Team Skull, Aether Foundation and Plot Discussion Thread [Contains Story Spoilers]

[Trainer Yusuf]

^I guess that will be it.

 

[Xyzandere]

Gladion seems like an Aether spy to me. He has similar characteristics to the other Aether members, and has no visible team skull symbols on his outfit (a big contrast to guzma and plumeria who have skulls all over)

 

[Janovy]

I just knew there had to be a secret villain team. Aether Foundation looks to be it!

 

[shadowF]

Anyone think Gladion can be the Silver of Sun and Moon?If so I am hyped!

 

[Aetius]

Oh my goodness!
Not only we were introduced to another Team Skull Admin (?) in Gladion, but we also got another group, which is even more mysterious than the former!
Let's analyze the new characters introduced!

Gladion: This guy is a riot! His poses are both epic and hilarious while his personality seems to be enjoyable, not to mention that he has an extremely mysterious Pokèmon as his companion...
Lusamine: She's gorgeous indeed! Another Pokègirl that I'll never forget! I wonder if she's really serious about her objective; it would kinda hurt to find out that the Aether Groupher group is just a bunch of hypocrites and villains..
Faba: He's strange in his demeanors.....Can't really say much about him, considering that we didn't see much...He's an intriguing character though.
Wicke: She doesn't wicked at all and look at DAT bosom. I hope we will be able to meet her lots of times durin our journey.

Oh, I had almost forgotten about Sina and Dexio!
I'm glad to know that we will meet them again!
I wonder if they'll get the chance to put their costumes on during their stay in Alola....
Either way, I'm sure they will be relevant characters during our adventure.
They will give us a Zygarde Core to collect all of the Cells around Alola after all.

 

[Rakurai]

When I saw the leader of Aether Foundation, he instantly looked pretty shifty to me.

I'm hoping the suspicions of them having hidden motives end up being true,

 

[Locormus]

The Aether Foundation:
- Lusamine: The President. We finally have the female villain boss.
- Fada: "Branch leader"
- Wicke: Assistant "Branch Leader"

Team Skull:
- Guzma
- Plumeria
- Gladion: The Enforcer... This guy just looks too much like Aether Foundation higher-ups... Speaking of looking like those peeps...

Lillie. Lillie looks exactly like the Aether Foundation members and Gladion. They all have the lime green eye-color.

Right now, I'm pretty certain that Team Skull is just the front to the Aether Foundation. Gladion and Lillie could be brother and sister and so could Lusamine for that matter. Fada could be the.. wait for it.. father.. while Wicke could be the mother I guess.. Lusamine even brings up the notion of family, likening herself to a mother of sorts to the pokémon on the Aether "Paradise". An obvious lie to mask the fact that they're not as samaritan as they seem to be.

I always had a feeling Team Skull wouldn't be the villains. They seem relatively small scale and not like they'd be too engaging narrative wise. But I actually like this way of masking the true evil team entirely even in marketing. They tried masking the team leader in gen 6, but that didn't really work.

It was the lion-mane hair and the black suit. I'm telling you.

What if they pull a ruby/sapphire and in one game, Skull ends up being the main villain team and in the other the aether foundation is?

Definitely not leaning this way. There's no way that Team Skull can take the place of the Aether Foundation in the other game. There's just too big a difference.

I just knew there had to be a secret villain team. Aether Foundation looks to be it!

Yup!

 

[Aleh]

Aether Organization doesn't really look evil to me, but certainly very suspicious. I'm guessing they may have done something bad in the past, in relation to Ultra Beasts probably, and then they tried to make up for it by helping pokemon and stuff. And maybe team skull will take advantage of their researches for their evil schemes. All in all, the clear lack of balance in the natural ecosystem with all these threatening beasts (that may not even be actually the threat) and abominations like the chimera pokemon, is sign Zygarde really will play an important role in the main storyline, imo.

 

[Mudster]

So on the page with Dexio and Sina - does it look like they're wearing mega bracelets?

I'm glad we're getting some reference to X and Y, even mentioning the 5 trainers. I wonder if we'll get to travel back to Kalos after all.

Aether Foundation look pretty cool too, I wonder if they genuinely are a good team, or simply cover for Team Skull

 

[Class Zero]

Aether Organization doesn't really look evil to me, but certainly very suspicious. I'm guessing they may have done something bad in the past, in relation to Ultra Beasts probably, and then they tried to make up for it by helping pokemon and stuff. And maybe team skull will take advantage of their researches for their evil schemes. All in all, the clear lack of balance in the natural ecosystem with all these threatening beasts (that may not even be actually the threat) and abominations like the chimera pokemon, is sign Zygarde really will play an important role in the main storyline, imo.

