Giovanni. The leader of Team Rocket, and later Rainbow Rocket. A man who had managed to take on some of the most powerful trainers in the world and taken them down. A guy who had a small army of idiots working for him… but also had some legit dangerous men and women under his control. A few with legendary Pokemon.
Oh god… Mewtwo. He might have Mewtwo. A Mewtwo with a Mega Stone.
I could feel Alakazam in my mind as he girded himself. We knew, for a fact, Giovanni was dangerous. Insanely so. But Mewtwo… There was footage of Giovanni and Mewtwo going toe to toe with the Alolan Champion and several others. I did not feel up to taking on that level of psychic power.
I'd made a mistake. I should have taken my chances with Deadshot.
"Before we begin," the most infamous man in Pokemon history said. "I believe Mr. Lawton, you mentioned that Kahu Kiaʻi's Pokemon had sustained injuries?"
I had yet to sit. Neither had Deadshot. Kalini did, making sure he was behind me, though he seemed to have lost his appetite. Giovanni, in the meantime, was casually dining.
"Yes. If that's what the dinosaur and the construction worker are," Deadshot said without a hint of emotion.
"Well. Can't have that, can we?" Giovanni reached into his coat and pulled something out. A large bottle, the kind you would use for hand sanitizer. He placed it on the table and gestured. "I imagine a potion would help with that."
"...How much of that do you have?" I asked.
Giovanni smirked. "More than I need, less than I want. But we'll speak about my resources, or lack thereof, later. For now, why don't you bring out your Tyrunt and Gurdurr."
I stared at him. Then I reached for my belt. If he wanted my Pokemon dead, they would have been dead. Poisoning them in front of me would do nothing. Just in case though.
"Mind cutting your thumb and-"
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed a steak knife and sliced it across his thumb, blood dripping onto the balcony floor. He showed me the cut, a deep one that had lacerated into muscle, then spritzed the cut with some of the chemicals in the bottle. He rubbed it for a moment, then lifted his thumb up to display it.
"I'll be damned," Kalini whispered.
I took my pokeballs out and snapped them open. Tyrunt and Gurdurr came out and looked around. Their eyes landed on Giovanni, and they stared. Tyrunt's jaw slowly lowered. Gurdurr's hands tightened on his I-beam.
"Well!?" Alakazam said in my mind from wherever he had hidden. "Ask him questions!?"
I grabbed the bottle and sprayed some of the potion into my hand, lowering to rub it across Tyrunt's various wounds. He winced at the feel of the chemicals slightly burning, but relaxed as he began to heal.
"How are you here?"
"The same way you must have, I assume. By the benefit of a higher power," Giovanni said. "Would you like to hear the story? I'm quite interested to tell it."
We met eyes for a moment.
"...Yeah. Yeah, I want to hear it," I said softly.
"Wonderful," Giovanni leaned back. "I'm curious. What is the last thing people in our home know about me? So that I'm not repeating myself when I tell this."
Our home?
"He thinks you're a native of our world," Alakazam whispered. "I assume. His mental defenses… I cannot read him."
"Then just analyze him with my eyes. Memorize every bit of his body language. We'll figure him out," I whispered.
"Which version are you?" I asked. "Are you the Giovanni who fought and was defeated by Trainer Red? Or the one that created a multi-dimensional army and tried to take over mine?"
Giovanni grinned. "Ah. So that's where you're from. Yes. I was the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket.
"Was. Not is. Curious," Alakazam whispered.
"You fought the Alolan champion and his allies to try and keep a hold of the Aether Foundation. And you disappeared in a flash when you got beaten."
"Oh?" Giovanni chuckled, pouring himself a glass of wine, watching as I rubbed potion across Gurdurr. Tyrunt's mouth had closed, and he was beginning to growl. Giovanni was unimpressed. "Then I will tell my story from there."
"I left that world. And I travelled to others. I visited worlds of such beauty as would put tears in the eyes of the most hardened of men. Places that would make nightmares cower in fear," he casually sipped at his drink. "Before I eventually was pulled, against my will, into a world I had been avoiding. A world where time did not exist, where physics had no hold."
Giovanni sipped more wine. "Where I was trapped. For what must have been months. I walked in that horrific darkness. In that… hell," he shrugged, drinking more. "Until the warden saw fit to kick me out."
I thought quickly, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "...Giratina? The Distortion World?"
"Ah. You understand," Giovanni placed his glass down and looked at Kalini. "Tell me, you are Kalini ʻŌpūnui, correct?"
