Team Skull

----
Team Skull (Japanese: Skull-dan, literally Skull Gang) is the villainous team living in the Alola region.
==In the core series games==
===Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon===
Team Skull appears in , . As revealed by some of their members, Team Skull is composed of misfits who failed the island challenge. They steal Pokémon from people, but unlike previous villainous teams, they do not have a specific goal other than to cause trouble and acquire enough money to support themselves. In stark contrast to previous villainous teams, they do not pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of Alola and its residents, the majority of whom consider them thuggish nuisances at worst.
Team Skull originated from a group that coalesced around one of Alola's kahunas. This group provoked the wrath of the four island deities and was struck down. The survivors became the first members of Team Skull. At some point, Team Skull took over Po Town on Ula'ula Island, driving away the original residents, vandalising the buildings with graffiti and structural damage along with generally preventing others from entering the town and hindering the flow of electricity.
The group is known to highly value kinship - many of the grunts are close friends with each other, the team's admin Plumeria treats her underlings like a caring older sibling and in return is respected by them for it, and several grunts mock Gladion for lacking friends in the team and technically not being a true member of Team Skull as hired work.
At some point, Lusamine became the secret benefactor of Team Skull, and they, in turn, started to carry out her orders. Not all of the members were aware of her influence - while Plumeria knew that Guzma respected Lusamine as she was the only older figure to acknowledge his strength, Lusamine's estranged son Gladion was only aware that Team Skull was after without knowing of their ties to the Aether Foundation president. Following Team Skull's kidnapping of Lillie and Nebby, Gladion immediately severed his ties with them and joined with Hau and the player to infiltrate and rescue them from Aether Paradise.
====Pokémon Sun and Moon====
After Guzma is rescued from Ultra Space by the player, he disbands Team Skull and its members go their separate ways. Guzma returns to his parents' house on Melemele Island, while Plumeria takes up residence in a camper on and later challenges the Alola . One Grunt becomes an apprentice chef under Mallow in Konikoni City, while two others in the Po Town Pokémon Center offer a Skull Tank for sale in order for them to make enough money to leave. Others are taken by Hala to train in Iki Town, deciding to become a rescue team and dubbing themselves "Team Reskull" (Japanese: タスカル団 Tasukaru-dan, literally Rescue Gang). Guzma is one of the former members taken under Hala's wing, but rather to help hone his potential and help him overcome his anger issues.
====Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon====
After has been stopped, Guzma disbands Team Skull, with most of its Grunts converting into s and in response. Like Plumeria, he takes up residence on Route 13 and challenges the Alola Pokémon League on occasion. He also assists the player in the fight against Team Rainbow Rocket during Episode RR after the organization captures Lusamine. "Team Reskull" does not appear in this version of the events.
==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Masters EX===
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
========
Team Skull debuted in Alola to New Adventure!, where three s, Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp, were seen harassing in front of the Pokémon School. Though the three Grunts outnumbered Kiawe and , the two Trainers emerged victorious through the combined efforts of Ash's Pikachu and Kiawe's Turtonator. This particular trio have become recurring characters, often appearing to cause trouble only to be stopped by Ash and Pikachu's . These three Grunts would go on to become recurring characters throughout Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon.
More Grunts appeared in a flashback in Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio!, where they were harassing a on the beach until intervened by freezing them solid with her Ride .
Team Skull fought in A Team-on-Team Tussle! over possession of a Darkinium Z, which multiple Rattata, , and a Totem Raticate were protecting. They lost after a wild showed up, scaring the Totem and Ally Pokémon away while Team Rocket unearthed the Darkinium Z from the hill it was embedded in.
 made his physical debut in A Glaring Rivalry!. Unlike the games, however, he is not associated with Team Skull in ; and is even shown defeating Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp in a battle.
Multiple Team Skull Grunts appeared in Turning Heads and Training Hard!, where Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp led them to the Pokémon School to battle Ilima. However, all the Grunts were eventually defeated by Ilima's .
Plumeria debuted in That's Some Spicy Island Research!.
Guzma debuted in The Dealer of Destruction!. After hearing the announcement of the upcoming Alola League, he decided to ruin the tournament.
