Giovanni (Pocket Monsters)
| Giovanni サカキ Sakaki | |
 Giovanni and his younger twin brother | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | Unnamed twin brother |
| Trainer class | Gym Leader |
| Game counterpart | Giovanni |
| Leader of | Viridian Gym |
| Badge | Earth Badge |
| Specializes in | Ground types |
| Member of | Team Rocket |
| Rank | Boss |
| Animated counterpart | Giovanni |
| Counterpart debut | Battle Aboard the St. Anne |
Giovanni (Japanese: サカキ Sakaki) is the boss of Team Rocket in Pokémon Pocket Monsters. Unlike other media, he was revealed to have a twin brother.
Character
As the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni has brought up plans in order to get rich. However, most of these plans fail due to Red's Clefairy getting in the way. As a result, he ends up attempting to get revenge on Red and his Pokémon, but fails most of the time. Giovanni is almost the master of disguises as he was seen being in disguise as many known people, including Red's rival, Green.
History
Giovanni first appeared in Pikachu Was Kidnapped!! and his twin brother debuted in Finish Off Team Rocket!!. In Giovanni's first appearance, he is running the Rocket Game Corner where Red, Clefairy and Pikachu go to. Green and his Charmander go there as well. A Hitmonlee comes by and takes Pikachu. The Hitmonlee is revealed to belong to Giovanni and Team Rocket. Giovanni had Hitmonlee kidnap Pikachu in order to lure Red into his trap. Two chapters later, Giovanni, along with his younger twin brother, are at Silph Co. and holds Erika's father hostage. He even takes the Porygon that belonged her father and uses them against Red and the others. Giovanni takes advantage of them by cloning them with a machine controlled by a device his twin brother was holding. Pikachu destroys the device with an electric attack which renders the clones useless.
Giovanni reappears in Which One is the Real Clefairy!? where he and his twin brother take revenge on Red for defeating them at Silph Co. They do so by having Ditto disguise itself as Clefairy. They meet Red, Clefairy and Pikachu at a graveyard and have a Clefairy fight which results in Red's Clefairy winning after Ditto was too stuffed with food and could not handle it, something that Red's can handle. In Bring Down the Strongest Pokémon!!, Giovanni creates the ultimate Pokémon that no one can defeat, Mewtwo. In the middle of the creation, Mewtwo's DNA gets mixed with Clefairy's making it act all goofy and obnoxious. The creation does not do to well and ends up releasing Mewtwo.
During the Christmas season in Clefairy's Christmas Present?!, he shows up after the Chairman and the Cubone were having a problem celebrating the holiday. He had his Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Meowth fend off Clefairy but they got into a snowball fight. Giovanni got chased away by a Golem when it was in disguise as a giant snowball. Giovanni came back and made things right by baking a cake. However, when Clefairy sliced the cake, it exploded as a Voltorb was hidden inside.
Giovanni hosts a contest in a dome on TV in Seize the Dream of One Million Yen!! in an attempt to make money if he gets high TV ratings. However, since other people were at the contest, he tries a way so that he will be the one to win the contest. In the end, Clefairy ends up destroying the dome that Giovanni builds due to an accident that happened in the contest. Since the dome was destroyed, Giovanni was not able to win the money. In The Thrill of a Perfect Score, Big Rampage at the Amusement Park!, he builds an Amusement Park that Red, Clefairy and Pikachu enter. Giovanni was not happy about this so he tries to gets rid of them. However, the Amusement Park ends up getting destroyed as well.
He is seen participating in the winter games with Meowth in Let's Celebrate the New Year!!. Giovanni is the Gym Leader in Get The Last Badge!! where he takes on Red in a Gym battle. Red was able to defeat him, earning himself the Earth Badge.
Giovanni appears in The Fake Pikachu where he has Red ride in his car and asks him about what the criminal life was like. Giovanni devises a plan by firing a missile in Stop the Missile!!. It was stopped by Red when he rode on a helicopter to distract Team Rocket.
In Team Rocket's Downfall!!, Giovanni builds a dojo as part of a Team Rocket scam and has Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Meowth become the teachers. In Protect Jynx!!, he plants a bomb in the building that Jynx was performing in. Giovanni tries to steal a Dratini in Good-Bye, Pikachu?! and has all his Pokémon surround Red so that he wouldn't escape with Dratini. This didn't work as Dratini evolved into a Dragonair and single-handedly toppled all of Giovanni's Pokémon. Giovanni once again fires a missile in The End of the Journey!! but gets foiled by Clefairy.
