RocketShipping

Jessie and James in Watt's with Wattson?

RocketShipping (Japanese: コジムサ KojiMusa) refers to the romantic pairing of Jessie and James. It is one of the most popular and enduring ships within the Pokémon fandom. It is also one of the few officially recognized by The Pokémon Company, having been canonized in The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, with more ambiguous evidence found across other adaptations.

Jessie and James first appeared in Pokémon Emergency!, alongside Meowth as members of the villainous organization Team Rocket. From that point on, they served as the show's primary antagonists for the duration of Pokémon the Series. As well as a strong emotional connection, Jessie and James demonstrated more physical contact than most other characters on the show including hugging, holding hands, and even sleeping on each other. They were also unusual in frequently sharing Pokémon (who show affection to the pair in similar ways), as well as their Z-Power Ring.

Fandom

An image from the epilogue to The Electric Tale of Pikachu

RocketShipping is notable for introducing the "-Shipping" naming convention to the Pokémon fandom, after members of the TRHQ message board coined the term, inspired by the X-Files fandom where it originated.

The first major event in the RocketShipping fanbase occurred when a member of TRHQ came across an untranslated copy of the final volume of Toshihiro Ono's The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. The epilogue of the manga contained two important scenes: a panel showing James confessing his love to Jessie, and a full-page illustration in which Jessie and James were married and Jessie visibly pregnant. Most importantly for fans this was official and approved by Nintendo, and some believed that it was only a matter of time before something similar happened in the animated series.

However, not long after this, the number and frequency of hints in Pokémon the Series decreased, along with other changes in characterization. Around this time, a website named Pokemopolis began rebutting the "evidence" found in the manga. Pokemopolis became a prominent anti-RocketShipping site in the fandom, as well as the main proponent of the theory of James being gay.

RocketShipping had resurgences in popularity following the episode Noodles! Roamin' Off!, during the airing of Team Rocket's Secret Empire and again after A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways!.

In animation

There is significant variation in the characterization of Jessie and James across languages, most notably between the original and the English dub. In addition to Eric Stuart's stereotypical gay interpretation of James, the TPCi dub is infamous for adding discord to the Team Rocket trio's relationship where there originally was none - for example, during Contests James's original lines would often be fundamentally altered from expressions of support towards Jessie to fear of retribution if she failed. At the other end of the spectrum, the Latin American Spanish dub James frequently calls Jessie “mamita” or “querida” (terms of endearment like “honey” or “sweetie”), “mi Jessie” (my Jessie) or by pet name “Jessita”.

Pre-series

Jessie blushing after James falls on top of her in Training Daze!

The side-story episode Training Daze! is a flashback to the formation of the Team Rocket trio. Jessie is introduced as a loner who does not trust her partners before she meets James. The two have a heart-to-heart sharing their greatest vulnerabilities - for James a lifetime of running away, and for Jessie being alone - before vowing to be there for each other and to make their team shine. Jessie almost gives the mission up after James is seriously injured, but James turns up despite his injuries to prevent this and recites a variation of what will become the first line of their motto. Towards the end of the episode, James makes another attempt to sacrifice himself but Jessie refuses to leave him, declaring that their friendship is more important than succeeding. She pulls him up and he lands on top of her as the camera pans to a shot of them panting heavily and staring into each other's eyes, with Jessie visibly blushing.

Episodes The School of Hard Knocks and The Bridge Bike Gang state that the pair knew each other prior to this, flunking the entrance exam to Pokémon Tech and being members of the bike gang together. Whether these details have been officially retconned is disputed among fans.

Pokémon the Series: The Beginning

Jessie and James were shown to be close teammates from the beginning, frequently seen protecting and encouraging each other when faced with hardships, whether it be declarations of friendship, commitment or compliments in the face of death and danger as seen when trapped aboard the S.S. Anne, during their encounters with Gastly during the events of The Ghost of Maiden's Peak or with Kaiser brandishing a gun at them during EP035.

James is shown to be jealous when other men show interest in Jessie, such as Dr. Proctor in A Chansey Operation. (The inverse is shown later in Pikachu Re-Volts! when Jessie jealous drags James away from Cassidy.)

James encourages Jessie's aspirations outside of Team Rocket during Princess vs. Princess when Jessie wants to win the competition and the prized Hinamatsuri dolls. After she loses, James, Meowth, and their Pokémon dress up as the dolls (with James and Jessie as the Emperor and Empress in their "doll" set), a gesture that Jessie is very touched by.

