Giovanni’s strongest incarnation would be perfect for Pokemon Go

Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni dominates Pokemon Go, but the mobile game is missing the best, most powerful incarnation of the iconic villain.

Pokemon Go‘s Taken Over event has put the spotlight once again on Giovanni. The Team Rocket boss has been around since the very first Pokemon games, serving as the leader of the mobile title’s Team GO Rocket.

But while the iconic villain certainly poses a major threat to Pokemon Go players thanks to a challenging team led by a Legendary Shadow Pokemon, this is far from the most powerful version of Giovanni.

That honor belongs to his appearance in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where Giovanni created the ultimate villainous team – a team that would make for an incredible Pokemon Go challenge.

Giovanni used the multiverse to create the most dangerous Pokemon team

The Pokemon Company

Back in 2017 – before the MCU popularized the concept – Pokemon was telling a multiverse story. 2014’s Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire had teased the concept of alternate worlds, but the Gen 7 games doubled down with the introduction of the Ultra Beasts.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon took this to a logical conclusion, one that played with nostalgia surrounding the franchise’s 20th anniversary the year prior. It introduced Team Rainbow Rocket, a new villainous organization whose ranks included all previous evil team leaders from Pokemon history.

This was, of course, led by Giovanni. Expanding his simple goal of using Pokemon for his own gain, Team Rainbow Rocket sought to conquer the entire multiverse, employing incarnations of each evil team boss that managed to complete their original goals.

The leaders – Archie, Maxie, Cyrus, Ghetsis, and Lysandre – each fought with a team that included the Legendary Pokemon they attempted to capture in their own games. As Team Rainbow Rocket’s boss, Giovanni had a Mewtwo that could Mega Evolve, proving why he’s in charge of the operation.

Team Rainbow Rocket would make the perfect Pokemon Go challenge

Niantic / The Pokemon Company

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon took a villain that many viewed as too straightforward and somewhat boring compared to the more complex villains that came after him and transformed him into a real threat. After all, Team Rainbow Rocket Boss Giovanni has Mega Mewtwo, not to mention the power to unite the strongest versions of each evil team leader from across the multiverse.

As the original Pokemon villain, Giovanni is undeniably iconic and recognizable to several generations of fans. But as Pokemon Go’s sole evil team leader, Giovanni is underwhelming, and seeing him time and again is getting tedious.

That’s where Team Rainbow Rocket could make a difference. Pokemon Go already has Ultra Beasts, providing an easy way to justify introducing the other bosses from different universes. Adding them would bring some much-needed variety to Pokemon Go.

At the same time, it would allow Pokemon Go to continue showcasing Giovanni as it has for many years. Team Rainbow Rocket is arguably the most exciting and daunting challenge ever included in a Pokemon game, and bringing that to the mobile game would allow more trainers to prove whether they really are the very best – like no one ever was.