Showdown: Villainous Teams — Round I: Leaders

by

Showdown is back and better than ever! For those that don’t know what our Showdown series is, or need a reminder: Showdown is where we hold a series of polls on our site and ask readers to vote for their top choice until we found our champion.

Showdown: Villainous Teams will work a little differently this time however: rather than a winner from each round moving forward into a finale vote-off, votes from each round will influence the final score one all rounds are complete. This time will have four rounds: Round 1: Leaders, Round 2: Grunts, Round 3: Plans, Round 4: Overall. The final winner will be the team that receives the most OVERALL votes.

You can pick your favourite by voting in the polls on the site. At the end of the voting period, we’ll add up all the votes, publish a results post and get started on the next round!

NOTE I: Teams that appear in more than one Generation are classed as one team. For example: Team Aqua from Generation III is classed as the same as the Team Aqua from Generation VI and will receive combined votes. This also means Generation III Archie and Generation VI Archie will have their vote combined, for example.

NOTE II: Team Rainbow Rocket and Aether Foundation have also been excluded from this series.

Voting periods will run for one week at a time and new rounds will begin on the following dates:

Round I: Leaders — December 2nd
Round II: Grunts & Admin — December 9th
Round III: Plans — December 16th
Round IV: Overall — December 23rd
Winner Announcements — December 30th

Up first in Round I are the leaders of each villainous team. These are responsible for giving guidance to their teams and often the main “bad guy” trainers face in their Pokémon adventures. Every region has had their own unique team excluding Johto, who share Team Rocket with the Kanto region.

Giovanni: Team Rocket Leader

Appears in: RBY, FRLG, HGSS, BW, B2W2, USUM

Giovanni is the Leader of the original villainous team, Team Rocket. Team Rocket has appeared in the largest number of Pokémon games, in many different iterations. Giovanni himself is the only Team Leader to hold a Gym Leader position.

Many of Giovanni’s actions within story events reflect upon his selfish nature. He has abandoned his team on several occasions, despite this they still remain loyal to him.

Giovanni also leads Team Rainbow Rocket in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Maxie: Team Magma Leader

Appears in: RSE, ORAS, USUM

Maxie leads Team Magma in the Hoenn Region. He wishes to create an ideal world for humanity. Maxie is often calm yet sensitive in game, making his true personality difficult to understand. He pays extreme attention to the tiniest of details, but believes that some sacrifices cannot be avoided if he is to achieve his goals.

Maxie is able to utilise the power of of Mega Evolution and Mega Evolves his Camerupt during battles.

Archie: Team Aqua Leader

Appears in: RSE, ORAS, USUM

Team Aqua is lead by Archie, who dreams of creating a perfect world for Pokémon to live in. Due to his big heart he has earned unending loyalty from subordinates within his team. Despite this, he does not care for the wellbeing of himself or his team if it means he can achieve his ultimate goal.

Archie is a Mega Evolution user and will boost the power of his Sharpedo using it.

Cyrus: Team Galactic Leader

Appears in: DPPt, USUM

Cyrus heads Team Galactic and is perhaps the most twisted of all the Team Leaders. His childhood rejection led him to believe the problems of the world were caused by emotion. Ultimately he dreamed of destroying the universe, so he could create another with himself as its god.

Cyrus is often portrayed with little to no emotion and is happy to exclude himself in the unknown after being defeated by trainers in the Distortion World.

Colress & Ghetsis: Team Plasma Leaders

Colress appears in: B2W2, SM, USUM
Ghetsis appears in: BW, B2W2, USUM

(Note: Ghetsis unpictured)

Ghetsis and Colress are leaders of Team Plasma in Black/White and Black 2/White 2 respectively. Ghetsis at first appears to be a kind-hearted individual merely wanting the best for Pokémon. However, as events progress his true megalomaniac personality becomes apparent. He is willing to stop at nothing in order to achieve his dream of liberating Pokémon from humans.

