Evil teams are intrinsic to any Pokémon game. They’re as vital to the plot as the Gym Leaders or boxart Legendary Pokémon. No main series Pokémon game is complete without the nefarious deeds of the regional evil team, which often cause real complications for the player.
Team Rocket, the antagonists of the first games in the franchise, Pokémon Red & Blue, perhaps remains Pokémon‘s most recognizable evil organization. However, over the years, Game Freak began experimenting with their formula, giving their villainous teams increasingly ambitious plots. Not all of them succeed, though, and some do end up being nuisances rather than real threats. But some of these sinister groups do live up to the title, becoming instantly memorable.
7 Team Yell
Team Yell isn’t even the main threat to vanquish in Pokémon Sword & Shield. Instead, that honor goes to the Macro Cosmos organization. However, Team Yell is the group that players continuously fight throughout the game, making them Galar’s official evil team.
In truth, the Yell grunts are little more than slightly aggressive and overly passionate fanboys. Their sole purpose is to support Marnie, one of the rival characters, and they constantly try to defeat the player so that she will have a clear path in the Champion Cup. They pose no real threat and are more a nuisance than an actual obstacle.
6 Team Flare
And speaking of less than threatening obstacles, Team Flare is the franchise’s most boring villainous organization. They are bland and utterly forgettable, a so-called evil team that’s just going through the motions of what it means to be a Pokémon evil team.
Team Flare’s leader, Lysandre, wants to use the Ultimate Weapon to destroy the world and start again, no longer seeing hope in the current society. Their purpose may sound sinister on paper, but throughout Pokémon X & Y, they hardly do anything to deserve the “evil team” moniker. At least their outfits are cool.
5 Team Skull
Team Skull are indeed just henchmen. They have no purpose of their own and only obey the orders of the Aether Foundation and its infallible president, Lusamine. The team includes numerous people that failed their island challenges, including its leader, the Bug-type specialist Guzma.
Lusamine ranks as one of the franchise’s most perverse villains, but Team Skull doesn’t quite reach the same heights. It’s a shame, though, because so much could’ve been done with their premise. A street gang with their base on a dilapidated town sounds much cooler than what Team Skull ended up being.
4 Team Magma/Team Aqua
Generation III is when the Pokémon franchise begins to think bigger. Throughout their journey across the Hoenn region, players fight Team Magma and Team Aqua, depending on if they’re playing Pokémon Ruby or Pokémon Sapphire.
Magma wants to expand Hoenn’s landmass using the Legendary Pokémon Groudon, while Aqua wants to reduce it via the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre. The team’s leaders, Maxie and Archie, are memorable and effective antagonists, but they lack the destructive and unrepentant quality that makes villains terrifying. In fact, they regret their actions in the end and actively work to prevent them from happening again.
3 Team Rocket
Team Rocket is the first evil organization in the franchise and the Pokémon equivalent to the mafia. Their goals might be petty and simplistic, but their methods are cruel and even savage. They force the Magikarp at the Lake of Rage to evolve against their will and cut and sell Slowpoke’s tails at unnaturally high prices.
Team Rocket is Pokémon‘s most enduring evil organization. They are the antagonists in both Generations I and II, and they return as a major part of Generation VII’s post-game, meaning their reach spreads out of Kanto and Johto and all the way into Alola. Team Rocket also features prominently in the anime, and Jessie, James, and Meowth continue pursuing Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu.
2 Team Galactic
When it comes to evil in Pokémon, Team Galactic has a place of honor. They don’t just want to change their home region or even the world. No, Team Galactic wants to change the entire universe. Their leader, Cyrus, wants to create an entirely new universe in his image, devoid of all emotion and with no weakness. He plans to use the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia to do so and really doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process.
In Pokémon Platinum, Cyrus’s goal changes as he plans to create a new universe devoid of spirit. He summons both Dialga and Palkia, which causes Giratina to intervene and prevent the destruction of the space-time continuum. Team Galactic remains an unforgettable threat in the Pokémon world because of the sheer scope of their plans. Fans will meet them again when the upcoming Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl remakes premiere later this year.
1 Team Plasma
In all honesty, Team Plasma’s purpose pales in comparison to those of Team Galactic. However, their goal of separating humans from Pokémon would effectively end the Pokémon world, making them just as threatening as the Galactic grunts, at least. What really gives them the edge is how dastardly evil their leader, Ghetsis, is.
Throughout the main series games, villains either repent or swear vengeance and leave without making a fuss. But Ghetsis isn’t a typical villain and doesn’t go down without a fight. To this day, Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 remain the only games where the villain actually tries to kill the player. And the fact that Team Plasma’s grunts are still willing to follow that guy proves how deranged they really are.
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