Kalini looked at me. I nodded, finishing my healing of Tyrunt and Gurdurr. He looked back at Giovanni, though his eyes flickered at Deadshot, who was standing there… menacingly.
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Let us say, like me, you had just released one of your finest friends and employees, allowing them to live their dream. And your reward for that, is to be pulled into a world you had only some knowledge of, and forced to survive in that desolate world. Months in hell, feeding on scraps, hunting for a way out, only creatures like these," he gestured to Tyrunt and Gurdurr. "As your friends and allies. And when you are released, instead of going home. A being of immense power and influence decides to force you into another world. What would you do, Kalini?
Kalini stared at me. I ignored him, instead thinking.
Damnit. There were differences. But I'd have to be blind not to realize the similarities between our situations.
"I'd probably try to find a boat," Kalini said. "Get back to my business."
"Ah. Very nice. And please, eat, all of you," Giovanni laughed, a big belly laugh. "This is too much food for me and Mr. Lawton, and I'm afraid he never removes that mask when working."
Deadshot didn't agree or disagree. Only watching everything.
"...Tyrunt, Gurdurr. Eat as much as you can," Tyrunt looked at me, confused. Then at the table. Then a dinosaur was on the table happily shoving piles of chicken into his mouth, grabbing portions of spicy pork as well.
"We must be subtler, Mahmoud," Alakazam warned me. "Being confrontational won't-"
"Do you have Mewtwo?" I asked, Alakazam sending a pulse of annoyance at me. I sent back my reasoning very quickly, but stayed focused on Giovanni as I did.
"I do not," Giovanni watched Tyrunt eating quickly and savagely. "But then, I suppose you have no need to believe that, do you? It seems my bad reputation has spread rather quickly, hm?"
"Blame fake news," I said, making a joke ahead of its time. "Giovanni. You came to this world. I'm guessing, based on your approval of Kalini, that you're back to your old tricks."
"Only some," Giovanni looked me in the eyes. "Let me ask you something. Do you believe me to be a fool?"
"Huh?" I asked, surprised. Oh shit, did he know about Alakazam?
"I have been in this world for some time. Travelled through it, studied it. And I know well what my attempting to return to my old business would bring upon me. I cannot beat the League and their allies," Giovanni shook his head sadly, though he was still weirdly smug. "All those foolish 'villains' currently fighting a losing battle for scraps of non-existent power. What idiots."
He waved at Deadshot. "Mr. Lawton knows the type well. Those who lose themselves in grudge matches and moronic displays of machismo. And fail to obtain any real power."
"Not exactly my wheelhouse," Deadshot said drily.
"So what is real power, to you?" I asked.
"Freedom," Giovanni leaned back in his seat and looked out at Honolulu. "The ability to make any choice I wish and have the world bend to allow it. I won't sacrifice that for reasons as vague and immaterial as sadism, pride, or simple stupidity. So, in this world, I am the successful businessman, Giovanni Giovanni."
"Giovanni twice?" Kalini asked, befuddled. He was also chomping into a big chunk of meat as he spoke.
"My mother was a fan of repetition," Giovanni said without a hint of humor.
I thought on that. So the reason he claimed he wasn't going all, 'I will complete my evil schemes!' was… pragmatism? He didn't have the resources or overpowered Pokemon he'd had in our world. So he decided to instead just become a normal businessman.
I could almost accept that explanation. In the world of Pokemon, the strongest trainers made the big decisions. Strong Pokemon allowed you to go wherever you wanted, to get money off battles or any other way you wanted. It took a specific mindset to have the dedication to actually train a Pokemon to that level of power, but anyone who did would find a life of wealth and power.
But in this world, there was only one thing that gave you that equivalent level of power. Money. People might think it was metahumans and super-science, but those things weren't helpful on their own. They were much better for building money. Lex Luthor, for example, had a massive amount of power, more than most countries. In fact, his attempts at supervillains were the greatest risk to his power. When he stopped being a supervillain, and focused on being an amoral businessman and scientist, he ended up in a much better place overall.
On the other hand, Killer Croc and Captain Cold, examples of people who used meta power and science tech for villainy never seemed to find themselves anything but temporary pleasures. And when they did, a spandex wearer took them out.
Considering all of that, Giovanni actually made a lot of sense. Back in the other world, having strong Pokemon was the path to power, and a person with loose morals would find it easier to just steal them.
But that still left a couple questions.
"So how are you making money then?" I asked Giovanni.
