WARNING!
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Ok, you asked for it. So, the story. A quick summary. Plasma are the bad dudes. Team Plasma’s “King”, N, was raised by Ghetsis (one of the Seven Sages) in such a way that, when he was older, could re-awaken one of the two legendary Pokemon and rise as the new hero of Oblivia, and force all trainers into releasing their Pokemon so Plasma could reign supreme. N believed that Ghetsis had good intentions (heh). So that establishes N as a character. You have the 7 sages, and then 3 ninja guys (I forget their name,Shadow Triad or something) that persistently pop up throughout the game (and pretty much stalk you).
N meets you in the 3rd city (or was it second…) and battles you after Ghetsis gives you a speech. N eventually obtains a stone (depends which version) and uses it to awaken a legendary (depends which version again), and with it charges to the Pokemon League to defeat the Champion so he can force all trainers to release their Pokemon. He challenges you to find the other legendary so that you can both battle. So you obtain the other stone… And nothing happens. You go to the Pokemon League anyway, and defeat the Elite Four. Just as you enter the Champion’s room, a building rises around the Pokemon League (and pretty much destroys the place), and N escapes. You follow and eventually reach N after weaving through Plasma’s Castle (no battles) and N summons his Legendary to him, and scoffs at you for not having a legendary of your own. conveniently, your Legendary pops out of its stone and you battle it. Upon its capture, you are asked if you want to transfer it into your party. You then defeat N, and battle Ghetsis, who revealed the PETA-like ambitions to be a farce, and N a puppet. You then battle him.
So, as you are now more informed about the story, now comes to my criticism. The storyline is quite different from previous games. The bad guys have good intentions, and your Rival is pure at heart. Team Plasma seems like a religious cult and there aren’t any crony-bosses that you can battle. You don’t get a Legendary until RIGHT before you battle N and defeat Team Plasma, and don’t beat the champion until post-game. It is different, and very much weird. Plasma doesn’t have a hideout in which you can battle them (unlike previous games).
Does it work? No, not for me. I want the bad guys to be bad. I want to beat the champion to end the game. I want to feel good after beating my evil rival. It all seems very different from previous games. Not for me, however.
NINJA EDIT: I’ve noticed many people coming to this post via google, looking to see if you can find N after finsihing the game. Here’s a hint for you- you can’t.
Wait, What? 