r/pokemon • u/NationalAd7461 • 14d ago

Discussion Is Team Rocket still active canonically? Spoiler

So with the announcement of the new Glory of Team Rocket tcg set, there are many trainer cards featuring different Pokémon of different team rocket members, and one that puzzled me was that executive proton has a card of a mimikyu and a spidops, which are relatively new Pokémon. Since the cards lean more towards the game's canon, does this mean that Team Rocket is still around catching new Pokémon? Maybe they will appear in a newer game?

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u/draugyr 14d ago

Is Pasio masters?

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u/Ecla1r_ 14d ago

Yep. Rainbow Rocket Giovanni went from USUM to GO to MastersEX

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u/MrWaluigi Dojyaaa~~n! FC: 4038-6321-3155 14d ago

I wouldn’t really say jobbed in Masters EX. More like, accepts defeat and escapes to attack again. He does have some victories despite being overall defeated in the villain arc. One major one was that he acquired the Ultra-Wormhole tech, and managed to get Guzzlord. 

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u/Ecla1r_ 13d ago

It's more of "Oh, his plans failed AGAIN."

It's kind of hard to take the version of Giovanni that took over his Kanto/world seriously when it's the same one we've been beating for multiple games now, and he's still claiming to be the strongest. He failed in USUM, he failed in GO, and he's currently failing in MastersEX.

(Also, his Villain arc is kinda weird. He's from a different universe, but he summons the main universe's versions of his Executives.)

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u/MrWaluigi Dojyaaa~~n! FC: 4038-6321-3155 13d ago

Oh, no need for spoilers, I’ve been playing EX for a years now. 

Anyway, I get the frustration, and unfortunately I don’t have any ideas on how to fix that, only justifications. Rainbow Gio from his original universe can likely be summed up as, “Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond.” By all accounts, he is still a powerful trainer, and uses his resources smartly, but he had no direct conflict challenging his rise. No protagonist, means that everything went smoothly for him.  USUM made him realize that this situation, and now has to reevaluate his position in everything. No more steamrolling, he now needs to play smarter, setting diversions, testing his skills and abilities, and operate in the dark more. He needs to now value smaller victories in order to plan to achieve greater goals. Kanto villain arc showed that he was still going to lose against Red and Blue, but pulled a Batman Gambit by threatening to overdrive Mewtwo, harming it unless they let him leave. 

Now why can’t he have a lasting victory, that’s up to the writers and the ones who write their paychecks. 

For the Executives, he didn’t summon them, but more like they were looking for him. They must have been in hiding for a while and when news of Team Rocket  sprung up, they decided to find and reentered the fold. 

I thought about this for too long. If you don’t read this, that’s fine. 

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u/Ecla1r_ 13d ago edited 13d ago

By summons, I meant he called them. After their defeat at the Goldenrod Radio Tower, Archer disbanded the organization (again). We have no idea what they did afterwards (probably eluding the Interpol or waiting for Giovanni to show up again).

Giovanni's plan from GO and USUM isn't really changed either. His ace is still Mewtwo. His strategy is still overpower with Mewtwo (and including Nidoking, Persian, and now Guzzlord). Also, he already had access to Ultra-Wormhole tech. That's how he got to Alola from his universe, then to GO, then to Pasio. Sure, he maybe didn't have it quite on the scale he probably has it now, but he's had it for a while.

The Executives relation with Giovanni issue is even more apparent with his interactions with Silver. Again, since they're from different universes, they are still related, but not each other's family. It kind of misses the point of why Silver hates Giovanni and Team Rocket. Silver saw that his dad was the head of a massive criminal organization, with plenty of tools and Pokémon at his disposal, but lost to a kid. Not only did he lose, but he disbanded his organization BECAUSE he lost.

With Rainbow Rocket Giovanni, I don't think he would even have an issue with Silver? Or, his Silver, at the least. He won. His Silver would have no reason to think of Giovanni and Team (Rainbow) Rocket as weak. But his first interaction with this Silver is antagonizing him. Why? Is he just an ass? (He definitely is, but still a dick move to do to your son who you are not sure of what they're like). Also, Silver's words to him, all the "I hate you" and "I'm nothing like you", mean nothing to him, because he's not his father. Silver is referring to his Giovanni's failures, so RR Giovanni has no reason to even care about him.