Team Galactic: Difference between revisions

Team Galactic (Japanese: ギンガ団 Ginga-dan lit. Galaxy Gang) is the villainous team in Sinnoh.

In the games

Among other things, Team Galactic tries to entice Pokémon to do their bidding, attempt to invite the region's Pokémon professor to do research for them, steal people's Pokémon, steal Lucas/Dawn's Pokédex, and threaten Lucas/Dawn.

Unlike past criminal syndicates, the existence of Team Galactic is an openly advertised fact; they even broadcast television commercials requesting the donation of Pokémon. However, their genuinely criminal operations remain covered-up, under the guise of an energy company doing research. Team Galactic wants to catch the Pokémon that created the world: Dialga of time and Palkia of space, as well as Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie, so that their leader, Cyrus, can destroy the universe and rebuild it in his own image with himself as an absolute god. However, only the Commanders and Boss are aware of this plan (which even then, Saturn isn't entirely aware of his boss's plan.), while the underlings aren't really aware of the team's true goals. Most of the Grunts joined because they were promised to be awarded rare Pokémon if they completed their assignments.

By the end of Platinum, Mars and Jupiter have quit the organization, Charon has been arrested, and Cyrus has decided to stay in the Distortion World, while Saturn decides to take what's left of the team and repent for their evil deeds.

Typically, Team Galactic members will use a variety of weak Pokémon obtained early in-game, such as Glameow and Stunky. This may reference the fact that many of their Pokémon are stolen from other trainers. Admins, on the other hand, will use stronger Pokémon, mostly of the Poison-type.

Admins and Boss

All of the Commanders of Team Galactic are named after planets:

• Commander Mars
• Commander Jupiter
• Commander Saturn
• Boss Cyrus

Charon

Main article: Charon

Charon is a new character introduced in Pokémon Platinum and the fourth commander, who eventually becomes the boss. Charon is first seen along with Mars at Valley Windworks to get energy from the valley. During this encounter, it is revealed that he joined the team after Mars. Charon's role in the game expands after the player defeats the Elite Four and obtains the National Pokédex. Upon seeing Cyrus and Saturn being defeated by the player, he sees the the team should have plans that complements his intelligence. He takes Mars and Jupiter with him to the Battle Zone so he can retrieve the Magma Rock from inside Stark Mountain and capture Heatran.

In the anime

Unlike their predecessors Team Rocket, Team Magma, and Team Aqua, Team Galactic did not appear in the earliest segments of the Diamond & Pearl series, causing many to think that they would not debut in the anime at all, especially after Ash and co. passed through the Valley Windworks (where the player first encounters Mars in the games) without an appearance. Despite this, the group finally appeared in A Secret Sphere of Influence!, with Saturn and several grunts appearing in a short cameo at the end of the episode. They had assigned the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth to steal the Adamant Orb from the Eterna Museum, though both Brock and Officer Jenny believed that Butch and Cassidy or Pokémon Hunter J had instead hired them.

Team Galactic made a second appearance nearly thirty episodes later, one season later, in Journey to the Unown!, this time in an expanded role. Saturn brings two grunts with him to the Solaceon Ruins, using three plates to obtain a strange cube inside. After thanking the Team Rocket trio who followed them inside, Saturn escapes using his Bronzor, leaving the ruins in chaos due to the enraged Unown. Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Kenny, who were training just outside, journey into the ruins and are caught up in the chaos, eventually calming the Unown and escaping.

Finally, in Enter Galactic!, Ash and his friends encounter the organization for the first time. Saturn again leads the mission, exposing the strange cube found in the ruins to the Veilstone meteorites and transforming it into the Spear Key. Team Galactic attempts to steal the meteorites as well, but after a brief battle between Saturn's Toxicroak and Brock's Croagunk, as well as many Golbat and Ash's Pikachu and Paul's Electabuzz, the team is forced to retreat empty-handed.

Team Galactic made their biggest push yet in Losing Its Lustrous and Double Team Turnover!, when the other two Commanders, Mars and Jupiter, as well as leader Cyrus made their debuts. Cyrus is revealed to be a rich businessman who was responsible for constructing most of the buildings in the Sinnoh region, while Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are carrying out yet another Team Galactic plot, this time to steal both the Adamant Orb as well as the Lustrous Orb from the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. Cyrus's appearance and meeting with Professor Carolina is a ploy so as to remove him from suspicion with regards to the plot, leaving the Commander trio to carry out the directive. Ash and Dawn reveal to Cyrus their encounters with Mesprit and Azelf at Lake Verity and Lake Valor, respectively, unknowing of his obsession with the lake trio and the other legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. The Galactic plot is successful, and the two Orbs are stolen, though Cyrus never reveals himself to be behind it all. It is also revealed that some of Veilstone's meteorites have been sent to the Fuego Ironworks as part of the Red Chain project.

In DP110 and DP111, yet another plot was carried out by the group. Mars led a group of grunts to Iron Island, where a shrine to Dialga and Palkia was. Using it and the Spear Key, an electromagnetic beam that disturbed the Template:Type2s that inhabit the island was blasted at Mt. Coronet. This beam also caused a reaction on the other side of the region in the Veilstone meteorites, which glowed themselves. Ash and his friends, as well as Riley, his Lucario, and Jun, were able to destroy the machine that Mars was using, though Team Galactic's scan of Mt. Coronet remained at 60%. Charon also debuted in the latter of the two episodes, however, it was only in a cameo, and he did not have a speaking role.

To illustrate their expanded role in the Diamond & Pearl series, the Commander trio and Cyrus were included in the opening High Touch!.

In other languages

Trivia

• Although "Team Galactic" is not incorrect, a more literal translation of the Japanese is "Team Galaxy" or "Galaxy Gang", possibly a reference to the Galaxy Gang in Pulseman.
  • An animated series named Team Galaxy is likely the reason for the change.
• This is the only villainous team of the main games whose leader does not express regret after being defeated or seem dissuaded from further activities. However, considering how Saturn took over the Team Galactic HQ and is currently reforming it into a more beneficial organization, that might count towards its leader being (albeit in a different manner) dissuaded from further activities.
  • Also, after the final battle with Cyrus in the Distortion World, he mentions that he plans to live in it, thus in a sense, he is dissuaded from his goals in this game as well.
• Although Cipher Admin Venus from Pokémon Colosseum is not a Team Galactic operative, her name fits in with the other Galactic Commanders: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Like the other Galactic Commanders her appearance also seems to be based loosely on a Pokémon, Cresselia, as she wears a pink dress (Cresselia is pink) with a crescent moon turned on its side on her back (Cresselia is very well connected with the crescent moon). This is interesting to note since Cresselia is a Generation IV Pokémon, while Colosseum takes place during Generation III, which seems to suggest that it is the other way around.

See also

• Galactic Boss
• Galactic Grunt
• Commander
• Galactic Eterna Building
• Galactic Veilstone Building

Team Galactic
Team Galactic HQ • Team Galactic Eterna Building • Galaxy Team
Boss	Commanders				Other members
Cyrus (Masters)	Mars	Jupiter	Saturn	Charon	Team Galactic Grunts	Scientists
Manga
Advanced level Grunt • B-2 • Io • Lily • Mitsumi • Sird