Pokémon’s Evil Teams, Ranked From Least To Most Villainous

Thanks to the whimsical nature of the Pokémongames it can be easy to forget that an evil team is often lurking in the shadows. Some of their schemes are relatively minor, like stopping trainers from competing in the Pokémon League challenge. Other teams have much loftier goals, like rewriting time and space to shape a new universe in their leader’s image.

No matter their goals, the evil teams in Pokémon constantly work behind the scenes to further their agenda. While the player always succeeds in the end, it doesn’t stop new evil organizations from popping up in every region.

The main Pokémon games typically follow a tried and true formula. Players will have some fun collecting new friends and teammates, before being introduced to something darker. These teams are ranked from least to most evil based on their schemes, style, and how they wanted to impact the Pokémon world.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Yell

As far as evil teams go, Team Yell is fairly innocent. From the Galar region and the Pokémon Sword and Shield games, members of Team Yell are superfans of Marnie, the younger sister of Gym Leader Piers. These superfans will do anything to see Marnie become the champion, even going as far as to block and discourage other trainers from competing. Their whole goal is to bring more attention to their hometown, Spikemuth, by helping Marnie win. With a new champion for the town to promote, more people may visit and the town will flourish, at least that’s Team Yell’s hope. Inspired by real-life English football fans, the Team Yell members are equipped with vuvuzelas and banners featuring Marnie. Team Yell isn’t even really evil, just misguided and a little overeager.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Skull

Like Team Yell, Team Skull’s primary goal is getting in the way of trainers in the Alola region from Pokémon Sun and Moon. After their leader, Guzma, became disillusioned with the Island Challenge, he sought to create a community for other outcasts of the Island Challenge. Most members of the team join because they too failed their Island Challenge despite wanting to be trainers. In an attempt to create a haven for other outcasts, Team Skull does end up taking over an entire town, driving out the people who live there with their antics. While sad, Team Skull’s only ambition is to make enough money to get by, and the worst they do is some vandalism and kidnapping on behalf of the Aether Foundation.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Plasma

Team Plasma may be one of the more diabolical teams in the Pokémon series because of the effectiveness of the team. While other teams had obvious goals of domination and power, Team Plasma of Pokémon Black and White seemed to only want to free all Pokémon.

By manipulating N, a young trainer who could communicate with Pokémon, the true leader of Team Plasma sought to control Unova by owning all Pokémon. Ghetsis, the puppet master of N, had his plans fail, but the fact that he was able to convince many good people and Pokémon to go along with his plan is a testament to his skill as a leader.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Aqua/Magma

While technically two different groups, Team Aqua and Team Magma from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire have similar goals. Both Teams wanted to manipulate the legendary Pokémon Kyogre and Groudon to cover Hoenn in either water or earth. Each team wants to return the world to a more primal state, where the elements and Pokémon reign supreme. Both teams come close to succeeding, eventually awakening the ire of Rayquaza, but the player is always there to put an end to their plans. The massive ecological disaster that either team wanted to commit would have had widespread destruction and would have led to the deaths of millions.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Flare

The stylish Team Flare has one goal, and that’s to make money, at least at first. The red-themed villains worked to take over the Kalos region of Pokémon X and Y with money and doing anything to get their way. Their get-rich schemes included stealing electricity from a power plant and reselling stolen fossils at a premium. However, the real goal of Team Flare’s leader, Lysandre, was to find an ancient weapon to kill all life. With all life wiped out, he would be free to create the perfect world. While Lysander eventually fails, Team Flare’s resolve almost meant the doom of every living thing on the planet, Pokémon and human alike.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Rocket

Team Rocket has been in the business of stealing Pokémon since Pokémon Red and Blue. Their mission has been the same across every game they’re featured in – world domination by stealing and exploiting Pokémon. Out of all of the teams that appear in the Pokémon games, Team Rocket has the biggest reach, with reports of operatives in Kanto, Johto, Alola, and rumors of them in Unova as well.

Perhaps the evilest act Team Rocket has committed was in Sun and Moon where Giovanni, leading the newly reformed Team Rainbow Rocket, used the Aether Foundation to summon alternate reality versions of other team leaders, ones whose plans were successful, to help take over the world.

Pokémon’s Evil Teams: Team Galactic

Despite their bowl cuts and goofy jumpsuits, Team Galactic is the most impressive evil team Pokémon trainers have gone up against. As the main villains in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Team Galactic and their leader, Cyrus, had a simple plan: to remake the entire universe in Cyrus’ image. By ridding the world of emotions and feelings, Cyrus wanted to create a universe without fighting or conflict. At the end of Pokémon Platinum, Cyrus tries to wield the power of Giratina in the Distortion World but ultimately fails. Unlike other evil teams, Cyrus doesn’t give up after being defeated, claiming he will still work to create a world without spirit despite his loss.

From charming hooligans to universe rewriting villains, Pokémon’s evil teams may be wildly different but still do everything they can to get in trainers’ way.

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