Colress has less far insidious intentions and joined Team Plasma in order to research the true power of Pokémon, thus unlocking their full potential. He is extremely helpful and polite towards the player and even offers to rebattle them after his defeat within Team Plasma.

Lysandre: Team Flare Leader

Appears in: XY, USUM

Lysandre is the leader of Team Flare in the Kalos region. He sees the beauty within everything, but unfortunately takes his obsession with it too far. He wishes to make the world a perfect place and despite the beauty that they hold is willing to destroy all Pokémon and humans that do not follow Team Flare.

Guzma: Team Skull Leader

Appears in: SM, USUM

Team Skull’s Leader is Guzma. His plans are far less wicked than that of the other Leaders, with him instead merely wanting to bring fear and chaos to the Alola region. His looks gain him a lot of respect from most in the Alola region, but in reality he lacks confidence in himself and wishes to be seen as a confident Pokémon Trainer.

***

So, there you have it, all 8 contenders in the Leaders round of this showdown. Get voting for your favourites and be sure to comment below with your thoughts and opinions only who deserves to win!

[poll id=”141″]

Be sure to check back next week for Round II: Grunts and stick around for more content as part of our ongoing Advent event!

Supporters

Nick F

Smearg

Foil Island

Conglome NERD

alcremie sundae

Radiant Blutle

Zachery

Dragoniteo

Austin John Plays

Help support our work by becoming a Patron on Patreon! Swadloon Platoon members and above will be added to our site supporters list!

320 thoughts on “Showdown: Villainous Teams — Round I: Leaders”

    • The winner of PJN showdown receives a 1 year supply of Aether Foundation Beast Balls and 100,000 Pokédollars! Gentlemen, start your engines, and may the best villain win!

      Reply

  8. Incineroar should have been given a ”wrestling spirit” type of HA

    -When HP falls below half, it moves first in priority and all physical attacks are always critical hits

    Reply

  10. I’d hesitate to call Colress a villian. Yeah he sided with Team Plasa, but it was clearly for his own scientific development.
    My vote goes to Cyrus, honestly.

    Reply

  11. Well I finally found a Sandygast
    I originally was gonna SR until a modest one but I found a Rash one
    Only because Sandygast has really bad moves until he gets Shadow Ball or Earth Power

    Now I have my full team https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/45e535c14052737a4dea0d62518bc552591b150855b851e1ab55f317f18c94b4.jpg

    And as for Villians I gotta go with my gut and pick Giovanni, original Villians hold a lot of sway, if I didn’t choose him I would’ve easily picked Ghetsis

    Reply

  13. I like Archie and Maxie the most but chose Archie as i played OR (albeit only because AS was out of stock.) The reason why is that I like the ending with them and how they amend things up, they were great villains that ended on a good note.

    Reply

    • However I’d also go for Giovanni as a close second especially because of Episode RR on how he managed to form such a powerful and vicious group from all across the world, and how at the end he calmly, maturely and respectfully accepts his defeat, plus I like how he admired the trainer who battled him’s strength and that special last scene afterwards of him in AP before disappearing.

      Reply

  14. I feel attacked that Lusamine isn’t on this list! But I can see how she isn’t a villain or the Aether Foundation isn’t a villainous team.

    Also, is there going to be a vote for the admins? They’re some of the best characters in the games tbh.

    Finally, I vote for Team Plasma this round. Ghetsis was a fantastic antagonist

    Reply

  18. Gotta rep for muh boy Guzma. I honestly think he’s one of the more complex team leaders. He’s got a back story people can relate to. Bad history can cause people to do bad things. he may not have had the most lofty of dreams, but it’s certainly one of the most interesting.

    Reply

    • That’s one of the reasons I voted Geovanni. He has that evil leader look. I also like how he isn’t a boom till you bust type of a leader. The others generally get over powered or quit whereas Geovanni is more calculated in his approach and never gives up.

      Reply

        • He returns with RR forming a team with all evil leaders.
          In the anime he makes major appearances in Unova and in Generations displays his determination to come back.
          Name me another leader except Colress who has had the same or even a fraction of significance in the entire Pokemon universe.
          “smh” yeah sure.

