As we already know, Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver contains a lot of content that can only be accessed by very specific Pokemon that need to be transferred into your cartridge. These Pokemon tend to unlock a subquest that leads to a bonus Pokemon which you can obtain. The Pikachu coloured Pichu unlocked the Spikey-Eared Pichu quest and the special Arceus unlocked a quest where you could get a Level 1 Giratina, Palkia or Dialga. Soon there will be a downloadable Celebi which will not only net you one of the rarest Legendary Pokemon of all, but will trigger the Giovanni subquest.
Although Giovanni’s Team Rocket plays a major role in the original Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal, he never appeared in the games. Team Rocket is leaderless and although it is apparent Giovanni has abandoned them, one executive believes Giovanni is just out training until he is strong enough to finally beat Red, the protagonist from Pokemon Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. This is a major plot point as Team Rocket takes over the Goldenrod City radio tower in an attempt to locate and persuade Giovanni to return and lead them to greatness. Unfortunately for them, he never returns and Team Rocket is defeated by Gold or Krys(depending on which game you are playing). Because of this defeat, Team Rocket is permanently disbanded.
With the new subquest, you’ll be able to learn WHY Giovanni never responded to Team Rocket as well as get some back story behind both the one time leader of the Viridian City Gym, but your rival, Silver as well. To activate this quest, you’ll have to take the special “Fateful Encounter” Celebi to Ilex Forest, which long time Pokefans will know is Celebi’s home and where you could obtain one in the original Pokemon Crystal. Once in the forest, go to the Ilex Shrine and click on it. Your friend Lyra/Ethan (The replacement for Krys and Gold) will appear. The two of you will talk and then Celebi will take the two of your through time and space to three years earlier.
You’ll appear on Route 22, and a scene will unfold that takes place chronologically soon after Red beats Giovanni at the Viridian City Gym. You will see Giovanni arguing with his son..who happens to be your rival, Silver! This is a bit of a surprise, unless you spoke to Team Rocket Scientist Gideon in Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, who comments to your character that Giovanni has a son with red hair. At the time everyone speculated this son was Silver, and now we have confirmation. The two will argue and you’ll see them part on unhappy terms. After Giovanni says something to your character, Celebi will take you forward in time. It won’t be to your exact present. Instead, it will be right as Team Rocket has hijacked the Goldenrod City Radio Tower in their attempt to find Giovanni. You’ll end up in a cave where Giovanni has been training and you’ll end up doing battle with him to ensure he doesn’t reunite with Team Rocket. After this battle, Giovanni will leave and comment that you remind him of Red. He will then once again disappear into the annals of history.
The funny thing is for Giovanni’s three years of training, his Pokemon team is actually weaker than what you faced in Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green. He’s only got four Pokemon and they’re all lower level than you’d expect. Here’s a list of the Pokemon, their move sets and what you can do to them
Giovanni’s Pokemon
1. Honchkrow
Level: 43
Pokemon Ability: Super Luck
Moveset: Dark Pulse, Nasty Plot, Shadow Ball, Swagger
2. Kangaskahn
Pokemon Ability: Scrappy
Moveset: Dizzy Punch, Leer, Outrage, Sucker Punch
3. Nidoking
Level: 42
Pokemon Ability: Poison Point
Moveset: Double Kick, Focus Energy, Fury Attack, Shadow Claw
4. Nidoqueen
Level: 46
Pokemon Ability: Poison Point
Moveset: Crunch, Earth Power, Roar, Superpower
First things first. Honchkrow is pretty easy to take out. All you need is a strong Electric attack and its toast. Ice and Rock are equally effective for hurting it. Remember it is immune to Ground and Psychic attacks and only takes half damage from Ghost, Grass and Dark moves. Its moves Swagger and Nasty Plot will do more harm than good to it due to the random usage of them. It’s not uncommon for it to use both right after each other, giving you multiple free chances to hit it and hopefully KO it without taking any damage. Dark Pulse is the real one to worry about as it has that 20% chance of making your Pokemon flinch. That combined with Honchkrow’s Super Luck ability means if it uses this move, don’t be surprised to take a Critical Hit as well as get nailed with the Flinch status effect. Finish this off quickly.
Kangaskahn is a bit of a surprise since Giovanni is a Ground type Gym Leader, but then again he did add a Dark/Flying type to his team so consider this another unexpected surprise. Thankfully it’s both the lowest level Pokemon Giovanni has and the easiest to beat. At first glance you might consider using a Ghost Type Pokemon against Moma Kanga, but remember it has the Pokemon Ability of Scrappy which allows it to use Normal and Fighting moves to hit a Ghost Type Pokemon. It has a strange moveset which should make this an easy battle though. Leer is a waste, especially in a late game battle like this. You should be able to shrug it off easily. Sucker Punch is an easy enough move to counter. Just make sure you have a Pokemon with a move that always goes first and you’ll always ensure this fails. Kangaskahn’s two other moves are ones you have to worry about. Dizzy Punch can confuse you and Outrage is just plain nasty. It’s also a Dragon Type move, so make sure you don’t have any Dragon Pokemon going into battle against Kangaskahn. A good choice here is a fast hitting Fighting Pokemon. The Hitmon family or Infernape’s Mach Punch works wonders here.
Nidoking is like the rest of Giovanni’s team: a good Pokemon saddled with a horrible moveset. Focus Energy and Fury Attack have no place in a would-be Champion level team, and this Nidoking doesn’t even have any moves it can get STAB from. It’s best attacks are the Fighting move Double Kick (which is merely okay) and the Ghost move Shadow Claw. The latter at least gives it some protection against Psychic Pokemon, which can generally take down Poison type (or in Nidoking’s case, half-Poison) Pokemon easily. Instead, make things easy on yourself and just use a Water type Pokemon with a high power move like Surf to make short work of this guy.
Finally you have Nidoqueen, who is the only real challenge here. She does have a wasted move in Roar, but her other three moves are very powerful. With Dark, Fighting, and Ground moves at her disposal, all of which have a base power level of 80 or higher, you’re in for a world of hurt here. Earth Power is your biggest worry as Nidoqueen gets her Same Type Attack Bonus with it. Your best hope is that Giovanni foolishly uses Superpower right away so that he puts himself at a disadvantage. Again, a high level Water Pokemon is your best bet here. Surf again works nicely as it also prevents both Nidos from using their Poison Point ability.
So there you go, the movesets of all four of Giovanni’s Pokemon and a basic strategy guide on how to beat them. Now you just have to wait for the DLC Celebi to be made available at a Toys R Us or Gamestop near you.
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