Team Skull

If you were looking for the exploration team in the Mystery Dungeon series, see Team Skull (Mystery Dungeon).

Team Skull スカル団 Skull Gang

Artwork of Team Skull Grunts from Sun and Moon

Leader Guzma Region Alola Admins Plumeria Major targets Berry fields, Big Wave Beach, Verdant Cavern, Diglett's Tunnel, Aether House Base locations Shady House Anime debut Alola to New Adventure! Adventures debut The Grand Entrance and Delivery Boy Sun

Team Skull (Japanese: スカル団 Skull-dan, literally Skull Gang) is a villainous team based in the Alola region.

In the games

In Pokémon Sun and Moon

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Team Skull appears in Sun and Moon. As revealed by some of their members, Team Skull is composed of misfits who failed the island challenge. They steal Pokémon from people, but unlike previous villainous teams, they do not have a specific goal other than to cause trouble and acquire enough money to support themselves. In a stark contrast to other villainous teams, they do not pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of Alola and its residents, the majority of whom consider them thuggish nuisances at worst.

Team Skull originated from a group that coalesced around one of Alola's kahunas. This group provoked the wrath of the four island deities and was struck down. The survivors became the first members of Team Skull. At some point, Team Skull took over Po Town on Ula'ula Island, driving away the original residents, vandalising the buildings with graffiti and structural damage along with generally preventing others from entering the town and hindering the flow of electricity.

The group is known to highly value kinship - many of the grunts are close friends with each other, the team's admin Plumeria treats her underlings like a caring older sibling and in return is respected by them for it, and several grunts mock Gladion for lacking friends in the team and technically not being a true member of Team Skull as hired work.

At some point, Lusamine became the secret benefactor of Team Skull, and they, in turn, started to carry out her orders. Not all of the members were aware of her influence - while Plumeria knew that Guzma respected Lusamine as she was the only older figure to acknowledge his strength, Lusamine's estranged son Gladion was only aware that Team Skull was after Cosmog without knowing of their ties to the Aether Foundation president. Following Team Skull's kidnapping of Lillie and Nebby, Gladion immediately severed his ties with them and joined with Hau and the player to infiltrate and rescue them from Aether Paradise.

After Guzma is rescued from Ultra Space by the player, he disbands Team Skull and its members go their separate ways. Guzma returns to his parents' house on Melemele Island, while Plumeria takes up residence in a camper on Route 13 and later challenges the Alola Pokémon League. One Grunt becomes an apprentice chef under Mallow in Konikoni City, while two others in the Po Town Pokémon Center offer a Skull Tank for sale in order for them to make enough money to leave. Others are taken by Hala to train in Iki Town, deciding to become a rescue team and dubbing themselves "Team Reskull" (Japanese: タスカル団 Tasukaru-dan, literally Rescue Gang). Guzma is one of the former members taken under Hala's wing, but rather to help hone his potential and help him overcome his anger issues.

In the anime

Team Skull's bikes, their main transportation in the anime

Team Skull debuted in Alola to New Adventure!, where three Team Skull Grunts, Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp, were seen harassing Kiawe in front of the Pokémon School. Though the three Grunts outnumbered Kiawe and Ash, the two Trainers emerged victorious through the combined efforts of Ash's Pikachu and Kiawe's Turtonator. This particular trio have become recurring characters, often appearing to cause trouble only to be stopped by Ash and Pikachu's Gigavolt Havoc.

More Grunts appeared in a flashback in Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio!, where they were harassing a Popplio on the beach until Lana intervened by freezing them solid with her Ride Lapras.

Team Skull appeared on Akala Island in Young Kiawe Had a Farm!.

Team Skull fought against Team Rocket in A Team-on-Team Tussle! in order to get a Darkinium Z, which multiple Alolan Rattata, Raticate, and a Totem Raticate were protecting. They lost after a wild Bewear showed up, scaring the Totem and Ally Pokémon away while Team Rocket unearthed the Darkinium Z from the hill it was embedded in.

Gladion made his physical debut in A Glaring Rivalry!. Unlike the games, however, he is not associated with Team Skull in the anime.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

In the Sun & Moon arc, a pair of Grunts are berated by Guzma because their attempt to skip out on paying Sun for his part-time job ended in their defeat. They are ordered to find Sun so that they can be taught a lesson.

Following the conclusion of the Iki Town festival, Guzma follows Gladion to the Ruins of Conflict and praises his strength, asking for him to join Team Skull as its enforcer. To Guzma's surprise, Gladion quickly accepts.

In the movie adaptations

A group of Team Skull members appears in ICYR2

Trivia

• Team Skull is the first villainous team to make their debut in the first episode of an anime series.
• The lyrics to the Team Skull encounter theme contain the word "dokuro" (ドクロ), meaning "skull" in Japanese.

Names

Team Reskull

Related articles

• Episodes focusing on Team Skull
• Images on the Bulbagarden Archives