Giovanni played with the two ultra balls which held his newest team members. It had been years since he actually added a new member to his team, let alone two at once, it was almost nostalgic in a strange way. When he was just a boy and Kanto wasn't constantly a battlefield with soldiers and civilians alike losing their lives every day, sometimes he'll look in the mirror and vaguely see that same bright eyed young child who wanted to be the Champion of Kanto. He was so happy back then, so innocent, and so naïve.

Johto crushed all of that into dust. His family along with most of his positive traits.

He placed the two pokemon away as he walked through the Viridian gym and into his office. He didn't plan on getting any new team members anytime soon, with the team he already had all being very close companions of his, he used to hardly feel like he could take on anymore team members. But, things change, and he's found that the pokemon of Sinnoh are indeed quite strong. Two in particular caught his eye, and he decided that perhaps expanding his team wasn't such a bad idea.

His two new pokemon were lacking in experience, which was a minus, but they had shown impressive growth and were nearly up to his teams standard. They just needed time, most things do.

He placed himself into a chair and took a brief instant to enjoy a rare moment of peace, which he made sure to savour, and cleared his mind. He was a horrible person, that much he can admit that much, and at times he often wonders how everything could have come to this point. He can only ask himself, why is he doing this?

Then he remembers the answer. It was for the good of Kanto.

Team Rocket was something he started a little before the Indigo war ended, a means to the end he wants if you will, it was the idea to bring together a group of patriots who would take action against Johto whilst strengthening Kanto. They were back-up in case Kanto ever needed support. After the war ended they were responsible for the reversal of much damage done to Kanto by Johto whilst forming deals to help get their region back on her feet.

Now, your probably asking, why would such a kind-hearted organisation turn to crime like it had?

The answer was, being kind wasn't effective in stomping Johto's oppression of their motherland. Even if the war had ended years ago they have been exploiting Kanto like the parasites they were and the economy of their region had been getting worst and worst, if nothing changed then Kanto would soon be nothing more than servants to those vile creatures!

Giovanni scowled as his thoughts darkened. Even before the Indigo war Kanto had always been the historically poorer region between the two. Whilst Kanto was immensely rich in terms of natural resources and high in population, Johto had always had the edge in terms of climate and the power of their trainers, that could partly be attributed to the Blackthorn clan's dragon-types possessing such extreme power.

Whilst, on paper, this made them about equal, sadly it did not. The real reason the war even began was because Kanto was slowly being taken over economically by Johto at the time, his memory admittedly wasn't the best given that thirty years had passed, but he does remember that most of Kanto's mining industries and major companies, such as Silph, were actually owned by Johto, so their resources were being stripped down by their Johtonian neighbours without consent, despite the source being on Kantonian land.

But, Kantonians didn't like the fact that others were profiting off their resources, so they asked for some financial compensation in exchange for using their land like that, or they could just leave.

One thing led to another, and a massive dispute over resources broke out, and the people of Johto decided that they should simply opt to take the Kantonian's land by force. Civilians and trainers alike were both slain in their lust for power, and the first strike was made on his home.

The war had began.

The Johtonians sustained marginally fewer casualties throughout the war than Kantonians did, this was because whilst Johto had quality they could only fight back with quantity. They had the advantage in individual trainer strength, but Kanto had far more trainers than they did.

Tens of thousands of trainers and pokemon perished over those two decades. He was fortunate because he had both luck and talent as a pokemon trainer, but other conscripted soldiers weren't very lucky. He was once the eldest of seven siblings, but after that conflict he was all that remained. His family, his friends, his innocence. They were all ruthlessly snuffed out by Johto, he was in the darkest pits of despair and depression, with no hope of ever recovering.

That was, until he met his wife.

His scowl disappeared at the thought of his beloved, and he opened a drawer on his desk where he reached in a hand and pulled out a photo.

It was him and his wife, along with his new-born child. His Ariana. She was a talented dark-type trainer, though she preferred to take care of the injured as a nurse than battle. Even when they were elbow deep in war she managed to make his life that little touch brighter.

They had only known each other for a year before she found herself pregnant, it was a huge surprise, though not unwelcome, and they were scared out their minds at the thought of being parents, however she delivered just fine and their little family was complete.

It was him, Ariana, and Silver. Even as he relentlessly fought he couldn't help but cherish the family they had. Even now, he couldn't help but smile whenever he thought of his little son. He had definitely taken after his mother, but he saw some of himself in there too. His life was as close to being perfect as he could ever hope, he had begun to think that maybe life wasn't as cruel as he originally thought.

