Team Rocket

Team Rocket
Universe	Pokémon
In-universe information
Type	Criminal organization
Founded	Unknown
Location	Kanto, Johto, Sevii Islands, Orange Islands, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos
Key people	Giovanni (leader)
Purpose	To steal/illicitly capture and use Pokémon for profit and in plans for world domination
Technologies	Cloning, advanced technology most likely acquired through illegal means.
Powers	Powerful Pokémon
Affiliations	Isolated

Team Rocket (Japanese: ロケット団, Hepburn: Roketto-dan, Rocket Gang) is a crime syndicate in the Pokémon metaseries. Their main goal, as stated in the games, is to use Pokémon for profit and in plans for world domination. Most of their technology was acquired through illegal means, and they are known to have at one time cloning technology in the anime.

Members

• Giovanni (サカキ, Sakaki) is the leader of Team Rocket, in addition to his position as Viridian City Gym Leader. After being defeated by the player as Gym Leader, he decides to disband Team Rocket. In a side-quest in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the player battles Giovanni as he is called by the re-formed Team Rocket of Johto.
• Jessie (ムサシ, Musashi, Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara) and James (コジロウ, Kojirō, Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki): Jessie and James are two operatives of Team Rocket who are the main villains of the anime, along with Keith. They appear as mini-bosses in Pokémon Yellow.
• Archer (アポロ, Aporo, Apollo): The head executive of the re-formed Team Rocket in Johto. He seeks to reunite Team Rocket and bring Giovanni back into the fold. In the Pokémon Adventures manga, he seeks to create Arceus to complete his goals.
• Ariana (アテナ, Atena, Athena): One of the other Team Rocket executives in Johto. She claims herself to be the interim leader of Team Rocket.
• Petrel (ラムダ, Ramuda, Lambda): One of the other Team Rocket executives in Johto. He is a master of disguise and is not as evil-minded as the other Team Rocket executives.
• Proton (ランス, Ransu, Lance): One of the other Team Rocket executives in Johto. He is the most ruthless of the executives, leading the operation in the Slowpoke's Well, but is admired by the others for his actions.

In the anime

Team Rocket trio

Jessie (ムサシ, Musashi), James (コジロウ, Kojirō), and Meowth (ニャース, Nyāsu, Nyarth) A recurring trio of bumbling thieves who constantly follow Ash Ketchum around in order to capture his Pikachu, which they consider exceptionally strong. While they are usually antagonistic towards Ash and his friends, they have shown that they are good-hearted at times and willing to put their differences aside when it is beneficial and then fail at an attempt to steal Pikachu. After failing, they are often sent "blasting off" by an explosion or a Pokémon's attack (usually one of Pikachu's). They are constantly out to appease their boss, Giovanni, though he finds the group to be incompetent. The trio also breaks the fourth wall on a regular basis.

In the Best Wishes! series, the trio was more serious about their jobs and accomplished many missions. They were the primary source of comic relief in the original series, the Advanced Generation series, and the Diamond and Pearl series. They were serious and served absolutely no comic relief for most of the Best Wishes! series, but returned to their famous role as comic relief when Ash, Iris, and Cilan left for the Decolore Islands toward the end of the Best Wishes! series. They retained this role in the XY series.

Jessie is the most impulsive and aggressive of the three. She grew up in a poor foster family in the snowy mountains (see Tohoku), while her mother focused on Team Rocket. Before she joined Team Rocket, she aspired to be a nurse; however, the school that she wanted to attend wouldn't accept her application. There, she befriended a Chansey (now a Blissey) who seemed to be the only Pokémon in the school willing to be her friend. Jessie ended up failing to become a Pokémon nurse. From there, she moved on to Pokémon Tech, a private school. There, she met her future Team Rocket partner, James. She flunked out of school before joining a biking gang, then Team Rocket. She is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara (replaced on an interim basis by Akiko Hiramatsu when Hayashibara was on maternity leave) in the Japanese version, Rachael Lillis during the first eight seasons of the English anime and Michele Knotz from the ninth season onwards.

She sadly released her Arbok (along with James' Weezing) to run away and protect some Ekans from a poarcher in the Hoenn region. Jessie caught Seviper after beating him for "eating" Jessie's hair. Jessie captured Dustox as a Wurmple under the belief that it would evolve into a Beautifly. Jessie later released her to go with a shiny Dustox to make a family and be happy. Jessie owns a Wobbuffet, which she accidentally got in a trade of her Lickitung. Wobbuffet participates in numerous Team Rocket schemes, almost to the point of being a fourth member. Wobbuffet is the source of a running gag in which it pops out of its Ball and yells its name, only for Jessie to withdraw it. Wobbuffet was left at Team Rocket HQ at the end of the Diamond and Pearl series, when the trio went to Unova, due to not being native to Unova. Because it is native to Kalos, Jessie was able to bring Wobbuffet with the trio to Kalos when they encountered it by mistake on the way out of HQ to find out where Ash was going next. She currently owns a Gourgeist.

