Champion?
Giovanni slowly shook his head. If he had ever truly wanted to become the League Champion, would that really have been difficult for him?
With his strength, even Lance of the Elite Four would not necessarily be his match and that was before.
Now that he had Mewtwo at his side, his power had already surpassed Lance's completely.
If Giovanni truly had any interest in the Champion's throne, he could have challenged Lance a long time ago.
"Let's talk about that later. For now, I have no such intention." Giovanni replied with a faint smile curling on his lips.
Although he was quite intrigued by Lucas's ideas, at the moment, he had no interest or energy to cooperate with him.
Team Rocket needed him to stabilize morale. Those Rocket executives who had been captured still needed his connections to be released early.
And then there was…
A shadow flickered across Giovanni's eyes—his illness.
'I must find a way… before I find Silver, I absolutely cannot die!'
The thought flashed through his mind, and his face gradually darkened, his expression growing grim.
Yes, Giovanni was already suffering from a severe illness—a problem he had only discovered a few months ago. At first, when he felt unwell, he assumed it was nothing serious.
Giovanni possessed the Viridian power—an embodiment of nature's energy and because of that, his body had always been exceptionally strong.
But when he finally consulted a doctor, the diagnosis stunned him completely.
The doctor told him that his condition was a rare, incurable disease something that had never once been successfully treated.
At that moment, Giovanni was utterly frozen.
He still had ambitions yet unfulfilled, dreams left unrealized, and a missing son he had to find.
And now… he was terminally ill?
It was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky—an unbearable, crushing blow.
But Giovanni endured. He always did.
'There's a pharmacy in Cianwood in Johto that sells special medicine to suppress the symptoms but that's all it does, it can't cure anything. No matter what… I must find Silver!'
Giovanni's eyes flickered coldly. The old Cianwood apothecary had stood for centuries, famed for crafting some of the most potent medicines in all of Kanto.
He was already planning to go there in person.
At the very least, he needed to keep this body alive until he found his son.
"That's quite unfortunate." Hearing Giovanni's refusal, Lucas wasn't too surprised.
After all, Giovanni truly wasn't interested in being a League Champion—and with his current identity, that position would be far too controversial anyway.
"Uncle, mind if we talk in private?" Lucas asked after a brief pause.
"Sure." Giovanni looked at him with mild curiosity before nodding.
The two walked over to a quiet stream nearby, while Archer and the others wisely stayed behind.
"Uncle," Lucas began, offering Giovanni a cigarette before lighting one for himself, "are you really planning to keep running Team Rocket forever?"
"Pure evil cannot thrive in this world," Lucas continued, exhaling smoke slowly. "I think with your insight, you must understand that by now."
"Not to mention, the events in Saffron City have already proven that point."
Lucas' tone was calm and direct. Unless one possessed overwhelming, absolute power, a criminal organization would never truly stand beneath the light of day.
"Nothing is absolute. You said that yourself just moments ago." Giovanni replied after a brief silence, a faint smirk forming on his face.
"That's true—but even then, there are limits," Lucas countered. "For Team Rocket to truly emerge into the light, that's nearly impossible."
"Now that the League knows who you are, Team Rocket will become their next major target for extermination. Developing it any further will only become even harder."
"And besides…"
Lucas turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on Giovanni's side profile.
"Uncle… how much longer can your body hold out?"
"...!!!"
The ever-calm, composed Giovanni visibly stiffened, his expression finally changing.
"How do you know?" he asked, frowning slightly as he looked at Lucas in surprise.
Lucas actually knew about his illness?
"There's no such thing as a secret that lasts forever, Uncle. The truth eventually leaks out," Lucas said quietly. "And you… don't seem like you can hold on for much longer."
Giovanni gave a weak, almost self-deprecating smile. "Team Rocket is something I can't abandon. It's my life's work… and it's the legacy my mother left me."
After today's events, Lucas had indeed displayed his terrifying strength to the entire Pokémon League—crushing all opponents with overwhelming might.
But Giovanni had also seen, more clearly than ever, the League's true power.
Even with Mewtwo by his side, he was still no match for the combined might of the Pokémon League.
"Lucas, perhaps you won't understand," Giovanni said softly. "I've led Team Rocket for over ten years. From a nameless little group, I've been guiding it step by step."
"It's hard for me to just let it go."
He sighed quietly. To Giovanni, Team Rocket was like his second child.
And what kind of father could abandon his own child?
He wasn't a man who couldn't let go—but the truth was, Team Rocket still needed him.
Even in other worlds whether the manga, the games, or the anime after every defeat, Giovanni would continue his training, seeking to rebuild Team Rocket once again. That alone showed how deep his bond with the organization truly ran.
"I see."
Lucas's eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't press the matter further. There would be time for that later.
"Uncle, your illness… it's serious, isn't it?"
"There's currently no medicine or technology that can cure it." Giovanni glanced at him. Though he spoke the truth, he still felt something odd about the way Lucas said it.
"If human medicine can't heal you, then I suggest you try… other methods." Lucas said meaningfully.
After all, this world didn't belong solely to humans—Pokémon could heal too.
Though a Pokémon's healing ability wasn't as effective on humans as it was on their own kind, it wasn't entirely useless.
