Ariana (Pokémon)

Evil-doer
Full Name	Ariana
Alias	Athena (in Japanese version)
Origin	Pokémon Gold and Silver
Occupation	Team Rocket Executive, Interim Boss of Team Rocket
Powers / Skills	Expertise in Pokémon training, Manipulation, Cunning, Wealth and resources
Hobby	Plotting
Goals	Profit
Crimes	No information
Type of Villain	Crime Lord, Animal Cruelty

“	What a waste… not to use your strength to do bad things! People like you will never in a million years understand our brilliance.	„
	~ Ariana

Ariana (Japanese: アテナ Athena) is one of the four Team Rocket Executives introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Her name wasn't revealed until Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. The four executives serve as the main antagonists of these four games as well as Pokémon Crystal. Ariana is identified in dialogue as the interim boss in Giovanni's absence.

In the games

At first, Ariana seems to appear in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen as an unnamed female Team Rocket Admin in the Rocket Warehouse on Chrono Island. After the player defeats her, she seems to understand their motivations for opposing Team Rocket and flips a switch to redirect the spinners nearby to give the player easier access back from the warehouse entrance.

Three years later, Ariana is the only female Rocket Executive in the reborn Team Rocket in Johto. She appears to be Archer's second-in-command, although upon first challenging the player, she calls herself the interim boss of Team Rocket in place of Giovanni. The player battles her twice, first in the Team Rocket HQ, in a double battle with a Grunt on her side and Lance on the player's side (in Generation II, the player battles her alone), and again in the Goldenrod Radio Tower, where she is the last challenge before Archer. When defeated in the Team Rocket HQ, she notes that the player is strong enough to become an Executive if they joined Team Rocket, and after being beaten in the Radio Tower admits that she admires the player's power.

Like the other Executives, Ariana was given a major makeover in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Her identity was expanded on, her color scheme was noticeably changed, and her hair was restyled.

Pokémon Adventures

Ariana in the manga.

Ariana appears in the HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter alongside the other three Executives. She, along with his fellow teammates, take control of Team Rocket from Carr, saying that they will stay true to Giovanni's intentions.

Ariana later ambushes Silver and Crystal to prevent them from intruding and interrupting their plans. Using her Pokémon, she manages to pin Silver to a tree while she faces Crystal alone. Despite the type advantage Crystal's Pokémon have, she is easily defeated by Ariana's powerful team. However, using his Rhyperior and the Earth Plate he obtained from Petrel, Silver manages to save Crystal and send Ariana and her Pokémon flying.

Now facing Crystal alone, Ariana finishes off her Pokémon and explains her and her teammate's roles in capturing the Legendary Pokémon Arceus. Suddenly, Arceus appears in front of them and Crystal attempts to capture it, shocking the Generals in the process. Despite her tenacity, Crystal ultimately fails in capturing the Pokémon and is sent flying into a tree.

The Generals chase Arceus down and find it battling Gold at the Ruins of Alph. Once Arceus takes them to the Sinjoh Ruins, the four Generals restrain Arceus and force it onto the Mystri Stage. Using its great powers, they force Arceus to create the Legendary Pokémon Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina.

Believing they have pleased their boss, Giovanni, Ariana, Proton, and Archer begin tearing up. However, Silver distracts them by flying towards the Pokémon so Gold and Crystal can finish off the other Legendary Pokémon. Once they do so, Arceus, now freed from its restraints, uses its powers to send Ariana and the other Generals flying.

Ariana's Pokemon

Murkrow ♀

Muk ♂

Arbok (two)

Vileplume (two)

Trivia

• "Aria" from her name is Italian for "air".
• As she is the only female Executive in the Johto's Team Rocket, she could be easily adapted from her Generation II design in Generation IV. In this respect, she is the female counterpart of Archer, who was based on the original male Executive. However, Proton and Petrel, originally using the same sprite as Archer, had to be designed from scratch.
• Sham from Pokémon Adventures is based on Ariana's original Generation II design, and is named differently because of the lack of names for the executives at the time. This makes her Ariana's cross-canon counterpart.
• In Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, she got a male Arbok and a male Vileplume. In the Generation II and IV games, she got a female Arbok and a female Vileplume that evolved from a Gloom.