Team Galactic

Team Galactic (Japanese:  Ginga-dan, literally Galaxy Gang) is the villainous team in Sinnoh. Unlike previous villainous teams, their goal is not limited to the Pokémon world, but is the recreation of the entire Pokémon universe.

In the games
Team Galactic appears only in the Sinnoh game trio of ; however, unlike their Generation III counterparts of Team Magma and Team Aqua, their impact on the storyline is not affected on which of the primary pair is being played until the end (varying in the Pokémon they summon), though their role does expand in Pokémon Platinum.

In Diamond and Pearl
Team Galactic first appears in Jubilife City, harassing Professor Rowan and his assistant, and trying to get them to give over Rowan's research, with the player returning from Oreburgh City just in time to help. After this, the player's next encounter with the organization is in the Valley Windworks, where Mars heads up a scheme to steal energy for use in their activities.

After she has been defeated in the Valley Windworks, Team Galactic's building in Eterna City remains as a stronghold on the western side of the region, led by Jupiter. Team Galactic's leader, Cyrus, is first encountered shortly after this, as the player travels through the south cave of Mt. Coronet for the first time, though he does not give his name, and it is not implied that he is involved with the group.

After this, Team Galactic remains low on the radar for a while, not appearing again until Veilstone City, where their base is set up. After the player beats Maylene, Rowan's assistant will ask for their help in defeating two Team Galactic Grunts (the same as those in Jubilife City) who have stolen their Pokédex and refuse to return it. Eventually, after Crasher Wake is defeated, a single Grunt loitering near the entrance to the Great Marsh will claim to have a bomb but run away when he is overheard. The player must chase him to the Valor Lakefront where he will finally battle, and will run off scared due to his defeat. In Celestic Town, the player defeats a Grunt who plans on causing damage to the town, and is then confronted by Cyrus, who reveals that he is the leader of Team Galactic before issuing a threat and leaving. Team Galactic disappears until after the player has met with their, Rowan, and Rowan's assistant in the Canalave Library after Byron has been defeated. Here it is found that they were responsible for a huge explosion at Lake Valor, originally mistaken for a tremor. After Saturn is defeated at Lake Valor and Mars at Lake Verity, Team Galactic will block the player's way to Lake Acuity from its lakefront until Candice has been defeated, although Jupiter defeats the player's rival before the player arrives.

From here, Team Galactic's final push remains, with a showdown occurring at Team Galactic HQ in Veilstone City after an initial infiltration, and then a trek to the Spear Pillar at Mt. Coronet to stop Cyrus from summoning or  to destroy and remake the universe. Here the rival teams up with the player to defeat Mars and Jupiter together, while Cyrus and the Legendary Pokémon remain as a final challenge. After the Pokémon is either defeated or caught, Cyrus will tell the player he is not finished and will try once again to remake the universe for himself, but is never seen again, with the assets of Team Galactic being left to Saturn.

In Platinum
Several events change from Diamond and Pearl to Platinum, most significantly the fact that Cyrus appears at the beginning of the game at Lake Verity and again in Eterna City, while Charon is added to the cast of Team Galactic, being introduced at the same time as Mars. Looker tails Team Galactic throughout the game, but does not arrive in time to stop them at any point due to the help of the player.

From here, their plot remains mostly identical, however Cyrus will appear and battle with the player in Celestic Town, while Charon will assist with the penultimate stage of the Red Chain experiment. It is also stated that the plaques on the Eterna City statue of Dialga and Palkia have been removed by vandals, later revealed to be Team Galactic, for research by Cyrus. Through this, the full text of the plaques can be discovered in the Team Galactic HQ.

Instead of only Dialga or Palkia being summoned at the Spear Pillar, Cyrus creates a duplicate of the Red Chain to harness both of their powers, knowing the instability it would cause in the universe. The plot extends past the Spear Pillar, with drawing Cyrus into the Distortion World to prevent the destruction of space-time, and Cynthia and the player following after to make sure that the hole ripped in the fabric of space-time by Giratina is closed so as to not destroy the world.

