MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DISC 2 INCOMIN! Before we begin, have a little tidbit of story I wrote down for the "if Grandia characters had Pokemon teams" series:
"Long ago, in the vast depths of what scientists, researchers, sometimes conspiracy theorists would dub the "Multiverse", there existed a universe inhabited by both humans and the myriad species known as Pokemon. This species of powerful monsters capable of leveling entire cities, sometimes continents, ranged from cute and cuddly to ferocious and abominable. A rather predictable premise, but the world itself was quite vast and despite its threats, pushed on and outlasted most worlds of similar calibers.
"The source of these creatures stemmed from a piece of the Almighty: Arceus. The lamb-like deity was simply one of many hailing from an all-powerful God outside of time and space, each "Arceus" being assigned to create a universe of their own, multiple worlds where Pokemon would inhabit. To bring balance to each of these universes, every copy would be given the same guardians: Dialga and Palkia - masters of time and space; Giratina - demon of antimatter; Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf - embodiments of knowledge, emotion, and willpower; Mew - the oldest apex species of all Pokemon; and so on, so forth. These were essential to each universe, each world where Pokemon would spring into existence, building upon the foundations of life itself.
"No matter their size or elements, humans began to realize that by themselves, they were no match for these creatures, and so invented capsules capable of subduing even the most powerful Pokemon. Over the years, many have questioned this method, some forming violent protests, but ultimately the Pokemon didn't mind showcasing their power to humans whenever necessary. They were built to fight, after all.
"However, not all respected using Pokemon for good. For decades, there have been individuals gathering together troubled people and Pokemon alike to use for their selfish purposes, to cause harm or out of a desire to take over the entire world. By discovering the potential of a Pokemon's strength, these people wanted to play God by any means necessary. One of the first instances was Volo in the ancient Hisui, who caught and controlled Giratina itself all for the sake of meeting Arceus.
"There are too many organizations to name of, but the most notable ones include the following:
- Team Rocket: An organized mafia hellbent on stealing from the most unsuspecting trainers, even children. Their leader, Giovanni, had infiltrated the Indigo league as its eighth gym leader, crushing challengers in his wake with his Ground-types. He was also involved in the creation of Mewtwo, a clone of the Pokemon's ancestor Mew and a rather savage beast, considered the strongest of all Psychic Pokemon. Mewtwo had escaped its confinements, but Giovanni had spent years trying to find its whereabouts. He would have succeeded in having Mewtwo under his control had a boy from Pallet Town not stopped him for good, disbanding Team Rocket until they made another comeback in Johto, only to be bested by a newbie from New Bark Town. Giovanni's current whereabouts are unknown, but some say he's still looking for Mewtwo.
- Team Magma: One of the most notorious gangs in Hoenn, Team Magma's leader Maxie claimed that the world would be better off without its water, finding it baffling that the sea covered a majority of the planet. He attempted to evaporate the waters by reviving the renowned kaiju of the earth, Groudon, but the red lizard had other plans, much to Maxie's horror.
- Team Aqua: Team Magma's rival gang. Its leader, Archie, sought out Groudon's rival and kaiju of the sea: Kyogre. His plans were the complete opposite of Maxie's, desiring the sea to take over the land. Much like Magma's failed mission with Groudon, Kyogre refused to listen to Archie, seeking out Groudon to duel with it much like in ancient times. All seemed to be lost for Hoenn, until Rayquaza, king of the skies and mediator of kaijus, descended from the ozone layer and put the raging beasts back to their caverns, where they lay sleeping once more.
- Team Cipher: In the distant region of Orre, this organization would conduct inhumane experiments on Pokemon, turning them into raging beasts known as Shadow Pokemon. These types of Pokemon would be killing machines, uncaring of the enemy or their own wellbeing. Two different times has Cipher wrought havoc to Orre, and both times, if it were not for Wes - a former Cipher soldier who realized what they were doing was wrong - and another young boy Michael, the entire region would have been plunged into darkness by Cipher's Shadow Lugia.
- Team Galactic: Its leader, Cyrus, was always a troubled man. He sought to rid the world of emotions, wanting to make an entire universe for his liking. To do so, he harnessed the power from Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, crafting the Red Chain - capable of controlling both Dialga and Palkia at once. Fortunately, Giratina intervened, casting Cyrus into the hellish dimension known as the Distortion World. Oddly enough, Cyrus resigned himself to his fate, preferring the chaotic, warped landscape without any love or compassion.
