Team Rocket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Universe | Pokémon series |
|---|---|
| Type | Crime syndicate |
| Founded | Unknown |
| Location | Kanto, Johto, Sevii Islands |
| Key people | All media: Giovanni (leader) Pokémon Adventures: Sabrina, Lt. Surge, Koga (Executives) The Mask of Ice (Leader of Neo Team Rocket) |
| Purpose | To steal Pokémon all over the world and exploit them for profit and use them for world domination |
Team Rocket (ロケット団 Roketto Dan?) is a fictional syndicate in the metaseries Pokémon. In each of its various incarnations, Team Rocket desires to steal Pokémon to further its goal of global domination. They are led by the criminal mastermind, Giovanni. Team Rocket first debuted in the original games, Pokémon Red and Blue, then made a move into the animated series and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
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[edit] In the video games
Team Rocket made their debut in the video game series of Pokémon, in which they are a portrayed as a crime syndicate with the goal of world domination. In reality most of their crimes are far more trivial such as theft (of TMs and fossils), though the games focus on particular, organised attempts by the organisation to monopolise gambling, perform mob take-overs of cities and generally terrorise the inhabitants of Kanto and Johto. Despite these more sophisticated crimes Team Rocket still harbours an image closer to that of a mafia family than a world-conquering syndicate.
[edit] Pokemon
In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen Team Rocket Grunts most often use fierce-looking Pokémon. Their chosen Pokémon tend to be of the poison type, with Rockets most frequently using Pokémon like Koffing, Zubat, Ekans and their evolutions. Despite this, their leader, Giovanni, uses mainly ground-type Pokémon, most notably Nidoking, Nidoqueen (which are both also poison-types), Rhydon, Dugtrio and Kangaskhan, which despite its type does not appear out of place in his squad. In Pokémon Gold and Silver, Team Rocket appears to have expanded its number of preferred types. Many Rockets use the normal Pokémon Rattata and Raticate, while Executives are seen to take on dark Pokémon, a type new to these games. Such Pokémon include Murkrow and Houndoom.
[edit] Encounters
In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red and Leaf Green, the player must foil several schemes by Team Rocket, in the following locations before the player shuts them down, which are:
- Mt. Moon, where Team Rocket seeks rare Pokémon and fossils.
- Lavender Tower, where Team Rocket is holding the kindly Mr. Fuji hostage.
- Celadon City, where Team Rocket secretly runs and offices beneath the Game Corner.
- Saffron City, where Team Rocket took hostage/control of the Silph Co. HQ.
- After defeating Giovanni at the Viridian Gym.
- The Sevii Islands, specifically the fifth island. (FireRed and LeafGreen only)
In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, set three years later, it returns to wreak havoc in Johto, at
- The Slowpoke Well in Azalea Town, making illegal business with Slowpoketails.
- Mahogany Town/Lake of Rage, where Team Rocket makes an experiment with a radio broadcast which will be used to control Pokémon, as well as forcing the Lake of Rage’s Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados.
- The Radio Tower in Goldenrod City, which Team Rocket takes over and uses their Pokémon to control, making references to Giovanni in the broadcast, trying to encourage him to get back to business.
- A Rocket Grunt steals a machine part from Kanto’s power plant, creating chaos in the electricity-related business (such as Kanto’s Radio Tower and Saffron City’s Magnet Train).
[edit] The Fate of Team Rocket
Team Rocket as an organization has not yet been abolished in the anime, but it met its demise in the video games. In Red, Blue,Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, the player temporarily disbands the organization by defeating Giovanni in his Viridian Gym. Three years later, in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Team Rocket continues to survive through its Executives, who control the organization but seek to bring back Giovanni, who is supposedly in solo training. When the Executives are beaten by the player, however, it permanently disbands.
In other games and regions, the crime syndicates are not related to Team Rocket.
[edit] In the anime
The most frequently appearing members of the organization in the anime, which is based loosely on the video games, are a team, Jessie, James, and Meowth. They are the main antagonists of the anime series, known for their incompetence in their evil doings as well as acting in their positions as the comic relief of the series. Other frequently-seen members of Team Rocket include Butch, Cassidy and Giovanni, Team Rocket’s Leader.
[edit] In the manga
- This section is about Team Rocket in manga which directly adapted the video games, particularly Pokémon Adventures. For information on Team Rocket in The Electric Tale of Pikachu and its sequels, which were an adaptation of the anime, see Team Rocket (anime).
