Image via The Pokémon Company By David Caballero Published Jul 4, 2026, 12:08 AM EDT David is a Senior Editor at Collider focused primarily on Lists. His professional journey began in the mid-2010s as a Marketing specialist before embarking on his writing career in the 2020s. At Collider, David started as a Senior Writer in late 2022 and has been a Senior Editor since mid-2023. He is in charge of ideating compelling and engaging List articles by working closely with writers, both Senior and Junior, as well as other editors. Occasionally, David also reviews movies and TV shows and writes episode recaps. Currently, David is also writing his second novel, a psychological horror satire that will, hopefully, be picked up for publication sometime next year. Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Pokémon is one of the longest-running franchises in the realm of video games, and it's not difficult to see why. The series allows players to roam a fascinating world populated by the titular creatures. You can capture Pokémon, train and bond with them, and face numerous challenges throughout your journey across a particular region. Most mainline Pokémon games follow a similar structure, with the protagonist challenging the Gym Leaders and, eventually, the Elite Four and the Champion. Along the way, they must also overcome other obstacles, mainly an evil team aiming to control the region.
The regional evil team has been a staple of the series since Generation I introduced the iconic Team Rocket. However, in recent titles, the series has been quietly moving away from the idea, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet featuring Team Star more as a group of misunderstood outcasts than an outright evil organization seeking regional domination. The decision has proven successful, and the games' narratives have greatly improved. Indeed, it's time for Pokémon to abandon the idea of evil teams entirely , making way for new and exciting plots that might also introduce more complexity to the series' tried-and-true formula.
Since Generation I of Pokémon , regional evil teams have been a crucial aspect of the franchise's formula , making up about half of the narrative in any given mainline title. In Kanto and Johto, it's the mob-like Team Rocket, which aims to control the regions by exploiting Pokémon for profit. In Hoenn, it's Team Aqua and Team Magma, both seeking to expand the oceans and land, respectively. In Sinnoh, it's Team Galactic, arguably the most deranged of them all, which seeks to literally destroy the universe and create a new one. In Unova, Team Plasma, the most sinister, wants to conquer the region by separating Trainers from Pokémon, while Kalos has Team Flare, which wants to create a "beautiful" world by using the Ultimate Weapon.
Alola and Galar have regional teams, Team Skull and Team Yell, but they're both subservient to groups that function as the regions' actual evil organizations: the Aether Foundation, which seeks to research and potentially control the Ultra Beasts, and Macro Cosmos, which wants to prevent an energy crisis that's not actually set to occur for another thousand years. Similarly, the most recent region, Paldea, has Team Star, which, as previously mentioned, is just a group of misunderstood pariahs rebelling against their...