The ferocious Team Galactic makes a return in the brand new Generation 4 remakes, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The ambitious villains of the classic Pokemon games brought crime organizations to a new dimension, quite literally. Often referred to by fans as "a sci-fi version of Team Rocket," Team Galactic's goal is to create a world without spirit.
From their interpersonal Commander drama, their harnessing of Legendary power, and their ‘stylish’ space outfits, Team Galactic certainly have a lot of things to love. However, there are a few things that still don’t make sense, even a decade on from their first appearance.
5 How Do They Fund Their Hideouts?
In Generation One, every NPC knew about the dastardly ways of Team Rocket, who were funded by the final Gym Leader: the wealthy Ground-type Trainer Giovanni. In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, nobody knows about Team Galactic, despite them having a huge, private headquarters towering over Veilstone and Eterna City. The team is so brass, they even promote the fact they "Want your Pokemon," with signs installed outside the Eterna headquarters.
Every other villain team, up until Generation 4, had to make do with taking over public buildings. Team Magma and Team Aqua took over the Oceanic Museum, and even Team Rocket had to compromise Silph Co. So the biggest question – who is funding these bold criminals, whose members are frequently found harassing members of the public for the player to save? Some people might be saying "oh, it’s Cyrus, he must be wealthy." If so, a public inquiry must be held and Team Galactic’s operations must be investigated.
4 Why Do They Only Steal Weak Pokemon?
Some Trainers claim that the Team Galactic grunt’s primary mission is to sow chaos in Sinnoh. Some other people say that the Grunts are aware of their lack of power and are merely looking to stall the player. This is only further supported by the fact that some Grunts admit losing is a part of their job.
However, if Team Galactic really wanted to hold the player up, it would make more sense to kit out the Grunts with Pokemon more powerful than Stunky, Glameow, and Dustox. If they do steal stronger Pokemon from NPCs, where are they kept? Could the worst fate imaginable befall even weaker Pokemon? Team Rocket canonically killed Marowak in Generation One. If players battle a Trainer called Kirby in the Lost Tower, he speaks about how his Pokemon was "taken" by Team Galactic. Of course, there is no definitive proof to accuse Team Galactic of murder. But the location makes it feel…not hopeful, to say the least.
3 Why Do They Need Pokemon When They Have Nuclear Weapons?
If Team Galactic’s main mission is to rid the world of spirit, the threat of nuclear weapons is a pretty good way of doing that. The Galactic Bomb is a man-made weapon of mass destruction that is used to target Lake Valour in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s main storyline.
It was powerful enough to cause an impact that "could be felt across all of Sinnoh." The shockwaves from this attack alone would devastate many Sinnoh towns and cause havoc on the infrastructure of buildings and families alike. Legendary Pokemon are powerful, but harnessing their power seems like a lot more work when the answer is right there.
2 Why Would Cyrus Hate Spirit?
Spirit is the lifeblood of harmony between Pokemon and people. It is the thing that brings the fire to Pokemon battles, the feeling that keeps the love flowing between friends, the energy that drives this universe. A world without spirit is unthinkable and cruel.
Cyrus is determined to rid the world of this feeling. He claims that the bonds between Pokemon and people are worthless; that the emotion is useless to further his agenda. Whilst this may be fuelled by his traumatic past, it is still an unthinkable concept. Spirit is the very thing that drives his mission – he frequently uses the fire in his veins to recruit passionate people, to experiment on the Legendary Trio of Lake Spirits, and create a Team Galactic legacy that spans over multiple generations. To hate this emotion is to hate being human.
1 Why The Gym Leaders Don't Stop Them
Nearly every Pokemon game faces the age-old dilemma. If there is a threat, why is it left to a child to fix it? Why can the strongest Trainers in the region – the Sinnoh Gym Leaders and the Elite Four – not deal with the problem?
With the Team Galactic Grunts stealing weak Pokemon, as established previously, it would be a walk in the park for these Trainers to deal with the problem before it rose to power. Imagine Cynthia’s Garchomp facing down a pack of Level 15 Glameow. It’s a piece of cake.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available on the Nintendo Switch.