Pokemon Go deserves better bosses than Giovanni

As another Pokemon Go Team Rocket event rolls around, it’s becoming clear that the title wants to placate players instead of surprise them, and it’s a waste of a huge roster of villains.

I am sick of seeing Giovanni in Pokemon Go. As a fan of the franchise from the very beginning, it’s hard to believe that a series with over 1000 Pokemon and several regions to explore seemingly only has a handful of villains to use as bosses.

Now it makes sense, Giovanni is a cool and intimidating villain, and for the sake of lore, he is the boss of Team Rocket. So, as long as Pokemon Go is still focusing on Team Rocket, it makes sense for Giovanni to be the main villain.

But Giovanni and the Team Go Rocket leaders were added to Pokemon Go in 2019, nearly five years ago. For a bit of perspective, this was just a few short months after Pokemon Master Ex was launched, which now has a roster nearing 400 different Sync Pairs and possible combinations.

You’re not the boss of me

The Pokemon Company

This particular gripe tickled resurfaced recently because of the return of Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon to the game and the resurgence of Mega Pokemon, thanks to the reveal of Pokemon Legends Z-A.

We have fond memories of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the Nintendo 3DS titles that reimagined Hoenn and introduced Mega Evolution forms of the powerhouse Pokemon Groudon, Kyogre, and even Rayquaza.

If you remember those titles, or the ones that inspired them, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, you might remember the nefarious teams known as Team Magma and Team Aqua. Personally, I’d say this team of scum and villainy is likely the most beloved after Team Rocket, and for good reason.

Team Magma is led by Maxie, and Team Aqua is led by Archie, two of the most memorable villains from the entire series, and frankly, the return of Primal Kyogre and Groudon would have felt a lot more memorable, and eventful, if they came alongside these iconic characters.

Pokemon has dozens of great villains to pull from

The Pokemon Company

In fact, why stop there? There are heaps of antagonists in Pokemon’s annals of history, and one of the most memorable is likely N, alongside the other Pokemon Black and White villain Ghetsis. The Unova games stick in many fans’ memories for daring to have threatening antagonists, and they should come back.

If the inevitable additions of Kyurem Black and Kyurem White also included a storyline with N and Ghetsis, that would be rad. Again, it makes sense, Pokemon Go is a fun romp around the world, and true, it’s all about catching Pokemon first so a real threat might not fit the tone.

But the allure of the Team Rocket leaders has dulled, and if it wasn’t for the roster of Shadow Pokemon you can get by defeating Giovanni, Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo, it might not be worth it.

Niantic / The Pokemon Company

It is very tough to program things into Pokemon Go, and NPCs or villains aren’t the focus. But we’ve seen the addition of characters like Mateo alongside the debut of Routes and even hints towards this sort of thing with the Ultra Recon Squad alongside Ultra Beasts.

When Pokemon Go launched it felt barren, and additions over the years have helped to flesh out those amazing and addictive catching mechanics with enough bells and whistles to feel like a full game.

But the world still feels lonely, with an endless treadmill of Pocket Monsters to catch but a handful of characters to ever talk to. It feels like Pokemon Go is scared of telling a story, and instead, only uses dialogue in small text boxes and Research Tasks that most players skip through to simply avoid.

It’s 2024, and Pokemon Go shows no signs of slowing down, and neither does one of the other big mobile Pokemon games, Pokemon Masters Ex. Frankly, one thing that would reignite passion for the game could be new villains, a bigger story, and the return of some iconic characters fans know and love.

Time to play a different way

The Pokemon Company

It’s not just nostalgia, either. As Pokemon Go is an entirely different entity, I’d like to see Niantic come up with their own villain. Pokemon Go has a very unique vantage, that millions of players are playing around the globe. Why not create a villain that has to be encountered in every country?

Get ready for a very niche reference here, but do you have fond memories of the mobile game Curiosity: What’s Inside The Cube? The brainchild of Peter Molyneux, this game tasked the entire world with tapping the cube to delete blocks, with just one player earning the prize in the very middle.

Imagine if Pokemon Go used Chairman Rose as a villain, hoping to unlock the true potential of the Kaiju-esque goliath known as Eternatus. Perhaps once unleashed, the tendrils of Eternatus infect the different corners of the world, and Pokemon Go players must find and defeat them, working together worldwide.

Maybe if players worldwide manage to defeat these tendrils, with millions in the various countries and anyone, anywhere, able to fight them, each player earns a fight against Chairman Rose and his team, only to be rewarded with a soothed Eternatus, grateful to you for its rescue.

We already see some global challenges in Pokemon Go, but they’re mostly centered around catching a certain number of Pokemon, and rewards have felt lackluster at times. Pokemon Go is halfway there, manyplayers just want a bit of variety, and a bit of imagination.

A whole new world… of pain

Niantic

At the end of the day, Pokemon Go is designed as a Pokemon game that players of any age can pick up. Most kids have a tablet before they have a console, and Pokemon Go is deceptively simple. Easy enough for anyone to play, with enough depth to satisfy veteran players should they hunt for it.

But, it can feel like Niantic is scared to add any meaningful story or interaction to the game, which is a waste. It’s getting tiring seeing the annual parade of Giovanni, especially in a series littered with iconic villains that fans adore. Pokemon Go needs suspense, drama, and a challenge.

This all sounds like a slight against Giovanni, but he’s a great villain. Harkening back to the original anime and even Pokemon: The First Movie, he’s an imposing figure that would hold more power if he was used sparingly. Leave the player wanting more.

All this is to say, Pokemon Go has grown exponentially over the years, and there are plenty of new features I adore. But the world and the story, all still feel barren, and a game with millions of players across the world holds a unique opportunity to tell a different story.

Whether it’s just Team Magma and Team Aqua being the hosts for Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, or something as ambitious and genuinely terrifying as Eternatus taking over the world, in the words of Tom Hardy in Inception, “Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling”.