Team Esteta

> "For beauty! For art! For Esteta!" — Tempera, Venezio and Federico
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Team Esteta is the evil team in the Antoria region. They first appeared in the "What if Italy was a Pokémon region?" video.

## Mission

Team Esteta members believe that the inhabitants of Antoria have lost their sense of art and culture, and thus they want to try and inspire them with their own art, even though their work is often somewhat destructive.

## History

Team Esteta was founded sometime before the events in the Antoria region's story by Federico, despite Venezio and Tempera attempting to show him that some people in Antoria still cared about beauty and art.

The player meets Team Esteta for the first time when they arrive in the Ostumi-based city, where the Grunts are painting the white buildings with lively colors. The player defeats some Grunts and, despite their refusal to give him information about where their boss is, eventually finds the leader Federico standing in a square with a colored fountain. Federico sighs as he notices the player has defeated the Grunts, then explains Team Esteta's mission to the player, telling them that their cause is just despite their negative reputation. Federico then grimaces at the player's attempt to battle him and leaves, commanding an unseen person to take care of the player. The player is then met with Team Esteta admin Tempera, who challenges them to a battle, not before laughing at the player for having mistaken her for a wild Pokémon. When defeated, she cries and rallies up the Grunts, and Team Esteta leaves the town.

Later on, in the "Tuscan countryside" town, the player notices a group of Team Esteta Grunts running to the Florence city. After they find out the Gym Leader isn't in town, the player reaches the Florence city, only to see that the buildings have been sculpted into different forms and statues. After battling several Grunts, the player reaches a square where Venezio is showing off to the people of the city, standing on a statue of himself; the admin invites the player to pull up a chair and "bask in the beauty before [them]", and when the player is not impressed he jumps off the statue and runs away, chased by the Florentines.

Venezio is found again in the Milan city, where he's upset that nobody is noticing him as he shows off. Angered, he challenges the player to a Pokémon battle, and upon losing runs off, claiming that he'll defeat the player when he meets them again.

The player meets Team Esteta again when, while roaming in the Venice city during the carnival, they see a Team Esteta Grunt (in the video portrayed as a female Grunt) amidst the crowd. Then the lights all go off, and two lanterns are lit up on a stage, where Venezio and Tempera are standing. The two speak to the crowd, trying to get them to embrace the art and culture they forgot about, but the crowd doesn't seem to take them seriously. As the two try to explain Team Esteta's motives and goals, the player makes their way to the stage, battling some Team Esteta Grunts who are blending into the crowd. Tempera and Venezio are initially rather scared, but then Venezio suggests Tempera help him out in order to defeat the player in a Double Battle, to which Tempera agrees. When defeated, the two are admired at the player's skill in Pokémon battles. On Venezio's suggestion, Tempera asks the player if he can go and see Federico to show him through a Pokémon battle that someone in Antoria still cares about beauty and art. Venezio explains how Federico wouldn't believe there was still love for art in the region despite their efforts to show him that, and claims the player might be the one to show him; he then informs the player on the location of Team Esteta's castle. The two admins then flee on a motorboat.

The player later reaches Team Esteta's castle in Urbino. There, after battling several Grunts, he finds Federico and Renaistone, which Federico intends to use to inspire the Antorians' sense of art, much like what the Pokémon did during the Renaissance. The Team Esteta leader once more laments the team's villainous reputation in spite of their positive goal, then tells the player that they do look like they have an appreciation for Antoria's history and art, and challenges them to a Pokémon battle to see if that is truly the case. After losing, Federico is convinced that the player understands his love for art and his motive, but he still laments that most Antorian people don't seem to share that sentiment. Suddenly though Venezio and Tempera break in, along with a crowd of Antorian people; as Federico asks what's the meaning of all that, the two explain that they found out that many Antorian people were indeed inspired by Team Esteta's actions. Upon seeing the same, Federico is now glad that Team Esteta managed to awaken the love of art into people and thanks Venezio and Tempera. Later on, Federico thanks the player as well, saying that he'll disband Team Esteta, but that the spirit of art and creation will live on.

## Common Pokémon

Team Esteta Grunts use Normal, Poison, Fairy and Ground-type Pokémon; some of the Pokémon they commonly use include Smeargle, Gulpin, Spritzee, Rhyhorn and Sandshrew. In the video "What if Italy was a Pokémon region?", a female Grunt was shown with a Gloom (which she was using to paint buildings).

## Notable Members

Federico is their leader and founder. The team's admins are Venezio and Tempera.

## Trivia

* The name "Esteta" comes from the Italian word for "aesthete", which is a person with a particular appreciation for art.

* Their outfits are inspired by the Carnival of Venice.

* A Team Esteta Grunt claims that it's a little hard to see through their masks.
* In the "What if Italy was a Pokémon region?" video, when some of the Pokémon commonly used by Team Esteta Grunts are shown, a normal Spritzee is shown, despite Spritzee having an Antorian regional variant.