Giovanni reappears in Messing up the Farm!! of the Johto saga where he steals some Miltank to get the Moomoo Milk that they make. This plan ends up getting foiled by Professor Oak in which he takes custody of the Miltank himself. In Escape from Magma?!, he builds his own carnival in Union Cave to attract customers. When Red and the gang entered the carnival, he attempts to get them to help him and when they refused, he sealed the entrance to Union Cave to prevent them from getting away. The group managed to escape using Clefairy's digger drill and went deeper in the cave where Giovanni summoned his Slugma from the river of lava and battled Clefairy.
Giovanni opens up his own haircut place in Pokémon Hair Salon Opens!! in order to scam people with their money. He disguises himself as Green in order to lure Red into his hair salon. Giovanni removes the disguise and battles Red using his Scizor.
In Find Slowpoke!!, he steals Kurt's Slowpoke along with the other Slowpoke of the Slowpoke Well to sell their tails as their tails are very expensive and selling them would make Giovanni very rich. The Slowpoke end up getting rescued before Giovanni ran off with its tail.
Giovanni takes over the radio tower in Showdown at the Radio Tower!!. In the process, he holds DJ Mary hostage along with the other people working there, only to be stopped by Red, Pikachu, Clefairy and Togepi. He reappeared in Stop the Strange Sonic Sound!! where he and Team Rocket send out strange signal waves all the way from their hideout in Mahogany Town to lure the Red Gyarados out of hiding. In Happiness, Please!!, he kidnaps a Blissey and Red and the gang have to stop him from doing so.
Pokémon
Currently owned
Here is a listing of Giovanni's Pokémon:
| Debut | Pikachu Was Kidnapped!! |
|---|
- Main article: Giovanni's Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan
Hitmonlee is the first revealed Pokémon of Giovanni's. He is usually relied on by Giovanni for most of his plans throughout the Kanto arc.
| Debut | Finish Off Team Rocket!! |
|---|
- Main article: Giovanni's Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan
Hitmonchan is the second revealed Pokémon of Giovanni's. He is usually relied on by Giovanni for most of his plans throughout the Kanto arc.
| Debut | Finish Off Team Rocket!! |
|---|
These Porygon were originally created by Erika's father. However, Giovanni and his twin brother take control of them during Team Rocket's takeover of Silph Co.. The bosses used the Porygon for their evil deeds during the takeover. One of the Porygon was sent out after Hitmonchan's defeat. More of them were revealed as they were cloned on a machine, leaving Clefairy outnumbered. However, the clones were revealed to be from the device that Giovanni's twin brother was using to control them. The clones were rendered useless after Pikachu's electric-type attack destroyed the device that Giovanni's twin brother was holding.
Porygon's only known move is Psybeam.
Giovanni has Ditto transform into a Clefairy in order to get revenge on Red as he defeated them back in Silph Co. Ditto, disguised as Clefairy, go to the Pokémon Sea House in order to get their revenge on Red. They meet at a graveyard where it challenges Clefairy to various contests. During the eating contest, the impostor Clefairy gets exposed as a Ditto when it gets filled up with food.
Ditto's only move is Transform.
Giovanni's Blastoise briefly appeared along with the other Pokémon when it got its DNA altered by Clefairy's DNA switching machine. It reappeared in Get The Last Badge!! where it was seen getting hit by Clefairy's Nidoqueen disguise. Blastoise cameoed in Good-Bye Pikachu?! as part of the group of Pokémon surrounding Red.
None of Blastoise's moves are known.
Meowth was sent out by Giovanni to prevent Red from interfering with his plans on creating Mewtwo. It was able to stall Clefairy long enough for the creation to happen.
Meowth reappeared in Clefairy's Christmas Present?! when the town was celebrating Christmas. It got into a snowball fight by Clefairy. Meowth ran away after getting hit by Golem in disguise as a snowball. Later, Meowth tried to make everything right by making a cake for the poor, which resulted in exploding when Clefairy tried cutting it.
Meowth was then seen with Giovanni and his twin brother in Get The Last Badge!!. In Team Rocket's Downfall!!, Meowth worked as a samurai where it attacked some people including Red for self-defense. After noticing a Jynx trapped, the dojo turned out to be a Team Rocket scam.
None of Meowth's moves are known.
Giovanni's Golem briefly appeared along with the other Pokémon when it got its DNA altered by Clefairy's DNA switching machine. It reappeared in Get the Last Badge!! where it was seen in the workout room. In Good-Bye Pikachu?!, Golem chased and slammed onto Clefairy. It went after Pikachu next but got shocked away.
