>>50285778It must be reminded that the localization censored the intention, of "Rocket *Gang*". "Team" is nonsense.
The games don't need plots driven by antagonists---no matter whether an organization or individuals---in order to be good stories or an enjoyable experience. Nevertheless, that the plots are structured that way is really not detrimental to the experience as contrarians on this board would have you believe.
The villainous organizations after Team Rocket get criticized for having nonsensical motivations and plans. This is often set up as a contrast to Team Rocket, where the gang has a very clear purpose---to make money---that lends itself to activities that don't bloat in terms of scale and stakes, and grounds those activities believably; you don't have to question why anyone would join Team Rocket, because the motive is simply profit. With nearly every other Team, if you think hard enough about it, you have to wonder how anyone sane would consider joining them---there's no personal benefit / incentives and the ideological motivations are too narrow to have a believably wide enough appeal to get the numbers for such large organizations.
In short, Team Rocket is cared about not necessarily because it was the first (although that certainly does play a part), but because it does things differently in a significant way that its successors don't, a way that resonates with a sizeable portion of the fanbase.
