While very notable in the anime, Giovanni was memorable in the original games as well. This remake shows him still up to no good. He’s the leader of Team Rocket, which wishes to do evil with pokemon instead of good.

His major plot is to somehow get a hold of the master ball, a prototype pokeball that can capture any pokemon without fail. But you, the hero, defeat him.

And it turns out he’s the leader of the Viridian City gym, which explained why it was closed for so long. Who in Kanto approved that nonsense?

His gym path isn’t too hard to navigate. It looks difficult at first, but it just takes some time to walk past.

His specialty is ground-type pokemon, which he saves his best for the final battle.

Which I think I took out his whole team with my Blastoise alone. You’d think a Team Rocket leader would have more diverse pokemon. It’s a decent battle, but too easy.

And at the end you get the Earth Badge. Which allows you to use any traded pokemon and you can also fight the Elite Four now.