None of Golem's moves are known.
Giovanni's Onix briefly appeared along with the other Pokémon when it got its DNA altered by Clefairy's DNA switching machine. It reappeared in Seize the Dream of One Million Yen!! where it smacked Clefairy's cart away after riding on it. Onix reappeared in Get the Last Badge!! as a cameo in the workout room.
Onix reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! where it chased and slammed onto Clefairy. It went after Pikachu next but got shocked away.
None of Onix's moves are known.
Giovanni sends out Exeggutor to prevent Red from interfering with his plans on creating Mewtwo. Exeggutor ending up failing along with the other Pokémon after getting its DNA altered by Clefairy's DNA switching machine. Exeggutor reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini. It chased and slammed onto Clefairy. It went after Pikachu next but got shocked away.
None of Exeggutor's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Voltorb to stop Red's interference with the creation of Mewtwo. However, this did not go to well as Voltorb got its DNA altered by Clefairy's DNA switching machine. Voltorb reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini. It chased and slammed onto Clefairy. It made a cameo in Pokémon Hair Salon Opens!!.
None of Voltorb's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out many Voltorb to prevent anyone in the contest to beat him. The Voltorb shocked the Clefairy when he fell down from rope climbing when he tried to get to the other side but was thrown off by Lickitung. Voltorb reappeared in Squirtle, the Crybaby Pokémon when Red, Squirtle and the gang entered Giovanni's building. The Voltorb fought Squirtle and got beaten by Squirtle's heavy crying.
None of Voltorb's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Muk to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV. During the first portion of the race, they were the first obstacles the participants had to deal with. Both Green and Blue managed to bypass them using their Charmander and Blastoise, respectively by going up a steep ramp. When Clefairy tried doing so, he got caught by them and was temporarily stuck. One of the Muk reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini.
None of Muk's moves are known.
Giovanni is seen with three Scyther. Each of them were sent out to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV, as their sharp blades were proven useful. They were used in the second portion of the race. Red's Pikachu and Green's Charmander managed to get past them as it was faster than Scyther's slamming of the blades. Blue covered himself with Blastoise and Blastoise's high defense nullified the hit of Scyther's attack. Clefairy tried doing so but slipped when he landed and got caught by a Pinsir.
None of Scyther's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Pinsir to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV. When Clefairy slipped on the ground after getting past the Scyther, Pinsir came out of the ground and caught Clefairy using its pincers. It reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini.
None of Pinsir's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Lickitung to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV. Lickitung was set as a trap for Clefairy during the rope climbing portion of the race. As soon as Clefairy got across, the Normal-type used its long tongue to nullify Clefairy from holding on any longer.
None of Lickitung's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Snorlax to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV. During the race cart derby, Clefairy bumps into Snorlax and sends him flying, as well as bumping into Giovanni. Snorlax later reappears in Get The Last Badge!! before Giovanni's battle against Red. Snorlax was proven to be a tough opponent for his Clefairy as Clefairy easily bounced off. Snorlax is shadowed in Good-Bye, Pikachu?! Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini.
None of Snorlax's moves are known.
Giovanni was shown to have seven Diglett. He sent them out to prevent anyone from winning the contest he hosted on TV by having them hide in the ground during the race cart derby. The Diglett were only set for Clefairy as they resurfaced from the ground when Clefairy fell into their trap. The cart flew in the air and crashed into an Onix. One of the Diglett made a cameo in Get The Last Badge!! where it was seen in Giovanni's workout room.
None of Diglett's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Machamp when Red, Clefairy and Pikachu went to the Amusement Park that Giovanni built. It was a volunteer worker for one of the rides. It reappeared in Get The Last Badge!! when it was talking to a Machop and Machoke. Machamp reappeared in Good-Bye, Pikachu?! where it along with Giovanni's other Pokémon surrounded Red. Machamp cameoed in Pokémon Hair Salon Opens!! where it was seen playing the piano.
None of Machamp's moves are known.
Giovanni's first Poliwhirl appeared in The Thrill of a Perfect Score, Big Rampage at the Amusement Park! when Red, Clefairy and Pikachu went to the Amusement Park that Giovanni built. Poliwhirl was used as a target in a shooting contest in which Clefairy was unsuccessful in. It evolved into a Poliwrath after getting hit by Clefairy's weapon. Poliwrath then tried to get rid of the three.
Poliwrath reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when it went after Pikachu but got shocked away.