In the Pokémon manga series, Pokémon Adventures, Red encounters and battles Team Rocket in many locations, including:
- Mt. Moon where they were searching for the Moon Stone and had experimented on Misty’s Gyarados
- Vermillion port, where they were kidnapping Pokémon for transport by sea
- Lavender Tower where they had taken over and kidnapped Blue
- The siege of Saffron City, when the Rockets had closed off the city and taken the people of Pallet Town captive.
In the manga, Blaine is a former Team Rocket Scientist who had combined the DNA of Mew with his own DNA, creating Mewtwo. However, he gained the DNA of Mewtwo as well, giving him the ability to track Mewtwo. The manga also shows Koga, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina as high-ranking members of Team Rocket, directly below Giovanni in the chain of command.
- A major difference between the manga and other versions of Team Rocket is that several Gym Leaders are Rocket members in the manga, while they are not in other media.
- In this continuity, Team Rocket is apparently an acronym for
“Raid On the City, Knock-out, Evil Tusks.” (Pokémon Adventures, volume 14)
[edit] Showdown at Cerise
In the Yellow Caballero arc, the Gym Leaders who had been Rocket admins showed up to help the heroes fight the Elite Four.
[edit] Neo Team Rocket
After being defeated by the protagonists in the R/B/Y arc, Team Rocket was reformed as Neo Team Rocket. The leader of Neo Team Rocket is the Mask of Ice, a stranger being able to shoot ice at his enemies in various ways, including Icicle Spears and the ability to freeze anything he touches instantly.
The Mask of Ice kidnapped Green, Silver, Shum, Cart, Will and Karen as children, and raised them as his servants. Green and Silver escaped soon after, but the rest of them remained as his servants. After Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket, the Mask of Ice recruited the Rocket Grunts that were left behind, forcing those who are not interested by controlling them with masks. However, former Team Rocket Executives Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and Koga were not recruited by Mask of Ice.
The Mask of Ice’s true identity is that of Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town.
[edit] Sevii Islands
Giovanni later re-formed Team Rocket in the Sevii Islands, where he created and/or caught Deoxys.
[edit] In the Card Game
Team Rocket received two expansion sets of cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game: “Team Rocket” and “EX: Team Rocket Returns.” These expansions feature Dark Pokémon, which are Pokémon that have been turned evil by Team Rocket. Dark Pokémon are actually dual type, regular type, and Dark-type in the second Team Rocket expansion. There are also “Rocket’s” Pokémon, most of which are EXs, apart from Wobbuffet and Meowth. All of them are Dark-type, though most require their normal elemental energies.
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
- Notes
- Publications
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 1998. ASIN B000CQP8FE
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Player’s Guide Special Edition for Yellow, Red and Blue. Nintendo of America Inc., 1999. ASIN B000CQT878
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1930206151
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Gold Version & Silver Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., October 2000. ISBN 1-930206-04-6
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Gold Version & Silver Version Complete Pokédex. Nintendo of America Inc., 2001. ISBN 1-930206-06-2
- Loe, Casey, ed. Versus Books Official Pokémon Gold & Silver Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, January 15, 2001. ISBN 0970646801
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Crystal Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 2001. ISBN 1-930206-12-7
- Loe, Casey, ed. Versus Books Official Pokémon Crystal Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, August 1, 2001. ISBN 0970646852
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
- Manga volumes
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 1: Desperado Pikachu. VIZ Media LLC, July 6 2000. ISBN 1569315078
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 2: Legendary Pokémon. VIZ Media LLC, December 6 2000. ISBN 1569315086
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 3: Saffron City Siege. VIZ Media LLC, August 5 2001. ISBN 1569315604
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 5: The Yellow Caballero: Making Waves. VIZ Media LLC, April 2002. ISBN 1591160278
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 6: The Yellow Caballero: The Cave Campaign. VIZ Media LLC, September 5 2002. ISBN 1591160286
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 7: The Yellow Caballero: The Pokémon Elite. VIZ Media LLC, January 2003. ISBN 1569318514
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 8. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., July 2003. ISBN 981-241-300-6
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 9. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., September 2003. ISBN 981-241-511-4
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 10. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., November 2003. ISBN 981-241-546-7
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 11. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., January 2004. ISBN 981-241-600-5
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 12. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., March 2004. ISBN 981-241-723-0
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 13. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., April 2004. ISBN 981-241-760-5
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 14. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., July 2004. ISBN 981-260-014-0
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 15. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., September 2004. ISBN 981-260-098-1
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 21. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., February 2006. ISBN 981-4204-44-7
- Kusaka, Hidenori, & Satoshi Yamamoto. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 22. Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd., October 2006. ISBN 981-269-437-4
[edit] External links
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Team Rocket
[edit] See also
| Pokémon series villains |
|---|
| Team Rocket | Team Aqua | Team Magma | Team Galactic | Video game villains |
