When Pokémon reached American shoওres in the late 90s, many elements of the franchise became instantly iconic in the minds of young Millennials. Among those were the series' recurring villains Team Rocket, in the form of bumbling trio Jessie, James, & Meowth. The three's hare-brained schemes and knack for dramatic presentation, plus their silly but memorable motto, endeared them to the series' school-age fans. Even if you didn't watch the show, Team Rocket was still a thor🦹n in the side of anyone playing the games with their plans to steal rare Pokémon and take over the world. The twist that the villain team's leader Giovanni was also the final gym leader still stands out to Gen 1 players.
There was more going on with Team Roc🎃ket than appeared though. Beneath their menace in the games and their antics on TV, there are some fascinating themes, references, and series lore about the nefarious organization and its three most well-known members. Some of these are pretty obvious. Most people have probably picked up on the fact that Jessie & 💦James are named after the famous Wild West outlaw. But others are only found in the series backstory or spin-off materials.
Tꦆhe trio in the anime may paint Team Rock𒐪et in a goofy light, but the organization as a whole is more dangerous than it seems. And they're far more successful than given credit for. Here are just a few of their hidden secrets. Here are 25 Things Only Superfans Know About Team Rocket From Pokémon.
25 𒅌 The Reason Giovanni Hasn't Fired Them ♎
Jessie, James, and Meowth are pretty incompetent as villains go. It's enough to make you wonder why Giovanni keeps them around. Well, it turns out the three are more valuable than their failures make th🗹em seem. Jessie is the daughter of an old friend of Giovanni's, so there's a personal connection there. James, on the other hand, is the heir to a huge fortune. Team Rocket always needs income. But what about Meowth? Meowth is one of the only Pokémon that can speak human language. Something that rare is valuable just by itself. Plus, they do♉ occasionally do their job.
24 🌳 🎐The Worst Thing They Ever Did
Mortality doesn't really come up in Pokémon games. When Pokémon get defeated, they just fall unconscious. There is one exception though, and Team Rocket is respon✨sible ♈for it. The ghost haunting Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town had its life ended by members of the villainous organization.
In life, the ghost was a Marowak defending its baby Cubone from Team Rocket.
They were stealing the skulls of Cubones to sell on the black market. The baby was able to flee, saved by its mother's sacrific𝓰e. No wonder that momma ghost was pissed when Team Rocket took over its resting place.
23 🍨 🐈 Jessie & James Got Married
It's ambiguous in context whether Jessie and James have romantic feelings for one another. They, along with Meowth, are obviously long-time friends, and there have been a few hints and possibilities throughout the anime's run. But there's never been anything explicit that said they were in love. Except in the manga. In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, a slightly altered retelling of the anime's story for older read༺ers, James ended up confessing his love for Jessie and the two got married. Jessie was even shown as pregnant in the story's epilogue. This has only stoked shippers since.
22 𒁏 The Name Is An Acronym ꧅
Team Rocket is a good name for a bad guy group. It's forceful, memorable, and sounds explosive. But it turns out the "Rocket" in Team Rocket is actually an acronym. Really. According to Giovanni in the Pokémon Adventures manga, it stands for "Raid On the City, Knock Out, Evil Tusks." The raid on the city part we get, but who are the evil tusks? Why are they getting knocked out? Or are Team Rocket the Evil Tusks? The Adventures 𓄧manga drew on elements that were dropped later, so maybe the explanation just go✅t lost.
21 Their Real Ages ꦿ
It's been a s🃏ource of some speculation just how old Jessie and James are supposed to be. We know Ash Ketchum is ten, and they're clearly older than 🎶him. But how old are they supposed to be?
Turns out they're actually in their 20s.
Crazy, but it's true. In a Japan-only CD, it was confirmed that both Jessie and James were 20 years old when they debuted in the anime's second episode. A later episode h꧃ad Jessie listing her age as 17, but she was in disguise and ꩲwith how vain she can be she was likely lying.
20 ౠ The Creation Of Mewtwo 🍃
Most of Team Rocket's schemes to take over the world are actually pre𝕴tty practical. They sell Pokémon on the bl𝐆ack market, infiltrate prominent organizations, bribe people. Stuff like that. The one time they went full supervillain was by trying to create the world's strongest Pokémon.
Yes, Giovanni funded the creation of Mewtwo.
He supplied Dr. Fuji with Team Rocket's illegal cash to develop the cloning research necessary to create the monster Pokémon. Team Rocket agents even looked for Mew DNA. That's⭕ why Giovanni also tricked Mewtwo into serving him after Dr. Fuji's destruction. He's getting his return on investment.
19 ཧ 🅺 Jessie's Connection To Mew
Mew has been the focus of Team Rocket's efforts for a long time. They've spent a lot of money and manpower both looking for it and cloning it. One of the agents Giovan♕ni sent searching 🥂for Mew was a close friend of his. Miyamoto, Jessie's Mother.
Yep, Jessie's a legacy member of Team Rocket.
Unfortunately, that connection set Jessie on her path to villainy. Miyamoto did find Me♉w, but it was on a frozen mountain during a blizzard. The legendary Pokémon escaped and Jessie's mother lost her life in an avalanche. Being orphaned like that led Jessie back to her mother's employer.
18 ♈ Last Team Standing
Of all the villain teams in Pokémon, Team Rocket is the most successful. Not only haven't they been disbanded, they've actually extended their operations to other regions. So it comes as no surprise that they ended up absorbing the other villain teams. This was shown in the Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon games.
Team Rocket had reformed as Team Rainbow Rocket and come to the Alola region.
In their reformation, Giovanni had contacted other realities where the other villain teams had triumphed and folded them into hꦡis organization. The leade🔥rs of the other teams were made executives under him.
17 Giovanni Isn't The On♍ly Bosไs
Make no mistake. Giovanni is the undisputed leader of Team Rocket. In mafia terms, he's the godfather, head of the organization. But like any good criminal syndicate, Team Rocket has a number of underbosses who head up branches and special operations. Indeed, one of these executives named Archer was the main villain of Pokémon Gold & Silver. Archer was head of the Johto branch and assumed leadership of Team Rocket during Giovanni's disappearance after Red & Blue. Giovanni himself wasn't even Team Rocket's first leader. His mother, known only as Madame Boss, founded the organization and passed leꦕadership unto him.
16 Jam꧃es And G♐rass-Types
When it comes to the Pokémon types they use, Team Rocket is pretty limited. Mostly it's Poison-types with a few Normal-types. Giovanni himself favors Ground-type Pokémon. James is unique among his peers because he keeps using Grass-types. Every time a new generation of Pokémon comes along, ෴James gets a new Grass-type in the anime. So far he's had a Victreebell, a Cacnea, and a Carnivine. He gets on great with Grass-types too. The one🌱s he catches are always extremely affectionate with him. Maybe a bit too affectionate, because their love physically harms him. Good thing his Poison-types don't do that.