Cipher

Cipher シャドー Shadow

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Leader Greevil Region Orre Admins Miror B., Dakim, Venus, Ein (Colosseum) Lovrina, Snattle, Gorigan, Ardos, Eldes (XD) Major targets Phenac City, Pyrite Town, The Under, Agate Village Base locations Shadow Pokémon Lab, Realgam Tower, The Under (Colosseum) Cipher Key Lair, Citadark Isle (XD)

Cipher (Japanese: シャドー Shadow) is an evil syndicate with plans of world domination that it set in motion during the course of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

In Pokémon Colosseum

The organization first appears at the beginning of Pokémon Colosseum, where Wes sees two thugs, later revealed to be Cipher members Trudly and Folly, carry off a sack after a supposed heist. The sack contains a girl, which Wes discovers on venturing to Phenac City, who has the ability to see the dark aura Cipher's Shadow Pokémon emit. After consulting briefly with the mayor of Phenac, Es Cade, Wes and Rui venture off to defeat Cipher.

Most cities in Orre are either overrun by the group or controlled entirely by them: three of Cipher's four administrators, Miror B., Dakim, and Venus, control Pyrite Town, Mt. Battle, and The Under when Wes firsts arrives at each, having taken over the towns from their people through threats, covert means, and outright violence. Agate Village is also terrorized by the group, with the goal to be to destroy the Relic Stone that allows a Pokémon to return from its Shadow state.

Cipher's fourth administrator, Ein, serves as their lead scientist, and is the chief developer of Shadow Pokémon in a secret laboratory in the desert. Nascour is chief executive of the operation, giving directives to the admins, only appearing in person twice.

Team Snagem became partners to Cipher's plot: Snagem would steal Pokémon from Trainers, while Cipher would corrupt them into Shadow Pokémon. Cipher was the original developer of the snag machine stolen from Team Snagem by Wes.

With their Shadow Pokémon scheme nearing completion, despite Wes's snagging of the Shadow Pokémon he had encountered, Cipher builds Realgam Tower in the middle of the Orre desert, hoping to use its colosseum as a moneymaking venture where spectators could witness brutal battles between Pokémon who were fighting for their lives. With the intervention of Wes, this was prevented, and Nascour was defeated. However, at that moment, Es Cade arrives, revealing himself to be Evice, Cipher's true leader. He is defeated as well, and attempts to escape with a helicopter to avoid arrest, however, Ho-Oh destroys the helicopter with Sacred Fire, ending Cipher's scheme.

In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Cipher returns in Pokémon XD, having refined their Shadow Pokémon creation and distribution techniques. Only Miror B. is present from the first plot; he, along with his minions, seek to create Team Miror B. and collect Shadow Pokémon that Michael has failed to snag, having been fired from Cipher.

All other members of the previous Cipher administration apparently are still serving jail time, with new administrators in their place. Lovrina serves as Cipher's new head of research and development, overhauling Ein's techniques to create a Shadow Pokémon that is impossible to purify using the means present in Colosseum. Snattle serves as Cipher's plotter, while Gorigan is in charge of the Cipher Key Lair, where Shadow Pokémon are made en-masse.

Eldes and Ardos serve as bodyguards for Cipher's Grand Master, Greevil, accompanying him throughout the region as he tours it in disguise as Mr. Verich. The two are Verich's sons, with Ardos fully in support of Cipher's plans, while Eldes does not agree with many of their actions.

It is revealed in Pokémon XD that Evice was never the true leader of Cipher, implying that Greevil intervened after his defeat to crush Orre himself. It is possible that the wealthy old man mentioned as having made a fortune in The Under's mines is Greevil himself.

Trivia

• Cipher has similar plans to Team Dim Sun in Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. Both of them have an undercover boss playing a major role in the region (Blake Hall as President of Altru and Es Cade as Mayor of Phenac City), both build a tower as part of their plans (Altru Tower and Realgam Tower) and make Pokémon lose their memories (Shadow Pokémon and Gigaremo Units). Also, they are final bosses of their respective games, and can be re-battled at will.
• Cipher also has similar plans to Team Rocket. Both either stole Pokémon or were involved in Pokémon theft, both had plans involving world domination involving Pokémon, both leaders also had a respectable and unassuming position in the first city visited by the player (Giovanni was the Gym Leader of Viridian City, whereas Evice/Es Cade was the Mayor of Phenac City), and both ended up being revived a few years later by someone other than their original leaders.

Villainous teams Core series: Team Rocket • Team Magma • Team Aqua • Team Galactic • Team Plasma Team Flare • Team Skull • Team Rainbow Rocket • Team Yell • Team Star Side series: Team Snagem • Cipher Spin-off games: Team Great Rocket • Phobos Battalion • Go-Rock Squad • Team Dim Sun • Team Debonairs Pokémon Pinchers • Dark Legion • The Rogers • Team GO Rocket • Team Break • Unitas Animation only: Explorers Manga only: Neo Team Rocket (Adventures) • Team Kings (Horizon)