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Team Skull Speculation

I mean, if those nefarious purposes involve killing everybody including themselves, because that's what permanent night or day would do.

Do you remember how, way back when, everybody kind of misinterpreted Team Aqua and Magma's goals in RSE, and thought that they actually wanted to drown the whole planet/evaporate all water? And how everybody thought they were insane because that would be suicidal? Creating permanent day or night would essentially be on that scale.

Evil teams are not particularly known for thinking their plans through to a logical conclusion. Let's see:

Rocket I'll give a pass to - they just wanted to steal Pokemon and make money (however if Giovanni was financing Mewtwo then that was amazingly stupid. Don't create super powerful psychic things that might want to break free and enslave/kill you.)

Aqua/Magma - want to f*ck with the ecosystem

Galactic - want to f*ck with the fabric of space/time

Plasma - (ignoring Ghestsis's true motive, which was greed and power) want to ostensibly liberate all Pokemon from trainers and how are they gonna do that? Oh yeah by stealing Pokemon and using them in battles against you. Not idiots so much as hypocrites lacking any self awareness.

Flare - want to f*ck with a gigantic weapon which will destroy the world and only leave behind what they consider 'beautiful'

So yeah, a team who want to cause permanent day/night regardless of how idiotic that would truly be would not at all surprise me anymore :p
 
Eh, not much to go off yet. I like the designs. Pink-haired girl looks cool, and the leader's necklace reminds me or OR/AS' Archie.
 
Aqua/Magma - want to f*ck with the ecosystem

This isn't inherently a bad thing, though. Yes, it's lofty, but their logic was at least decent. Maxie would use Groudon's heat waves to dry up some water, thereby opening up more land for development. And, at least in Alpha Sapphire, Archie wanted to raise the sea levels so as to destroy human development on the coasts, returning those areas to nature.

Both of them were said to have run computer simulations, and both of them clearly made the error of underestimating Groudon/Kyogre's power output.

Galactic - want to f*ck with the fabric of space/time

Again, lofty, but if they're only using Dialga/Palkia to create a new universe for themselves (or at least that was what the grunts believed), then who does that hurt? (Of course, the grunts were purposefully idiots that Cyrus chose because they just wanted power and wouldn't ask questions.) And Cyrus wanted to destroy the universe, so that he could use Dialga/Palkia's power to create a new one of his own design. This doesn't equate to a crazed suicide mission, because the very intention is to kill everybody but him, and he likely would have survived because he made the power of the Legendaries his own (until Giratina interfererererered).

Plasma - (ignoring Ghestsis's true motive, which was greed and power) want to ostensibly liberate all Pokemon from trainers and how are they gonna do that? Oh yeah by stealing Pokemon and using them in battles against you. Not idiots so much as hypocrites lacking any self awareness.

This is over-simplifying them by quite a lot. Their whole (ostensible) point was that the Pokémon battling establishment is inherently abusive, and that association with humans diminishes a Pokémon's natural power (which is technically true - we know from Platinum that Poké Balls function as power limiters). They challenge you to battles because it's a means that is justified by the ends. Think of them as enacting change from within the system. They want to end Pokémon battling, but the people who battle with Pokémon could easily fend them off unless Team Plasma battled with Pokémon themselves. But, when the Pokémon in the battle do get hurt, that just furthers their point. Additionally, if a Trainer loses to them and gets their Pokémon stolen, that just lends credence to Plasma's claim that humans make Pokémon weaker - thus they "liberate" your Pokémon from you so that it can either be returned to nature, or at least fight for their cause which would eventually do that for all Pokémon. Ends justifying means.

