Team Aqua Grunt (Trainer class)

A Team Aqua Grunt (Japanese: アクアだんのしたっぱ Team Aqua Underling) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that debuted in the Generation III. They are the peons of Team Aqua. They generally act as footsoldiers and guards for Team Aqua.

In the games
In and, they serve alongside the primary antagonists while in  and , they assist the player in stopping Team Magma. In, Team Aqua Grunts share the role of the antagonists alongside the s.

They generally use a combination of Water, Poison, and.

In the main series
Team Aqua Grunts have made several appearances in the anime, normally using their Pokémon to infiltrate a target or to help Shelly out.

The first Aqua Grunt is introduced in Stairway to Devon, where he infiltrated the Devon Corporation by disguising himself as a scientist and stole two capsules of "Creation Fluid". His plans were stopped by Team Rocket's Jessie and James, who intended to steal the same thing, all parties involved not realizing that "Creation Fluid" was nothing more than water. The same Grunt appeared again in the next episode, where he used his to capture Mr. Briney's Peeko. Later, Team Rocket appeared to try and take Peeko from him, but were sent blasting off by Crawdaunt. He tried to escape with Peeko, but in the end, he was stopped and had to escape.

In A Three Team Scheme!, three Grunts appeared with Shelly to collect information on Team Magma. They appeared again in Fight for the Meteorite!, where they surrounded Professor Cozmo for a meteorite. They battled Team Magma and lost, but Team Magma's plans were ruined by Ash and Professor Cozmo. In Unfair Weather Friends, they infiltrated the Weather Institute, but their plans failed, and they had to escape. Their last appearances were in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends, where they had awakened, causing mass destruction, but in the end, Team Aqua was defeated.

Pokémon
This listing is of Team Aqua Grunts' Pokémon in the Pokémon anime:

In Pokémon Generations
Team Aqua Grunts appeared in The Cavern alongside their leaders Archie, Matt and Shelly. They were used as backup and general support for all of Team Aqua's plans to reawaken. Three accompanied Archie to the Seafloor Cavern as he used the Blue Orb on Kyogre, several appeared on board the Submarine Explorer 1 alongside Archie and Shelly after Kyogre began to attack, and some were seen working with Matt as he reported on Kyogre's progress. In addition, many Grunts were seen in a flashback, attacking researchers at the Weather Institute during Team Aqua's takeover of the building.

In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Team Aqua Grunt in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Matt, Shelly and Amber were originally Team Aqua Grunts on their debut appearance in the. After successfully stealing the Devon Parts, they were promoted to Admin status. The trio were assisted by other Team Aqua grunts during their mission to end Mt. Chimney's volcanic activity. Several other grunts then boarded the submarine to the Seafloor Cavern along with s.

In the, grunts of both Team Magma and Team Aqua assist Zinnia during her raid on Sea Mauville.

Trivia

 * In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, a former Aqua Grunt can be found in Icirrus City during winter, appearing as a female . She is in a relationship with a former male and neither seems to know the other's previous affiliation.
 * In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, there is a former Aqua Grunt with a former Magma Grunt hiding in the Battle Resort, afraid that their respective teams will disapprove. Whether they are the same couple in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 is unknown, due to the couple's awareness of each other's past.