Author's note: First time back on fanfiction in ages and first time in years back on pokémon, I've been watching/playing the newer series and games but ole Kanto will always be my fav so decided to do a story on Giovanni, read some really good ones on the site and would love to add to it. Please let me know what you think, I know he may be out of character but he is only a kid in this and I'm hoping to make this more than a one-shot and more of a character progression story if people are interested Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy x
Learning stuff about the company was boring. Stocks, reports, graphs, more paperwork than any ten year old should have to ever look at never mind study.
She wasn't a mother. Not the mothers you imagine; all sweet and loving, nurturing and kind. She was a boss; cold and calculated treating her only child like an employee, like any other grunt.
He looked down at the mountains of papers stacked on the desk and sighed, his head turning towards the window. It was a beautiful day, the sun was splitting the pavements, the streets full of people enjoying themselves, the sounds of laughter rising up to the third story headquarters where he sat alone in the gloom.
Swivelling closer towards the window on the office chair he sat on the young boy opened the pane fully, letting the light and the fresh air waft through the dark room.
Peering his head out he glanced at a young boy about his age on the street below, he had an ice cream cone in his hand and was playfully sharing it with his Pikachu.
Giovanni wished he had ice cream. And a pokémon.
But who was to say he couldn't have both? He may not be treated like one but at the end of the day he was just a kid and he couldn't waste his childhood trapped doing dull adult work. Chucking the piles of paper in the nearby bin he then exited the room and glanced down the corridor, he could hear his mother's sharp voice coming from down the hall.
He contemplated walking towards her and asking if she could lend him some money for ice cream or even asking if she wanted to come with him to get some, they never did do anything that ordinary families seemed to do.
Of course, that thought itself made him instantly changed his mind. He laughed at his idiocy as he imagined him and his mother happily eating ice cream in the sun.
Running the opposite way down the stairs he was almost out of the building when he noticed a glimmer from the reception desk.
A box of poke balls lay in a box on the unattended desk, just his luck. He nabbed them and stuffed them into his jean pockets. Pokémon. Check. Now just to get ice cream.
The sun blinded him as he left the building and it was only now that he was out in the streets that he realised just how busy it was.
People hustled and bustled past excitedly, pokémon soared overhead or ran in between their owner's legs. In the distance, he could hear the cheerful music of the ice cream van, smiling he headed in the direction of the noise.
A queue had formed beside the van as children and adults alike eagerly waited for the delicious treats that the stall offered.
He took his place in the queue and had almost made it to the front when he realised why he had thought of approaching his mother in the first place. As wonderful and kind as the people of Kanto were the ice cream was not complimentary. Sighing, he sadly stepped out of the line and away from the van.
He placed his hands in his pockets as he kicked a stray stone and felt the poke balls against his fingertips. He had managed to swipe three but had really only needed the one.
A nudge awoke him from his thoughts as the young boy with his Pikachu he had seen earlier pushed past, another full ice cream cone in his hand.
Surely the boy didn't need two cones when he couldn't get any. He took one of the poke balls from his pocket and tapped the boy on the shoulder. A pokémon would definitely be a fair trade for ice cream.
'What?' the boy asked bluntly.
'Eh, hey. I couldn't help notice your ice cream cone, it looks great. Fancy trading it for a super, awesome pokémon?' Giovanni replied, holding the poke ball towards the sun so that it glimmered.
'You want to trade my ice cream for a pokémon?' the boy asked confused.
'Yep, a superbly rare one', Giovanni replied.
'What pokémon is it?' the boy asked, still unimpressed despite Giovanni's wonderful adjectives.
'Er.' Giovanni raked his head for rare pokémon, he had no idea what was in the poke ball, for all he knew it could be a pathetic Weedle or a Magikarp or something.
It's a … Johto pokémon, you've probably never heard of it. It's awesome though trust me you'll be like the only kid here that owns one', Giovanni lied.
'Let's see it', the stubborn kid replied. Why on earth was ice cream so hard to get?!
