J-Team Precursors

Over the centuries, various groups of mostly young people in the main timeline have banded together in the name of learning, adventuring, and challenging a villain team or two. Many of them could be considered precursor groups to the currently-active J-Team, though they have all arisen independently much to people's knowledge. In the original timeline, traces of a J-Team-esque adventurer hero organization could be traced back to [Roman] times in the First Century. Despite following the same general tenets of the J-Team, the nature of these precursor groups and the level of organization they displayed varied considerably during their years of operation.

The Omegas

Decried as bandits and thieves by the [Romans], the Omegas were a loosely affiliated group of insurgents that operated in [Roman]-controlled areas of the Ancient [Mediterranean] Basin. They often came from humble backgrounds; most of the members known came from peoples conquered and enslaved by the [Romans], plus a few [Roman] citizens sympathetic to their cause. While they lacked a true uniform, the Omegas are distinguished by their red cloaks and a common sigil on their shields and standards--the [Greek] letter omega, or Ω. The Omegas were against chattel slavery and Pokémon abuse. They were known to hijack slaver caravans, invade slaveholding estates, and interrupt gladiatorial matches specifically for this purpose. Their stance against slavery and the slaughter of Pokémon for entertainment in ampitheatres, however, meant that they were quite unpopular amongst the general populace.

Much like the J-Team today, the Omegas have been known to run afoul of the Macraul Family, then a [Romanized] [Gaulish] gens who settled in other places across the Empire. One of the key leaders of the Omegas was a [Egyptian-Nubian] scholar based in [Alexandria], who was simply known by the Omegas as "The Physician."

The Ur-Glitch's Opponents

Another group of proto-Trainers, joined by the legendaries, opposed and defeated the sorcerer-turned-glitch Calamity Alovye around 666 CE. Little is known about them, even what name they might have referred to themselves as, but their exploits have passed onto legend.

The Wanderers

The Wanderers were a trainer group that Titan was a member of, who were active from roughly the late 1970s to early 1980s.

The K-Team

The K-Team was a group of young adventurers, analogous in many ways to the J-Team, that operated between the late 1980s to the early 1990s. They were eventually responsible for the defeat of a villain group known as Team Fallout. Thus far, very little is known about their activities beyond that, and they have not been talked about as much since the 1990s.

Similarities and Differences

The J-Team emerged independently as an informal group of trainers who fought Missingno and 'M. Rather than directly building on these predecessors, they could instead be described as filling the same niche. They are unified by a call to adventure and by their tendencies to go against evils greater than most of their members could handle alone. What is known of the Omegas was they had some sort of de facto central leadership and acted for the most part like a militarized resistance group, whereas the J-Team was far less formally organized and has no military functions. The organizational structure of the K-Team, if any, has fallen into obscurity. Little is also known of the heroes that defeated the Ur-Glitch, only that their actions mirror what the J-Team has done in the past.

The public reaction to the J-Team compared to the others was also mixed. While the J-Team enjoy a mixed bag of popularity and have a loyal fanbase, the others did not fare as well. The Omegas championed moral causes that went against the societal values of their time and were villified. The band that defeated Calamity Alovye have faded into myth and legend, but were well-remembered. The Wanderers disbanded after a pyrrhic victory against an opponent too much for their organizational structure. They eventually faded into obscurity. The K-Team did fight villainous teams in opposition to the status quo, but like the Wanderers have become a largely forgotten curiosity. Today, they are a poorly understood relic of the Early 90s.

Possible Successors

In the Lillifuture, the paramilitary resistance group Team Signal has carried on the tradition once held by the J-Team of their timeline. Unlike the predecessors, who merely paralleled the J-Team's activities, the Signaljammers are far more deliberate in their imitation and are closer to an actual successor. Their end-goal is to keep the spirit of the team alive. Organization-wise, however, they are far more rigid in their structure and have a clear leadership under Dolly and the Benefactor.

See Also

• Trainers Without Borders