Charles knew well that traveling through the Ultra Wormholes granted one a certain aura—or rather, the energy of the Ultra Wormholes themselves. In the Pokémon world, people who possessed such energy were referred to by Interpol as "FALL."
However, this energy held little use for humans. On the contrary, it tended to attract the attacks of Ultra Beasts.
For Pokémon, though, things were quite different.
A Pokémon with such an aura could potentially become a Totem Pokémon. However—
A Totem Roaring Moon?
For a moment, Charles felt a strange sense of absurdity. Mixing Totem Pokémon from Generation VII with Paradox Pokémon from Generation IX felt as bizarre as seeing Ultraman Zero drive a jeep straight through Madara Uchiha!
Seriously—who could possibly defeat a Roaring Moon that entered the field after using Dragon Dance three times?
Of course, that power would fade gradually over time, though the process would be extremely slow.
As far as anyone knew, only Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma had lost their aura completely—and that was because they'd returned to Alola from the Ultra Megalopolis thousands of years ago.
"The ancient form of Roaring Moon was already incredibly powerful," Charles mused. "Now that it's a Totem Pokémon, its strength must have climbed even higher."
Still, he wasn't particularly concerned. No matter how strong Roaring Moon became, it couldn't surpass him—its Trainer. He had already decided to leave Alola's problems to time. For now, he had bigger plans: the Rainbow Rocket Team hadn't yet begun to move.
"The real question is," Charles murmured, "should I let Voldemort lead Team Rainbow Rocket… or should I turn him into a stepping stone—and have Giovanni take the stage instead?"
After a moment's consideration, he decided Voldemort's body could go ahead and prepare to kick the bucket.
After all, if one was going to rebuild Team Rocket, how could it be without the man who never loses while standing on solid ground?
—Giovanni of the Earth!
A Champion-tier Trainer among the Elite Four—someone of that caliber could hold his own against Voldemort even if it weren't an act.
Having made up his mind, Charles didn't hesitate. He immediately cast several Substitute Charms.
He had developed this spell back when Quirrell had smuggled a troll into the school. Over the months since, he had continually refined it, turning what used to be stiff and lifeless doubles into something nearly as convenient as Shadow Clones.
"Well then," he said with a smirk, "the Giovanni of Team Rocket—it's decided! That'll be you."
Under the precise effects of human Transfiguration, a man appeared before Charles—a shadowy-faced figure wearing a dark suit, a crimson R emblazoned on his chest.
"From now on," the man said coldly, "I am Giovanni." He looked straight at Charles's real body. "However… where are my Pokémon?"
"Your Pokémon? Naturally, you'll have to catch them yourself," Charles replied with a wave of his hand. "I haven't really trained many Ground types—well, not none at all… there's Tyranitar, Rock and Ground… and the Gible I just caught recently."
Giovanni: "…"
"That's hardly my setup. Fine, I'll take the Gible, but keep the Tyranitar to yourself. Rock types aren't really my style." He slipped one hand into his pocket. "After all, as Giovanni of the Earth, I can't go without my signature Normal-type Persian and my Beedrill!"
Charles: "…"
So progressive for a Ground-type specialist!
"You can catch them yourself," Charles said dryly. "The Nature Reserve is full of high-potential Pokémon."
Pokémon born directly from the system usually had excellent individual values—most above 30IV. But as natural breeding spread, the next generations' IVs were more balanced, meaning high-potential individuals would gradually become rarer.
"I don't need you to remind me of that," Giovanni said dismissively. "What you should do is get more Pokémon ready. Don't let it come to the point where, when Maxie, Archie, or Cyrus show up, you've got nothing higher than mid-tier Pokémon to bring to the table!"
He snorted. "Forget it—I'll handle it myself. I might as well train here in the Reserve while I'm at it. Relying on you would take forever."
With that sarcastic jab, Giovanni began examining the Meowth one by one, judging them primarily by their fur and limbs.
Most of the time, a Pokémon's individual value could be observed directly from its body—stronger muscles often meant higher Attack. Of course, that wasn't always accurate. Some Pokémon didn't have exceptional IVs but had trained so diligently that their effort values were outstanding, giving them remarkable strength regardless.
To Charles, those Pokémon were even more precious.
After all, innate talent could be compensated for with Bottle Caps—but a Pokémon that lacked the will to train could never become strong. In this world, effort worked more like it did in Legends: Arceus than in traditional mainline games.
In other words, a Pokémon's own drive truly mattered.
It didn't take long before Giovanni found a promising Meowth.
To be honest, Persian wasn't exactly a powerhouse by base stats or abilities. Raising one to Champion-tier would be an enormous challenge.
Next, he caught a few Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀, even capturing several of each for comparison. His meticulous, cold efficiency was eerily identical to the Giovanni who'd once stood at the top of Kanto.
"You really didn't have a childhood, did you?" Charles muttered, then just let him be.
After all, Pokémon released after capture would remain safely within the Reserve—they wouldn't be harmed. As for their pride… well, Giovanni moved so fast that most didn't even realize they'd been "rejected" until they were already back in the wild.
"Dugtrio, Sandslash, and Marowak—I won't bother with those," Giovanni said flatly. "They're not really my kind of Pokémon."
In the end, he added a Rhyhorn, a Gligar, a Hippowdon, and even an Aron from the Hoenn Region to his roster.
As for Beedrill—
Ironically, while Giovanni was known in Pokémon Adventures for using a Beedrill as one of his aces, he almost never had one in the mainline games.
According to the origin memories Charles retained, Giovanni had once owned a Charmander too. But perhaps he'd traded it away for something stronger… or maybe someone had taken it from him.
There was no point speculating. In truth, Giovanni hadn't caught a Beedrill simply because he planned to have Charles later exchange his Vespiquen for Dumbledore's Beedrill.
That poor creature had long since grown tired of its dull, wool-spinning life in the office.
And besides, these days there wasn't even any wool left to spin.
"Well then," Giovanni declared, his voice sharp and commanding, "the Giovanni of the Earth—that's me!"
(End of Chapter)