'It's scared of crowds, best open the poke ball somewhere quiet and it's crazy big so it will take up loadsa room and stuff', Giovanni continued.
'Why should I believe you? If it's so awesome why do you want to trade it?' the boy piped up, eyeing his ice cream and then the poke ball in Giovanni's hand.
'Because I saw how great a trainer you were, the way you are with your Pikachu and stuff it's amazing. You're way better than me so you'd do way better with this pokémon'.
Boosting his ego seemed to do the trick. The boy smiled and replied smugly,
'Well I am a pretty amazing trainer'.
'You bet, definitely. So it's a deal?' Giovanni urged, he could see that the ice cream was beginning to melt, time was running short.
'Yeah okay but it better be a super, awesome Johto pokémon or my Father will get you', he said pointing a few yards away to a wealthy looking businessman conversing with other men in expensive suits.
'Would I lie to you?' Giovanni smiled tossing the poke ball to the boy as he snatched the heavenly ice cream from his grasp.
Turning his back to the rich, gullible kid he began to devour the wonderful creamy goodness, he should steal pokémon from his mum more often if it resulted in such a delicious outcome.
'DADDY! It's just a stupid Rattata! There are tonnes of them! That boy lied and stole my ice cream! Get him!'
Damn looks like he was gonna have to multi-task enjoy his treat. Dodging in between a couple holding hands Giovanni began to run and swerve through the crowds in order to lose the angry boy and his scary looking dad.
Eventually making it out of the busy streets he reached the outskirts of the city, glancing back at the crowds he decided to keep heading onwards for good measure.
A sign on his left told him that Viridian Forest was up ahead, he looked at his near finished melting cone and then at the shadowy forest, the trees would provide him with shade so that he could properly enjoy the remainders of his well-earned treat. He much preferred the quiet of the forest to the business and noise of the city anyway, the only interruptions he could face in there was the odd bug catcher or wild pokémon but with two poke balls left no doubt containing rare, powerful pokémon he didn't think he would have too much trouble.
The shadows of the looming, overgrown trees instantly cooled him down as he wiped sweat from his brow and pushed his messy brown hair off his face.
Finding a large tree he slid down to the stump and relaxed against it munching away at the sugary wafer, savouring the remnants of ice cream that remained at the core.
With his free hand he took one of the poke balls from his pocket and began to fiddle it about with his fingers.
'I hope you're not another Rattata', he murmured to himself. Rattatta's could be strong but only if they knew hyper fang, at least that's what his mother had once said. Besides, the kid was right. Anybody could have a Rattata, he hoped it was something a bit more unique. He wanted a pokémon all the other kids would be jealous of.
A scream suddenly startled Giovanni to his feet, the last few bites of his ice cream cone dropping on to the grass in the process.
'Help! Somebody help!'
The voice sounded nearby and without thinking Giovanni ran through the long grass in the direction of the cry.
The young boy turned to Giovanni as he came panting over to the scene.
The kid looked to be about half Giovanni's age wearing a baseball cap and shorts.
'You gotta help, that pokémon is trying to kill my Rattatta!' The boy whimpered, tears in his eyes.
Leaping from the tall grass the pokémon emerged flailing the helpless Rattatta in its mouth, its sharp teeth clamped tightly on the mouse pokémon's tail.
The sleek, cat-like pokémon hissed and menacingly approached the scared young boy, its teeth seeming to clasp more tightly to the Rattata with each smooth step.
'Please mister… all I have is my… Rattata. You have to… do something' the boy sniffed as the vicious pokémon edged ever closer.
Giovanni looked down at the poke ball in his hand, I guess it's time to see what pokémon you are, he thought as he threw the poke ball in the air.
Both he and the boy looked at the flying poke ball expecting a flash of white and their saviour pokémon to appear however instead the ball continued to hurdle through the air and pelted the cat pokémon in the side of the face causing him to drop the poor Rattata.
