PO03

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Pokémon Origins

PO04 : File 4: Charizard

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File 3: Giovanni

PO03

レポート3 サカキ
Report 3: Sakaki

First broadcast

Japan	October 2, 2013
United States	November 20, 2013

English themes

Opening	N/A
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	N/A
Ending	N/A

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	XEBEC
Screenplay	広田光穀 Mitsutaka Hirota
Storyboard	高橋秀弥 Hideya Takahashi
Assistant director	高橋秀弥 Hideya Takahashi
Animation directors	しんぼたくろう Takurō Shinbo
Animation directors	谷口元浩 Motohiro Taniguchi

File 3: Giovanni (Japanese: レポート3 サカキ Report 3: Sakaki) is the third episode of Pokémon Origins. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 2, 2013 and was released on Pokémon TV on November 20, 2013. The English version was made available on Hulu on January 30, 2014, and on the iTunes Store on May 28, 2014.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Red arrives in Saffron City to find Team Rocket’s fingerprints on everything. When he rescues a Silph Co. secretary, he learns that Team Rocket has taken over the company! This stems from their desire to get their hands on the Master Ball, the ultimate Poké Ball that has been in development for years. However, one more surprise lies in wait for Red at Viridian City, and this may be the biggest one yet!

Plot

Red defeating Erika

Having solved the case of the haunted Pokémon Tower, Red continues his Pokémon journey to complete the Pokédex. In Celadon City, he confronts Erika, the Gym Leader of the Celadon Gym, and easily triumphs over her Grass-type Pokémon with his Charmeleon, earning himself the Rainbow Badge. Afterwards, he follows a suspicious individual to what turns out to be Team Rocket's secret hideout, where he comes face to face with the boss of the organization, Giovanni. Later on, Red awakens a Snorlax with his Poké Flute, obtains a Super Rod from the Fishing Guru's younger brother, defeats the Fuchsia City Gym Leader Koga for the Soul Badge, and even successfully evolves his Charmeleon into Charizard.

Eventually, Red arrives in Saffron City, where he meets up with Blue, who introduces him to the Silph Co., a company that produces handy products for Trainers, and later assists him in rescuing a woman harassed by Team Rocket. After being rescued, the woman reveals herself to be the secretary of the Silph Co. president. The company has been taken over by Team Rocket, who are after the company's latest invention; the Master Ball; an ultimate Poké Ball capable of catching any Pokémon without fail. For now, it only exists as a prototype, which is why Team Rocket has taken the president hostage and forced the company scientists to work on the project day and night, even experimenting on wild Pokémon. Outraged by this, Red tells Blue to take the secretary with him and contact the police while he storms the Silph Co. After some convincing, Blue agrees to take the secretary to the Celadon City police station.

Charizard fighting Nidoqueen

Red goes ahead with his plan and starts storming the occupied office building, freeing captive Pokémon and scientists along the way. One of the scientists is so grateful that he gifts Red with a Lapras, an excellent Pokémon for crossing the sea. At the top floor, Red finds the Silph Co. president and Team Rocket Boss Giovanni, who recognizes him from their encounter at the hideout. Red says the police are on their way and steps in front of Giovanni when he attempts to leave, swearing to stop Team Rocket's plans every single time. Irritated by Red's stubbornness, Giovanni has a Team Rocket Grunt hand over a briefcase filled with Poké Balls and takes one of them. He sends out Nidoqueen, while Red sends out Charizard. Charizard is hit hard by Nidoqueen's Double Kick and sent crashing into a wall. A collision between Charizard's Flamethrower and Nidoqueen's Surf creates a big explosion that knocks out power in the entire building, blasts a hole in the outer wall, and leaves Charizard knocked out. A Team Rocket helicopter arrives outside the damaged wall, so Giovanni, unimpressed by Red's performance, recalls Nidoqueen and prepares to leave. Red questions why Giovanni is making Pokémon suffer like this, to which the Team Rocket Boss responds that Pokémon are nothing more than expendable tools of business, which must be sacrificed to keep the business going. Red argues that Pokémon are supposed to be their friends, but Giovanni points out that, despite of Red's words, he's letting his Pokémon suffer in defeat. As Giovanni leaves on his helicopter, Red narrates how the incident put a temporary halt on the development of the Master Ball.

