Team Magma

Team Magma (Japanese: マグマ団 Magma-dan, literally Magma Gang) is one of two villainous teams found in the Hoenn region, alongside their rivals, Team Aqua. In Generation III, Team Magma's ultimate goal is to expand the amount of landmass in the world, while in Generation VI, their goal is to create a world for human progress bymaking Groudon undergo Primal Reversion.

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In the games
Team Magma appears only in the Hoenn-based games Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, as well as their remakes Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where they scheme to bring Groudon out of its slumber.

Generally, Team Magma Grunts have weaker Pokémon, with Zubat and Poochyena (and Koffing in Omega Ruby) plentiful among them, however, they also use Pokémon of other types; typically they are Ground-type and Fire-type Pokémon such as Numel (and Baltoy in Emerald). The team is headed by Maxie and his two immediate subordinates Tabitha and Courtney.

In Ruby
Though they are first encountered early in the game, their first major plot is to use a Meteorite to cause Mt. Chimney to erupt and expand the land. When this is thwarted by the player, they set themselves up in Lilycove City's cove, planning their next moves. Their final action in the storyline is to steal a submarine from Slateport harbor, which they use to travel to the Seafloor Cavern with the Blue Orb, where Groudon awaits. Having picked the wrong orb, Groudon is enraged instead of controlled, and starts to scorch Hoenn at the Cave of Origin in Sootopolis City where it is controlled with the correct orb and must be captured by the player or defeated.

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In Sapphire
Team Magma is relegated to a supporting role in Sapphire, with Team Aqua instead performing the same actions (with different reasoning) and awakening Kyogre instead.

In Emerald
Team Magma's deeds are partly the same in Pokémon Emerald as they are in Ruby and Sapphire, with the plot to cause Mt. Chimney's eruption featured, as well as a new plot to steal rocket fuel from the Mossdeep Space Center. Groudon is eventually awakened deep within a cavern used by Team Magma deep inside of Mt. Chimney. Both Team Magma's Maxie and Team Aqua's Archie realize what they've done has caused a terrible disaster, and make peace with one another after Groudon and Kyogre have been taken care of by Rayquaza.

In Omega Ruby
In Pokémon Omega Ruby, Team Magma's role in the story remains largely the same but their motivation has been significantly altered. While in the original versions of Ruby and Sapphire Team Magma saw a world with more landmass as ideal for both Pokémon and humans, in Omega Ruby Team Magma wishes to put an end to the misguided ideal of coexistence and expand the land to give humanity more space on which to build and develop civilization. This puts them in direct opposition to Team Aqua, who in this version of the story believe that the sea must be expanded to wipe out human civilization so that Pokémon may live without interference. Their schemes to obtain the Devon Parts, Meteorite, and Captain Stern's submarine are still intact, but are altered to the purpose of awakening Groudon and triggering its Primal Reversion via the Red Orb. Upon awakening it, however, the Legendary Pokémon's Desolate Land Ability nearly parches the entirety of Hoenn until the player successfully captures or defeats Primal Groudon. The ensuing flow of energy from the Cave of Origin leads to the two leaders, feeling remorseful for enforcing their will on nature at the risk of everything, resolving to start over the foundations of their teams in friendship.

Post-game, a division led by a distraught Courtney seeks to revive Project AZOTH for the renewal of Maxie's dream, in the wake of his recent guilt and demeanor. Upon their failure and defeat in Mossdeep's Space Center, Courtney is summoned back to the Magma Hideout in Lilycove. Upon her tearful apology, a surprised Maxie agrees to forgive her actions on one condition: that she forgive his aloofness and ruthlessness, and start over in Team Magma's mission with him. From this point on, rather than disbanding, Team Magma assumes a friendlier role working to rework their humanitarian ambitions for Hoenn, with the player welcome to visit the team in their hideout at any given time.

In the main series
Team Magma in the anime

Like Team Rocket, Team Magma appeared in the second episode of their own series, but their rivals, Team Aqua, did not make an appearance until several episodes later. Much of the time, their focus was on uncovering clues about the location of Groudon, in the hope of using its power to restore land, though they often did not find anything useful. Team Magma and Team Aqua confronted each other in A Three Team Scheme! and Fight for the Meteorite!. They eventually clashed in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends, and their feud ended in a destructive fight between the two super-ancient Pokémon, Groudon and Kyogre.

Unlike Giovanni, Maxie himself never so much as picked up a Poké Ball, instead allowing his underlings to do the fighting for him. Tabitha generally oversaw the activities of the team, while Courtney did not appear at all. Brodie infiltrated many places as a master of disguise, however, it is unknown whether his rank is above that of a Grunt or not. Formerly, Butler from Jirachi: Wish Maker worked as a scientist for Team Magma, intending to resurrect a Groudon from a Fossil, but was fired when he was unable to bring the project to fruition.

Team Magma's usual Pokémon include Golbat, Houndoom, and Mightyena. Brodie's team includes a sly Ditto, complimenting his nature, and Golbat. Team Magma seems to be well resourced detailed knowledge of the ancient world, rare treasures in their possession, heat-seeking glasses and helicopter transport. The grunts respect those of higher rank and Maxie's orders are always heeded.

In Pokémon Generations
Team Magma in Pokémon Generations

Team Magma appeared in The Vision, where their hideout was infiltrated by Brendan. Maxie, Tabitha, and a small division of Grunts left for the Seafloor Cavern with the Submarine Explorer 1 while Courtney stayed behind to battle and stall Brendan.

Ruby & Sapphire chapter
Team Magma are depicted at first as a lesser force compared to Team Aqua; their hideout is confined to a hole in the desert, and movement of the team in large numbers is often limited. Also, due to Aqua Leader Archiebeing in charge of Hoenn TV at the time, Team Magma operations were frequently reported by the media. However, Team Magma knew about the existence of the Red and Blue Orbs before Team Aqua did, so were able to claim an advantage, albeit temporary, over their rivals during the climax of this chapter.

Operations were mainly carried out by the Three Fires, a trio of Magma Admins. They successfully stole the Scanner from the Abandoned Ship, using them to track the Orbs to Mt. Pyre where they stole them from the elderly couple that lived atop the mountain.

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire chapter
Team Magma's awareness of the Orbs may have been passed to them by Zinnia during a flashback in this chapter.

Despite the return of the original team leader Maxie, there existed a new incarnation of the team known as Neo Team Magma (Japanese: 新生マグマ団 Neo Magma Gang), headed by new incarnations of Courtney and Tabitha, who claimed that their names were simply codenames used by Magma Admins. This team mainly served to cooperate with Zinnia.

In the TCG
Team Magma is featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game in the EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua and Double Crisis expansions. Their ambitions and specialties in the trading card game are reflected in other mediums like the anime and games. Unlike Team Rocket, which initially featured Dark Pokémon as an emphasis for their status as a villainous team, evolved Pokémon belonging to Team Magma are dual Darkness-type in the EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua set. This mechanic would also be used in EX Team Rocket Returns for Team Rocket-related Pokémon.