None of Poliwrath's moves are known.
| Debut | Get The Last Badge!! |
|---|
Giovanni has another Poliwhirl that appeared in Get The Last Badge!! where it was seen in the workout room and gets slammed by Clefairy's Nidoqueen disguise. Poliwhirl reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! during when it along with Giovanni's other Pokémon surrounded Red as he had Dratini.
None of Poliwhirl's moves are known.
| Debut | Get The Last Badge!! |
|---|
Giovanni's Primeape was only seen in the workout room. It gets slammed by Clefairy in disguise as a Nidoqueen later on. Primeape reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini.
None of Primeape's moves are known.
| Debut | Get The Last Badge!! |
|---|
Giovanni's Rhydon was used in the Gym battle against Red where it battled Clefairy. Clefairy did everything silly to defeat it but only a few of them worked as he got punched away for the unsuccessful ones. Rhydon gave chase to Clefairy with Clefairy narrowly dodging it. It was then defeated after Clefairy tried making it angry and was thrown into the roof.
Rhydon's only known move is Horn Drill.
| Debut | Get The Last Badge!! |
|---|
Giovanni's Nidoking was used in the Gym battle against Red. He was sent out after Rhydon was beaten. Nidoking managed to easily incapacitate Clefairy and surpassed most of Pikachu's attacks. When Clefairy was back in the battle, Nidoking fell for Clefairy's disguise as a Nidoqueen and a chase went on. He reappeared in Good-Bye Pikachu?! when Giovanni had his Pokémon surround Red as he had Dratini.
None of Nidoking's moves are known.
Squirtle was fished out by Clefairy. It was Giovanni's Pokémon and things went well until Giovanni's Pokémon started picking on it, especially when a Charmeleon defeated it. Squirtle left and traveled with Red's group for a little bit while Red trained it to toughen up. This Squirtle was very different from Giovanni's other Pokémon as it would usually cry. Squirtle then entered Giovanni's building and fought Giovanni's Pokémon.
None of Squirtle's moves are known.
Gengar was sent out after Red, Squirtle and the gang entered Giovanni's building. Gengar fought Squirtle and got beaten by Squirtle's heavy crying.
None of Gengar's moves are known.
Electrode first appeared in Squirtle, the Crybaby Pokémon after Red, Squirtle and the gang entered Giovanni's building. Electrode fought Squirtle and got beaten by Squirtle's heavy crying.
Giovanni used multiple Electrode in Stop the Strange Sonic Sound!! in Team Rocket's hideout where their energy and electricity was used to power up the machine that made the Pokémon nearby go out of control.
None of Electrode's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Alakazam as part of the group of Pokémon surrounding Red so that he could surrender Dratini over.
None of Alakazam's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Graveler as part of the group of Pokémon surrounding Red so that he could give up Dratini.
None of Graveler's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Magnemite where it was standing next to Koffing during Giovanni's plans.
None of Magnemite's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Koffing along with the other group of Pokémon to surround Red in order for him to hand over Dratini.
None of Koffing's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Electabuzz along with Jolteon to shock Dratini but shocked Pikachu instead, which caused Pikachu to get injured.
None of Electabuzz's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Tauros as part of the group of Pokémon surrounding Red so that he could surrender Dratini over.
None of Tauros's moves are known.
| Debut | Good-Bye, Pikachu?! |
|---|
Giovanni sent out Jolteon along with Electabuzz to shock Dratini but shocked Pikachu instead, which caused Pikachu to get injured.
None of Jolteon's moves are known.
| Debut | Escape From Magma?! |
|---|
In the deeper part of Union Cave, Giovanni summoned Slugma from a river of lava where it battled Clefairy. It has also battled a Lapras that was with the group temporarily and did surprisingly well despite the type-disadvantage. Clefairy then used Togepi as his secret weapon so its tears can defeat Slugma. Clefairy brought out some onions to make Togepi cry and the water in Togepi's tears made Slugma harden and it went back in the lava pit.
Slugma's known moves are Ember, Flamethrower and Body Slam.
Giovanni sent out Scizor to serve as a barber. It first appeared while Giovanni when he was disguised as Green took him to his hair salon. When Giovanni removed his disguise, he had Scizor battle Clefairy. Things got tense in the middle when Scizor's claw grasped onto Clefairy. However, it turned out to be a Poké Doll as the real Clefairy got super glue and glued Scizor's claws shut. Both Pikachu and Scizor tackle it and send it flying.
Scizor's only known move is Hyper Beam.