Following the Silph Co. incident, Red goes on to challenge Sabrina, the Psychic-type Gym Leader, and defeats her with his Haunter, earning the Marsh Badge. He also faces and defeats the Karate Master at the Fighting Dojo, receiving one of his Fighting-type Pokémon as a prize. He then crosses the sea with Lapras and reaches Cinnabar Island, where he explores the abandoned Pokémon Mansion, where he finds an old journal that describes the discovery of a previously unknown Pokémon, and challenges the Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine, defeating his Fire-type Pokémon to earn the Volcano Badge. Later, Red overhears a Young Couple talking about how the Viridian City Gym Leader, a Ground-type specialist, has supposedly returned to his Gym, and eagerly heads to Viridian City to challenge the strongest Gym Leader of them all. No sooner has he arrived there, though, that he once again meets Blue, who smugly shows off his Earth Badge, revealing that he's already triumphed over the strongest Gym Leader, and heads off.

Red is told that the Gym Leader is away at the moment, but he's still allowed to wait for him inside. His wait proves to be a short one, however, as moments later, Giovanni enters the Gym, revealing to the shocked Red that the Viridian City Gym Leader is none other than him, using the Gym as a front to hide Team Rocket's real work. Red refuses to accept that a man who considers Pokémon as just tools for business could be the strongest Gym Leader, but Giovanni shrugs off his words, not needing his acceptance to make it a fact. He asks if Red is here to battle him, which Red confirms, but clarifies that he's not issuing a challenge to a Gym Leader, but the enemy of all Pokémon. Giovanni mentions how, just the day before, he was challenged by another boy of Red's age, who, despite his arrogance, had more potential than any other Trainer he had ever faced, making Red realize he's talking about Blue. Although he had faced him as a Gym Leader, that will not be the case here, so he puts aside his usual set of Poké Balls and takes out a pair of Ultra Balls. Privately, he wonders to himself what is it about Red that makes him feel so agitated.

Rhyhorn defeating Snorlax

Giovanni tosses out his first Ultra Ball, revealing his first Pokémon to be Rhyhorn. Red has come prepared for Ground-type Pokémon and calls out Victreebel. He makes the first move with Razor Leaf, but the attack has no time to connect before Victreebel is already struck down by a Horn Attack. Red makes the choice to replace his Grass type with the Water-type Kabutops, making Giovanni understand that Red has heard of his specialty type ahead of time. Following a clash between Rhyhorn's Take Down and Kabutops's Slash, Red orders a Hydro Pump, but Rhyhorn intercepts the attack with Thunderbolt, overpowering the Water-type move and defeating Kabutops. Red's third Pokémon is Snorlax, but Rhyhorn easily dodges its Hyper Beam and deals a one-hit knockout on the Normal type with Horn Drill. When Red's next Pokémon is revealed to be Jolteon, Giovanni scoffs at his choice of Pokémon and expresses his disappointment. Internally, his feeling of disappointment confuses him, continuing to wonder what is it about Red that keeps leaving him so frustrated. Jolteon charges is for a Double Kick, but a single Thunderbolt from Rhyhorn is enough to defeat it. Red is astonished how Jolteon could lose to a Thunderbolt like this, but Giovanni makes it clear that the level difference between their Pokémon was simply too much.

