Pokemon Legends: Arceus completely changed the Pokemon RPG formula that previous games were known for. the Pokemon spin-off has been critically acclaimed for its open-world format and has often been compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, both in its art style and gameplay. That said, the game stands on its own and manages to stay true to its roots while innovating to attract new players.
Being a fourth generation prequel Pokemon Games, Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place in the Sinnoh region when it was still called the Hisui region, centuries before the current era of Pokemon. In fact, the game gives a lot of nods and nods to its contemporary version by featuring the characters’ ancestors in Pokémon Diamond, pokemon pearland Pokémon Platinum as important figures of Hisui. Still, there’s one reference that’s hard to miss: The Galaxy Team looks awfully like Team Galactic, Sinnoh’s villainous faction.
Galactic Team
Team Galactic is the villainous team that the player first encounters in the city of Jubilife in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Unlike previous teams of a similar nature such as Team Rocket, Team Galactic’s goals go far beyond simply stealing rare Pokémon or exerting influence in the region. Unbeknownst to even higher-ranking members, Team Galactic’s goal is to destroy and remake the Pokemon universe. The leader of Team Galactic, Cyrus, tries to accomplish in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl by summoning the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia. The scenario is different in Pokémon Platinumbut the objectives of the group remain the same.
Galaxy Team
In contrast, the Galaxy Expedition Team of Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a friendly organization based in the village of Jubilife that the player even joins. Hisui’s Galaxy Team functions as a sort of guild made up of people from different regions who have all joined to study the region and its Pokémon.
It is divided into several corps: the Survey Corps in charge of exploring the region, the Security Corps in charge of defending the village of Jubilife, the Medical Corps in charge of providing medical services, the Supply Corps in charge of logistics, the Agricultural Corps in charge of of the cultivation of crops and the Construction Corps in charge of building infrastructure. The whole organization answers to Commander Kamado.
As a member of the organization, the player can climb the ranks of its ranking system by completing research tasks assigned by Professor Laventon. As a primary objective, Team Galaxy is dedicated to protecting the noble Pokémon, which are Kleavor, Lilligant, Arcanine, Electrode, and Avalugg. All five Pokémon were blessed by the legendary Pokémon Arceus, but are not legendary themselves. However, they are unique, larger than their regular counterparts, and cannot be caught.
Two galactic teams of evil
Given the diametrically opposed nature and goals of Team Galactic and Team Galaxy, it seems almost impossible that their nomenclature could be considered mere coincidence. In fact, there are many similarities between the two organizations. For example, Team Galaxy is based in Jubilife Village, and Jubilife Town is where the player first encounters Team Galactic at Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. In addition, the logo of the two organizations is quite similar.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus features many ancestors of the modern characters of the Sinnoh region, and it’s hard to miss the resemblance between Team Galactic leader Cyrus and Galaxy Team Survey Corps captain Cyllene, or even Team Galactic Mars commander and the guardian of the Diamond Clan of Lilligant Azeru. Finally, Team Galactic and Galaxy Team are interested in finding special Pokémon, although for very different reasons.
Something went horribly wrong at some point
There are many theories about the relationship between Team Galactic and Galaxy Team, and how they relate to the increasingly complex lore of Pokemon. It may seem unthinkable that a benevolent organization like Team Galaxy could even remotely be linked to the world destroying Team Galactic. However, there may be very good reason to assume that Team Galactic could be a direct descendant of Galaxy Team. The most important factor in this theory is the time that elapses between the history of Pokemon Legends: Arceusand Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
The weather can change a lot. For example, the Diamond and Pearl clans disappeared over time. The conflict between the two clans stems entirely from their disagreement over whether the Almighty Sinnoh created space or time. Their deity gave the Sinnoh region its name, but no record of either clan remains in the modern era. There is also no trace of the original Galaxy Team or the Old Verses. It’s possible they were either lost to time after a calamity, or deliberately destroyed by someone seeking to hide the truth about Sinnoh’s past.
Why Cyrus Names Team Galactic After Team Galaxy
Cyrus actually didn’t quite take inspiration from the original organization, so much as he ripped it off completely. In the English release, the two may have been given separate names to avoid confusion, but they have the exact same name in the original Japanese release. For this reason, it is also likely that Cyrus was not the founder of Team Galactic, as much as his heir. In a dialogue between Galaxy Team Commander Kamado and Captain Cyllene, it is implied that the organization may disband in the future, and Cyllene promises to pass on the group’s name and accomplishments.
Having been passed down through Cyllene’s descendant, Team Galaxy’s name may have been passed down, but its mission clearly wasn’t, or it was deliberately bastardized by nefarious actors. It could have been entirely Cyrus’s doing to turn Team Galactic into a criminal organization. However, if Professor Rowan is a descendant of Commander Kamado, his ignorance of Team Galactic’s past beyond his criminal enterprise makes it far more likely that the organization’s transformation began generations earlier. Perhaps more information about Team Galaxy’s future will be explored in a possible sequel. Pokemon Legends: Arceusbut until then, we can only speculate.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is now available on Nintendo Switch.
Read more
About the Author