Its prey now free to clamber towards its master the glossy white coated pokémon snapped its head in the direction of Giovanni, its cruel red eyes fixated on him.
'Heh. That's one way to do it', Giovanni murmured sheepishly.
He looked over towards the young boy who had scooped his Rattata safely in his arms away from the ravage pokémon.
'Run' he whispered to the boy who nodded appreciatively and ran from the scene leaving him and the wild pokémon alone.
The feline snarled, his claws twitching as he assessed Giovanni's next move cautiously.
I don't stand a chance against that thing without a pokémon, Giovanni thought to himself. Taking the last poke ball from his pocket he readied himself for battle, 'please be an Arcanine or something' he whispered as he imagined the cat running away terrified from the mere presence of the canine pokémon.
Once again he threw the poke ball in the air awaiting the battle that was to ensue however this time the wild pokémon was prepared and with its long curled tail it deflected the ball and sent it flying in the opposite direction.
Another empty poke ball. Great.
'Look, I don't want to catch you, it's okay. I know it seemed like I do but I honestly thought there was pokémon in there I..' Giovanni tried to explain to the cat but his words were cut short as the feline soared through the air its claws extended, digging and scratching at the young boys face as he desperately tried to shield himself from the attack.
Flailing his arms Giovanni tried to push the rabid pokémon away eventually succeeding when he heard the pokémon's snarls turn to a screech.
Giovanni wiped the blood from his face and looked down at the pokémon now lying feebly in the grass. Why had it stopped attacking him?
He cautiously stepped towards it and noticed a red mark on the side of the pokémon's stomach, he too was bleeding.
Peering closer at the injury Giovanni noticed a Beedril's sting lodged into the cat's fur, the poison sting had gone right through its skin and was seeping into its blood.
Giovanni knelt down beside the pokémon and went to touch it, this creature needed a pokémon Centre quick.
However, as soon as his fingers touched the white fur the cat like pokémon regained its angered composure its face jerking upwards to hiss at him.
It's whole body flinched and Giovanni feared the wild pokémon was about to pounce once more however the flinch soon turned to shivering and the fierce red eyes flickered and then closed as its head slumped back into the grass, its body now limp.
Giovanni's eyes widened and he darted to pick up the pokémon and take it to get help.
The unconscious cat was far heavier than his nimble body led Giovanni to believe and he struggled just to get it in his arms and push himself up from the ground.
With a groan he eventually was able to slump the feline pokémon's arms around his shoulders, its head resting against his.
Once on his feet however Giovanni realised he had run right into the middle of the forest, everywhere he looked there were trees and grass that went up to his chest. The forest was infested with wild pokémon and trainers, without protection against them he was in real danger but if he didn't think fast so too was the poisoned pokémon.
Shaking his doubts aside Giovanni ran straight into the grass as fast as his legs could carry him, he'd run his way out of the forest, past all the dangers and all the way to a Pokémon Centre.
Panting and dripping with sweat he ran and dodged his way through the many obstacles of the forest.
'I wish…I just had… that …Rattatta now…much … lighter', he puffed, he throat coarse and dry. He smiled however when the faint meow of the poisoned pokémon responded to his retort as it flickered in and out of consciousness.
His smile grew wider yet when he saw a gleam of sunlight shine just ahead signalling the exit of the forest.
Stumbling back out into the light he was surprised to see that he had ran in the wrong direction and was in Pewter City and not his hometown of Viridian. He had never ventured out of Viridian before but recognised the familiar sign of the Pokémon Centre anywhere and with the last of his energy he bolted towards the building, barging through its doors.
'Help Miss, I need help for this pokémon, it's really badly hurt!' he croaked as fatigue took over him and he stumbled to his knees, the shivering cat sprawled across him.
'Oh my!' Nurse Joy gasped and ran to him beckoning her Chansey who came running forward pushing a stretcher.