Giovanni sent out Jigglypuff and Doduo to sing a song.
None of their moves are known.
Butterfree was only seen flapping its wings on a customer's hair.
None of Butterfree's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out two of the Rattata where they were used to massage the customers that went to his hair salon place.
None of Rattata's moves are known.
Giovanni sent out Ledyba after Red and DJ Mary walked in the Radio Tower during the takeover. It took on Clefairy and was unable to continue after Clefairy used the technique of scratching on a chalkboard. Ledyba was then tied up with Spinarak after Clefairy took advantage of Spinarak's Spider Web.
Ledyba's only known move is Comet Punch.
Giovanni sent out Spinarak after Red and DJ Mary walked in the Radio Tower during the takeover. It battled with Clefairy a few seconds after Ledyba. Clefairy took advantage of Spinarak's attacks to tie up both it and Ledyba.
Spinarak's known moves are Leech Life, String Shot, and Spider Web.
Released
Giovanni catches Mew as part of the supplies used for the creation of Mewtwo. It was released along with Mewtwo after the creation was unsuccessful.
None of Mew's moves are known.
- Main article: Blue's Mewtwo
Mewtwo is Giovanni's ultimate creation. He created part of it and forced Bill to finish the rest. Mewtwo became a powerful Pokémon at first, much to Giovanni's amusement, until it received Clefairy's DNA. The DNA it received from the Normal-type made it a gag Pokémon. As the original powers Mewtwo had were gone, it was easily defeated by Clefairy. Giovanni releases it as he deemed the creation to be unsuccessful.
| Debut | Messing up the Farm!! |
|---|
Giovanni stole these five Miltank during Messing up the Farm!!. He did so to get their milk to make the item, Moomoo Milk, and sell them to make money. Professor Oak was able to rescue the Miltank from Giovanni before he gets the milk. Oak then decides to take them under his control.
None of Miltank's moves are known.
| Debut | Find Slowpoke!! |
|---|
Giovanni robbed Slowpoke from Kurt prior to Find Slowpoke!! in order to profit their tails as they cost tons of money. Kurt was able to retrieve the Slowpoke from Giovanni before Giovanni was able to leave with its tail.
Slowpoke's known moves are Rain Dance and Disable.
Status unknown
Charmeleon only appeared in a flashback when Squirtle was explaining its time when it was with Giovanni prior to getting kicked out.
None of Charmeleon's moves are known.
See also
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 Team Rocket
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Game Corner • Team Rocket Hideout • Viridian Gym • Team Rocket HQ • Rocket Warehouse | |||||
| Boss | Admins | ||||
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| Giovanni (Masters • Pocket Monsters) |
Archer (Masters) |
Ariana (Masters) |
Petrel (Masters) |
Proton (Masters) | |
| Other members | |||||
| Jessie (Masters) • James (Masters) • Meowth • Team Rocket Grunts (Rocket Siblings) • Scientists (Gideon) Grey (Golden Boys) • Kaede (How I Became a Pokémon Card) | |||||
See also: Pokémon the Series • Adventures • Team GO Rocket • Team Rainbow Rocket
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| Villainous team leaders | |
|---|---|
| Core series | Giovanni • Maxie • Archie • Cyrus • N • Ghetsis • Colress • Lysandre • Guzma • Piers • Cassiopeia |
| Side series | Gonzap • Evice • Greevil |
| Ranger series | Gordor • Blake Hall • Kincaid • Societea |
| Masters EX | Giovanni • Guzma • Cyrus • N • Lysandre • Piers • Ghetsis • Maxie • Archie • Colress • Paulo • Penny |
| Other games |
Biruritchi • Baron Phobos • Munna • Dark Rust • Don Roger • Giovanni |
| Animated series | Giovanni • Madame Boss • Maxie • Archie • Cyrus • Ghetsis • Lysandre • Guzma • Piers • Gibeon |
| Adventures | Giovanni • Masked Man • Maxie • Archie • Cyrus • N • Ghetsis • Colress • Lysandre • Guzma • Piers |
| Other manga | Fraud • Meja |
| Giovanni's Pokémon | ||||||
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| Status unknown: |
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| Given away: | ||||||
| Controlled: | ||||||
| Origins only: |
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| Pocket Monsters only: |
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| For Pokémon owned by the version of Giovanni that appears in Pokémon Adventures, see here; for a full list of Pokémon owned by the version of Giovanni that appears in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters series, see here | ||||||
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This article is part of both Project Manga and Project CharacterDex, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Manga and CharacterDex, respectively. | 
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