The Teams met throughout the Pokémon franchise have begun to follow a pattern in recent Generations, and Gen 10 should follow this trend to its logical conclusion. A Team is one of the iconic parts of the Pokémon formula, with most Generations of the franchise introducing an entirely new group of uniformed NPCs. With that in mind, it is essentially certain that another new Team will be part of Gen 10; however, the precise form that Team will take is still uncertain.

Pokémon's Teams have varied wildly in design and philosophy over time. As the first of these, plan to save Pokémon’s version of Earth. However, when predicting the disposition of Gen 10’s own Team, it is important to consider more recent examples as well.

Pokémon’s Generation 10 Team Could Be Heroes

Previous Generations’ Teams Have Been Becoming Progressively Less Evil

It cannot be denied that Pokémon’s Teams are far less evil now than they once were, to the point of being misunderstood more than anything else. Most recently, Team Star was formed to protect people from bullies, although many of its in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are delinquents themselves. Nevertheless, in comparison to Teams like Galactic, which aims to rewrite the universe, Team Star is far less evil. Pokémon’s Generation 10 could follow up on this by having its own Team be fully heroic figures in their own right.

Considering the trend towards far less antagonistic Teams demonstrated by Team Yell and Team Star, it would make perfect sense for the Gen 10 Team to be an indisputably positive force in its region. Far from the villains of the earliest Generations, the new Team could instead work alongside the protagonist to bring a positive resolution to the plot. This approach would also help to distinguish the Team from the recent theme of such groups being misunderstood outcasts more than anything else.

Although Team Yell and Star are relatively harmless groups, they can still be aggressive toward the protagonist. This helps to justify the many conflicts with the Team throughout the game. A truly noble Team, in contrast, would presumably be much less likely to fight the protagonist on bad . However, the number of actual Pokémon battles would not necessarily diminish because of this; after all, the vast majority of Pokémon NPCs offer a battle regardless of any affiliations they may have.

The Next Pokémon Protagonists Could Gen 10’s Signature Team

Aligning Goals Would Make ing The Team In Some Capacity A Logical Development

It is also worth noting that if the Gen 10 Team is dedicated to assisting others, then it would even make sense for the Protagonist to the Team themselves. Of course, this would not be a first for the franchise; Pokémon Legends: Arceus notably has the protagonist the Galaxy Expedition Team. However, Gen 10 would still arguably break a long Pokémon tradition by having the protagonist become a Team member; traditional dual-version releases have their own separate identity to Legends: Arceus, which gives the same basic concept a very different impression.

If the Gen 10 Team is oriented around helping others, ing them could even lead to the protagonist taking on a variety of side quests and missions alongside the main game.

Instead of causing problems or posing obstacles for the protagonist to overcome, the Gen 10 Team could instead help people to face the various issues that arise during the game. For example, following on from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC, Gen 10 could feature a renewed focus on Double Battles. This in turn could lead to the Team’s being frequent partners in prominent battles throughout the new games.

A Heroic Gen 10 Team Could Open Up Interesting New Storylines

The Next Team Could Help The Protagonist To Save Their Region

Regardless of morality, a Team will undoubtedly be a core part of the Gen 10 games. But while a villainous Team would likely retread old ground, a more heroic organization would offer many new avenues for the plot to explore. For example, they could actively work to improve their region and enlist the protagonist’s aid in doing so, which opens up a wealth of possibilities for introducing new plot elements. Similarly, this would allow Gen 10 to focus on a single overwhelming antagonist, an approach that has already led to the creation of one of Pokémon’s most terrifying villains.

The protagonist working with a heroic Team could lead to them all slowly uncovering a shadowy conspiracy by solving the problems of various NPCs, in what may originally appear to be isolated incidents. Performing such tasks could even be part of the local culture of Generation 10’s new setting. This would allow the games to organically introduce different aspects of the actual villain’s scheme, as well as escalate the challenges faced by the protagonist over time as they become more invested in uncovering the source of all these problems.

It would make sense for there to be a heroic Team instead of a villainous one in the next Generation of Pokémon games, considering that their recent predecessors have been far less evil than what is traditional. This change in direction would put a new spin on one of the core aspects of the franchise without removing it completely, opening the door to entirely new narratives. A heroic Team would also quickly establish a unique and interesting identity, and therefore immediately distinguish itself from the many others found throughout the Pokémon franchise.