4th Gen Team Rocket - Makin' a Comeback!

Ah yes, Team Rocket. Years ago, during what happened during Pokemon Red/Yellow/Blue/LeafGreen/FireRed, Team Rocket became the main evil organization who ruled over Kanto, all led by their leader, Giovanni. But then, a young man named Red defeated Team Rocket, and thus, Team Rocket became disbanded. Now its years later here on Pokemon HeartGold /SoulSilver, where we saw that Team Rocket has returned!

But this time, unlike on what we've seen on pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, instead of just meeting the ROCKET GRUNTS and just the ROCKET EXECUTIVE, we see just a bit more of a personality from Team Rocket. The Team Rocket members are led by their four new executives: Proton, Petrel, Ariana, and their new leader, Archer. I suppose it was a way to give some more flavor to the Team Rocket member base, to see that this time, they're not messing around! In any case, we meet them all as the game goes on.



We met Proton over on Azelea town, where we see him and other Team Rocket members cutting off slowpoke's tails for profit. Proton's pretty much considered the 'cool yet scariest Team Rocket member', according to his subordinates. Later on, we meet both Ariana and Petrel over in Mahogany Town in their hideout. First we battle against Petrel because we needed to learn about a password in order to progress ahead, and then after we beat him, we followed a Murkrow over to the password system where he blurts out the password (I guess??) and we're able to go on through! Until we're stopped by Ariana alongside another grunt member. We battle the two of them alongside Lance. Patrel is sort of the sly type, who likes to disguise himself, while Ariana is pretty sinister. Finally, the new rocket leader, Archer, awaited us on top of the Radio Tower upon Goldenrod City, where when we beat him, he disbands Team Rocket once more.


Sooo, with all that being said, here comes the main point of this topic! This topic is all about the Team Rocket in HG/SS!

*What did you think about Team Rocket on HeartGold & Soul Silver?
*Did you like the way they incorporated the new executives? Who was your favorite/ least favorite?
*If you can change something about Team Rocket in HG/SS, what would it be?

But, those are just topics to think about! Feel free to share all thoughts. :3

I'm going to be honest, I didn't notice that they added new executives. I always assumed they were the same as the ones you face in GSC, but I guess not haha. Perhaps it's because I played the Japanese version and never saw their English names.

Anyways, wouldn't really change anything about them. Maybe give them different Pokemon besides Rattata and Zubat, but that's something every evil team does lol. I did like that they had you dress up in the Team Rocket uniform though, that was pretty funny.

Team Rocket is one of my all-time favorite villain groups; love that they've made appearance in HeartGold and SoulSilver. In my opinion, it was nice that they've incorporated executives into themselves, as it helped further the storyline. Archer would have to be my personal favorite, with Proton being second. If I were to change one thing about them, though, I'd probably add someone as their manager, who looks after their progress, missions, and things like that. :P

I want to preface this by saying Team Rocket is one of my favorite Villainous Teams. They're not self-righteous zealots with a crazy plot to take over the world. They're just a mafia of criminals who exploit Pokemon for profit. And they're downright heartless, I mean, cutting off Slowpokes' tails? Forcing Magikarp to evolve just to skin their scales? Killing that poor Cubone's mother?? Those are some real bad guys.

*What did you think about Team Rocket on HeartGold & Soul Silver?

I thought they were good, and I liked the new touches. The executives were a colorful bunch, and what I like most is that we finally find out where Giovanni's been hiding! The dialog between Giovanni and Silver is really good, I'm glad to see they've fleshed out the human side of Giovanni.

*Did you like the way they incorporated the new executives? Who was your favorite/ least favorite?

I liked it, but I don't feel any of them individually stood out much. I don't remember anything about them :P

*If you can change something about Team Rocket in HG/SS, what would it be?

It'd be cool if they played a bigger role in the central plot of the games for once. In all their appearances, dealing with them feels more like a diversion than an actual progression of the game's plot.

I always thought Team Rocket was the best villainous team in the Pokemon series, mostly because they most closely resemble the Mob/Yakuza, i.e., real-world counterparts. The other groups were too specific for me, and their goals were a little "out-there", haha. Team Magma and Team Aqua were pretty cool, though.

I liked how they had new Executives in HGSS - it did a good job of adding a few new changes to spice up the old Team Rocket, to differentiate it from the older games. It kept TR fresh, I think, not fighting Giovanni all the time.

*What did you think about Team Rocket on HeartGold & Soul Silver?
I enjoyed having the chance to take on Team Rocket and stop their evil plans again!
They have always been my favorite Villain group, so any appearance they make is welcomed by me

*Did you like the way they incorporated the new executives? Who was your favorite/ least favorite?
It was a nice touch, and definitely better than just taking on "nameless" grunts.
My favorite has to be Proton for looking so creepy and kinda crazy :D

What I loved about Team Rocket in HGSS was that their ranks were more differentiated. I loved the small group of admins, each with their own unique personality. Their rejuvenated battle music was also pretty epic. I wish they had a greater range of Pokemon though...although, what do you expect from an evil team haha.

Come HG/SS the rocket admins/executives had a lot more life so that was instantly a huge plus from me - no more generic admin sprite and instead they got a unique look and personality so it was hard forgetting any of them. I do wish they had gotten a chance to appear more, perhaps throughout Kanto somehow as well, but the treatment they got in the fourth generation remakes were still a huge step up.

My personal favorites are Ariana and Proton but the other two are rockin', even Petrel. I just wish the difficulty for at least the executives battle was upped a tad since I had too easy a time defeating them. :(

Flushed said:

I'm going to be honest, I didn't notice that they added new executives. I always assumed they were the same as the ones you face in GSC, but I guess not haha. Perhaps it's because I played the Japanese version and never saw their English names.

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They are the same executives as GSC, but GSC had no names for them or real individualization. I think only one Admin was actually added and technically he shows up later in the game promoted to an admin in the originals I believe.

I personally LOVED that they flushed out their characters more, and gave them distinguishable looks and personalities. it added something that Team Rocket never really had, an actual identity. You get to see what the major players of Team Rocket are beyond just Giovanni.