My passion for the Team Rocket

Hello everyone. I signed up for this forum to discuss the Pokemon anime but also my biggest passion in the world: the Team Rocket TRio.

I fell into the passion for the Pokemon universe in late 1999 or early 2000 during the big "Pokemania" wave. At the time, I was a teenager, and it was my younger brother who introduced me to Pokemon and got me interested in it. I watched the animated series with him and quickly fell in love with the characters of Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and Meowth) for their humor, imagination, but above all, their endearing side.

The Team Rocket is the "villainous" group in the series about Ash Ketchum, but we quickly discover that they have a good heart, and it was their unhappy childhoods that led them down the wrong path:

• The past of Jessie is explained in a CD Drama: her mother, Miyamoto, was an elite agent of Team Rocket who died during a mission while searching for Mew when Jessie was very young. Jessie was very poor during her early childhood and was probably raised by several foster families.
• James was from an aristocratic family, but despite having all the material comforts, he did not receive love or affection from his parents, who belittled him and considered him worthless. He received strict Victorian discipline from several teachers, tutors, and governesses. His parents engaged him to a cruel and domineering girl named Jessiebelle.
• Meowth was an abandoned little kitten who had to steal food to survive and was mistreated. The Meowth gang in the streets refused to accept him as one of their own.

I sympathized with them; always hungry, always struggling. I love their three different personalities:

• Jessie is a strong-willed, somewhat arrogant woman who leads the team. She is very outgoing and knows what she wants. She can be selfish at times, but deep down, she has a good heart and cares a lot about her teammates. I love it when she protects them!
• James is more introverted. He puts up a confident front in front of "the Twerps" or in public in his various roles and for Team Rocket, but the real James is a very emotional and sensitive guy, even somewhat shy, who is deeply attached to his Pokémon, friends, and his Pokémon show great affection for him.
• Meowth is full of humor and fall often in love. He was originally the only Pokémon capable of speaking because he learned the human language to impress a female.

My love for Team Rocket has never left me, even though I have had several disappointments over time. The biggest one was the attempt to revamp their role in the anime in "Black and White" to turn them into heartless villains. Something was broken in the development of these wonderful characters at that time.

I also strongly regret their design change starting from "Sun and Moon," especially for James... I have always loved James' effeminate side , his androgynous appearance and his very cute behavior, but the current design tries to give him a more "masculine" look that doesn't fit well the character. I also find it unfortunate that in the more recent seasons (Sun and Moon in particular), James seems to have talents for almost everything. A character doesn't need to be perfect to be endearing; it's precisely the imperfections of Team Rocket that make me love them so much: Jessie's hot temper, Meowth's bickering with her, and James, who is easily intimidated, trying to calm them down. This was a well-developed aspect of James in past episodes; I really love his insecurity outside of the facade he presents.

My favorite Team Rocket episodes are mainly those dedicated to James (my favorite character): "Holly matrimony," "The Fortune Hunters," "The Heartbreak of Brock", Meowth rules », Sweet baby James », « Training Daze, « Once There Were Greenfields », « Dressed at Jess for success », « A faux oak finish », « The treasure is all mine », « Facing the grand design! », « Take My Thief! Please! »

I sincerely hope that the story of Team Rocket and Ash is not completely over and that if there are ever special episodes about Team Rocket or a new series or movie in which they appear, they will retain all their cuteness and humoristic side; with James cross-dressing like in the good old days, Jessie with her strong personality, James being sentimental and rather fearful and timid offstage, Jessie encouraging the team, Meowth full of humor and easily falling in love, and above all, never again a cruel and heartless Team Rocket like in the "Black and White. » era.