The Villainous Teams: Rocket, Aqua, Magma and Beyond

The criminal organizations are the engine of tension in the Pokémon anime. Each threatens the balance between people and Pokémon in a different way — from petty theft to grand plans that would reshape the world — and each forces the heroes to grow in order to stop them.

Understanding the teams explains many of the anime's biggest moments: why Team Rocket shadows Ash across every region, why Cyrus tried to remake reality itself, and why the creation of Mewtwo casts such a long shadow over the whole franchise.

Team Rocket, led by the cold and calculating Giovanni, is the original criminal syndicate of Kanto and Johto. Behind the scenes Giovanni also masterminded the creation of Mewtwo, making him arguably the most consequential villain in the anime.

To viewers, though, Team Rocket means Jessie, James and the talking Meowth — the trio who chase Ash's Pikachu with elaborate, doomed schemes. Beneath the comedy they are fiercely loyal to one another, and every so often they rise to genuine heroism when the stakes are high enough.

Team Aqua (led by Archie) and Team Magma (led by Maxie) clash over opposing dreams in Hoenn — one seeking to expand the sea, the other the land — and both recklessly pursue Legendary Pokémon to achieve it, endangering the entire region.

Team Galactic's Cyrus is colder and more ambitious than either. Emotionless and utterly convinced that the world is broken, he seeks to harness Dialga and Palkia to erase the current reality and rebuild it without spirit or feeling — one of the darkest goals any villain pursues.

Team Plasma, fronted by the manipulative Ghetsis, hides its greed behind the noble-sounding cause of "Pokémon liberation." Its young king, N, genuinely can hear the voices of Pokémon and genuinely believes the cause — which is precisely what makes Ghetsis's use of him so cruel. Team Flare's Lysandre goes further still, planning to wipe out most of humanity in the name of a beautiful, exclusive future, and reaching for Legendary power to do it.

Not every team is world-ending. Guzma's Team Skull is a gang of outcasts rather than a doomsday cult, while the Aether Foundation's Lusamine dresses her obsession up as conservation and endangers her own children, Lillie and Gladion, in the process.

The newest antagonists on the roster belong to Pokémon Horizons. The Explorers are a hunting outfit rather than a criminal team with a manifesto: they want the ancient artefacts Liko and Roy are carrying, and they will chase an airship across the world to get them. Amethio leads the pursuit in the field with his Ceruledge; Spinel does the thinking from further back.

The through-line across every one of these groups is the same. Each treats Pokémon as a tool for control, and each is undone by trainers who treat Pokémon as partners instead.