Team Rocket is among the most iconic villainous groups ever. The classic organization that was founded with the goal of ruling the Pokémon world, is the main antagonist of the original Pokémon video games, Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow as well as the 2nd generation of games, Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions. They are commonly known for causing trouble in (nearly) every city and conducting their evil plans under cover. Some of their most famous members are the iconic trio of Jessie, James, and a talking Meowth who are always stalking Ash and his group, with the intent of stealing his Pikachu.

Here we will list 25 weird facts about Team Rocket, including individual members — including Jessie, James, Meowth— and the organization as a whole. This information will come from a variety of Pokémon products, including the games, the animated series, and even the manga comics of Pokémon. Needless to say, the dastardly villains of Pokémon make their presence known across the wide world of Pokémon paraphernalia. There is nothing better than learning about the shady side of a classic kids' villain — especially one as fleshed out as the whole of Team Rocket. So prepare for trouble, and make it double, let’s blast off and discover some of the weirdest secrets within this top secret organization!

25 Giovanni Once Dated Ash’s Mom!?

I’m going to say it is very likely you never knew this, neither did I. Still, hidden among the many obscure Pokémon related products out there, there is one you probably didn't know existed. Yes, there was a Pokémon musical. In the year 2000, there was a musical based off of the Pokémon Animated series called Pokémon Live! It was a production that was entirely made in America. The story of Pokémon Live! featured Team Rocket leader, Giovanni challenging any and all trainers to defeat him in a Pokémon battle. Anyone that could, would receive a one-of-a-kind badge, the diamond badge. The catch is, Giovanni used a mechanical Mewtwo that would be near impossible to defeat. It would be up to Ash and Pikachu to defeat him.

The musical provided a bit more romance and drama than other stories of Pokémon, including a more obvious crush Misty had on Ash, but what’s really weird is the part where Ash’s mom, Delia, revealed that she used to date Giovanni. She revealed the information as a thought of concern when she found out Ash was going to challenge Giovanni. Delia was worried that if Ash found out, that he would dislike her as much as the rest of Team Rocket. Of course, nothing from Pokémon Live! is cannon to the main series, so I wouldn’t use it to seriously theorize on who Ash’s father could be, but nevertheless, it is weird.

24 Giovanni’s Son May Be Someone You Remember

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While the idea of Ash being Giovanni’s son may sound absolutely ludicrous, he actually does have a son that is referenced in the games as well as the animated series. Your rival in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal —commonly named “Silver” by many— is actually the son of the famous Team Rocket boss. This was not actually confirmed in the original GameBoy Pokémon games.

The first hint of this relationship occurred in Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green where a Team Rocket boss nearly mistook you for “Giovanni’s Kid” but later corrected himself saying that Giovanni’s son had red hair. It wouldn’t be addressed again until years later when Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver released and the relationship was unveiled in a side quest involving Celebi. This was also referenced in a special anime episode titled “The Legacy.” This fact is a bit weird and ironic because Silver stated early on that he hated Team Rocket. Perhaps it was seeing his father fail as the leader of Team Rocket and how Giovanni basically gave up after being defeated by “Red” is what led to Silver’s dislike of the organization.

23 Mewtwo Isn’t The Only Pokémon Team Rocket Created

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One of Team Rocket’s most infamous accomplishments is the funding and creation of Mewtwo. However, Mewtwo is not the only Pokémon that they created. According to the Japanese Pokémon manga, Team Rocket actually created a Pokémon through fusion called “Thu-Fi-Zer.”

Thu-Fi-Zer is the fusion of Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno.

“Thu” meaning “Thunder”,” Fi” meaning “Fire”, and “Zer” meaning “Freezer” Thu-Fi-Zer was a backup plan after Team Rocket no longer had Mewtwo in their possession. Oddly enough, this Pokémon was created with the help of Red’s gym badges when placed into a device, creating what was called a Badge Energy Amplifier which allowed for the fusion to occur. It was known as a very powerful Pokémon, able to take the strongest attacks from Red and Blue’s Pokémon without receiving much damage. It also had a very impressive arsenal of attacks based on each element of the respective legendary bird Pokémon. In order to defeat this monstrosity, Red, Blue, and Green had to combine the attacks of their respective starter Pokémon in order to split the Pokémon back into individual birds who flew away.

