In my last post, I said that Team Rocket is my favorite evil team, which ruffled a lot of your feathers; so this post is made to elaborate.
Don't get me wrong; I love Plasma, Galactic, Skull, and I especially love Aqua and Magma (may even be tied with Rocket), but I find none of them actually scary.
I think that with every team from 3-6, the stakes are just too high, and every team 7-9 are just too low.
Galactic may want to remake reality, and Flare may want to genocide the entire planet with eldritch god Pokémon, but those stakes are so high that they become unrelatable.
Team Rocket however, are very grounded and relatable. Every city in real life suffers from criminals who only want money and influence. Gangsters who steal Pokémon, and run a Pokémon black market is something that would totally exist if Pokémon were real.
Imagine being a preteen kid, who is all alone on an adventure, and then you stumble upon some sort of illegal trafficking that you weren't supposed to see. That can happen in real life. Their motives are grounded in reality, but still pose a threat, which is why I think they're the most intimidating, and why I think it strikes a perfect balance between the way evil teams are done in 3-6 vs. 7-9.
Also, their outfits are pimp, Mewtwo is the coolest legendary with the coolest lore, and Giovanni has the most aura out of any villain in the series.
by HandsomeSwampBeast