After Giratina is defeated or captured, Cyrus chooses to stay in the Distortion World, again leaving Team Galactic's assets in Saturn's hands. However, when the player journeys to the Battle Zone after becoming the Champion, Charon is revealed to still be plotting, with a plan to ransom money from the citizens of Sinnoh by threatening to cause Stark Mountain to erupt. Mars and Jupiter join him in this venture in hopes of finding Cyrus, but decide to quit when defeated by the player once more, and Charon goes alone into Stark Mountain's deepest cave. It is here where he is finally arrested by Looker, restoring Sinnoh's safety.

In the main series
Unlike their predecessors Team Rocket, Team Magma, and Team Aqua, Team Galactic did not appear in the earliest segments of the. The group finally appeared in A Secret Sphere of Influence!, with Saturn and several appearing in a short cameo at the end of the episode. They had assigned the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and to steal the Adamant Orb from the Eterna Historical Museum.

Team Galactic made a second appearance in Journey to the Unown!, this time in an expanded role. Saturn brought two grunts with him to the Solaceon Ruins, using three plates to obtain a strange cube inside. After thanking the Team Rocket trio who followed them inside, Saturn escaped using his, leaving the ruins in chaos due to the enraged.

In Enter Galactic!, and  encountered the organization for the first time. Saturn again lead the mission, exposing the strange cube found in the ruins to the Veilstone meteorites and transforming it into the Spear Key. Team Galactic attempted to steal the meteorites as well, but after a brief battle between Saturn's and Brock's Croagunk, as well as many  and Ash's Pikachu and Paul's Electabuzz, the team was forced to retreat.

Team Galactic made their biggest push yet in Losing Its Lustrous and Double Team Turnover!, when the other two Commanders, Mars and Jupiter, as well as leader Cyrus made their debuts. Cyrus appeared to be a rich businessman who was responsible for constructing most of the buildings in the Sinnoh region, while Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were carrying out yet another Team Galactic plot, this time to steal the Adamant Orb and Lustrous Orbs from the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. Ash and Dawn revealed to Cyrus their encounters with and  at Lake Verity and Lake Valor, respectively, unknowing of his obsession with the  and the other Legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. The Galactic plot was successful, and the two Orbs were stolen, though Cyrus never revealed himself to be behind it all. It was also revealed that some of Veilstone's meteorites had been sent to the Fuego Ironworks as part of the Red Chain project.

In Steeling Peace of Mind! and Saving the World From Ruins!, yet another plot was carried out by the group. Mars led a group of grunts to Iron Island, where a shrine to and  was located. Using it and the Spear Key, an electromagnetic beam that disturbed the Steel types that inhabit the island was blasted at Mt. Coronet. Ash and his friends, as well as Riley, his, and , were able to destroy the machine that Mars was using, though Team Galactic's scan of Mt. Coronet remained at 60%. Charon also debuted in the latter of the two episodes; however, it was only in a cameo, and he did not have a speaking role.

In Frozen on Their Tracks!, they were apparently behind disrupting the alignment of railroad tracks leading to Lake Acuity; this caused a slight delay in the trip and  were taking to the lake, as well as raising Looker's suspicions.

Team Galactic made another appearance in Gateway to Ruin!, where they searched inside of Mt. Coronet's caves for ruins that would lead them to the Spear Pillar. Saturn and Charon led this venture, and Looker also became involved. Charon and Saturn were forced to leave empty-handed, as the ruins they had found were not the ones leading to the Spear Pillar.

Team Galactic's plans finally came to a head in Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!, where Jupiter and Charon completed the Red Chain that would be instrumental in taking control of Dialga and Palkia. J|Pokémon Hunter J was then hired by Cyrus to capture the, and although she was successful in handing them over to Team Galactic, her ship was destroyed by immediately after, leaving her fate unknown.

