Team Plasma Grunt (Trainer class)

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Team Plasma Grunt
プラズマだんのしたっぱ Team Plasma Underling
Black 2 White 2 Team Plasma Grunts.png
Art from Black 2 and White 2
Other names
Introduced in Generation V
Appears in Black and White
Black 2 and White 2
Gender Both
Counterpart {{{counterpart}}}
Notable members Togari, Angie, Nero, Bianco, Brad
Anime debut BW112
TCG debut [[(TCG)|]]
TCG card {{{card}}}
Manga debut An Odd Speech (Adventures)

A Team Plasma Grunt (Japanese: プラズマだんのしたっぱ Team Plasma Underling) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation V games. They are members of Team Plasma. There are male and female versions. In Black and White, they dress similarly to knights from the Middle Ages. In Black 2 and White 2, they have switched over to a uniform that is darker and more militaristic in appearance and functionality. However, the older uniform still exists in those games as well.

They tend to usually use Patrat, Sandile, Scraggy, Purrloin, and Trubbish along with their respective evolutions. In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, they are seen with a more diverse pool of Pokémon, using Pokémon from other regions, mainly consisting of Poison-, Steel-, and Dark-type Pokémon. They share a majority of their non-Unova Pokémon with Team Rocket Grunts.

In the games

In Pokémon Black and White, Team Plasma Grunts act hypocritically, as they fight for Pokémon liberation yet keep their own Pokémon to battle with. They defend themselves saying that their purposes are different from those from the regular Trainers, whereas N seems to catch nearby wild Pokémon for battle and release them after, and the Seven Sages refrain from battling and call upon grunts instead. In fact, N, Ghetsis and the Team Plasma Grunts are the only Team Plasma members to even battle the player. Although they preach living in peace with Pokémon, some of them still abuse Pokémon, such as two grunts kicking a Munna for its Dream Mist. They also treat Pokémon as tools, such as when one grunt states that N's Castle was built by overworking the Pokémon they had captured.

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Team Plasma is broken into two different forces, each with different purposes. One force still vows loyalty to N. They have seen the error of their ways and have decided to do good in Unova by setting up a safehouse in Driftveil City under the head of Rood and returning the Pokémon they stole to their Trainers as well as taking care of the ones that haven't been claimed. Some individual former members have gone on their own journeys to prove themselves such as Backpacker Mae at Victory Road. Ghetsis is the leader of the newer force, which intends to take over Unova. Many Team Plasma members sided with Ghetsis and hold a grudge against their former leader N for his betrayal, and wear their new uniforms as a sign of rebellion. Some grunts are clueless about the events that took place two years ago, hoping that N will someday return or have joined for the sake of continuing their careers. After the defeat of Ghetsis, Colress disbands the new Team Plasma and some of the members from this faction have decided to follow the new regime.

Appearance

 
Official artwork from
Black and White


           
Sprites from
Black and White
Overworld sprites from
Generation V
Sprites from
Black 2 and White 2
Overworld sprites from
Black 2 and White 2

Pokémon

Black and White

 
Patrat
 
Watchog
 
Purrloin
 
Liepard
 
Sandile
 
Krokorok
 
Krookodile
 
Scraggy
 
Scrafty
 
Trubbish
 
Garbodor


Black 2 and White 2

 
Rattata
 
Raticate
 
Zubat
 
Golbat
 
Magnemite
 
Grimer
 
Muk
 
Koffing
 
Weezing
 
Sneasel
 
Zangoose
 
Seviper
 
Skorupi
 
Drapion
 
Patrat
 
Watchog
 
Purrloin
 
Liepard
 
Venipede
 
Whirlipede
 
Scolipede
 
Sandile
 
Krokorok
 
Krookodile
 
Scraggy
 
Scrafty
 
Trubbish
 
Garbodor
 
Foongus
 
Amoonguss
 
Pawniard
 
Deino


Trainer list

Pokémon Black and White


Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

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In the anime

 
Team Plasma Grunts in the anime

Several Plasma Grunts made an appearance in BW112, debuting in their new outfits. They were protecting Colress while he was conducting his research of how to control wild Pokémon with special sonic devices. After Team Rocket had arrived and stolen his research data, Colress and the Grunts left, destroying the place with a self-destruct mechanism as they did. They also served a payback for Team Rocket for their deeds by blowing up their balloon with a missile fired from their aircraft, sending the trio blasting off again.