He quirked an eyebrow. Then he looked at the bottle he'd left on the table. The bottle that, in our world had stuff capable of healing anyone, Pokemon or human, as long as you applied the correct amounts. Granted, it was possible to overdose on it like any other medicine, and it didn't cure literally everything. But the medical profession in the Pokemon world was a whole lot easier thanks to miracles like that.
"The simple potion. In our world, a common and easily reproducible product. Here? Well, it took some time to find the scientists who could reproduce it. The capitol to begin making more. But once I did, hospitals seem to love it," Giovanni smirked. "And the FDA, as they call it, is an absolute joke to work around."
"You're selling potion to hospitals," I said, deadpan.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" he bragged. "I may not have had the resources of my organization, but I had the time, and I had the ingredients, depleted as they were from my months in the Distortion."
Berries, then. All the top trainers had a bunch of them. I'd run out, but Giovanni likely had a whole farm's worth when he came here.
Damn. It was simple logic, but it WORKED. Sell the weakest version of potion to hospitals. Make a fortune. Then, if you needed more money? Sell burn heal to fire stations. Sell the upgraded super potion to militaries. Sell antidotes. He had an entire centuries worth of advancements in medicine from the Pokemon world, and he could milk the DC universe as much as he wanted.
"...Ask him the big question," Alakazam whispered.
"Why are you even telling me all of this?" I said at last. "I doubt you wanted me here just to brag."
"I actually do like bragging," Giovanni said, smirking at the little look I gave him. "Young man, I am very proud of all I've accomplished. I see no reason to be humble about what I've gained and lost. To this day, the only loss I've ever accepted was from those young Alolan trainers. And I'm quite proud of them for the prize they gained in my loss. The only person I've been able to speak to about this is Lawton, and I'm afraid he is harder to impress than you are."
I didn't know how to take that.
"But no. That is not the reason. Nor are your Pokemon. While fine specimens," he looked at Tyrunt and Gurdurr. The fighting-type was leaning against his I-beam, listening closely to every word. Tyrunt was digging through a pile of meatballs and chomping happily into the meat, absolute joy on his face. "I have no need for them."
He didn't have Mewtwo. But he still had Pokemon. Likely fully-evolved, extremely well trained. Footage I'd seen on the news in Sinnoh had shown a Nidoking that had shaken apart a building with an Aqua Tail attack. Not Earthquake. Aqua Tail.
Earthquake had been worse.
"In fact, I would have loved to ignore you," Giovanni smiled at my glare. "I don't wish to seek out conflict. But your arrival, the people you have contended with. They draw questions. Questions I wish to ask."
"...You know, I might answer those questions."
"Kid," Kalini said dangerously. I held up a hand for him to wait a moment.
"Giovanni. I want to ask one more thing first," I said, leaning forward to look at him. He watched silently, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Whatever you want to ask. Do at least one of those things constitute a service to you?"
"Oh?" he pretended to think about it. "Possibly."
"Ask away then."
His lips flickered in movement. He drummed his fingers against the table.
"How were you sent here?"
"Arceus pushed me through a portal," no need to tell him I'd been hunting his idiot subordinates.
"Arceus, truly?" Giovanni's eyebrows lifted. "Now why would the creator of our universe decide to waste time on you?"
"I have a way with people. Next question."
For the first time, his smirking smile disappeared. I felt a slow chilly trail come down along my spine, goosebumps following it. Then the smirk came back.
"So Giratina exiles me here. Then Arceus pushes you in. I wonder… Well. You appeared in this world, and eventually came into conflict with the Silicon Dragons. Deadshot here tells me there is quite a bounty for your death. Why have you gone against them?"
"I didn't do it on purpose," I scoffed. "They just ended up in my way twice. Seriously, this last fight with them was the only time they actually came after me."
"Far luckier than I am, then," Giovanni looked over at Lawton. "I've been dealing with them for long enough that I've had to hire Mr. Lawton simply so they will be forced to back off."
"Dealing with them?" I asked.
"As enemies," Giovanni shook his head. "They are… persistent. Obsessed with their strange 'honor' code."
"How exactly did you end up making an enemy of them while selling medical supplies?" I asked pointedly.
Just as pointedly, he responded. "I imagine when they realized what a huge advantage even a bit of potion allows in battle. And organised crime always tries to influence businesses that make money. Something that, I'm sure you know, I have some experience with."
...Fair. As a tried and true master of the 'spam full restores and revives until you win' method of battle, I knew the value of a healing item. And gangs loved having a hand in businesses. All sorts of ways to take advantage of the right connections.
"Wait, are you okay with Lawton and Kalini knowing about all this?" I asked as though it had just occurred to me.
