Former Team?
As stated by a Magma grunt in Omega Ruby, Maxie and Archie used to be on the same team. Many people theorize this to be Team Rocket, but I don't believe that. I believe the former "Team" was either Sea Mauville, or the Mauville project as a whole.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Sea Mauville? What's the Mauville project? Well, you're at the right place!
Now, I know what you're thinking. Sea Mauville? What's the Mauville project? Well, you're at the right place!
Sea Mauville is part the old abandoned Mauville project, under Greater Mauville Holdings. Mauville Hills (the area of apartments in Mauville City) is the only success of the project. The two failures are Sea Mauville, an attempt to allow housing at Sea - and New Mauville, an attempt to place housing underground. As you can imagine, Greater Mauville Holdings is a housing company.
Now, onto why I believe this is the source of Maxie and Archie's past... It is well known that Maxie only sought to expand the land, in the hopes of giving humanity enough resources to thrive, which directly correlates to the Mauville Project putting nature at a disadvantage; for humanity's housing.
Meanwhile, Archie sought to expand the oceans, in the hopes of giving marine ecosystems and nature in general the chance to reset and take back the Earth. This correlates to the various shutdowns within the Mauville project, over concerns for the environment.
Meanwhile, Archie sought to expand the oceans, in the hopes of giving marine ecosystems and nature in general the chance to reset and take back the Earth. This correlates to the various shutdowns within the Mauville project, over concerns for the environment.
But that comparison is not the only reason I've settled on this headcanon for so many years. In addition, within Sea Mauville flavor text, is a detail I find valuable!
In Sea Mauville, various text is split between game versions. You have to combine the letters between each game to see the full sentence. Without internet, anyway. The text I wish to bring up follows this. A report letter from an unknown employee is signed with "Dock Team E Leader, Operative Group —". Notice how the divisions in Sea Mauville were called Teams? Likely, Team E was one of many within the project, named with other letters as codenames. This makes the dialogue specifically referring to a "team" make sense.
All of this, in addition to this all being within the same generation (ORAS remake), leads me to believe a past within Sea Mauville, or the Mauville Project in general, is far more plausible than a past with Team Rocket - Which is never eluded to in any Hoenn game.
In Sea Mauville, various text is split between game versions. You have to combine the letters between each game to see the full sentence. Without internet, anyway. The text I wish to bring up follows this. A report letter from an unknown employee is signed with "Dock Team E Leader, Operative Group —". Notice how the divisions in Sea Mauville were called Teams? Likely, Team E was one of many within the project, named with other letters as codenames. This makes the dialogue specifically referring to a "team" make sense.