Team Plasma: N, Ghetsis and the Liberation of Pokémon

What if the villains were right? That's the question posed by Team Plasma, the most unsettling organization in the saga: it doesn't steal Pokémon to sell them, it demands that they be freed because they are supposedly enslaved. Behind this rhetoric hide a young king who truly hears the voice of Pokémon and a man with a monocle who made it all up. Here is the story of Unova's team, from its public rallies to the fusion of Kyurem.

Contents

• An organization that campaigns instead of plundering
• N, the king who hears the voice of Pokémon
• Ghetsis, the true face of Team Plasma
• The Seven Sages and the Shadow Triad
• The plan in Black and White
• Reshiram and Zekrom, truth versus ideals
• The finale: a castle over the League
• Black 2 and White 2: two Team Plasmas
• Kyurem, the DNA Splicers and the fusion
• What becomes of N, Ghetsis and Team Plasma
• Team Plasma at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

An organization that campaigns instead of plundering

Team Plasma is the organization that runs rampant in Unova, and its methods have nothing in common with those of the teams that came before it. It campaigns for the liberation of Pokémon, which it sees as enslaved by Trainers, and it champions that cause in the public square rather than by breaking into laboratories.

The player first encounters the organization during a speech in Accumula Town, surrounded by onlookers who listen, nod and walk away troubled. The team holds real rallies, hands out leaflets and has a genuine political dimension: it's the first time an antagonist in the saga seeks support rather than fear.

📢 Rallies, leaflets, onlookers walking away troubled from the Accumula Town speech: Team Plasma campaigns instead of breaking into laboratories. Showing a conviction without saying a word can come down to a small badge pinned to your jacket lapel, like the ones among our Pokémon pins.

Its argument is all the more effective because it's hard to refute. Should a creature really be shut inside a Poké Ball just to make it fight? The conversations with the team's leader are designed to make the player question themselves, and many of Unova's residents are won over.

The hierarchy, however, remains opaque. The organization has a "king", seven high-ranking sages, a rank and file of grunts in knight's uniforms — and, somewhere in the shadows, a man pursuing a strictly personal goal. It's this hidden agenda that leads the detective Looker to open an investigation.

N, the king who hears the voice of Pokémon

Team Plasma's king is called N, full name Natural Harmonia Gropius. Green hair, a cube in his hand, the quirks of a child prodigy: this boy has a rare gift, the ability to hear and understand what Pokémon say, and he has had it since birth.

His story is a tragedy. Abandoned because of this ability, he grew up deep in the forest, with only a Zorua, a Darmanitan and two Woobat for family, until a man found him and adopted him. He was then raised alongside Anthea and Concordia, two other orphans.

That's where the trap closes. The only Pokémon his adoptive father let him spend time with were victims of human cruelty: maimed, abandoned, broken. The child logically concluded that Trainers were tormentors and that Pokémon battles were barbaric. His education was completed by the team's seven sages.

So N is not a villain but a manipulated boy, with a childlike naivety and so gifted at mathematics that he can visualize the equations governing the Nimbasa City Ferris wheel. Only two things can set him free: the legend of the two dragons in search of a hero, and a player whose Pokémon are plainly happy.

Ghetsis, the true face of Team Plasma

The man who built Team Plasma is called Ghetsis, full name Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius. Red monocle, a cape adorned with stylized eyes, magnificent oratory: he's one of the few characters rotten to the core in the entire Pokémon universe, devoid of morals and boundlessly megalomaniacal.

His plan has a perverse elegance. Get every Pokémon in the region released, thereby disarming Trainers and Gym Leaders, and remain the only one who commands their power. Liberation isn't a cause, it's a weapon: Ghetsis wants nothing less than to rule the world.

He chose N as a child, crowned him king and raised him to be a figurehead. The word that keeps coming out of his mouth is "pawn": his sages, his grunts, his adopted son are nothing but tools. His talent as an orator wins over a sizable share of Unova's residents, but neither the Gym Leaders nor Champion Alder are fooled.

In battle, the man with the monocle fields a formidable team spearheaded by Hydreigon, backed by Cofagrigus, Eelektross or Toxicroak. A three-headed dragon for a three-faced man: the symbolism is crystal clear.

The Seven Sages and the Shadow Triad

Team Plasma's high command bears a name that sounds like something out of a fairy tale: the Seven Sages. Their names are Bronius, Giallo, Gorm, Rood, Ryoku and Zinzolin, and their leader is none other than Ghetsis. A delightful detail of the French version, where they are called Alezan, Auric, Azuro, Carmine, Glaucus and Lilien: all six names are shades of color.