Both he, Nurse Joy and Chansey worked together to get the pokémon onto the stretcher safely, after doing so Joy looked towards the nurse pokémon, 'Get that Persian into the emergency room asap, I'll be right there!' she ordered. The Chansey nodded obediently and scurried off.
Nurse Joy then helped Giovanni to his feet and guided him towards the waiting room and onto a chair, then fetched a glass of water and handed it to him.
'That Persian is in a lot of pain and is seriously injured, you shouldn't let your pokémon get so wounded and should always carry antidotes with you, especially if you are travelling through the forest', she noted glancing at the pieces of leaves and grass tangled in his wild hair.
Giovanni looked towards her and for the first time she was able to see the damage he too had received and regretted her words.
'It's not mine, I found it attacking a trainer's pokémon and tried to help, it was already injured when I found it', he winced, now that the adrenaline had worn off he was becoming aware of the pain in his face, it hurt to move his jaw.
'I see. In that case it was a very noble thing of you to do but I notice you don't have any poke balls therefore it was also highly dangerous. You really need a pokémon by your side if you are to go against wild pokémon even if your intention is to help them. Persians, especially, are hard to tame and are known for their fickle, vicious nature', she answered.
'A Persian? That's what the pokémon is called? I'd never seen one before', Giovanni asked curiously.
'Yes, here I'm sure you'll find something on it in here, it's a new novel by an up and coming professor called Samuel Oak, he has written an account of all the pokémon discovered in the Kanto region so far', she said handing him over a thick book.
'I have to go see to the injured Persian right now but I shall send for a Chansey to come and have a look at those scratches on your face and will keep you posted on the pokémon's progress', she stated, leaving his side and heading towards the emergency ward.
'Persian, Persian', Giovanni muttered as he flicked through the book. 'Ah Persian'.
The cat pokémon had a page dedicated to it, Giovanni scrolled through its content eager to learn more about the wild pokémon.
'tough to raise as a pet…extremely difficult to keep…will lash out…attacks in an instant…tear apart its prey…haughty pokémon'
This pokémon does sound like a challenge, Giovanni thought to himself as he skimmed through its description. At the same time however, only true pokémon trainers seemed to be able to handle it and because of that very few people would own one, it was just the unique sort of pokémon he wanted. Besides, they had got all of that scratching out of the way, Giovanni was sure that when Persian was healed it would be so grateful for him saving it that it would be begging to tag along with him.
Chanseeey, the little pink pokémon chimed as she appeared before him with some balm in her hand. Taking the book from him gently and then placing her hands over his eyes so that he would close them she then began to wipe the balm onto his face. The sensation instantly cooled his wounds, the cold lotion quickly easing the pain of Persian's claw marks.
With a curt nod the Chansey finished her task and then departed, leaving Giovanni to admire the healing qualities of the balm in a nearby mirror.
The marks remained but had faded significantly and as he rubbed his fingers against his cheek the smoothness of his skin made it feel like they weren't there at all.
'You are looking well, I'm glad. So too is the injured Persian you brought to us. We have just given him some food to build up his strength but you are welcome to go see him if you wish', Nurse Joy interrupted kindly.
Startled, Giovanni nodded and began to follow Nurse Joy to the Persian's location. On his way there he glanced at an open window and noticed that night had fallen, he must have been here for hours. He wondered if anyone back home had cared or even noticed he was missing.
Nurse Joy then opened a door for him and gestured for him to go through, 'I'll be at the reception if you need me. Please take your time', she smiled and then exited.
Giovanni stepped further into the room next to the pokémon as it lay on bed, playfully toying with its last bit of food.
'Hey buddy, you're looking way better', Giovanni waved.
The Persian looked up carefully at the boy, eyeing him as he walked closer.
'I was really worried, I'm so glad to see you've made a full recovery. I know you were just hurt and scared and that got us off on a bad start but it's okay I think you and I could be great p…'
The now healthy Persian leaped once more without a warning and swiped once more at his face.
Giovanni cried out in pain, the cat hissed and just as Giovanni took his hands away from his face he saw the flash of white pounce through the open window and out into the city.