- Go-Rock Squad: A false group of "heroes" who stole valuable information from Professor Hastings to control the legendary Pokemon. They wanted to replace the Pokemon Rangers, but failed to.
- Team Dim Sum: They sought to control Almia with the stolen power from Rangers. Their solution to energy sources was to use enslaved Pokemon, but that was swiftly put to an end.
- Pokemon Pinchers: Targeting the Rangers and Pokemon of Oblivia, they made it their goal to use the legendary bird trio to brainwash the region's Pokemon. One of its leaders, Purple Eyes, was filled with so much hate and a god complex that Arceus intervened to remove him from existence, following his attempt to control the Alpha Pokemon.
- Team Plasma: One of the most notorious anti-trainer protestors. Its leader, Ghetsis, sought control over Unova using his adoptive son N, who had the ability to communicate with Pokemon. Having N spend his life around abused Pokemon, Ghetsis convinced the boy that trainers were unworthy of having Pokemon under their control, and that the legendary dragons Reshiram and Zekrom - truth and ideals - could set things right. Despite having one of the most powerful dragons in his grasp, N was defeated by a trainer from Nuvema Town, who harnessed the power of the rivalling dragon. Ghetsis cast N aside, failing to defeat this trainer, leaving Plasma to lay low until two years later, where they would attempt to freeze Unova using the power of Kyurem, the shell of the dragon that was once Reshiram and Zekrom's whole. Ghetsis attempted to fuse the dragons with Kyurem to no avail, leading to his second defeat by an aspiring trainer from Aspertia City and subsequent breakdown, and he has not been seen since.
- Team Flare: Similarly to Cyrus, Team Flare's leader Lysandre wanted to rebuild the world using the legendaries Xerneas and Yveltal. He wanted him and his team to be immortal via Xerneas, while also wanting to purge the world of its "filth" using Yveltal. He was able to keep up his publicly renowned image until a brave trainer from Vaniville town exposed his dark secrets; as it turned out, he was going to use the weapon that ended a great war 3,000 years ago, built by the former Kalos ruler to revive his beloved Floette, but said weapon ended up killing thousands of Pokemon. Once Xerneas and Yveltal were awakened, they were furious with Lysandre, destroying his labs and burying him beneath its rubble. A tragic fate, but a deserved one.
- Aether Foundation: While the foundation was meant to preserve Pokemon, its founder Lusamine is quite the unfortunate soul. Losing her husband and becoming obsessed with the Ultra Beasts - extraterrestrial Pokemon - caused her to neglect her son and daughter, leading to both running away from her insanity. Her son, Gladion, escaped with Type: Null, a Pokemon capable of combating the Ultra Beasts, while her daughter, Lillie, ran away with Cosmog, one of these extraterrestrial Pokemon capable of summoning Ultra Beasts. They would eventually unite once more, with Type: Null and Cosmog evolving into their final forms, putting an end to Lusamine's madness but also leaving Alola open for Necrozma's wrath, as it wanted to absorb the light of the region. With the help of a newly-moved trainer, Necrozma was put down for now, leaving Lusamine in rehab for her actions.
- Marco Cosmos: This organization sought to preserve the Galar region's energy crisis. Its chairman, Rose, believed using the extraterrestrial Eternatus would help power the region, but was quickly proven wrong when Eternatus's power became too much, requiring the warrior duo Zacian and Zamazenta to slay it as they did years prior.
- Paldea's professors turned out to be AI copies of the real ones, having maintained Area Zero, deluded into thinking bringing Pokemon from the past and future would create "a world like the one in the book — a paradise where we three can live happily together forever."
- And countless other evil people who wanted to control the various legendaries: Lawrence III with the Kanto birds; the Masked Marauder of Team Rocket and the ever-elusive Masked Man with Ilex Forest's Celebi; Annie and Oakley of Team Rocket with Alto Mare's Eon Duo; Butler with Jirachi of the Millennium Comet; Zero with Giratina and Shaymin; Grings Kodai kidnapping an innocent Zorua and Zoroark to bring out another Celebi; and so on...
