Yeah, no matter how you put it, El is best described as a religious extremist.
As for Solaris, the fact that he is trying to kill people left and right with his Garchomp makes him more believable as a villain.
One thing i always disliked about every official Pokémon game so far is the fact that the "evil teams" are about as "evil" as Jessy and James in the anime (and about as capable in terms of fighting power, while we're at it). You probably wouldn't even notice that they exist in the first place, if it were not for the obligatory 2 or 3 times in evey Pokémon game where your