A notable plot point introduced in the episode Holy Matrimony! is James's forced engagement to Jessebelle. At the end of this episode, Jessie is crushed when she believes that James has decided to marry Jessebelle. At that moment, to her delighted surprise, James swoops down in the balloon to pick her up. When he apologizes for not being able to get the inheritance, she brushes it off, saying they don't need it as long as they have their freedom. They shake hands to reaffirm their friendship and their hands form a heart as the viewers are shown a prolonged scene of them gazing into each others' eyes whilst the music swells. They are so caught up in the moment that they forget to pick up Meowth.

They are happy to both play to and subvert romantic tropes in their disguises. A great example is in Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?, where they appear as newlyweds, with the twist being that James is the bride and Jessie is the groom.

Jessie frequently compliments James for his positive traits that help them towards their plans, whether it be picking locks, having a good memory, or doing well in Pokémon battles. She is also shown to be impressed when he exhibits talents outside of their work, such as his mastery of haiku in Will the Real Oak Please Stand Up?.

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

This series is noteworthy for showing more discord in Jessie & James's relationship. Whilst often uncomfortable (so much so for the actors that Megumi Hayashibara asked for the dynamic be mellowed^[1]), several episodes show how easily they can slip back into friendship after an argument.

In The Bicker the Better Oscar and Andi assume Jessie and James are a couple in the English dub (in the original they simply suggest that the two have a good relationship). Their subsequent quarrel after the failed Tag Battle is strongly reminiscent of a lovers' tiff and demonstrably more flirtatious than Ash and May’s, devolving into an actual physical fight. When Meowth signs to them that this is an opportunity to get Pikachu, they immediately break apart, link arms and without apology or explanation the disagreement is over and they are back in sync. James goes on to state in their motto: "We are the villains with an unshakeable bond!", which Jessie responds to with a wink.

They also argue in The Ole' Berate and Switch, briefly breaking up the team. Cassidy convinces James to join her, dragging James away and causing Jessie to kick a fire extinguisher in apparent jealousy. They are delighted to reunite at the end of the episode and apologize for fighting.

James's history with Jessebelle surfaces again in Sweet Baby James when they visit one of his family's estates and the housekeepers mistake Jessie for Jessebelle. Jessie is unimpressed by James's negative reaction to the thought of being married to her, and further upset when he introduces her as his secretary in an attempt to cover up his being in Team Rocket. She spends most of the rest of the episode going against James's request to keep the peace and only becomes supportive again after James has been honest about their identity. This episode debuts James's Mime Jr., a Pokémon Jessie goes on to develop a close and caring relationship with starting in Spontaneous Combusken!. This later leads James to take an increased interest in Jessie's Contest ambitions in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.

Despite their occasional disunity there are many occasions where they share intimate physical contact, including snuggling together in bed in Hail to the Chef and James carrying Jessie bodily away to protect her from Regirock and Registeel in Pace - The Final Frontier!. There are also further examples of disguising themselves as romantic couples including Illumise and Volbeat in Love at First Flight, and Norman and Caroline in A Double Dilemma.

They have noteworthy movie appearances in this series. In the climax of Jirachi: Wish Maker, Jessie and James hold each other cheek-to-cheek, stating they are happy living just in the moment. They go on to star in of one of the most dramatic scenes in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew when a leukocyte traps Jessie. James attempts to use Cacnea to rescue her and in an uncommon show of seriousness dodges Cacnea when it tries to hug him. After James fails to rescue Jessie, she and James cry out to each other as she is dragged down. James then stands there speechless, visibly heartbroken, and allows himself to get engulfed too.

Notably, in the Latin American Spanish dub of Game Winning Assist, when Cacnea affectionately attacks James he replies with, "¿Cacnea, por qué me quieres besar si sabes que ya tengo novia?"; or, "Cacnea, why do you want to kiss me if you know that I already have a girlfriend?". The only person this comment can reasonably refer to is Jessie.

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

A motto sequence from Uncrushing Defeat!

Jessie's Contest arc in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl is a major source of development for her relationship with James and marks the repair of their seeming rupture during the previous series. The hesitancy he feels towards her participation, carried over from Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, eventually dissipates and he becomes increasingly involved, loaning her his Pokémon and on one occasion stepping in for her when she is sick. He repeatedly forgets to cheer her by her Jessilina alias and instead calls her Jessie before correcting himself, such as in Dawn of a Royal Day!. In Opposites Interact! James tries to get Jessie to let him watch her performances instead of selling merchandise. In the Latin American Spanish dub, James frequently calls Jessie by nicknames including his marigold queen or Jessie-Jess, which is Jessie's nickname from her days at Team Rocket Academy.

In this series, there were few instances of implied imagery between Jessie and James, primarily in Where No Togepi Has Gone Before!, where inside their base there is no bed in James's room, and a double bed in Jessie's. During Crossing Paths, once Jessie releases Dustox, James is touched by Jessie's explanation about this being Dustox's chance of love. The narrator also suggests that Jessie will find happiness too as the shot pans down to show Jessie and James, the English dub narrator changes "finding happiness" to "finding love".