A trio of Plasma Grunts appeared in BW118, where they were sent on a mission to seize N.

They were originally supposed to appear in their older uniforms in BW023 (unaired) and BW024 (unaired) in a confrontation with Team Rocket, but the episode was postponed due to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and, as of BW112, retconned from continuity.

Unlike previous villainous teams in the anime, some Plasma Grunts have been referred to by name. Angie, a grunt based on the female Plasma Grunt design from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, has seen assisting Colress, and seems to have a slightly higher position amongst the grunts. Two male grunts, Nero and Bianco, served as antagonistic characters of the day; attacking N when he tried to free an injured Braviary. In BW118, Brad appeared, a grunt based on the male Plasma Grunt design from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. He, with two other Grunts, attacked the house where N, Anthea, and Concordia were hiding. Like Angie, he seems to have a slightly higher position than the other grunts.

  This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: voice actors

Pokémon

Plasma Grunt's Magnemite
Magnemite
A Plasma Grunt used a Magnemite to slow Ash and his friends down before entering the abandoned observatory which Colress was using as the site of his research. It was later used again by the same Grunt in BW119, in an attempt to fight off Team Rocket.

Another Plasma Grunt used a Magnemite in BW120, alongside Brad's Magnezone, in Team Plasma's assault on the White Ruins.

Magnemite's only known move is SonicBoom.

Debut BW112
Plasma Grunt's Golbat
Golbat
A Plasma Grunt used a Golbat to slow Ash and his friends down before entering the abandoned observatory which Colress was using as the site of his research. It was later used again by the same grunt in BW119, in an attempt to fight off Team Rocket.

Another Plasma Grunt used a Golbat in BW120, in Team Plasma's assault on the White Ruins.

Golbat's only known move is Shadow Ball.

Debut BW112
Plasma Grunt's Muk
Muk
The same Plasma Grunt that used Magnemite in BW112 used Muk while battling against Ash and his friends who were trying to stop the Grunts from getting to N, Anthea, and Concordia. Muk battled against Iris's Excadrill, and was finally defeated with a Focus Blast.

Muk's only known move is Sludge Bomb.

Debut BW118
Plasma Grunt's Liepard (multiple)
Liepard (multiple)
The same Plasma Grunt that used Golbat in BW112 used Liepard while battling against Ash and his friends, who were trying to stop the Grunts from getting to N, Anthea, and Concordia. Liepard battled against Cilan's Pansage, and was eventually defeated with a Bullet Seed.

Several Plasma Grunts used multiple Liepard in BW120, in Team Plasma's assault on the White Ruins.

Liepard's only known move is Hyper Beam.

Debut BW118
Plasma Grunt's Bisharp
Bisharp
A single Plasma Grunt used a Bisharp in BW120, in Team Plasma's assault on the White Ruins.

None of Bisharp's moves are known.

Debut BW120
Plasma Grunt's Zangoose (multiple)
Zangoose (multiple)
Several Plasma Grunts used multiple Zangoose in BW120, in Team Plasma's assault on the White Ruins.

None of Zangoose's moves are known.

Debut BW120

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Two Team Plasma Grunts made their first appearance in An Odd Speech where they accidentally disturbed the camping site of Black and White while they were building a stage. After showing them that they have the proper permit to build the stage, Black and White apologize for sleeping there and move to another location to let them finish building.

Three female Plasma Grunts make an appearance at the Dreamyard in Battle at the Dreamyard where they capture Black's Munna, Musha. After tracking them down, Black faces the Grunts in battle and defeats them, retrieving his Musha in the process.

The same three Grunts return in The Mystery of the Missing Fossil where they steal the Dragon-type Fossil held in the Nacrene Museum. Using a Cofagrigus to manipulate the skeleton, they were able to make it walk around as if it was alive. They were stopped by Black and the Gym Leader Burgh when they defeated the Cofagrigus.

A Plasma Grunt takes Bianca's Litwick in Big City Battles with the help of his Amoonguss. Black, Iris, White and Burgh help Bianca retrieve her missing Pokémon by defeating the Amoonguss in which Black was able to do so by using Nite as he had the type-advantage against Amoonguss.

Three other Plasma Grunts make an appearance in At Liberty on Liberty Garden at an island called Liberty Garden. They were after the Victini that was in there. However, the Grunts were stopped thanks to Black and his team.