He too ran towards the window and was almost through it when Nurse Joy appeared.
'What happened? I heard you shout, Oh my, your face is bleeding again! Come here!' she took his hand and pulled him away from the window.
Taking him to the reception she sat him in her chair and began to wipe the familiar, soothing lotion on his re-opened wounds.
'I'm sorry I shouldn't have left you alone in there with that Persian, they can seem timid at one point and then just snap without a warning'.
'Do you think it's okay? It was healed right?' Giovanni replied anxiously.
Nurse Joy smiled, despite the pain the pokémon had inflicted on him the young boy seemed genuinely concerned for its wellbeing.
'Persian's are tough pokémon used to roaming alone in the wild, they are excellent hunters and are clever and cunning I'm sure it will be okay yes', she replied.
Giovanni nodded, there was something so appealing about the Persian but so repelling at the same time. He was eager to see it again but terrified at the prospect of the outcome.
'Whereabouts are you from? Will you be able to make it home safely?' Nurse Joy asked.
Giovanni glanced at the window, the sky now completely black.
'I'm not sure, how far is Viridian City?' he replied uncertainly.
A clash of thunder startled the two of them and Nurse Joy shook her head, 'Far too far without any pokémon and in this dangerous weather' she said as she went towards the window and closed it.
'Stay here for the night I'll go make you a bed, unfortunately our phone is broken at the moment but there is another booth five minutes from here that I can give you directions to in the morning. From there you can call back home and we can work out a way to get you back to Viridian safely and put your parents worries at rest'.
'She won't be worried. She won't even have noticed, she's too busy', he muttered under his breath. Nurse Joy gave him a pitying look, she had clearly heard his reply, with a passing comforting hand on his shoulder she then went to set up a room for him.
He didn't sleep that night, the thunder crackled and the rain lashed down. He didn't like thunder it had always scared him, he wondered if Persian was scared, at least he had shelter the wild pokémon was out there in the open somewhere. Did cats even like water? He imagined it wet and shivering, wishing he could be there to comfort and warm him.
Eventually the thunder ceased and dawn began to rise, Pidgeys and Spearows came out of hiding and began to chirp their thanks to the morning sun.
He rubbed his tired eyes and got up from the bed stopping at the window to view the damage of last night's storm. Amazingly, everything seemed normal the sun was out once again and the city looked peaceful as the early risers began to go about their normal business.
Giovanni caught a glimpse of himself in a small wall mirror and half-heartedly tried to tame his wild hair before departing the room to find Nurse Joy.
She sat at the reception desk looking cheery as ever, on seeing him she smiled,
'Good morning, you're up early. Ready to go find that phone booth?'
'Yeah, sounds good', he replied as she handed him a map of the city and sketched out a path on it of where he was to go.
She handed him some change for the phone and continued, ' Should you not be able to get through to your parents or should you be unable to find a way back home don't hesitate to come back here, I can get hold of Officer Jenny she would gladly take you back on her bike', she continued.
He nodded his thanks and left the centre heading in the direction of the phone. On his journey there he tried to think what he would even say to his mother, she wouldn't help him she would just scold him for ditching his work. She'd probably find it funny he was stuck in Pewter City and leave him there penniless as punishment. Maybe he was best to just walk back to Nurse Joy and get Officer Jenny to take him home, with any luck he could just sneak back in and it would be like he was never gone. But he didn't want to go home. As much as the last day had been a dangerous struggle, it had been exciting , for once in his life he had had an adventure, it was thrilling and addictive. Pokémonless and penniless he may be but he still didn't want it to end.
He looked down at the map and noticed that his idle ramblings had sent him off course. He searched around for any signs to get an idea where he was he surely couldn't have been that far from the phone box. He spotted some people around the corner and decided to ask them for directions, so far everyone had seemed nice he was sure they would help him out.