Their role is to present themselves as N's servants and to slow the player's progress, usually by sending grunts after them. They are ultimately driven back by the region's Gym Leaders, who come to the protagonist's aid in front of the castle — one of the finest scenes in the whole Gym Leader gallery.

After the organization falls, the player helps Looker track down the six sages scattered across Unova, and each one hands over a TM when arrested. An elegant way to turn the post-crisis cleanup into a reward.

Then there's the most unsettling group of all: the Shadow Triad, three ninjas who serve Ghetsis with absolute loyalty. They're the ones who teleport the player, cover their master's retreats and, in Black 2 and White 2, come to avenge him on a cliff in Icirrus City.

The plan in Black and White

The first misdeeds are modest and consistent with the rhetoric: the team tries to get its hands on a Munna to control the dreams of Striaton City's residents and win them over to its cause, and two grunts steal a little girl's Pokémon on Route 3.

🌙 In Striaton City, Team Plasma tries to get its hands on a Munna to control the residents' dreams and win them over to its cause. At your place, nobody decides your nights for you: the only Pokémon that gets into your bedroom is the one you pick on one of our Pokémon duvet covers.

Next comes the museum in Nacrene City, where the grunts steal the skull of a dragon fossil — they believed it came from a legendary dragon. The item is eventually returned, and Ghetsis seizes the chance to polish his image by publicly handing Bianca back the Munna that had been snatched from her.

The real turning point comes in Nimbasa City, in a car of the Ferris wheel: there, N reveals to the player that he is the king of Team Plasma. Next come the Cold Storage in Driftveil City, then Chargestone Cave, at the end of which the player has to defeat N.

The climax comes at Dragonspiral Tower, in Icirrus City, which a squad blasts open with explosives. N gets there first and bonds with the region's legendary dragon, while the player sets off to find the stone of the complementary dragon in the Relic Castle of the Desert Resort, where Ghetsis taunts the heroes before vanishing.

Reshiram and Zekrom, truth versus ideals

According to Unova's mythology, Reshiram and Zekrom were born from the splitting of an Original Dragon, said to have founded the region. Each one sided with one of two quarreling brothers: Reshiram with the elder, who sought truth, and Zekrom with the one who pursued ideals.

The game applies this legend to the letter. In Pokémon Black, N tames Zekrom and the player awakens Reshiram from the Light Stone; in Pokémon White, it's exactly the opposite, with the Dark Stone. Each player therefore receives the dragon shown on the box art of their version — the one whose color contradicts the game's title.

This writing choice is one of the subtlest in the saga: the version you bought determines not only your legendary, but also the philosophical value the story assigns you. You never end up on the side of truth or of ideals by choice, but by the luck of the draw.

The two dragons have since become pillars of the pantheon, as sought-after as the Sinnoh pair among fans of Legendary Pokémon. Their monochrome silhouettes, white with a jet-engine tail versus black with a turbine, remain one of the most successful visual contrasts in the series.

The finale: a castle over the League

The ending of Pokémon Black and White is remarkably daring. N doesn't just challenge the player: he defeats the Elite Four and Champion Alder, then raises his own castle from underground, literally looming over the Pokémon League headquarters.

In the throne room, he restates his goal — a world of free Pokémon, separated from humans forever — then calls his dragon. The player's stone then reacts by releasing the rival dragon, which N invites the player to catch so that the duel of heroes can finally take place.

Once defeated, N above all loses the esteem of Ghetsis, who berates him in front of everyone and finally reveals his true face: the family tie, the manipulation, the personal ambition. He gives himself away twice by saying "I" where he should have said "Team Plasma."

Ghetsis is beaten in turn, then cornered — but a diversion by the Shadow Triad gives him a way out. N, for his part, confesses to the player that he couldn't win because he understood nothing about Pokémon, says his goodbyes and flies off on his dragon through the breach in the wall.

Black 2 and White 2: two Team Plasmas

Two years later, the organization has split into two enemy factions. This is the big addition of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, and a first in the saga: for once, a team isn't disbanded but divided by its own convictions.

On one side stands the former Team Plasma, still loyal to N, which wants to make amends for its past mistakes. Its members have turned their old base in Driftveil City into a shelter for lost or abandoned Pokémon, run by the sage Rood and later joined by the sage Gorm.

On the other stands the new Team Plasma, which still wants to conquer Unova by force. Ghetsis remains its master, puts the scientist Colress in charge with the sage Zinzolin as second-in-command, and swaps the knightly tunics for black uniforms with a far more military look.

The symbol of this new era is the Plasma Frigate, a flying warship that serves as a mobile headquarters. The two factions cross paths, argue and trade insults in the middle of the street in Driftveil City: the former comrades have become irreconcilable enemies.