The events of Noodles! Roamin' Off! features the Team Rocket going their separate ways, with Meowth joining a noodle cart, Jessie wanting to focus on being a coordinator, and James remaining with Team Rocket. A depressed James decides to try and capture a Shiny Metagross. When Jessie hears that James is in danger, she immediately drops the façade of pursuing her contest career and rushes to his aid, causing James to fall to his knees and cry, overjoyed she has returned. With the shiny Metagross about to attack them, James apologizes for getting Jessie involved, which she brushes off saying they're friends. He goes on to say life wasn't wasted because he spent it with good friends, looking at her significantly. Closing their eyes for the final blow, Jessie says, “If there is another world after we die, let’s meet again there.” James agrees and smiles, no longer looking afraid. This is an addendum to James's implied promise in Training Daze to always be at Jessie's side.

During Two Degrees of Separation! while visiting one of James's families summer homes, Team Rocket decide to leave quickly before his parents and Jessebelle arrive. Although disappointed, James expresses the desire to live in a cottage in the future with Jessie and Meowth. Later on, during the episode The Treasure Is All Mine!, James refers to Jessebelle as his first love, implying that he'd fallen in love with someone else. To escape Jessebelle later in the episode he asks Ash to get Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on them to send them blasting off.

In The Treasure is All Mine!, we come to learn that James originally fell in love with Jessebelle at first sight before she begins mistreating him - noteworthy because she is Jessie's doppelgänger.

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Pokémon the Series: Black & White is noteworthy for attempting to put Jessie, James, and Meowth in more serious, antagonistic roles. Their normal personalities and relationships are so much suppressed during the series that it inspired the creation of the Team Rocket's Secret Empire radio show, in the introduction to which James accuses Jessie of only speaking to him these days to confirm mission plans. This change resulted in a complete absence of shipping evidence until the Decolora Adventure portion of the saga when they start to revert to their prior selves. An example of this is in Danger, Sweet as Honey!, when Jessie freezes in terror at the prospect of being attacked by a swarm of Beedrill, James takes her by the shoulders to guide her out of harm's way.

Pokémon the Series: XY

In a progression of his involvement in Jessie's Contest arc in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, James is a bedrock of support for Jessie during the Pokémon Showcase competition. As before, he often forgets to call her by her stage name and is now frequently shown to be the loudest supporter in the crowd, to the point that it becomes a nuisance for the audience members seated near him. During the Pokémon Showcase Master Class, despite worrying she'd be angry at her loss, Jessie thanks her friends for helping her get as far as she had. Everyone tackles and hugs her, with James saying he'd follow her anywhere.

Pokémon the Series: XY generally had smaller moments between Jessie and James peppered throughout the episodes, such as pushing each other out of the way of danger. One such moment is during A Gaggle of Gadget Greatness! when Jessie struggles to open a trick wall, James whacks a hand against it, briefly trapping Jessie between his body and the wall until it opens. Annoyed, she tells him, "That was misleading." The frames are presented like a classic Kabedon scene, a trope often used in anime and manga for love confessions. In Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction when the trio believe they are about to get rich from Diancie’s diamonds, James's first suggestion is they could build a house with the money and Jessie follows this up by saying they might get a holiday home too.

Jessie again dabbled with the idea of parting with Team Rocket during A Fork in The Road! A Parting of The Ways!. After being separated during a blast-off, James and Meowth find Jessie telling Ash and company she is quitting Team Rocket to stay with Dr. White, who she has fallen in love with. Meowth is about to stop Jessie, but James tells him they shouldn't get in the way of her happiness. James then runs away crying as he reminisces about the life he has shared with his partner. After Jessie and James Pokémon are stolen by a hunter James pleads Ash and his friends for help. In the original Japanese, Serena begins to ask an ambiguous question of James about Jessie which he cuts off with an affirmative grunt before she can express the verb. Given the context, it is hinted that she may have been about to ask if he likes her as more than a friend. Jessie, having overheard the conversation Jessie chooses to return to Team Rocket and help rescue their Pokémon. When Meowth begs her to live for love, not evil, to which she replies that she is carrying out the evils of love and truth, quoting their motto.

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

Throughout this series, there were multiple subtle signs indicating how much Jessie and James care for each other, whether it be through their desire to protect one another from danger or support each other during competitions.