Now with the power of the lake guardians and the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs, Cyrus, Saturn, Mars, and Charon entered the Spear Pillar, with Cyrus finally realizing his dream, taking control of Dialga and Palkia with the Red Chain. With Jupiter staying behind as a guard, Ash, Dawn, Brock, Cynthia, and Looker easily caught up to the group, arresting her and advancing into the Spear Pillar themselves.

Dialga and Palkia's power opened a portal to another world, which would expand outward and consume the old one. Cyrus then revealed to Saturn and Mars that he had no intention of bringing them with him to this new world. After Dialga and Palkia were freed, the portal began to close and a desperate Cyrus jumped into the portal and never was seen again. Just in time, Ash, Dawn, and Brock helped the lake guardians to calm the two Legendary dragons and save Sinnoh, while Mars and Saturn were arrested by Looker and Charon nowhere to be found. With the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs recovered, three of the Commanders arrested, Charon gone, and Cyrus missing, Team Galactic was finished and their plans to destroy Sinnoh were finally brought to an end.

In Pokémon Generations
Team Galactic appeared in The New World. In the episode, Cyrus summoned and  at Spear Pillar while accompanied by Jupiter and Mars, as Saturn watched with many Grunts at the Team Galactic HQ. As Cyrus summoned Dialga and Palkia, suddenly appeared, freed the other two Legendaries, and took Cyrus with it to the Distortion World. Intrigued by the Distortion World, Cyrus decided to stay there and advised Saturn to not go looking for him, to which Saturn stated that he understood.

In The Magma Stone, it was revealed that after Cyrus's disappearance, there was only a small faction of Team Galactic left, led by Charon. This group was hunted down by Looker as they awoke at Stark Mountain. Although Heatran was eventually stopped with the help of Buck, Charon managed to escape with two Grunts.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The team is first pointed at during the, where Archie reveals that a mysterious woman from Team Galactic gave him and Maxie the armor and the sword.

During the, Team Galactic appears many times, appearing as the main villains for the chapter. Like in the games, the team's goal is to help their leader, Cyrus, to create the universe anew. They were first seen in Belligerent Bronzor, where Mars invaded Valley Windworks. After some time the theme was seen helding Rad Rickshaw as hostage because of his two Clefairy, Cliff and Cliffette, and his knowledge about Dialga and Palkia. Later, Saturn sent Paka and Uji into an another universe. The team was to awaken and capture the Lake guardians in order to summon and  so they crafted a bomb and detonated it over one of the lakes of the Sinnoh region in order to achieve this. When the Red Chains, the tools for summoning the legends were complete, the team set of to the peak of Mt. Coronet, where Cyrus managed to summon Dialga and Palkia. , and  stopped them, but the team's leader was taken into Distortion World by.

In the, most of the members of Team Galactic are searching for their leader who disappeared into Distortion World at the end of the previous chapter. One of the commanders, Charon, attempts to gather all the known Sinnoh legendaries so he can come into ultimate power. He gains access to the Distortion World to capture Giratina, Dialga and Palkia. The other three commanders follow him there and are tricked into fighting with him. A reformed Cyrus appears in the Distortion World and helps the protagonists defeat Giratina. After Charon is defeated, everyone emerges from the Distortion World having calmed Giratina. Cyrus announces that he is disbanding Team Galactic and departs, taking Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with him. Charon is arrested by Looker.

In the TCG
Team Galactic are featured across several expansions in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Initially only featured on a few TCG Supporter cards, Team Galactic were more prominent in the Platinum Series, which introduced TCG Pokémon G (Pokémon)  belonging to team members and supporting cards in the form of various inventions. Cards that mention or belong to specific members can be found on their individual pages.

Trivia

 * The group's Japanese name is a nod to the Galaxy Gang in , a Game Freak title for the released in 1994.
 * All high-ranking members of Team Galactic are named after objects:, , and  are planets, while  is 's largest natural satellite.  is derived from an ancient  word for the.
 * All Team Galactic members wear outfits similar to spacesuits. Due to this, characters who do not know who they are refer to them as spacemen.
 * According to some members, children are not allowed to join Team Galactic.
 * In, a Team Plasma member claims he is a former member of Team Galactic.

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