          Reply

          • Anime, Generstions, and game are all different aspects of the character. They may share the same basis but their achievements don’t stack.

          • True but that’s what forms the basis of my opinion. One of the reasons why I like him. He always comes back in the anime or games!

          • Spoilers – But that’s a Giovanni that actually achieved what he wanted and never got beaten by a 10 yr old so that’s not a fair comparison.

          • But…

            He’s that has never failed and thus never given up so if you’re trying to argue that Geovanni never gives up, RR wouldn’t be a good example really

          • That’s an AU Giovanni th didn’t fail and you just threw together a bunch of different canons
            Like don’t get me wrong, he’s cool, but he isn’t the best villain.

            All the villains are pretty similar in complexity honestly and Giovanni is on the lower end of that complexity

          • I like them all and yeah he is probably the most simple of them all as is TR.
            That’s what I like about him.
            No nonsense yet calculated approach.

    • Well before Kukui beat Professor Banyan to study Pokémon moves

      I guess he can switch it to Pokémon Biology

      The Eyanu region is teeming with life and that life has spawned Pokémon of all sorts of shapes sizes and types

      Reply

    • Region: Mediterra
      Based off of: Mediterranean Sea and islands.
      Professor: Palm
      Their Pokemon:
      – Lvl. 85 Mediterran Diancie (blue and rock is clear)
      – Lvl 40 Mediterran Mantine

      Reply

    • Professor Stick
      She researches how Pokémon react when drunk and compares them to an anonymous human subject that goes under the synonym ‘Dr. Partovatree’
      She has a Graphire, a masculine grape counterpart to Cherubi, four Spinda, and a ‘Regional Vanilluxe’ which just has vodka poured onto it

      Reply

    • No professor! 🙂
      If I were to have one it would probably be something to do with ecology/habitat study or the origins of Pokemon

      Reply

    • Oak cuz I’m too lazy to make a professor in my own

      Spoiler, just an old female professor that studies the mechanism and secrets of a Pokeball, and no, her ace Pkm is not an Electrode

      Reply

    • I have two, they’re a pair
      Proffesor Pine
      Male, 24 years old, Dark beige hair, green eyes
      Studies Population of Pokemon, Specializes in Rock types
      Team:
      Xnillinx (Normal/Rock), Mineon (Rock), Solidostallis (Rock/Fairy), Resistox (Poison/Rock), Tyranitar (Rock/Dark)

      Pokemon Fir
      Female, 24 years old, Black Hair, Brown Eyes
      Studies Pokemon Communication, Specializes in Ground types
      Team:
      Slavian Gastrodon (Ground/Rock), Giantato (Ground/Grass), Platerrus (Rock/Ground), Zzzand (Fairy/Ground), Garchomp (Dragon/Ground)

      Reply

  23. Well I want to finally introduce in my first formal Pokémon evolutionary chain of my region the Hygnic region being my Regional Bug.

    Weblet
    The Webbing Pokémon
    Bug type
    Ability: Tinted Lens, Compound Eyes HA: Sniper
    Gender ratio: 50/50
    Stats-
    HP: 30
    Attack: 45
    Defense: 40
    Spec. Attack: 35
    Spec. Defense: 40
    Speed: 50
    Overall: 240
    “A common sight to see across the Hygnic region; despite being feared by many they’re webs are sometimes seen as a sight of beauty.”

    Move Pool
    Start- Tackle
    Lvl.3- String Shot
    Lvl.7- Fell Stinger
    Lvl.12- Sticky Web
    Lvl.15- Bug Bite

    At level 10 Weblet evolves into…

    Reply

    • Kaleidicoon
      The Shelling Pokémon
      Bug/Psychic type
      Ability: Tinted Lens, Compound Eyes HA: Adaptability
      Gender ratio: 50/50
      Stats-
      HP: 65
      Attack: 50
      Defense: 70
      Spec. Attack: 45
      Spec. Defense: 75
      Speed: 40
      Overall: 345
      “After gaining enough experience a special chemical kicks in, inside a Weblet’s brain causing it to change into a cocoon; they say it’s growing more intelligent every second till it evolves.”