"What do you mean?" Giovanni asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Then realization struck him.
"Legend has it that Ho-Oh possesses the power to restore life to the dead. And in Kalos, the fairy-type legend Xerneas is said to grant life itself," Lucas explained with a smile. "Either one could probably cure your illness."
Ho-Oh's power was nothing short of miraculous—it could revive the dead, as with the three Legendary Beasts of Johto.
Even in the original anime film Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, when Ash was struck down and turned to ashes protecting Pikachu, Ho-Oh not only restored his life—it even reconstructed his body!
And Xerneas was no less divine. In the Kalos legends, Yveltal embodied destruction, Zygarde maintained order, and Xerneas symbolized life.
Yveltal, the harbinger of death, could drain life indiscriminately with its Oblivion Wing.
But when Xerneas's antlers shimmered with rainbow light, it could bestow eternal life upon those it blessed.
"That won't be easy," Giovanni muttered, frowning deeply. "You should know too, Lucas. Ho-Oh hasn't appeared for ages."
As a Indigo native, Giovanni was well aware of Ho-Oh's myth—but knowing it was one thing, finding it was another.
Half a year ago, Team Rocket had already begun searching for Ho-Oh and Lugia as part of an old agreement.
But after six long months, despite their vast resources, they hadn't even found a single feather of Ho-Oh.
And as for Xerneas?
Giovanni immediately dismissed the thought. Kalos was far away from Kanto, and a being of that magnitude would be no easier to find than Ho-Oh.
"At least it's worth trying," Lucas said calmly. "Besides those two, there's another who might be able to help."
"Oh?" Giovanni raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Celebi," Lucas replied. "You should be familiar with it, right?"
"Celebi…"
Giovanni fell silent for a moment. Indeed, Celebi was also a mythical Pokémon from Johto, known as the guardian of the forest and the spirit of time itself.
"But Celebi isn't easy to find either. And can it really cure my illness?" Giovanni asked helplessly.
"Celebi is a Grass-type legend with exceptional healing powers—it might be able to help you," Lucas explained patiently.
Celebi's abilities were truly extraordinary. Not only could it manipulate time, but as both Grass and Psychic-type, it also possessed incredible regenerative and restorative powers.
It was known as the "Forest Guardian," a being that loved nature and spread life wherever it went.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Celebi foresaw the Hoenn crisis where Groudon and Kyogre were controlled and clashing. It willingly joined Ruby to help avert disaster.
In the end, Celebi played a key role—stealing the orbs from Maxie and Archie, and even resurrecting the fallen heroes Steven, Wallace, and Norman afterward.
Yes, resurrecting! Celebi could bring the dead back to life.
In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Celebi even pulled Pryce out of the time rift and showed him visions of the future's coming disasters.
Later, Giovanni himself sought out Celebi to heal his illness and once cured, he, Pryce, and Lance would all stand alongside the protagonists in the battle against Arceus and the Creation Trio.
In other words, Celebi had always played a pivotal, fate-altering role.
"I see." Giovanni nodded slowly. Now that he had a goal, he could act.
He was planning to head to Johto anyway—he could have his Johto branch start searching for both Ho-Oh and Celebi's traces.
No matter what, he had to cure his illness.
No one wanted to die—especially not an ambitious man like Giovanni.
"Thank you, Lucas."
After taking a moment to compose himself, Giovanni smiled gratefully.
Lucas had helped him a great deal today—first with the League situation, and now by giving him new hope for his condition.
"No need to thank me," Lucas said lightly. "If you can't find Ho-Oh or Celebi, contact me. I actually have one more method that might help you."
Giovanni blinked in surprise.
Another method?
The disease that had plagued him for months—how did Lucas have so many solutions for it?
"Perhaps you don't know," Lucas continued, smiling slyly, "but in the Kalos region, there exists a very unique Mythical Pokémon. It possesses golden rings that can summon other legendaries through space itself."
"If we can find it, then finding Ho-Oh or any other legend will no longer be a problem."
A grin stretched across Lucas's face. Indeed, he was referring to Hoopa!
If he remembered correctly, Hoopa was currently sealed away in its confined form, living quietly in the Valley of Creation.
Though Lucas didn't know exactly where that was, he did know the ancient village that once sealed Hoopa a century ago.
If Giovanni sent people to investigate, they were bound to uncover something eventually.
"There's such a Pokémon?" Giovanni raised an eyebrow, instantly intrigued.
"Yes," Lucas confirmed. "If we can find it and gain its cooperation… you understand what that would mean."
Indeed, of all Pokémon, none were as absurdly powerful as Hoopa.
Its ability to summon legendaries at will was practically godlike and when unbound, its combat power was enough to toy with the Tao Trio, the Regi Trio, and even Groudon and Kyogre simultaneously.
One versus two, one versus three it didn't matter.
Only the Black Rayquaza in the alternate universe could rival its sheer destructive performance but even then, Unbound Hoopa had defeated the Tao Dragons outright.
"Of course… I think we should plan this carefully, Lucas."
Giovanni's lips curled into that signature villainous smile.
This "Hoopa" was something he was very interested in indeed.
(End of Chapter)