Throughout the Pokémon game series there have been a number of clever and cunning villains who’ve used Pokémon to achieve their villainous ends. Each had their own ambitions and while some proved to be ineffectual others came dangerously close to succeeding.

Some are little more than thugs intent on making a quick buck, while others are hellbent on changing the very nature of the universe. Here are the villainous teams encountered in the Pokémon games and how they stack up in terms of their power.

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10 Team Skull

Team Skull are little more than thugs who harass and annoy the residents of the Alola region in Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. Their leader is an individual who failed to complete the island challenge and has put together a team of other losers to make money.

They accomplished very little over the course of the game and were a minor annoyance easily dealt with by the player and the police force. Turns out the trainers that fail to win a tournament challenge don’t make for very tough opponents in a Pokémon battle.

9 Team Snagem

In Pokémon Colloseum Team Snagem is motivated to steal Pokémon from other people and turn them over to the criminal organization Cipher. With the Snag Machine they do manage to steal quite a number of Pokémon and turn them over.

Unfortunately for the team they are little more than errand runners for the real organization. Ultimately once they’ve outlived their usefulness they’re cut off from the main organization and prove to be little more than thieves that pose no real threat.

8 Team Plasma

Appearing in Pokémon Black & White and their sequels Team Plasma is a criminal team seeking to separate humans from their Pokémon for supposedly moral reasons. These zealous villains are lead by the mysterious N who manages to capture Zekrom/Reshiram and defeat the champion Alder.

Ultimately, they are a weak organization as they and their leader were being manipulated by a man named Ghetsis who was using them to ensure he was the only being that could use Pokémon to rule over everyone else. This happens not once, but twice proving they aren't that capable.

7 Team Flare

Team Flare shows up in Pokémon X & Y with the plan to obtain money, power, and remake the world to be beautiful. They manage to steal a number of fossils, siphon power from the Kalos Power Plant, and steal a large number of Poke Balls from a factory.

It’s revealed that to accomplish their goal they used these smaller missions to power the Ultimate Weapon which will eradicate all life on the planet, save for themselves. They rank lower because they were stopped before they could activate the weapon and their previous exploits didn’t cause too much damage, but they did come quite close to succeeding.

6 Team Aqua

Team Aqua appears in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire seeking to awaken the ancient Pokémon Kyogre and use it to plunge the Hoenn region in seawater. They manage to steal a meteorite that they intended to use to flood the Mt. Chimney volcano, but were unsuccessful.

Later they steal a Red Orb, hijack a submarine, and locate Kyogre and manage to wake it up using the Red Orb. They don’t rank as high because they change their ways after seeing Kyogre and Groudon fight, but they did accomplish many of their aims and managed to wake a powerful Pokémon.

5 Team Magma

Team Magma is the villainous team countering Team Aqua’s aims with a dastardly plan of their own in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire. They intend to wake the Pokémon Groudon and use it to expand the landmass of the Hoenn region.

Like Team Aqua they steal a meteorite, but they want to activate the volcano instead. They fail to do so and instead steal a Blue Orb, hijack a submarine, and manage to wake Groudon. They also give up their plans after seeing the two monsters fight. They rank higher than Team Aqua based on the arbitrary opinion that Groudon is the cooler of the two Pokémon.

4 Team Rocket

The villainous team we all know and love is rather powerful compared to others on this list. Debuting in Pokémon Red & Blue these fiends managed to steal fossils from Mt. Moon, held the CEO of Silph Co. and the entire town of Saffron City hostage, run a highly successful casino to fund their enterprise, and the leader heads the eighth gym.

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But perhaps their greatest claim to fame is their role in the creation of Mewtwo, which also proved to be a major catastrophe for the organization and forced the leader Giovanni to try and find a way to recapture it via the Master Ball. If he managed to get his hands on the prototype ball and captured the powerful psychic Pokémon this team would definitely rank higher.

3 Cipher

Cipher was the true brains behind the villainous deeds occurring in Pokémon Colosseum. This organization was very well organized with a smaller sect (Team Snagem) working on their behalf while they operated from the shadows in their secret lab.

Their intent was to use the stolen Pokémon to create shadow Pokémon and seed the world with their dark influence. They managed to create the Colosseum to draw in trainers for new Pokémon and bring in cash to fund their efforts. They were so powerful the police force made no effort to stop them. Between this immense power and the secrecy of their leadership it was a strong organization that came very close to succeeding.

2 Team Galactic

Team Galactic standing in front of a cloudy gray background

Lead by Cyrus Team Galactic appeared in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl with the intention to create a new universe without spirit. They manage to secure the Red Chain and seek to use it to control Palkia and Dialga.

The leader was so close to remaking the universe that Giratina itself interfered and drew Cyrus into its Distortion World to prevent this from happening. Considering the devil of the Pokémon series saw it necessary to interfere in their operations this should tell you how strong Team Galactic was.

1 Team Rainbow Rocket

Arguably the strongest villainous team in the Pokémon universe is Team Rainbow Rocket introduced in Pokémon Ultra Sun & Moon. Led by Giovanni Team Rainbow Rocket manages to use wormholes to bring together the leaders of the other villainous teams listed above, but from different worlds where they actually succeeded.

Using these accomplished individuals Giovanii tried to create an army of Ultra Beasts to take over the multiverse. Like the others on this list his team ultimately fails, but unlike the others he managed to flee to another world where he presumably carries out the plan all over again.

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