You are also cutting out the entire point of N - who would revive the Legendary Dragon and defeat the Champion. Like much of BW, this seems like a bit of a deconstruction of the usual question people ask - "How come nobody cares that I'm the Champion and I'm walking around with a mythic demigod in my pocket?" Because people would take notice of that, and that's what Ghetsis was counting on: that people would see N as the person whose cause was deemed just by a being of Legend, and who had the power of overcome the Champion. This would stir some people into admiration, and would make them susceptible to N's order to release their Pokémon - a message endorsed by a Legendary Pokémon, so there must be something to it, right? From there, more and more people would become convinced, and gradually, in time, public opinion would shift and become opposed to the idea of owning and battling with Pokémon.

Flare - want to f*ck with a gigantic weapon which will destroy the world and only leave behind what they consider 'beautiful'

I hate to go full Godwin's Law here, but... Nazi Germany, except with a laser cannon.
 
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I really like the logo for the team. How the S forms the shape of a skull... for Team Skull. Really smart design.

I also like how the boss's glasses have two eye frames with different shapes. I'm not sure why it's necessary, but I like it. Reminds me of the theatre masks where one is happy and one is sad.
 
In case you're wondering the names of the two are flower names, I imagine the localization will probably more or less keep that same theme like they've been doing but a variant of the same plant.

I could see them going with Guzman for example instead of just Guzma though, to sound like a real name.

I like the designs though, I agree the leader seems a bit more laid-back so I'm hoping their goals are a bit more grounded this time around. He also looks like he'll have a more affable personality compared to the "I'm EVIL!" vibe the last three leaders went with, maybe he'll actually have a somewhat justified goal too.
 
I don't know how i feel about team skull yet. The names is kinda of generic(tough they might have a different name in english), their designs look too similiar to the punk class from XY imo, but at the very least, they look better than the orange mess that was team flare, and hopefully, they'll be handhelded better than them.
 
In case you're wondering the names of the two are flower names, I imagine the localization will probably more or less keep that same theme like they've been doing but a variant of the same plant.

Interesting. They have been using flower-themed names an awful lot lately. Zinnia and Aster, and then Lysandre and all of the Flare Scientists and even Malva had names based on flowers as well.
 
Interesting. They have been using flower-themed names an awful lot lately. Zinnia and Aster, and then Lysandre and all of the Flare Scientists had names based on flowers as well.

Well, I recall an interview where one of the individuals working on the games said that that the next generation may or may not have a lot of references to flowers.

Back on topic, I woke up to the corocoro leak, I need time to digest it and really form an opinion about Team Skull.
 
Here's what I hope to see and not see from Team Skull:

*First are foremost, I do not want their leader to be a misanthrope who wants to destroy all of humanity because things didn't go his way when he was younger. This has been a common trend lately. I would, however, prefer it if he was more of a crime lord, considering that this group has the possibility to be pirates. Considering that he isn't sharp dressed and has a large smirk, as opposed to Lysandre, Ghestsis, & Cyrus who look completely seriously, there is a possibility they may go with this direction.
*I want their motivations to be about greed and excess as opposed to blathering about "changing the world" nonsense. This region is island-based, so going back to the pirate concept, I want them to be a group of plunderers & pillagers, who want to take treasures and valuable Pokemon for sale and profit. It would be a rather refreshing take to have your evil team actually be just criminals and not terrorists.
*I would like for their storyline to be independent from the main quest, with the exception of one or two key moments (encountering the exclusive Legendary is the obvious one), because there's only so many times you fight random grunts, then visit the facility they operate in, and then have to settle things after getting your 7th Badge (though Badges aren't around this time, probably).

Three simple things. Shouldn't be too hard.
 
The Japanese games have been using flower and plant-related names for years, but recently (starting with Gen IV's Partners and Frontier Brains) the localization has caught on.
 
Oh, alright, yeah, the boss has won me over.
 
The boss looks too much like a pimp for my taste. Those glasses and that big golden necklace...
 
I was just thinking, maybe Team Skull are mercenaries? They could be hired to do work that companies are afraid of doing themselves out of fear of tarnishing their reputations. All these companies paying them to perform illegal activities, only for Team Skull to betray their employers later on.
 