'I bet we could make hundreds, thousands off of it, it'll come off easy and then we can just ditch it and go collect the cash for the jewel'
'Ekan's wrap harder that thing looks like it could break through any second! My pokémon has got it caught so you gotta get the gem,'
'You're such a chicken. Alright whatever, I'm not scared of a pussy cat'.
Giovanni appeared at the edge of the alley behind the two older boys he had spotted in the distance. On closer inspection they didn't seem all that friendly. Their clothes were scruffed, their hair gelled back and their arms covered in tattoos.
One of the boys stepped forward given Giovanni a chance to quietly view what the commotion was about.
He gasped as he noticed the familiar Persian struggling to break free from the snake pokémon's grasp. The boy approached laughing menacingly as the other egged him on, a knife in hand he stepped towards the beautiful jewel on the cat's forehead.
'Urgh it keeps moving its head how the hell am I supposed to dig it out?' the boy groaned as he tried to mimic the movements of the cat.
'Stop!' Giovanni yelled running forward, pushing the nearest boy into the alley wall.
'Get out of here you little punk!' the boy with the knife growled, turning the blade on Giovanni threateningly.
Giovanni gulped, he hadn't really thought this through. The other boy now reappeared behind him painfully forcing his hands behind his back and holding him in place for the boy with the knife.
'Slice this little nerd, he just chucked me into that wall!' the thug behind him yelled.
'I don't have time for this twerp, you deal with him I have to get this jewel already', the other replied turning his attention back to the struggling cat.
The other boy grinned and laughed turning Giovanni around his fist at the ready, before he could swipe a punch however Giovanni jumped up and headered him square in the jaw then crunched on his foot with a vigorous stamp of his boots.
Before the other boy could react Giovanni had moved on to him jumping on his back and grabbing his arm forcing the knife from his hand and sending it flying to the other side of the alleyway.
The boy tried to pull him off but Giovanni began to repeatedly throw punches at his head, eventually pushing himself off the boy and kicking him into the other wounded thug.
The Ekans now without any orders stared in confusion at Giovanni and then at his wounded master, he then slithered away towards the piled up thugs.
Giovanni looked towards the Persian as it tried to regain its breath. It stared at him and then at the two thugs who were slowly getting to their feet.
'Stupid kid, Ekans get him!' the boy groaned pointing at Giovanni.
The snake hissed and leapt into the air its fangs extended as it went to sink into him, Giovanni closed his eyes preparing for the pain that was to come but to his surprise the painful cries instead came from the snake as Persian pinned it to the ground clutching at its neck with one hand and clawing with the other.
A red flash saved the Ekans from its misery as the boy returned his pokémon to its poke ball and fled the scene his bruised partner in crime at his side.
'Thanks', Giovanni smiled, he went to touch the cat's fur but decided against it remembering his past mistake.
The Persian noticed his apprehension and meowed in reply then slowly moved forward to Giovanni's hand allowing him to stroke his fur as the cat gently rubbed against him purring.
Giovanni knelt to be face to face with the cat, they were both bruised and a little worn.
'Pals?' he asked placing his hand out to the pokémon, a large, white paw fell on top of his a faint meow answering his question.
It was a strange sensation but Giovanni could feel a true connection between the two of them, he knew at that moment he wouldn't leave Persian's side. After longing for a pokémon for years he had eventually found everything he was looking for in the beautiful, sleek cat. Gazing into the red jewel, he saw himself, he seemed different, older, stronger. With this little gem by his side he felt they could do anything, take on anyone. Viridian City had never seemed so far away, he didn't want to go back. He sensed that this was instead the beginning, penniless maybe but not without a pokémon.
He'd show his mother he wasn't just a grunt, another nameless worker, he would become the strongest, greatest trainer Kanto had ever seen. He'd show her what true power was.
End Note: I know the ending may seem a little rushed but that's just because I am a still unsure whether to one-shot it or continue it as an epic all about Giovanni from a kid to the big crime boss we all know nowadays. Let me know what you think anyway please :)