"Uh, kid," Kalini said nervously. "Maybe we can just forget that I'm here?"
"I'm afraid I can't, Mr. ʻŌpūnui," Giovanni said. "You know of this young man's… unique qualities. That makes you a person of interest. For multiple reasons. You knowing anything about me is negligible by this point," he chuckled. "You should be proud, Mr. ʻŌpūnui! You're privy to information few on this planet have any idea about."
"Ah… well, fuck me," Kalini sighed.
"As for Mr. Lawton, he is a professional. As he put it, as long as the information, or lack thereof, I give him does not bite him in the buttocks, he does not care, is that correct, Mr. Lawton?"
"I said ass, actually."
"Indeed. As long as it doesn't bite him in the ass. And honestly, he is my most prized business associate and bodyguard. What I know, Mr. Lawton knows."
Now wasn't that just adorable?.
"Now. Kahu. What do you plan to do from here on?" Giovanni asked me. "Will you allow the Silicon Dragons to continue chasing you? Hounding anyone you associate with?"
"...You want me to take them out," I said darkly. Tyrunt growled. Gurdurr clenched his I-beam tightly in his fist.
"It would be of benefit to me, yes," Giovanni admitted. "But that doesn't mean that it doesn't help you."
"Why me then?" I asked. "Why not have Lawton take them out from two miles away?"
"Because I need Lawton at my side," Giovanni said. "As for why you? Because you have Pokemon. You have a power I understand, a power I can help you with. I need someone like you, Kahu. You've had a habit of disappearing after every battle, which means you have some skill in staying somewhat hidden. But I've also seen how you and your Pokemon fight. I've seen powerful Pokemon, powerful trainers. But not many as vicious or willing to get their hands dirty."
That would be the pissed off adult inside me.
"If I aid you, provide you with the tools and weapons you need," Giovanni leaned forward to meet my eyes. "Then you can take care of a thorn in both our sides. In some ways, you would be taking care of a thorn in the sides of Hawaii in general. Help the people of this land, Kahu Kiaʻi."
"...Dude, seriously?"
"Too much?" Giovanni smirked. "My apologies. I've only recently gone legit. I'm not great with these sorts of speeches."
Legit my ass. Maybe he was following the laws of this world, but I doubted he was some moral paragon.
"...Okay. Let's figure this out then," I finally sat down, my legs thanking me. I reached for a lobster and cracked it apart, digging in for the meat. "You're right. I don't want the Silicon Dragons chasing me or Kalini around anymore. And I do need resources. But if you want my help, we're gonna have a fucking contract."
"I'll have a notary of the public come to join us," he said jokingly. "A contract, really?"
"Not a real one. I just want to make sure there are defined lines in this little endeavor. Maybe you're on the up and up. Maybe you really do just want to shut down a bunch of dickheads and are using the sudden weapon that dropped into your lap. Maybe your plan after this really is to just say goodbye and go about your business," I narrowed my eyes. "But if not, well… We'll make our amends in the end."
Giovanni stared at me. For a moment, just one, things got tense. Lawton's eyes were focused on all of us. Kalini swallowed as sweat beaded on his forehead. Tyrunt chewed slowly on a chicken leg.
"...Then let us make a deal, shall we?" Giovanni said levily.
"Part one is done," Alakazam whispered in my mind. "Now we'll need to prepare for the next. When we begin to confront the Silicon Dragons directly."
That was when Lawton spoke up. "You gonna have that alien on the roof join us now or what?"
I stared at him, shocked. Before I could answer, Alakazam spoke. "Ah, so he finally decided to say something."
Alakazam sent me a flicker of amusement when I sputtered. "You knew that he saw you!?"
"He's a very observant human."
My Pokemon are so damn weird…
Author's Note: There were going to be other perspectives. And then, all of a sudden, Giovanni demanded to speak. He's one of those characters where writing him is kinda addictive. It just ended up with me having the others respond to his presence, rather than Kahu overtaking him.
Which, honestly, just kinda makes sense. People think charisma is about being so nice people can't help but like you, but anyone with a bit of thinking will realize that it's more than that. It's the ability to dominate any social setting. Whether that means being nice, mean, tough, gentle, real charismatic people can control a room with just the emotion and words that fit the audience and the situation best. Even with all his distrust, built from childhood in one world and news in another, Kahu stayed.
Hopefully, I made that clear.
In the meantime, the next chapter of MOMO is currently up on Pa tre o n, and the next chapter of Dial is gonna be published soon. Please consider supporting me, as I'm close to being able to do this full time, and supporting me there gets you all these chapters early! :D