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@Esserise I think you missed the entire point with Team Plasma. They were made purposefully hypocritical because the entire team was created for Ghetsis' long-game in which he creates a messiah figure that he controls that convinces everyone to get rid of Pokemon so that he can rule Unova.

It's obvious that enough of Team Plasma didn't actually care about their stated goals given how big the new Team Plasma was. They were probably in it because being a part of Plasma meant being part of something "bigger" and only a few people actually cared about N's message (i.e., the people who stayed with old Team Plasma).

Ghetsis had a plan, and he knew how to carry it out, and he knew how to create his team so that when he betrays N (he's obviously not going to let him stay king after getting what he wants from him), the team will follow him. That's why the original Team Plasma were such hypocrites--Ghetsis recruited people who he knew cared more about power and would turn on N once he seized control.
 
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Agreed with what has been said by @Vulcanos. Based on pirates, you would expect them to be, you know, pirate-like, going for the whole "let's sell pokémon for profit". Would link with Team Rocket too since there does seem to be a lot of generation one references. Likewise, the 'changing the world for the better' thing has been done to death. Since Generation 3 we've had this rant, why not something different for a change? They're seemingly doing their best to depart from every other pokémon convention, what's another to add to the list?
 
so, team skull.

it would be kinda awesome if it was the same team skull from mystery dungeon. if so, they can now get revenge on a certain someone now that fairy is a thing and it's weak to poison.
 
I really like the logo for the team. How the S forms the shape of a skull... for Team Skull. Really smart design.

I also like how the boss's glasses have two eye frames with different shapes. I'm not sure why it's necessary, but I like it. Reminds me of the theatre masks where one is happy and one is sad.
Classic smug Anime face. I bet you anything the crazy bastard will be wearing them with the biggest shit eating grin on the planet, and it will be glorious.

Are we sure any of the guys shown from team skull are the leader? None of them have a mega ring or Z bracelet
Guzuma has a Z Bracelet above his gold watch, and I am assuming the purple gem is for poison. You know, cause fairies are weak to Poison, and a certain group of fairiy legendaries protect thr islands. *Cough*
In case you're wondering the names of the two are flower names, I imagine the localization will probably more or less keep that same theme like they've been doing but a variant of the same plant.

I could see them going with Guzman for example instead of just Guzma though, to sound like a real name.

I like the designs though, I agree the leader seems a bit more laid-back so I'm hoping their goals are a bit more grounded this time around. He also looks like he'll have a more affable personality compared to the "I'm EVIL!" vibe the last three leaders went with, maybe he'll actually have a somewhat justified goal too.
Anarchy in the Alola Islands? Punk Pirates who just want to have fun and plunder for gold seems like the best beg, with maulybe a larger ulterior goal in thr background.

I don't know how i feel about team skull yet. The names is kinda of generic(tough they might have a different name in english), their designs look too similiar to the punk class from XY imo, but at the very least, they look better than the orange mess that was team flare, and hopefully, they'll be handhelded better than them.
That's what I like about em, they took an existing design and ran with it.
Agreed with what has been said by @Vulcanos. Based on pirates, you would expect them to be, you know, pirate-like, going for the whole "let's sell pokémon for profit". Would link with Team Rocket too since there does seem to be a lot of generation one references. Likewise, the 'changing the world for the better' thing has been done to death. Since Generation 3 we've had this rant, why not something different for a change? They're seemingly doing their best to depart from every other pokémon convention, what's another to add to the list?
Well no evil team would have been a good change, but I disgress, you can't have everything in the world.
 
Going off of the idea that Team Skull are pirates, I think it would be a really cool idea that your first encounter with them (or maybe with the leader, if the team is introduced earlier) would be on a boat. Your sailing from the first Island to the second one, and your ship is halted by pirates. There's Team Skull, going in to take all the rare goods on your ship and you go in to stop them. It's just an idea, and I think it would work pretty well. It's been a while since we've got to battle on a ship and instead of battling trainers we're battling to protect the goods on the ship. I hoe to see something like this happen.
 
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