James is portrayed as whiny, submissive and effeminate. James is usually portrayed holding a rose, which he seems able to pull from anywhere. He finds it very difficult to leave a Pokémon behind or to trade one. He grew up on a vast estate, to an extremely wealthy family, but ran away from home when his parents arranged for him to marry Jessiebelle, a girl that looks just like Jessie, but is considerably more aggressive and obsessed with etiquette. He also loves to collect rare bottle caps as part of his hobbies. In some episodes however, James is also swindled by the Magikarp salesman and always being scammed by him a few times such as receiving a Magikarp just evolved into an enraged Gyarados. He sadly released his Weezing (along with Jessie's Arbok) to run away and protect some Koffing from a poacher in the Hoenn region. He currently owns an Inkay, much to the others' dismay.

Despite his weak personality, James is shown at being skilled at many things, having been taught by several tutors while he stayed at home. He is also shown as very intelligent, usually functioning as the trio's equivalent to a Pokédex. He has a Growlithe nicknamed Growlie, which Jessiebelle hates. Growlie who is extremely loyal to him whom he loves and cares dearly but James was also emotional when he leaves one of his Pokemon behind such as Chimecho who is currently in care of his grandparents, Mime Jr. takes its place. He also cares his dangerous Grass Pokemon such as Victreebel, Cacnea and Carnivine who have an affection to him which he had a tendency to correct them in annoyance. However, in an episode of Pokémon: Master Quest, James trades the Victreebel for a Weepinbell. Coincidentally, it evolves into a Victreebel, which attempts to eat Jessie. She kicks it away, where it bumps into James's old Victreebel and they run off together into the forest, deeply in love. James leaves his Cacnea in private training. James is voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki in the Japanese version, Ted Lewis for the first eight episodes of the English anime, Eric Stuart until the end of the eighth season, and Jimmy Zoppi (credited under the pseudonym "Billy Beach" and more recently "Carter Cathcart") from the ninth season onwards.

Meowth originally lived in the city, and tried to impress a female Meowth named Meowzie by learning to walk on two legs and speak human language. Instead of being impressed, she regarded him as a freak, so Meowth joined Team Rocket. Meowth usually concocts the overlarge machines and spends their non-existent money on these schemes, all to end up on the boss' lap. He holds jealously against his own self-evolution - Persian. Meowth is voiced by Inuko Inuyama in the Japanese version, Nathan Price for the first thirty episodes of the English anime, Maddie Blaustein until the end of the eighth season, and James Carter Cathcart from the ninth season onwards.

Despite their constant attempts to steal Pikachu and many other Pokémon, and their self-admittance of being the 'bad guys', all three members of the trio have shown good-hearted natures from time to time - they have occasionally turned on their thieving ideals to help Ash and the gang out of hard situations. Even when this is not occurring, unlike other enemies in the series (such as Team Plasma), Team Rocket have shown that they genuinely care about each other and their well-being - this being particularly noticeable on the various occasions when Meowth has been missing and Jessie and James have gone out of their way to find him.

Jessie and James' English names are taken from Jesse James, an American outlaw. James's Japanese name, Kojiro, is taken from Sasaki Kojirō (佐々木小次郎?), a prominent Japanese swordsman most famous for being killed by his rival, Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵?), the namesake of Jessie. They are based the villainous trio in the Time Bokan series; Jessie is based on Majo, the leader of the group who believes she is the prettiest woman in the world, while James is based on Grocky, the whiny brains of the trio. Meowth is based on Warusa, the clumsy but stronger person of the trio.

The trio, since the Diamond and Pearl dub, has rhymed their dialogue. This was not present in the 4Kids dub, but was added in the TPCi (The Pokémon Company International) dub.

Motto

The trio has a tendency to introduce themselves by stating a motto. The most commonly used one is the "classic one" from the original series (the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn arcs, and used again from the second half of Best Wishes and moving forward):

Prepare for trouble

And make it double

To protect the world from devastation!'

To unite all people within our nation!

To denounce the evils of truth and love!

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!

Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Meowth, that's right!

In some variations, Jessie's Wobbuffet also appears at the end, proudly stating its name.

External links

• Team Rocket on Bulbapedia