22 Jessie And James Got Married!?

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Actual couples and romance is a pretty rare thing to see within Nintendo’s characters (Unless you’ve played Fire Emblem Awakening or Fire Emblem Fates). It has been a rather sensitive area for all of their iconic characters. Mario rescues Peach, but the best you get is maybe a Peach kiss on Mario’s nose. Then you have Link and Zelda, who are literally connected through fate, but they have rarely gone through any romance or even cute moments.

Pokémon definitely brings the talk of couples, pretty much whatever female trainer Ash is traveling with has been fantasized as a potential partner for Ash throughout all of his adventures. There has been a few strong teases here and there, most recently the parting away moment between Ash and Serena in the XYZ series, but the animated series have never strongly pursued any relationship among its characters.

However, there was one Pokémon manga series that definitely brought about a couple.

In the final issue of “The Electric Tale Of Pikachu,” James had confessed his love for Jessie and eventually got married. There is even an illustration of the two together, along with Meowth, but Jessie shockingly appears pregnant. Not only is the image of a couple of popular characters that are pictured as a married couple expecting children weird, but it was weirder to see that this licensed and approved by Nintendo, which basically made it official. However, that was the only major reference of the two together like that.

21 Team Rocket Can Get Things Done Without Giovanni

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You know your team, company, organization, etc. is fundamentally sound when your leader is absent or not involved and things are still getting done. Team Rocket has a lot of strong agents that seem to operate on their own and are capable of succeeding without much guidance from Giovanni. Other than the rather clownish trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, you still have their rivals Cassidy and Butch. They have appeared in a good handful of episodes and is usually more successful. They report to Professor Namba who made the attempt to capture Lugia in a lengthy saga in the Johto series. Then you have Annie and Oakley who nearly captured Latios and Latias in the movie Pokémon Heroes. Also, don't forget about Attila and Hun who tried to capture Raikou in the anime special "The Legend of Thunder."

In the video games, Team Rocket still had the executives that helped run the operations after their boss' departure, controlling the Johto region. Why is this weird? Well from the games perspective, why would there be such a desire to bring Giovanni back? They can do just fine without him, which is what makes this organization so dangerous.

20 A Weird Source For The Inspiration Of Jessie's Character

Via: Deviant Art (Sakimichan)

When it comes to designing characters, many writers use various ways to come up with characters. Sometimes those inspirations may come from weird and unusual sources. In the case of the anime's chief writer, Takeshi Shudo, he had apparently based the character of Jessie on a woman that Shudo used to have dated. He had merged the personality of his ex-girlfriend with a character from another anime, Majo from Time Bokan, to create the Team Rocket antagonist. The common trait for these characters is that they have is that they come off as narcissistic and manipulative.

Looking at it that way, it seems to make pretty good sense of who Jessie has turned out to be as she is very controlling and demanding of James and Meowth, all while thinking the world of herself. It's almost amusing and perhaps, revealing, how Jessie is based off of someone's ex-girlfriend. I would wonder if James was maybe based off of Shudo himself? Shudo has stated that Jessie and James were his favorite characters but thanks to some changes from people above him, making them less evil, it did come off as irksome to Shudo.

19 A Hidden Connection Between Pikachu And Meowth?

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In the Pokémon animated series, Team Rocket and Meowth are relentlessly in pursuit of Ash and Pikachu. But there may be a hidden connection between the two iconic Pokémon. Well its nothing crazy and deep, but it is a pretty cool easter egg type of reference. If you check the original Pokédex for Pikachu and Meowth, you'll see that their numbers are reversed from each other.

Pikachu's number is 25, while Meowth's number is 52.

Considering their role in the animated series you could say that the Pokédex placement was intentional, keeping the two Pokémon connected, one on the good guys' side, the other on the bad guys' side. It is like they are two sides of the same coin. Speaking of the animated series, wouldn't the conflict between Pikachu and Meowth look like a never-ending conflict of a game of cat and mouse? Pikachu and Meowth actually appears to be a tribute of sorts to the classic Tom and Jerry cartoon, in which Tom the cat spends all of his time trying to catch Jerry the mouse. Since Meowth is a cat and Pikachu is a mouse, I'd say that the similarities are pretty strong.