Key moments include in Fighting Back the Tears! when James gets poisoned by a wild Toxapex multiple times during the episode, with Jessie getting increasingly concerned. She determines that Jame's health is more important than getting a rare and powerful Pokémon. James is equally concerned when he protects Jessie from an Alolan Raticate's Bite attack in A Team-on-Team Tussle! or when he has to attack Jessie to free her from a Gengar's control in Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?, even requesting Mareanie to do it gently so as not to injure her.

Whilst there are no competitions in the same vein as contests or showcases this series, some episodes feature Jessie wanting to pursue an acting career, which James supports and assists with, even admitting she looks beautiful before her audition in This Magik Moment!. At the conclusion of the series in the Manalo Conference both characters make it through the Battle Royal and into the battle portion of the competition. When Jessie loses in the first round she demands James win, giving him their shared Z-Ring. She also gives the announcers a biography for James calling him a "ferocious warrior who has traveled the world and conquered Gyms". Meowth pointing out that she's getting overexcited in cheering him on, much like James used to during her contests and showcases. After his loss, she struggles to tell him that she is proud regardless, offering a can of iced Komala Coffee and reminding him that Team Rocket always moves forward. James recognizes the offering for what it is from her and appears to be very touched by her action.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In Ivysaur's Mysterious Tower!, Jessie and James perform a ballroom dance sequence in the new stock motto animation. They dance holding hands and James dips Jessie.

In other media

The Electric Tale of Pikachu

Throughout the manga, there is suggestive physical contact between Jessie and James and they also revealed to share a bed. In the epilogue, there is a panel in which we see a flashback to James confessing his love to Jessie and at the end of the manga, Jessie and James are shown to be married with a child on the way.

Pokémon Puzzle League

Jessie and James dressed as newlyweds in Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?!

During Round Four in Spa Service, they are wearing their bride and groom clothing from the episode Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?. Unlike the episode, Meowth is dressed as a flower girl and the background music is "Treulich Geführt" by Richard Wagner, known in English as the "Bridal Chorus".

Radio

It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!

During the radio drama, Jessie says the only thing she can rely on is her partner, James asks hopefully whether she means him, however, she reveals she meant her Arbok, which upsets James. Later on when trapped and anticipating a fatal attack from an angry hoard of Beedrill, Jessie and James recite the lines of a famous Kabuki scene from a show called Kuruwa Bunsho (translated as Love Letters from the Licensed Quarter), where two lovers commit a double suicide.

Team Rocket's Secret Empire

A radio drama that aired in the latter half of 2012, Team Rocket's Secret Empire featured a lot of interaction between the three members of Team Rocket, the show was presented over several segmented stories where they portrayed different characters within them. The Team Rocket's Secret Empire Twitter account featured several in-character tweets that indicated how close Jessie and James are, including an interaction during one of James's occasional Q&A sessions on Twitter, a follower asked him, "Jessie is cute! Since you are together all the time, haven't you fallen in love with her?" James answered, "So (she's my) eternal partner, right!" (「永遠のパートナーだからな！」).

In the chapter "Space People No. 1", the opening drama of Episode 7, the aftermath of a rocket ship accident is explored. The character of James is frantically searching for Jessie's character and is distraught to find her injured and trapped under rubble. He is unable to free her despite his best efforts, so holds her as she dies. She tells him how happy she is that he is with her at the end and encourages him to save himself, as she believes their relationship is destined by fate and they will be reunited in another life. When asked in the final episode, Jessie cites this as her favorite opening skit of the series and James agrees.

In the final episode, the trio is asked to say what they like about each other. James is initially rendered incoherent and only able to describe Jessie as "good", before eventually saying they are a good balance. Jessie cites James always being there, saying that whenever she thinks she's alone she looks behind her and James is there. Although framed as a joke implying that James is creepily ever-present, there is also an underlying reference to the promise he makes in Training Daze! to stick with her.

Trivia

• Scriptwriter Junki Takegami is responsible for writing what are generally considered to be the 3 most important Rocketshipping episodes: Holy Matrimony!, Training Daze and Noodles! Roamin' Off!. Interestingly, he also received joint writing credit with Shōji Yonemura for A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways! in promotional material, although his name did not appear in the episode's end credits.
• Toshihiro Ono who created The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, in which Jessie and James are shown married and expecting a child, continues to express his support for the pairing on his Twitter account.
  • He is also infamous for producing an unofficial hentai doujinshi which fills in the details of how they conceived their child.
• In addition to numerous appearances with Meowth and their other Pokémon, Jessie and James have featured together by themselves in 3 TCG cards:
  • Here Comes Team Rocket! (EX Team Rocket Returns print)
  • Team Rocket's Harassment
  • Jessie & James (Regular print)

External links

• Rocketshipping General Discussion on Bulbagarden Forums

This article is a part of Project Fandom, a Bulbapedia Project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every aspect of the Pokémon Fandom.