But, fate had a cruel sense of humour.

His home town was attacked. His son wasn't even six months old at the time, yet the Blackthorn's decided to unleash their wrath upon his city. It was utter chaos that day, even with his strength as an Elite Four, he couldn't be everywhere and people died on his watch, however, as selfish as it sounds, his primary concern was his family. Their dragons had mighty strength, but they were no match for the combined might of him and their Champion, Samuel Oak. The Blackthorn's were all beaten back, many dying by his hands, and Viridian City remained standing. Barely.

But, his family was nowhere in sight. He had experienced so much heartbreak at that point that he just couldn't have handled it if they were gone. So, for hours on end, he scavenged the rubble and searched the city. He was likely a sore sight, especially for a trainer of his calibre, but his pride meant absolutely nothing when compared to his family and their wellbeing. He screamed and cried and begged for them to come back, he only stopped because Samuel practically dragged him away. That was over ten years ago.

He blinked away tears as he placed the photo of him and his late family back into a drawer, the reminder of what fuels him forward sparking his indignation.

Johto haven't stopped, not since the war started and not since it ended either. They simply aren't as vocal about what they're doing to Kanto as they are now. They might be 'united' as Indigo, but they are united in name only. Whilst maybe not to the same extent, Johto is slowly expanding their influence and power in Kanto, with Pryce as their Champion, with a Johtonian as their Champion, their boldness has only risen.

If not kept in check then another war will simply occur, so he formed Team Rocket under the public name of 'Project Ariana' to disguise itself as an organisation that would simply be aiding Kanto in rebuilding and helping with the aftermath of the war, but in actuality they were forming an anti-Johto group that would grow in power before over throwing Johto by force.

Samuel ended the war before that happened, but that didn't stop him from amassing power, he would remain anonymous for the sake of keeping his position as a Gym Leader, afterall a crime boss couldn't be a pillar for the region, and his plans would be realised.

They committed numerous illegal actions over the years, but Team Rocket had grown at a rapid pace and research had been done by several scientists under his employment, particularly Dr Fuji who he agreed to fund in exchange for his aid, to find a way to conquer Johto, so that his fellow Kantonians could all finally have justice.

They even reconnected with Sinnoh, a feat the League couldn't boast, and managed to create a supply chain between them and another illegal organisation that resided in the Sinnoh region.

'Lost regions' aren't actually that unknown if someone were to dig deep enough. In fact, many other regions were actually in vague contact with Kanto before the Indigo war began, however the horrible conflict between two regions caused the war-torn place to be abandoned, other regions cut ties quickly and soon they faded into whatever little history they had together with Kanto and Johto. Cowards.

The pokemon League was actually in the middle of trying to form trading bonds with Sinnoh at the moment, though these are kept secret from the public, however Kanto and Johto are both very behind and unorganised when compared to the rest of the world, so it has been a struggle for the two regions to make a fair agreement.

But, luckily, some people are far more willing to make a partnership than two regional powers. Giovanni made the decision to send 'Archer' along with some grunts to Sinnoh in the hopes of finding some sort of bonds in that region, it could have been an immensely profitable opportunity if several unknown and powerful pokemon were to find their way to Kanto. They could make a lot of money if they got lucky.

And, fortunately, they were. They managed to make bonds with a very recently formed group named Team Galactic. They'd formed bonds in Sinnoh, and, whilst this new party had greatly profited because of them the same could also be said in reverse.

His two new team members were actually from Sinnoh themselves, and he'd found them to be much to his liking, and apparently there was an evolution for Rhydon discovered there too!

Things were looking amazing for Team Rocket, and he doesn't doubt that they will continue to do so.

Their region will know peace once again, no longer will Kanto be subjugated to the injustice which Johto inflicts on them. Johto will bow down and tremble at Kanto's feet!

Indigo will be ruled by Team Rocket, Johto will crumble down into nothing and only then will he be satisfied!

Giovanni stood up from his seat, his heart burning with patriotism. He will get his justice.

He will get his vengeance!


If you enjoyed reading this story and want to read more then just head to my P atreon at The Magician 565 to read 8 Chapters in advance.

Giovanni will be a recurring character in this story, and will be an antagonist in this story, so expect to see more of him. Also, I'm thinking of including Silver at some point, but I'm undecided. What do you guys think?