Team Galactic

Team Galactic grunts
Team Galactic
Prominent Members	Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Charon
Founder	Cyrus
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Versions

Team Galactic is a criminal organization that was featured as the primary antagonists for the fourth generation of Pokémon games, appearing in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions.

Background

Cyrus established Team Galactic because of his desire to establish a new world that was free of strife. Team Galactic was to investigate Sinnoh's myths in search of some way to remake the world and find new sources of energy to fuel their projects. Cyrus promised his followers that this new world would be for all of them, but this was a lie. His actual intention was to create a new world only for himself, as he believed that only then would it be complete and perfect. The grunts of Team Galactic were mostly greedy thugs who used Pokémon as tools to get what they wanted, and they were outfitted in uniforms that resembled spacesuits. Team Galactic did have three elite commanders in the forms of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. Platinum also introduced Charon as the fourth and most junior commander, who also acted as the resident scientist. Team Galactic was based in a headquarters at Veilstone City, although they had operations going on across Sinnoh and another building in Eterna City.

Team Galactic first appeared at Jubilife City, where a pair of grunts tried to mug Professor Rowan and Dawn#Rival/Lucas at the northern entrance until they were stopped by Lucas/Dawn. Lucas/Dawn then met Mars (as well as Charon in Platinum) at the Valley Windworks, where they were draining electrical energy for Team Galactic. They vacated the area after Mars was defeated. Lucas/Dawn next met Team Galactic members at Eterna City, where they stole Pokémon from local trainers while investigating the town's information on Sinnoh mythology. This operation was also shut down after Lucas/Dawn defeated Jupiter and her grunts. The player also had a skirmish with Team Galactic at Veilstone City, where they had to beat several grunts to retrieve the Pokédex that they had stolen from Dawn/Lucas. Cyrus also appeared at Celestic Town after the player defeated a grunt there. The ruins at this town contained information pertaining to Dialga and Palkia, who seemed to have the potential to fulfill Cyrus's goals. Team Galactic's goal was Dialga in Diamond and Palkia in Pearl. In Platinum, Cyrus sought to obtain them both.

From all their research, it seemed that the key to summoning Dialga or Palkia was through the trio of mirage Pokémon: Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. One Galactic commander was dispatched to each of the three lakes, and their Galactic Bomb was dropped at Lake Valor. This drained the lake and lured out the mirage Pokémon, which they then captured. Team Galactic was able to use the three Pokémon to form a Red Chain that could be used to bind the legendary Pokémon. In Platinum, they also made a second artificial Red Chain to hold down the other legendary Pokémon. Lucas/Dawn then attacked the Veilstone Building in an attempt to save the captured Pokémon. They were successful in saving the three mirage Pokémon, but Team Galactic was able to go to the Spear Pillar and perform their ceremony.

Cyrus and the commanders (save for Charon) were all at Spear Pillar, and the version of events differs from version to version aside from the fact that the commanders and Cyrus were all beaten in battle with Lucas/Dawn. In Diamond/Pearl, he was able to chain down one legendary Pokémon, but the lake Pokémon were able to free it, and Cyrus was forced to turn back for the time being. In Platinum, summoning both of them caused a portal to the Distortion World to open, which sucked Cyrus in. Cyrus never returned. Regardless of the version, Saturn was left in control of Team Galactic and tried to lead it down a more noble path. He hoped to genuinely find new sources of energy to help the world.

In Platinum, Charon attempted to take control of the Team Galactic's criminal remnants for use in a more straightforward job. He went to Stark Mountain in order to awaken Heatran for use in holding the area for ransom. Only Saturn and Jupiter reluctantly agreed to follow him, along with several grunts, but the two commanders quickly quit and left after a rematch with Lucas/Dawn. Charon was able to claim the Heat Stone, but Looker then revealed himself and arrested Charon.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Team Galactic made several appearances throughout the Sinnoh series. All of the Galactic characters from the games appeared, including eventually Charon. One embellishment of the anime was showing Cyrus posing as a benevolent businessman, and they were also shown to employ Pokémon Hunter J to capture the lake trio. The Team Galactic plot came to a climax in a three-part episode which covered the capture of the lake trio and the events on Spear Pillar. Cyrus's story ends on an ambiguous note with him entering a portal created by Dialga and Palkia, which closes behind him. All of the Galactic commanders were arrested by Looker afterwards. The only absence was Charon, which would seem to set up for his Platinum subplot, but the anime ultimately did not cover this.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Team Galactic was featured during the Diamond/Pearl arc where they had a storyline that mostly followed the games. The main difference was the addition of a mysterious Team Galactic Grunt who ultimately turned out to be the substitute for the mysterious villain Sird. Sird had been introduced in the FireRed/LeafGreen arc and operated in the background since, but this arc revealed Sird to be a Team Galactic member loyal to Cyrus, and he escaped with the original three commanders in the climax. Cyrus used Dialga and Palkia to try to destroy the world during this climax, and after they were defeated all three of them were pulled into the Distortion World. Charon took control of Team Galactic during the Platinum arc and once more sought Heatran, but this was shown to be part of a larger plan as this version of Charon had designs on the Distortion World.

Trivia

• The Team Galactic members follow the naming scheme of being named after planets or other objects in the solar system. The original three commanders are named after actual planets of the solar system, while Charon is named after a moon of Pluto, and Cyrus's name is derived from an older word for the Sun.
• Team Galactic and Team Rocket are both mentioned by a Plasma Grunt in Pokémon: Black and White Versions, who blames the past failures of both teams on how high-profile they were, and he claimed that Team Plasma would be different due to their more subtle nature.
• All of the Team Galactic grunts seen have blue hair and eyes like Cyrus, except that they use a different hairstyle.
• Charon is the only member of the team to actually be arrested, at least in the games.