger one. He had more grunts, more money, more influence. His mother still held power because she had started it all years ago.
She had her own loyal followers. She had interfered in his plans before. Giovanni suspected she was the one who secretly broke his alliance with Team Aqua.
Even without proof, he no longer wanted to share control. He wanted the entire organization under his command alone.
So he created a perfect plan. He ordered the theft of eggs from across the region. He made sure the trail was obvious, large orders of incubators, careless deliveries, social media slips from low-level grunts.
He placed all the eggs under the main base controlled by his mother's faction. He made sure almost none of her top people were present that day. Then he waited.
Gladion found the trail exactly as designed. The boy attacked. The base was destroyed. His mother's loyalists were either killed or captured. Giovanni had used Gladion's sense of justice and his anger to remove his biggest internal rival without dirtying his own hands.
Giovanni leaned back and smiled wider. 'Mewtwo is functioning quite well right now,' he thought with satisfaction. The cloned legendary had handled the silent egg placement perfectly.
Ariana asked. "Do you think she is dead?"
Giovanni made a small annoyed sound. "Tch. That woman is a cockroach. She will not die so easily."
Ariana nodded. "Are you sure Gym Leader Gladion knows you are in Team Rocket?"
Giovanni's smile grew colder. "Yes. Today confirmed it. He was unhappy even after destroying the base. His face showed it. He expected to find me or someone important. He found nothing."
Giovanni remembered every small detail. Gladion never spoke to him much in public. The boy mingled freely with other businessmen. He made deals with them. But with Giovanni he always kept distance. Even when Giovanni offered very good business terms and used his positive public image, Gladion politely refused every time.
Giovanni had noticed it for months. Gladion avoided him more than any other powerful figure. He never asked for meetings. He never accepted invitations to Giovanni's events. Other Gym Leaders and businessmen treated Giovanni with respect or at least politeness. Gladion treated him like he was dangerous. Like he already knew.
Giovanni said, "The boy suspects me. He has for a while. He hides it well, but not perfectly. His eyes change when he looks at me. There is caution there. Distrust. He knows something. Or he guesses something. Either way, he is dangerous."
He continued thinking. "He rejects my offers because he does not want my money touching his empire. He does not want my name connected to his. That is not normal business caution. He sees me as a threat."
Giovanni's fingers tapped the armrest. "He is careful. Smart. Patient. But youth makes him emotional. Today proved it. He rushed in with legendaries blazing. He revealed everything. Now I know his hand. And he knows I know. The game just became interesting."
Ariana straightened. "What is our next plan?"
"We stay low for now. Let the heat from the League die down. Watch that woman closely. She might try to get revenge. We need to know if she survived and where she is hiding. Keep eyes on everything. We also need to find information from whom Gladion found out my identity. We might also have a mole."
He thought for a second and then continued,"Gladion will try to find proof against me. Let him chase ghosts for a while. We will move when he is distracted."
He looked back at the screen again with Gladion and Eon Duo hovering beside him.
"Enjoy your victory, young Gym Leader," Giovanni murmured. "You have earned it. But victories make people careless. And I am very patient."
-----Author Notes------
Y'all can read 20 extra chapters on my pat*reon.
https://pat reon.com/mrmime24
[No Space in pat*reon]
Thankyou for your support!