Team Rocket first appeared in Pokemon Red and Blue, with the player stopping several of their plots and schemes throughout the game. The team supposedly disbanded after the player defeated their leader Giovanni in a gym battle, but they later resurfaced three years later in the Johto region. In Pokemon Gold and Silver, the player forces Team Rocket to permanently disband after stopping several more plots, including a plot to force Magikarp to evolve using soundwaves.

Newly released Japanese download cards for the upcoming Pokemon games show what appear to be members of Team Rocket, the iconic villains of the first two pairs of Pokemon games. The cards show members of the organization dressed entirely in black and wearing their distinctive newsboy caps. Another image on the card appears to show the protagonist standing in front of Lusamine's mansion, which has been adorned with a distinctive rainbow-colored "R" sign.

What Is Team Rocket Doing?

The presence of Team Rocket on these cards adds fuel to the rumors that Pokemon fans will finally return to the Kanto region in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The Pokemon Company revealed last month that players would be able to travel to different areas via interdimensional travel and battle powerful Legendary Pokemon from other regions. Mewtwo, which has long been connected to Team Rocket in the anime and manga, was explicitly confirmed as one of the Pokemon that players could battle. Of course, since Team Rocket appears to have taken over a Alolan building, it's also possible that players will either travel to an alternate dimension where Team Rocket has invaded OR Team Rocket will appear as some sort of post-game content.

We should also note that Red, the character who stopped Team Rocket in the original games, made a cameo appearance in Pokemon Sun and Moon, now much older but still using his powerful team of Kanto Pokemon.

Curiously, a rumor indicated several months ago that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon players would be able to fight the antagonists of old Pokemon games, something that's seemingly been confirmed with this announcement. That same leak also (correctly) indicated that new Ultra Beasts would appear in the game and also stated that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon would have new Alolan forms of classic Pokemon. That rumor obviously hasn't been confirmed, but it's looking distinctively more possible than it did before.

We'll likely get a new trailer confirming the addition of Team Rocket later this week. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon comes out on November 17th.