Summary
ThePokemonfranchise features a variety of characters that players encounter throughout the series' games, manga, and entertainment properties. One essential part of thePokemonfranchise is its evil teams. As per the cadence of the series, eachnew generation ofPokemongets its own villainous team, each with different but nefarious goals to disrupt thePokemonworld.
While these teams may have similar intentions for mayhem, they differ in their power, with respective team leaders varying in strength and the threat they pose to thePokemonworld, often teaming up with Legendary Pokemon to do their dirty work.
Cassiopeia, or Penny, is the leader of Team Star, a group of rebellious students expelled from school. She was often bullied at the Paldea Academy, forming her own group of misfits to battle and take on said bullies but getting expelled in the process.
It’s a sad story that saw Cassiopeia marginalized. The team leader of Team Star is not a bad egg; rather, she isa student who wants to do good in the world, protecting bullied students. An anti-villain rather than a villain, Cassiopeia is one of the least dangerous team leaders thePokemon.
Gym leader Piers leads the main villainous team in the Galar region, Team Yell. He heads a group of hooligans who support rival Marnie in her quest to becomePokemonChampion. Comprised of petty criminals that pick fights, this group does not have the chops for widespread evil scheming and is simply a group that likes a bit of rough and tumble.
Piers even looks down upon many of the members of Team Yell for behaving undesirably. He has no bad bones in his body; he is merely a rockstar with a bad attitude.
A scary-looking figure, Guzma is themain villain in thePokemon Sun and Moongames. The leader of Team Skull, he, much like the previous two team leaders, is a figure with an unfair reputation.
Created to help a marginalized society survive, Team Skull causes significant disruption inPokemon Sun and Moonby stealingPokemonand money. However, despite these acts of criminality, Guzma and his cronies are not evil, although he is considerably more dangerous than the previous team leaders due to organizing large-scale crime.
The respective bosses of Team Magma and Aqua, Maxie and Archie, arethe Generation 3 villains of thePokemonfranchise. Known for being bitter rivals, they are hell-bent on transforming the world by creating new land and oceans to make life. Unlike some of the other leaders, Maxie and Archie are not inherently evil; they have good intentions that require a horrendous price.
The evil team leaders capture Kygore (Archie) and Groudon (Maxie) to shape the terrain of thePokemonworld in line with their vision. As showcased in the games, this plan goes drastically wrong, with the legendary sky god Rayquaza having to break up Kyogre and Groudon’s fighting.
Taking a step up from some other leaders is Lysandre, the infamous boss of Team Flare. Team Flare’s main goal is to create a beautiful world using what is known as the ‘ultimate weapon.’ Lysandre is, at his heart, evil, wanting to shape thePokemonworld purely into what he desires. DuringPokemon X and Y, the evil boss capturesthe legendary Pokemon Yveltal and Xerneasto accomplish this goal.
Lysandre is alsoa very capable trainer, having access to powerful Pokemon in the level 50s and the potential for his Gyarados to mega evolve. In short, Lysandre is an extremist with radical ambitions to reshape the world in his image, making him incredibly dangerous.
Ghetsis is another villain who wants to change the world by nefarious means.An evil, sadistic characterwho is the leader of Unova’s evil Team, Team Plasma, Ghetsis is the main architect behind the false guise of Plasma being a team of good - stopping Pokemon from being enslaved.
Instead, Ghetsis planned to use this false image to claim ownership over the entirePokemon world by using the Tao trio, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. He also manipulates and uses his adopted son N to do his bidding, making this particular leader one ofPokemon’smost dangerous and evil leaders.
Giovanni leadsa multi-region operationto capture and enslave the world’s Pokemon through his crime syndicate - Team Rocket. Giovanni went to extreme lengths to try to realize this goal, even creating the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo to conquer thePokemonworld.
What sets Giovanni apart from other leaders is his role inPokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon,where he is the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket, an elite team consisting of most of the villains featured on this list. A ruthless, power-hungry leader with the strength to oversee an entire group of evil oppressors, Giovanni is a true force to be reckoned with.
The most dangerous evil team leader inPokemonis Team Galactic boss Cyrus. Unlike other bosses who want to dominate just thePokemonworld, Cyrus intends to transform and conquer the entirePokemonuniverse and reshape it in his image - without emotion. Cyrus has ambitions far beyond the other villains in thePokemonfranchise and has the tactical mastery to pull it off.
As per the games' events, Cyrus gets daringly close to achieving this objective, summoning legendaryPokemongods Dialga and Palkia to create a new universe until the player stops him. Cyrus is arguably the one of the most powerful Pokemon trainer and easily the most psychopathic, with a cold demeanor that would strike fear into even the most evil leaders.