      Move pool
      Start- Harden
      Lvl.15- Hypnosis
      Lvl.17- Camoflage

      Then at level 20 it finally evolves into…

      Reply

      • Hylluweb
        The Hypno Web Pokémon
        Bug/Psychic type
        Ability: Hypnotic Web, Tinted Lens HA: Illusion
        Gender ratio: 50/50
        Stats-
        HP: 80
        Attack: 100
        Defense: 80
        Spec. Attack: 70
        Spec. Defense: 85
        Speed: 95
        Overall: 510
        “It now can turn the tables on its opponents with its web that completely confuses its enemies and prey into doing whatever it wants; its been said this Pokémon’s intelligence is much higher than that of a human.”

        Start- Bug Bite
        Lvl.22- Confusion
        Lvl.26- Spider Web
        Lvl.28- Calm Mind
        Lvl.34- Psychic Fangs
        Lvl.37- Signal Beam
        Lvl.39- Magic Room
        Lvl.41- Lunge
        Lvl.43- Trick
        Lvl.46- Leech Life
        Lvl.48- Topsy-Turvy
        Lvl.54- Psychic

        Hypnotic Web- All contact moves have a 30% chance to confuses opponents

        So you like Hygnic’s Regional Bug

        Reply

  24. Great article. Though I think it’s important to point something out about Cyrus. He didn’t want to destroy the world just so he could become a god. “Becoming a god” was more the side effect of his actions/something integral to achieving the endgoal. He wanted to create a world free of emotion and spirit because, like you said, he believed they caused strife and ultimately led to war. This is also kind of how the spirit trio fits into the Galactic story. Their inclusion always seemed a bit random until you look at how they’re utilized. They’re the emotion, willpower, and knowledge pokemon, which are the things Cyrus determined you needed to control a god. And when you control a god/when you control emotion, willpower, and knowledge, you become a god.

    Something I do find interesting about him though is that he seems so subdued most of the time, but he’s not emotionless. We see him flare up with anger. So even if he had succeeded with his goal, it wouldn’t be the perfect world he envisioned because he is fueled by his own emotions. His quest against emotion was causing his own war. He’s a beautiful hypocrite.

    So this is why I’m voting for Cyrus. I think he’s the only team leader other than Guzma who has any amount of complexity to him. Unfortunately for Guzma he’s bogged down by a horribly boring and poorly-thought-out evil team and a plot that doesn’t give him enough screen time.

    Reply

  25. We could see our first signs of a 2018 game if Zeraora is revealed this month: Volcanion was the first revealed aspect of its movie and was revealed in December 2015, which allowed for Magearna to be the surprise Pokémon of Movie 19 (when usually the surprise Pokémon is a mythical of the Gen the movie is in).

    The fact we’ve gotten absolutely no hint head or tail of Movie 21 makes me think it’ll be revealed with Zeraora this month tbh

    Reply

      • If Zeraora is revealed this early, it won’t be the surprise and then the early next year surprise mon will be a Gen 8 mon or form. At least that’s what I’m predicting based off of past trends.

        Reply

      • Ash – Decidueye Feathersuit
        Kiawe – Incineroar Fursuit
        Lana – Primarina Fursuit
        Lillie – Nihilego Cosplay
        Mallow – Tsareena Fruitsuit
        Sophocles – Togedemaru Spikesuit which becomes torn and he’s rescued by Zeraora who offers to pretend to be Sophocles in a fursuit

        Sophocles then returns the favour by singlehandedly defeating the villain, an Otherkin who finds furries offensive

        Reply

    • It’s pretty likely we’ll get Zeraora this month as well as a general place holder title for the movie. They always reveal the next movie in December. I think we’ll definitely know for sure by the end of February. If no info comes by then it’s probably not in the cards for a new game next year.

      Reply

Leave a Comment