The Pokémon franchise wouldn’t be what it is today without the people who aren’t Ash Ketchum. This includes people whose goals may not be as simple as training Pokémon or as noble as forging relationships with the Pocket Monsters. Every fan has a favorite villainous team, whether that be the original and iconic Team Rocket, the oft-begrudged Team Skull, or even Team Aqua or Team Magma with their element-specific aesthetics and plans.
But how do these teams break down when it comes to the Dungeons and Dragons moral alignment system? It’s tempting to dismiss them all as some flavor of evil, but when basing their alignments on their actions in the shows and the games, you might just be surprised. Let’s review the alignments of the top villainous teams in the history of Pokémon.
10 Lawful Good: Team Plasma
These cleric-aesthetic proselytizers first appeared in Pokémon Black and White along with their special ops agents counterparts. Many fans consider this villainous team to be the one with the most devastating backstory, which makes them a bit sympathetic in the beginning.
At first, Team Plasma claims they want to protect Pokémon from bad trainers and prevent exploitation and bad treatment. Unfortunately, this noble goal is just a ruse for top man Ghetsis to be the only Pokémon trainer in the world. Not only do they brainwash a young boy, but they also dupe genuinely good people into working toward bad goals. But after Ghetsis is ousted and N takes over with the Seven Sages, the team re-commits to its original mission.
9 Neutral Good: Aether Foundation
This group originally appears in Pokémon Sun and Moon and then reappears Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon. Run by Lusamine, the organization initially sets out to cure injured Pokémon and keep them safe from perceived baddies like Team Skull. They create an artificial island to act as a safe haven in the Alola region. That’s a pretty great cause, no?
Unfortunately, Lusamine is also conducting research on Ultra Beasts. This leads her to pursue a less noble cause of bringing the Ultra Beasts to Alola. But under Gladion’s leadership, the organization found renewed fervor in its original goal.
8 Chaotic Good: Team Skull
Team skull - a divisive group that garnered rabid fans and critics alike - first appeared in Pokémon Sun and Moon alongside the Aether Foundation. They’re painted more clearly as the “baddies,” but the group is really just latchkey kids trying to look cool and feel like they belong. In fact, many members are failed Island Challenge competitors.
Arguably one of the most fashionable villainous teams, Team Skull doesn’t have a big evil plan like some of the other teams. They don’t want to control Pokémon, enact extreme climate change, or manipulate people, they’re just marching to the beat of their own drum when it comes to accomplishing their goals. With that in mind, they embody the Chaotic Good alignment - especially when Gladion helps the Aether Foundation.
7 Lawful Neutral: Team Aqua
One of the two eco-themed villainous teams in the franchise, Team Aqua is Team Magma’s rival team. They first appeared in Pokémon Sapphire and they feature a pirate aesthetic. A kind of militant animal rights group focused on activism, Team Aqua wants to flood the world in an effort to “reset” it. They believe this will allow Pokémon to thrive without human interference.
Despite their goal being less insidious than other members on this list, it has a solid moral backing: the protection of Pokémon. The indifference to what happens to anyone else and that commitment to a goal makes them Lawful Neutral.
6 True Neutral: Team Flare
Fans of the Persona series probably love Team Flare. The group first appeared in Pokémon X and Y and they seem to want to beautify the world according to their aesthetic and make money while doing it. The grunts have an academy vibe while the lieutenants seem to make weird tomato cyberpunk style choices.
However, their lion-haired leader Lysandre reveals that he really just wants to get an all-powerful weapon in order to destroy all life. You can’t get more True Neutral than destroying everyone equally.
5 Chaotic Neutral: Team Rocket
Every fan of this franchise knows who Team Rocket is thanks, in large part, to the original anime, but they first appeared in Pokémon Red and Blue. The seemingly inept, but endearing Jessie and James (and Meowth) embodied true Chaotic Neutral energy.
Giovanni, a crime kingpin, gym leader, and crooked businessman with dark intentions regarding Pokémon, led the group. In the original games, Team Rocket exploited gambling addicts and traded in illegal Pokémon goods like selling Slowpoke tails on the black market. But they’ll also give up if something gets too hard or the value proposition changes.
4 Lawful Evil: Team Magma
Team Magma is the fire-themed counterpart to Team Aqua from Pokémon Ruby. They really love science and they want to use that knowledge to boost landmass in the Pokémon world. Seems legit.
Maxie leads the team with Tabitha, Courtney, and others assisting in the goal to awaken Groudon. They genuinely believe in what they are doing which lends the team toward the Lawful alignment. The team members (especially Maxie) can also be quite merciless if you stand in their way, so that helps with the Evil part.
3 Neutral Evil: Team Galactic
This is the team the Illusive Man would have started if he had lived in the Pokémon world. Clad in weird bodysuits in grey and yellow, Team Galactic first appeared in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
They steal weak Pokémon around Sinnoh from low-level trainers and are led by Cyrus. He wants to remold the cosmos in his image using the Red Chain. He plans to control Dialga and Palkia, two legendary Pokémon, and use them to destroy the world before he could become a god. This egotistical, but calculated approach sets Team Galactic up for a Neutral Evil alignment.
2 Chaotic Evil: Team Neo Plasma (Ghetsis)
In the second game of the Unova series, the original Team Plasma split into two separate factions. The “kind-hearted” members remained under the leadership of the remaining Seven Sages, N, and a few others to care for abandoned or neglected Pokémon.
But Team Plasma members loyal to Ghetsis continued to serve him in order to conquer Unova. Ghetsis never really cared about the goal of Team Plasma; he wanted to conquer the world the whole time. Over time, Ghetsis seems to fall into madness trying to manipulate the power of the Tao Trio. No one more perfectly encapsulates Chaotic Evil than Team Neo Plasma under Ghetsis’ leadership.
1 Wildcard: Team Rainbow Rocket
Team Rainbow Rocket is essentially the supergroup of villainous teams in the Pokémon franchise. Most of the leaders are present including Maxie, Archie, Cyrus, Lysandre, and Ghetsis while Giovanni runs the show. Faba, formerly of the Aether Foundation, also joins them.
They invade Festival Plaza with Ultra Wormhole technology. Of course, after defeat, Giovanni recedes into hiding to lick his wounds and, conceivably, begin plotting a new plan to take over the world. Since all of the members are different alignments, you’ll never know what Team Rainbow Rocket will be up to next.
NEXT: Pokémon: Every Villainous Team, Ranked According To Strength