18 Jessie's Mysterious Connection With Mew

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Jessie's background is definitely the most mysterious of the trio. While it doesn't have much to do with Jessie herself, it is more of her lineage is what is very interesting in the lore of Pokémon and Team Rocket. Jessie's mother, Miyamoto, was an agent of Team Rocket.

Miyamoto would make a very important discovery in Team Rocket's history, the first evidence of Mew!

This story occurred as a radio feature in Japan shortly before the release of the first Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back. This radio broadcast detailed how Miyamoto discovered a Mew fossil, which was then forwarded to Giovanni, which then eventually leads to the events of Mewtwo's Origin, and furthermore, Mewtwo Strikes Back. Miyamoto was then tasked with trying to capture Mew, and actually encountered the mythical Pokémon in a mountain during a blizzard. However, Mew got away and an avalanche carried Miyamoto away. That would be the last you hear of her, however, due to later reports, it is unknown what became of Jessie's mother. In the grand scope of things, it is pretty crazy how one of the biggest moments in the history of the animated series is closely related to Jessie and the Team Rocket trio.

17 Jessie And James Have A Very Interesting Taste In Fashion

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Jessie and James definitely have a weird relationship with each other. Among all of their crazy shenanigans they go through in the animated series, none is as bizarre as their habits of cross-dressing. There have been plenty of times where Jessie and James would change outfits to remain undercover from Ash and company, but sometimes they like to literally mix things up.

This habit usually comes from James seeing as how most of the outfits would appear to fit women. He has dressed up as a school girl, a bride, a Hawaiian (or now could we say Alolan?) female dancer, and even impersonated Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. However, none was as controversial as one of the early moments when he crossed dressed into a bikini with noticeable implants in order to win a beauty contest.

James' bikini costume led to the animated series' first banned episode in the English version.

Jessie has had her share of outfits as well, but nothing as crazy or noticeable as James. There were even times where Jessie and James would dress their Pokémon in some outlandish fashion, although it is a bit unclear as to the gender of their Pokémon, save Meowth, so it is unclear if they were cross-dressed in the first place.

16 Kanto Gym Leaders A Part Of Team Rocket?

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There wasn't much background provided in the characterization of gym leaders in the original Pokémon games. They pretty much just stayed in their gym waiting on the next challenger and if they were defeated, the trainer got their badge and that was just about it, you wouldn't see or hear from gym leaders after that. The animated series gave gym leaders some decent personality, but other than obviously Brock and Misty, they were around for maybe a couple episodes and that was it. In the Pokémon manga, however, things were very different.

5 of the 8 Kanto gym leaders were members of Team Rocket!

In the manga series, Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina, Blaine, in addition to Giovanni were a part of Team Rocket instead of being gym leaders. Each of them had their own special roles within the manga series. Lt. Surge, Koga, and Sabrina all served as three heads of Team Rocket, who served directly under Giovanni. Blaine served as a scientist within Team Rocket and was actually the head of the Mewtwo creation project until he defected from the organization. Its odd facts like these that make the manga a much more compelling story than what goes on in the games.

15 What Does The "E.T." In The Team Rocket Acronym Stand For?

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Did you know that the "Rocket" in Team Rocket was actually an acronym? In the Pokémon manga, "R.O.C.K.E.T." is actually an acronym of the organization's own little motto.

The acronym "R.O.C.K.E.T." stands for "Raid On the City, Knock Out, Evil Tusks".

It makes some sense when you consider the history of Team Rocket's actions. "Raid On the City" could be a reference to taking over certain cities like Saffron City and Celadon City as well as Goldenrod City. "Knock Out" could refer to how they take control of locations like Silph Co., Lavender Tower, and Goldenrod Radio Tower. However, it is a bit difficult to make out what the "Evil Tusks" stand for. "Tusks" isn't commonly used, and when Pokémon first originated, there wasn't any Pokémon that had actual tusks. Could it have something to do with maintaining an evil persona, sort of like how some animals bare fangs as a sign that they are hostile? It is hard to understand that part as they never really explained the acronym that well. Whatever it means, it sure is a weird and unusual metaphor to use as part of an acronym.

14 Team Rocket Don't Need No Legendary!

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Following strictly the video games, Team Rocket has one unusual fact about them that is different from all of the other evil organizations in Pokémon. Team Aqua needed Kyogre, and Team Magma needed Groudon to shape the land to their respective desires. Team Galactic needed Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina to rule the universe. Team Plasma's leader, Ghetsis needed Kyurem to counter N's legendary Pokémon by fusing with it, and to liberate Pokémon from trainers. Team Flare needed either Xerneas or Yveltal in the games and Zygarde in the anime to reshape the world.