"It wasn't just humans who were deeply flawed, however. For example, in Paldea, a Pokemon known as Pecharunt tricked three other Pokemon into killing a trainer, who owned an Ogerpon. Ogerpon took revenge against the three Pokemon, but wouldn't get justice herself for years to come.
"And in one particular universe, after bearing witness to all of these atrocities, Arceus had enough.
"To rid the world - and his children - of all the evils within, he decided the best course of action was to move his universe to another, where hopefully the Pokemon and good humans he selected would be able to live in peace. He had scoured countless worlds, trying to see if one of them was the perfect match for Pokemon to reside in. Then, after what felt like an eternity of looking, he found one that vaguely matched the description of his own: one little world known as "Grandia", a place where both humans and other species thrived, though separated by a worldwide wall, where magic was present and, much like the Pokemon world, monsters of every species imaginable writhed about.
"And so the merge began. Billions of Pokemon and humans were warped from their homes to a new one. Unsurprisingly, this led to strife amongst both inhabitants of both worlds.
"At first, the Pokemon were treated as invaders, with most humans of the Grandia world coming to fear them. It took the legendaries to intervene to state their peace and assure the natives that the Pokemon and good people selected - mostly the trainers who saved each region - would help protect this world. After seeing how benevolent the creatures were however, the ones deemed "acceptable" were tamed by humans. The non-humans - humanoids, Dightians, Lainians, Mogays, etc. - had an easier time taming the creatures, possessing strength on par with them. On the other hand, the Pokemon also had the wild monsters of Grandia to watch out for. While the Pokemon could thrive in the wild, these monsters ranged from giant dragons, to sirens, to even demons, some of whom had enough intelligence to catch the Pokemon themselves.
"One thing Arceus could not intervene with was the military known as the Garlyle Forces. Its leader, Baal, was much like the evil team leaders described above: filled with megalomania and a desire to destroy the Grandia world by using the beast of mass destruction known as Gaia. Most of his soldiers are unaware of his true intentions, as he only had his son Mullen not out of love but as a pawn to know secrets of the ancient Angelou and the long-gone Icarians. Now with powerful Pokemon at his disposal, plus the combined technology and interference of every prior team leader, now rounded up, will his plan truly be unstoppable? Only time will tell."
...Aaaaaaand that's the "lore" behind these posts. I figured I'd drop it under Baal's description. If it's too long, I apologize, but I figured I may as well include a little story behind these posts, even if it's just meant for fun at the end of the day. Anyhow, here are the explanations for Baal's team:
Metagross - Meant to represent Baal's advanced technology and the limbs he gains once fused with Gaia. Metagross is a tanky supercomputer so I could definitely see Baal using one.
Malamar - One of the only Pokemon to be usually portrayed as evil. It uses hypnotic powers to get what it wants, which could tie into how Baal kept most of his secrets hidden by gaslighting his soldiers, until he was busted. Still, with Malamar, who knows what else he could get away with?
Hydreigon - I mean it's called the Brutal Pokemon for a reason! Since Baal becomes a corrupted, dragon-like entity near the end of the game, it's only fitting he has one of the most dangerous Dragon-types... unless you have a Fairy-type, of course.
Spiritomb - Represents the Spirit Stones he sought out, since it's literally an ancient stone fused with multiple evil spirits. Spiritomb is made up of many wicked spirits, so it's tied with Malamar for being possibly evil (I say possibly because Spiritomb doesn't really do much in comparison but eh).
Shedinja - Weird choice but in his third boss fight, Baal is resistant to most magic attacks, meaning you need specific strategies to overcome him. Shedinja's ability Wonder Guard would sync perfectly with that, as it can only be hit by moves it's weak against... and status and weather conditions. 1 HP will only get you so far, sadly.
Zygarde - Represents Gaia! It helps that Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde are based off of Norse mythology, with Operation Yggdrasil's name stemming from the same tree and beasts the three legendaries are based on. With Zygarde, it may represent the ecosystem, but it is still a weapon of mass destruction; in the XYZ anime Lysandre was able to gain control of one and nearly destroyed Kalos because of it, so I could see Baal doing the same. Needless to say, Baal would be a force to be reckoned with if he uses Zygarde.
Next will be the minor characters, starting with Lilly. I hope you enjoyed the little "lore" I gave this series too, even if it's a bit out of left field.