Kyurem, the DNA Splicers and the fusion

Ghetsis's plan has changed scale. It's no longer about persuading anyone, but about seizing Kyurem, the Boundary Pokémon, and fusing it with N's dragon to wield a weapon capable of enslaving Unova. The player finds him in his cabin aboard the Plasma Frigate, on the way to the Giant Chasm.

Deep inside the cave, Ghetsis orders Kyurem to aim straight at the player character. It is N who steps in with his own dragon and blocks the Glaciate attack at the last second — before unwittingly playing right into his adoptive father's hands.

Ghetsis in fact uses the DNA Splicers to reduce N's dragon back to a stone and feed it to Kyurem: this is the birth of Black Kyurem in Black 2 and White Kyurem in White 2. His scepter also emits waves that block the mechanism of Poké Balls, making any capture impossible.

The monster is knocked out all the same, and immediately separates from the dragon it absorbed, which returns to its own form. Ghetsis then follows up with his six Pokémon, loses again, berates N one last time and vanishes, carried off by the Shadow Triad in a mental state that leaves him unable to threaten anyone ever again — he even leaves his scepter behind in the cave.

What becomes of N, Ghetsis and Team Plasma

N comes out of it best. Now a traveling Trainer, he has grasped how much other points of view matter, and he now devotes himself to protecting Unova's ecosystem. He hands his dragon back to the player as a stone, gives them an HM, and arranges to meet on a Friday at the foot of the Ferris wheel in Nimbasa City.

🎒 N, for his part, takes to the road again as a traveling Trainer to protect Unova's ecosystem, and arranges to meet the player one Friday at the foot of the Nimbasa City Ferris wheel. Your own comings and goings are less romantic, but they still deserve one of our Pokémon backpacks on your shoulders.

Colress, for his part, keeps his distance: his loyalty to Ghetsis erodes as the team piles up its misdeeds. After the League, you can battle him on the Plasma Frigate, and he gives the player a Master Ball when they first meet — the scientist was never a fanatic, just a curious mind in bad company.

The former Team Plasma keeps caring for abandoned Pokémon in Driftveil City, while after the League the sage Zinzolin reveals that Ghetsis left behind a scroll that makes it possible to decipher the Abyssal Ruins. The inscriptions there speak of a king who once ruled over Unova, and whose name is illegible.

As for Ghetsis, he resurfaces much later, as a lieutenant of Team Rainbow Rocket in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, alongside the other fallen bosses. This reunion of the saga's villains remains the finest tribute ever paid to those great criminal organizations.

Team Plasma at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What does Team Plasma really want?
  Officially, Team Plasma campaigns for the liberation of Pokémon, which it considers enslaved by Trainers. In reality, its founder Ghetsis wants every Pokémon in the region released in order to disarm Trainers and remain the only one who can command their power.
• Who is N in Pokémon Black and White?
  N, full name Natural Harmonia Gropius, is the king of Team Plasma. An orphan able to hear the voices of Pokémon from birth, he grew up in the forest with a Zorua, a Darmanitan and two Woobat, before being adopted by Ghetsis, who only ever let him meet Pokémon that had suffered human cruelty.
• Who is the real leader of Team Plasma?
  It is Ghetsis, full name Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius, N's adoptive father. One of the Seven Sages, he built Team Plasma on his own and crowned N as a figurehead king. He then leads the splinter branch of the organization in Black 2 and White 2.
• Which legendary dragon does N get?
  In Pokémon Black, N tames Zekrom and the player awakens Reshiram from the Light Stone. In Pokémon White, it is the other way around. Each Trainer therefore receives the dragon shown on the box art of their version, the one whose color contradicts the game's title.
• What changes in Black 2 and White 2?
  Two years later, Team Plasma has split into two rival groups. The former Team Plasma, loyal to N, has turned its Driftveil City base into a shelter for abandoned Pokémon, under the care of the sage Rood. The new Team Plasma, led by Ghetsis with the scientist Colress and the sage Zinzolin, still wants to conquer Unova and operates from the Plasma Frigate.
• What are Black Kyurem and White Kyurem?
  They are the forms obtained by fusing Kyurem with another legendary dragon. In the Giant Chasm, Ghetsis uses the DNA Splicers to reduce N's dragon to a stone and feed it to Kyurem, which produces Black Kyurem in Black 2 and White Kyurem in White 2. Once the monster is defeated, the two Pokémon separate again.

In short

Team Plasma will remain the organization that dared to ask the one question the saga carefully avoided: what if catching Pokémon was not so innocent after all? By entrusting that question to a sincere boy and letting a manipulator turn it into a weapon, Unova delivers one of the most grown-up storylines in the series — the one where you beat the villain without ever being quite sure you were right.