In Battle Royal 151!, all the members of Team Skull entered the Manalo Conference, although only Guzma managed to get past the preliminary round. While Guzma competed, the Grunts created havoc and mischief around Manalo Stadium. In The Wisdom Not to Run!, after Guzma had been defeated by Ash in the semifinals, he attempted to dissolve the team, but the Grunts wanted to stay with Guzma, as they wanted him to teach them how to battle as well as he does.
========
In Helping the Hometown Hero!, Guzma appeared along with other members of Team Skull, watching the Battle Royal match between Ash, Kukui, , and .
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
========
Team Skull debuted The Grand Entrance and Delivery Boy Sun, where a couple of s tried to scam out of money they were supposed to give him from a hired job. Later, Guzma replaced a Grunt as a participant in the Iki Town festival, but was defeated by Sun.
Later, Guzma hired Gladion to work as an enforcer for Team Skull, leading him to Po Town, where Plumeria also made her first appearance. As a part of the Aether Foundation's plot to keep Team Skull active, Guzma was later given a to summon Ultra Beasts against the Trial Captains who had come to negotiate with them. This act inadvertently led to Guzma getting sucked into Ultra Space for multiple months, before he was returned to Alola.
At the end of the , Guzma planned to start a Malasada and shop with Hau.
===Movie adaptations===
A group of Team Skull members appears in ICYR2.
==In the TCG==
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Team Skull in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
==Trivia==
* Team Skull is the only core series villainous team introduced as of Generation VII to not be represented in Team Rainbow Rocket.
** Team Skull is also the only core series villainous team to make their debut in the first episode of a series of the .
* The lyrics to the Team Skull encounter theme contain the word "dokuro" (ドクロ), meaning "skull" in Japanese.
* In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pichu can wear the Team Skull cap as one of its palette swaps.
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	スカル団 Skull-dan 	From
English, French, German, Italian,Spanish, Dutch, European Portuguese	Team Skull 	Same as Japanese name
Korean 	스컬단 Skull-dan 	Same as Japanese name
Chinese () 	骷髏隊 / 骷髅队 Kūlóu Duì 	From 骷髏 / 骷髅 kūlóu, skull
Chinese () 	骷髏隊 Fūlòuh Déui 	From 骷髏 fūlòuh, skull
Czech 	Tým Skull 	Same as Japanese name
Finnish 	Kalloryhmä 	From kallo (skull)
Hindi 	टीम स्कल 	Transcription of English name
Hungarian 	Koponya Csapat 	From koponya (skull)
Indonesian 	Tim SkullTim Tengkorak 	From English/Japanese nameFrom tengkorak (skull)
Polish 	Zespół Czacha 	From augmentative form of "czaszka" (skull)
Brazilian Portuguese 	Equipe Skull 	From English name
Russian 	Команда Череп Komanda Cherep	From череп cherep (skull)
Latin American Spanish 	Equipo Skull 	Same as Japanese name
Vietnamese 	Nhóm Đầu lâu 	From "Đầu lâu" (skull)
Team Reskull
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	タスカル団 Tasukaru-dan 	From 助ける tasukeru (rescue), たくましい takumashi (bold), and スカル skull
English 	Team Reskull 	From skull and rescue
German 	Rettungsteam Skull 	From Rettungsteam (rescue team) and Team Skull
Italian 	Team Muskull 	From skull and muscoli (muscles)
Korean 	헬스컬단 Healthkull-dan 	From 헬시 healthy and 스컬 skull
Chinese ()	築樓隊 / 筑楼队 Zhúlóu Duì / Zhùlóu Duì 	From 建築工 / 建筑工 jiànzhú-gōng (construction work) and 骷髏 / 骷髅 kūlóu (skull)
Chinese ()	築樓隊 Jūklàuh Déui 	From 建築工 ginjūk-gūng (construction work) and 骷髏 fūlòuh (skull)
==Related articles==
* 
* Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
*
Skull
Category:Sun and Moon characters
Category:Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon characters
de:Team Skull
es:Team Skull
fr:Team Skull
it:Team Skull
ja:スカル団
zh:骷髏隊