Pokémon

Team Plasma's Timburr
Timburr (multiple)
These Timburr were used to build a stage for an upcoming speech in Accumula Town. Mistaking them for attackers, Black stopped one of them but apologized once he realized his mistake.

None of Timburr's moves are known.

Debut An Odd Speech
Plasma Grunt's Watchog
Watchog
Watchog was used to attack Black so the three Grunts could steal his Musha. Because Black only saw its striped pattern when he was attacked, he mistook the pattern as the face of a much larger Pokémon. Later, Watchog battled Black again but was defeated when Black exposed its true form which allowed him to know where to attack. Afterward, it was adopted by Fennel and Amanita.

None of Watchog's moves are known.

Debut Battle at the Dreamyard
Plasma Grunt's Cofagrigus
Cofagrigus
Cofagrigus was used to manipulate the Dragon-type Fossil to make it appear to move. It was eventually found out by Black and was defeated with the help of Burgh.

None of Cofagrigus's moves are known.

Debut The Mystery of the Missing Fossil
Plasma Grunt's Amoonguss
Amoonguss
Amoonguss appeared when it knocked out Bianca in order for a Plasma grunt to take away her Litwick. In the next chapter, it was revealed that it put Bianca to sleep with its spores. Black had a battle with it using his newly evolved Pignite at the time and defeated Amoonguss.

Amoonguss's only known move is Spore.

Debut Big City Battles
Gothorita (×2)
Gothorita (×2)
Team Plasma has two Gothorita. They battled Black's Nite, Musha and Tula as a way to occupy them so Team Plasma can get Victini. The Gothorita ended up being taken out by Black's Pokémon.

None of Gothorita's moves are known.

Debut At Liberty on Liberty Garden
Plasma Grunt's Gothitelle
Gothitelle
While Team Plasma were at Liberty Garden to catch Victini, one of the grunts had Gothitelle create a psychic force field to prevent anyone from leaving the island. Later, it hypnotized the people (except for Black, White and Team Plasma themselves) to drive them away. Afterwards, Gothitelle went after the Victini with Black's Brav on the trail. Gothitelle was able to dodge most of Brav's attacks and severely hurt him after he stood in front of Victini to protect it. However, Gothitelle ended up getting hit by Brav when he received a power-up from Victini earlier and finishes Gothitelle off with Brave Bird, defeating it. With Gothitelle defeated, the psychic force field wears off and the hypnosis wears off as well. With everything back to normal, Team Plasma withdraw from Liberty Garden.

None of Gothitelle's moves are known.

Debut At Liberty on Liberty Garden
Plasma Grunt's Maractus
Maractus
A Team Plasma Grunt in disguise as a worker used a Maractus after Elite Four member Grimsley found out that he was not one of the actual workers. Grimsley was able to take out Maractus using his Bisharp's Fury Cutter.

Maractus's known moves are Petal Dance and Cotton Guard.

Debut Sandstorm
Team Plasma's Vanillite
Vanillite
Vanillite was sent out to attack Black at the Cold Storage. By creating a wall of ice that acted like mirrors, Vanillite managed to confuse Black. By using Berries to focus Nite's flames, Black managed to melt the ice and quickly knocked Vanillite out.

None of Vanillite's moves are known.

Debut ABW31
Team Plasma's Beartic
Beartic (×2)
Two Beartic were sent out to attack Black at the Cold Storage after Vanillite was defeated. By using their ice attacks, they prevented Black's Nite from attacking. After Black and Cheren rescued Cheren's Snivy, the Beartic were defeated by a combination of Grass and Fire Pledge.

Beartic's only known move is Icicle Crash.

Debut ABW31

In the TCG

This is a listing of cards mentioning or featuring Team Plasma Grunts in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Related cards
Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.
Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card Type English
Expansion
Rarity # Japanese
Expansion
Rarity #
Team Plasma Grunt Su Plasma Storm   125/135 Plasma Gale   065/070
      Team Plasma's Powered Half Deck   015/017
      Team Plasma Battle Gift Set   014/016
      BW-P Promotional cards   176/BW-P
 




King: N (animeAdventuresMasters)
Seven Sages: Ghetsis (Masters) • GormBroniusRoodZinzolinGialloRyoku
Notable members: Shadow TriadAnthea and ConcordiaColress (Masters)
Lower members: Team Plasma GruntsTogari*Aldith*
Schwarz and Weiss*Barret*Whitley*Whitley's mother*
Buildings: N's CastleP2 LaboratoryPlasma Frigate


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