Team Rocket didn't require the use of a legendary Pokémon to achieve their goals.

Sure they were responsible for the creation of Mewtwo, but they didn't really need it to fulfill world domination, although it certainly would have helped. Mewtwo would have made their forces that much more powerful, but once Mewtwo escaped into the wild Team Rocket hasn't made a strong push to recover it. They also didn't make much of an attempt as an organization as a whole to pursue the legendary birds, beasts, Lugia or Ho-oh. Only individuals and small groups of Team Rocket made pursuits towards certain Pokémon.

13 Meowth Is Supposed To Be Team Rocket's Lucky Charm?

Poor Jessie, James, and Meowth. I admire their tenacity, always staying relentless in their goal of making their boss happy. But in so many instances, they just have a lot of bad days. Sometimes it is things that they can't control that just doesn't go their way. Sometimes it is bad weather, other times it could be a random Pokémon coming from nowhere. Team Rocket rarely have their fortunes go in their favor. But it is weird and ironic that they don't have lady luck on their side because Meowth is supposed to symbolize good luck.

Meowth's design is based on the Japanese myth, Maneki-Neko, a cat that is said to bring good luck to its owner. The design of Meowth is very similar to the Maneki-Neko, including the use of a coin and the common pose of raising its paw. In Japan, it is one of the most popular icons in the entire country. There are tons of references to the Maneki-Neko all throughout, most commonly in the form of ceramic sculptures. It is because of this relation is why Meowth is one of the most popular Pokémon ever, just behind Pikachu.

12 From The Life Of Riches, To The Life Of Thievery

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Team Rocket may come off as lowlife criminals who do nothing but steal, but the backstories of Jessie, James, and Meowth include a bit of sad and surprising backstories for each of the trio. James, in particular, comes from a very different environment compared to Team Rocket.

When it comes to finances, James had everything you could ever ask for, his family were millionaires.

However, James' parents were very strict, and had very high expectations for him. He was involved in a lot of strict lessons and activities that involved living in a very formal society. He was even a part of an arranged marriage with a young girl, Jessebelle who coincidentally was very similar to Jessie. The pressure of his parents eventually got to James. He hated that lifestyle, and believed it was too boring and it prevented him from enjoying the things in life that he loved. Ultimately he wanted no part of it. Eventually, James ran away from his family and the lavish lifestyle, to which he eventually joined Team Rocket. He seemed to fit better in the low key lifestyle.

11 So Why Did Meowth Learn How To Talk?

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Obviously, the most noticeable feature about Team Rocket's Meowth is that he can speak the human language, but how on earth did a basic Meowth learn how to talk? Most Pokémon fans that have followed the animated series from the very beginning would know how this story works, but if not, well you certainly have some catching up to do. Meowth was just a regular stray cat struggling to live to which he was inspired to travel west to Hollywood thinking that life wont be a struggle there. When he arrives, it wasn't any easier, he had to join a gang just to have the resources to live.

The bottom line about Jessie, James, and Meowth is while they are usually comic relief characters, it is pretty weird how sad or tragic these stories are.

Eventually, he meets a female Meowth named "Meowzie" and falls in love with her. However, she rejected him saying that he is just a street Meowth and that he wasn't good enough for her. Meowth then spent endless hours learning how to talk like a human as well as walking upright like one. The last part is a little odd because throughout many games, Meowths are shown to be clearly walking on just two paws. After Meowth humanized himself, he attempted to earn Meowzie's heart again, only to be rejected again, this time being called a freak. This heartbreak is what leads to Meowth leaving and joining Team Rocket.

10 Meowth Is Missing Out On His Pay Day

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Meowth couldn't win Meowzie's heart because he has lived his life in poverty, yet instead of learning how to speak like a human maybe Meowth had an alternative option? Meowth's signature attack is one called Pay Day, it isn't a strong move, but it had a unique effect of dropping extra change on the ground. Basically, Meowth could, little by little, get a bit rich on his own. However, he doesn't know how to use Pay Day and was never able to learn it. How is it that he couldn't learn his species' signature move?

It turns out, that by learning how to speak, Meowth gave up the ability to use Pay Day!

