Pokemon Legends: Arceus completely changed the Pokemon RPG formula that previous games were known for. The Pokemon spin-off was critically acclaimed for its open-world format, and has often been compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, both in its art style and gameplay. That said, the game certainly stands on its own, and manages to stay faithful to its roots while also innovating to attract new players.
Being a prequel of the fourth generation Pokemon games, Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place in the Sinnoh region when it was still called the Hisui region, centuries before the current era of Pokemon. In fact, the game gives a lot of winks and nods to its contemporary version by featuring ancestors of characters in Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl, and Pokemon Platinum as important figures of Hisui. Yet, there is one reference that is hard to miss: The Galaxy Team sounds awfully similar to Team Galactic, the villainous faction in Sinnoh.
Team Galactic
Team Galactic is the villainous team the player first meets in Jubilife city in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Unlike previous teams of the same nature such as Team Rocket, the goals of Team Galactic go much beyond merely stealing rare Pokemon or exerting influence in the region. Unbeknownst to even higher ranking members, Team Galactic's goal is to destroy and remake the Pokemon universe. The leader of Team Galactic, Cyrus, tries to accomplish in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl by summoning the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia. The storyline is different in Pokemon Platinum, but the goals of the group remain the same.
Galaxy Team
By contrast, the Galaxy Expedition Team in Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a friendly organization based in Jubilife village that the player even joins. The Galaxy Team in Hisui operates as somewhat of a guild made of people from different regions who all joined it to study the region and its Pokemon.
It's divided into several corps: The Survey Corps tasked with exploring the region, the Security Corps tasked with defending Jubilife village, the Medical Corps tasked with providing medical services, the Supply Corps tasked with logistics, the Agricultural Corps tasked with growing crops, and the Construction Corps tasked with building infrastructure. The entire organization answers to Commander Kamado.
As a member of the organization, the player can move up its ranking system by completing research tasks assigned by Professor Laventon. As an overarching goal, the Galaxy Team is dedicated to the protection of noble Pokemon, which are Kleavor, Lilligant, Arcanine, Electrode, and Avalugg. The five Pokemon were blessed by the legendary Pokemon Arceus, but are not legendary themselves. However, they are unique, larger than their regular counterparts, and cannot be caught.
Two Galactic Teams of Evil
Considering the diametrically opposed nature and goals of Team Galactic and the Galaxy Team, it almost seems impossible that their nomenclature could be written off as mere coincidence. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the two organizations. For instance, the Galaxy Team is based in Jubilife village, and Jubilife city is where the player first meets Team Galactic in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Furthermore, the logo of both organizations look fairly similar.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus features many ancestors of the modern Sinnoh region characters, and it's hard to miss the resemblance between Team Galactic leader Cyrus and Captain of the Galaxy Team Survey Corps Cyllene, or even Team Galactic Commander Mars and the Diamond Clan's Warden of Lilligant Azeru. Finally, both Team Galactic and the Galaxy Team have an interest in researching special Pokemon, albeit for very different reasons.
Something Went Horribly Wrong At Some Point
There are many theories about the relationship between Team Galactic and the Galaxy Team, and how they are connected with the increasingly complex lore of Pokemon. It may seem unthinkable that a benevolent organization like the Galaxy Team could even remotely be related to the world destroying Team Galactic. However, there may be very good reasons to assume that Team Galactic could be a direct descendant of the Galaxy Team. The most important factor in this theory is the sheer amount of time between the story of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
Time can change a lot. For example, the Diamond and Pearl Clans disappeared over time. The conflict between the two clans stems entirely from their disagreement about whether the Almighty Sinnoh created space or time. Their deity gave its name to the Sinnoh region, yet no record remains of either clans in the modern era. There is also no trace of the original Galaxy Team nor the Old Verses. It's possible they were either lost through time after some calamity, or deliberately destroyed by someone seeking to hide the truth about Sinnoh's past.
Why Cyrus Names Team Galactic After The Galaxy Team
Cyrus actually didn't quite inspire himself from the original organization, as much as rip it off outright. In the English version, the two may have received distinct names to prevent any confusion, but they have the exact same name in the original Japanese version. For that reason, it's also probable that Cyrus wasn't the founder of Team Galactic, as much as its inheritor. In a dialogue between Galaxy Team Commander Kamado and Captain Cyllene, it's implied that the organization may disband in the future, and Cyllene promises to pass on the name and accomplishments of the group.
Having been passed down by Cyllene's descendant, the Galaxy Team's name may have been bequeathed, but its mission clearly wasn't, or it was deliberately bastardized by nefarious actors. It could've been entirely Cyrus' doing to turn Team Galactic into a criminal organization. However, if Professor Rowan is a descendant of Commander Kamado, his ignorance about Team Galactic's past beyond its criminal enterprise makes it far more likely that the transformation of the organization started generations earlier. Perhaps more about the Galaxy Team's future will be explored in an eventual sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but until then, one can only speculate.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now on Nintendo Switch.