Huh, I figured the sidequest of going around the region collecting cores meant that he'd have no impact on the main story.

The fact that the main site says that "If you collect lots of Cores and Cells, the path to finding Zygarde in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon may become clear." I very much think it will be an optional side-quest.

 

[Aleh]

Huh, I figured the sidequest of going around the region collecting cores meant that he'd have no impact on the main story.

The fact that the main site says that "If you collect lots of Cores and Cells, the path to finding Zygarde in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon may become clear." I very much think it will be an optional side-quest.

Oh, didn't see that part. Though relegating it to just a side quest seems like a missed opportunity to make an even better story out of it, as it really fits with the other elements.

 

[SueChef]

I'd love for Gladion to have defected to Team Skull from the Aether Foundation after he realised they were using the pokemon in Frankenstein style DNA experiments (cause I don't think GameFreak would go whole hog and say body parts). He could rescue Type:Null from the Aethers. An anti-hero of sorts cause he's now the enforcer for Team Skull.

Also, definitely a resemblance between Lillie, Gladion and Lusamine. Perhaps the reason Lillie doesn't like to battle is because she met UB-01 (who took on her appearance), and saw the damage Lusamine was doing. So both Lillie and Gladion ran away but on different paths

 

[Hero of Truth]

I literally did not expected another potential villainous group after Team Skull for Sun/Moon. This was quite the surprise, and they may be the first villainous team in the core series to not be named 'Team something''. Another pattern broken.

I highly suspect Lusamine have a relationship with Lillie, family-wise. Their designs give off that vibe. Perhaps Lusamine is Lillie's mother?
Also, Gladion... am I the only one who gets reminded of Ghirahim from Zelda: Skyward Sword when I watch his segment of the new trailer?

The Ultra Beasts. What the **** are they?!

No comment on everything else. Except Alolan Raticate really needs to go on a diet lol

 

[Class Zero]

I didn't realise how much these games needed the Aether Foundation until they were revealed.. Like, from what we've seen now imagining a plot with just Team Skull comes across as super lackluster...

 

[JVLightningLover]

Oh Gladion....

Lusamine: Gerald, what have you done to your hair? And why aren't you wearing the white jumpsuit I bought you?

Gladion: God Mom, let me make my own choices! And I told to to call me Gladion!

Lusamine: And where do you think you're storming off to, young man?

Gladion: I'm going to build an unholy chimera of death. You wouldn't understand...

 

[Hejiru]

I think it speaks to RPG tropes when we get a reveal of a benevolent organization and everyone automatically assumes "they must be secretly evil"

 

[SilverFox]

Gladion easily made it onto my list of favorite Pokémon characters!!

 

[Dragon Pulse]

Team Skull and the Aether Foundation are definitely related in some way, and it all ties to Lillie. Gladion looks like he could be her brother while Lusamine could be her mother/sister. Maybe Gladion "betrayed" his siblings and mother by joining Team Skull, but Lusamine is actually the psychotic one and the betrayer?

 

[EmphaticPikachu]

I think it speaks to RPG tropes when we get a reveal of a benevolent organization and everyone automatically assumes "they must be secretly evil"

indeed


although alot of my beliefs regarding that stem sort of from the way the leader speaks...She's uh, *ahem*.

her emphasis on "love" almost seems forced lmao.

Not going to lie, them being perfectly reasonable people would probably end up being the "bigger" surprise at this point

 

[Aromatic Mist]

Oh Gladion....

Lusamine: Gerald, what have you done to your hair? And why aren't you wearing the white jumpsuit I bought you?

Gladion: God Mom, let me make my own choices! And I told to to call me Gladion!

Lusamine: And where do you think you're storming off to, young man?

Gladion: I'm going to build an unholy chimera of death. You wouldn't understand...

I know it's a joke, but I feel like Lusamine created Type: Null and thus alienated her child(ren), but Gladion takes Type: Null away with him. Seeing what he says about your Pokémon getting unnecessarily hurt, maybe a Pokémon of his died and is the core of Type: Null, possibly the Frankenstein's monster of Pokémon? It'd be a nice parallel to AZ'z Floette.

But yeah, seeing as how BW gave us an amazing plot and XYORAS added a lot of amazing back story and concepts (Time lines, the War, etc) and we now know that it at least links back to XY somehow, I'm really excited for SuMo's story: a first for a Pokémon game for me.