I guess you could say speaking the human language is a bit of a curse for Pokémon? It could also explain the run of bad luck Team Rocket has had. In the animated series, Meowth claims to not have been able to learn Pay Day because speaking took up a move slot as a funny nod to the video games where Pokémon can only know 4 moves at a time. It is one of the few times the animated series references a game mechanic like that.

9 Team Rocket Executive Archer Nearly Took Over The World

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Yet another Pokémon manga story that is far more interesting than anything in the games or anime. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Giovanni has abandoned Team Rocket, however, a group of loyalists wanted to keep the organization alive. One of the head executives is a man named Archer. In the manga chapter of HeartGold and SoulSilver, Archer eventually takes control of the Pokémon God, Arceus, and uses it to create Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina.

Archer's intentions was to please Giovanni and hope that he would return.

He believed that could be done by controlling Pokémon that would allow him to take over the world. Giovanni would return, but ironically helped Gold and Crystal in defeating the newly born legendary Pokémon. Doing so freed Arceus from Archer's control. A shocked Archer eventually was driven insane, wanting to take over Team Rocket all by himself, but Arceus knocks him out. Giovanni then apprehended Archer to be dealt with later. It was then revealed that Arceus was actually in complete control of itself and only did what Archer wanted as a test for humanity to see if they could stop the pending tragedy. Pretty risky move wouldn't you say?

8 James Collects More Than Just Bottle Caps

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Early on, James was well known to be a collector of sorts. His main collection was bottle caps, and he had a very large collection. His collection was so large, that according to the anime episode All That Glitters!, he collected all of those bottle caps because he "drank enough soda pop to float an aircraft carrier." However, bottle caps were not the only thing James had collected. He also had a deck of Pokémon cards that he kept with him. There was a moment in the anime where he was sorting through his stuff and it was revealed he had a card from the Pokémon trading card game that resembled either a Mankey or a Primeape. The trading card game also got a strong reference in Pokémon the movie 2000 where the Ancient Mew card was shown.

Later on in the series, James would use a deck of cards to identify Pokémon, sort of like his own pokedex. Although, it was very likely he couldn't sort through information as efficiently as a pokedex. In the Best Wishes series, James got a cool upgrade that featured a hologram display of his cards.

7 Team Rocket Outfits Looks Like A Japanese Bike Gang

via: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net, teamrocket.withinmyworld.org

Ever wondered how Team Rocket came up with the design of their uniforms? If you guessed it was based off of a Japanese bike gang, you were right! Team Rocket's basic uniform is based off of the Japanese bike gang, Bōsōzoku, which means "running-out-of-control tribe". The meaning makes some sense considering that Jessie, James and Meowth are rarely in order of their plans and seem to go about business as normal.

According to a documentary written by Ikuya Sato, The Bōsōzoku gang were known for many reckless habits including speeding, running through red lights, speed racing, and riding without their helmets (illegal in Japan). They were most popular around the 1980s and 1990s, which lines up well around the time Pokémon was created. They also have engaged in customizing motorcycles, which is also illegal, but some of their designs are actually pretty cool. It is quite fitting how this does connect back to Team Rocket. Jessie and James both used to be a part of a Pokémon bike gang before joining Team Rocket. That bike gang was featured in the Pokémon episode "The Bridge Bike Gang" and their characteristics are very similar to the Bōsōzoku.

6 Jessie, James, And Meowth: Receiving Credit Where Credit Isn't Due

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Apparently, Jessie, James, and Meowth are highly valued within the ranks of Team Rocket. Wherever they go, Team Rocket's "competitors" go down. These competitors I refer to are the other evil organizations of the Pokémon world: Team Aqua and Team Magma, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, and Team Flare. All of these teams intend to take over the world in their own way and could pose a major threat to Team Rocket's operations. However as Ash and friends journeyed through the different regions, they have been able to overcome and defeat each of these organizations.

What is weird about this is that Jessie, James, and Meowth get all the credit for really not doing anything.

Each time a new series of Pokémon begins, Jessie, James, and Meowth are seen contacting Giovanni to make a report. Each time they have done that, they take the credit that Ash deserves and claim that they are the ones to drive off opposing organizations. Weird thing is, Giovanni seems to actually believe them and then "promote" them to taking on the next region, which is where Ash winds up.