Out of his two remaining Pokémon, Red chooses to go with Hitmonlee, a Fighting type with a type advantage over Rhyhorn. While welcoming the challenge, Giovanni's internal confusion over his feelings continues, now feeling exhilarated by the ongoing battle instead of frustrated, like he had done a minute ago. Hitmonlee deals a heavy blow with Rolling Kick, which Rhyhorn responds to with Horn Attack. As an exchange between High Jump Kick and Take Down is made, Giovanni starts recalling how he has felt this same surge of excitement before. The final exchange of attacks between the two battlers comes with Mega Kick and Horn Drill, defeating both combatants and leaving both Trainers with one Pokémon each. Knowing that Red is going to use Charizard next, Giovanni reveals his last Pokémon to be Rhydon and criticizes Red's choice for saving Charizard for the final match. Red, however, says that he intended Charizard to be his last since the start, as to him, winning with Charizard is what gives this battle its meaning. His irritation growing once again, Giovanni swears to crush Red's Charizard and his pride with it.

Charizard defeating Rhydon

Thinking to himself, Red recounts how he's battled many Gym Leaders and Trainers along his journey, each of whom had a deep love for Pokémon, his Badges proving that he understands how Gym Leaders feel. He then shouts his resolve out loud, refusing to lose to a person like Giovanni and calling out Charizard, the living proof of how far he's come on his journey. Seeing the pose Red assumes and the way he throws his Poké Ball awakens long-forgotten memories in Giovanni's mind: he, too, was once a young boy who enjoyed the thrill of battling above all else and had a genuine love of Pokémon. Now, though, he wonders whatever happened to make him see Pokémon as nothing more than tools for business. He sends out his Rhydon and wonders to himself if he could've been like Red. Both Pokémon hit each other with a Mega Punch. Charizard follows up with Mega Kick, but Rhydon dodges and pummels Charizard hard with Fury Attack, sending the Flame Pokémon flying into a wall. With Charizard barely holding on, Giovanni orders a finishing blow with Horn Drill, but Charizard manages to muster enough strength to dodge the attack and grab Rhydon, flying up into the air and slamming the Drill Pokémon back down with Seismic Toss. On the wall, Rhydon's HP bar falls to zero, meaning that Giovanni has lost the battle, much to his disbelief.

Giovanni walks over to Red and offers him an Earth Badge as proof of his victory. However, Red refuses to accept a Badge from the Boss of Team Rocket. Turning to his minions, Giovanni announces to them that from this moment on, Team Rocket is hereby disbanded, and tells them to spread the news to the entire organization. Turning back to Red, Giovanni now offers the Badge not as the Team Rocket Boss, but as the Viridian City Gym Leader. Red accepts the Badge while Giovanni tells him that in order to complete the Pokédex, he must stand as the strongest of all Trainers, on par with the Pokémon League Champion. As Red bikes off into the sunset, Giovanni urges him to take the path he did not, with him also intending to forge a new path forward for himself and his Pokémon. Red swears to do just that and find a path for himself.

Major events

Red holding the Earth Badge

Red defeats Erika, earning the Rainbow Badge.
Red meets Giovanni at the Rocket Hideout.
Red catches a Snorlax.
Red obtains a Super Rod from the Silence Bridge Fishing Guru.
Red catches a Psyduck.
Red defeats Koga, earning the Soul Badge.
Red's Charmeleon evolves into Charizard.
Red receives a Lapras.
Red battles Giovanni at the Silph Co., but is defeated.
Red is revealed to have obtained a Haunter.
Red defeats Sabrina, earning the Marsh Badge.
Red receives a Hitmonlee or a Hitmonchan from Kiyo.
Red defeats Blaine, earning the Volcano Badge.
Red finds out that Blue has won all eight Badges.
Red is revealed to have caught a Victreebel and a Kabutops.
Red defeats Giovanni at the Viridian Gym, earning the Earth Badge.
Giovanni disbands Team Rocket.

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

The Team Rocket helicopter seen during Giovanni's escape from Silph Co. is the same one used by Dr. Zager in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, but with the Team Rocket logo removed.