Butch is a character appearing in Pokémon the Series, who was an A-rank agent of Team Rocket along with his partner, Cassidy. Butch, just like Cassidy, can be fairly arrogant and takes his part in taunting Jessie and James about their incompetence, although he is much quieter than his partner and often lets her take the 'team leader' role. He is sensitive when people don't get his name right.
He also shares a bitter rivalry with James, although it is noticeably not as intense as that between Jessie and Cassidy.
He does more of the heavy duty work, such as driving or carrying, while Cassidy tends to boss him around a little. This is seen frequently in the episode "Luvdisc Is a Many Splendored Thing!" where she repeatedly yells commands at her partner such as "Gun it!" or "Get a move on, Butch!" and "Never mind this mushy stuff, after them!" Butch seems to go along with it without complaints, however. A lot of the time, he appears to be the submissive half of the partnership.
In "The Good, The Bad, and The Lucky!", it was revealed that he had left Team Rocket to run a bakery.
Appearance[]
Butch has brown eyes, which are more of a maroon in his most recent appearances, and short green hair with M-shaped bangs. One of his most defining traits in undoubtedly his raspy, rough, gravelly voice. It resembles that of a smoker; therefore most people's theory is that he smokes very frequently, which has caused his voice to deteriorate.
He is known to have a great rivalry with James, who calls him "Botch". He wore a black long-sleeve shirt with a large red R on it, a white belt, black pants, and white boots and gloves with red trim.
As a baker, he wears a white t-shirt with brown buttons on the front, brown pants, a tan ascot, cap, and apron, and tan shoes with brown trim.
Personality[]
Butch, although the quieter and submissive one of him and Cassidy, appears to be fairly intelligent. In "Pikachu Revolts", he explained to Jessie and James how he and Cassidy were controlling the Pokémon with, "This device amplifies Drowzee's attacks and broadcasts it through a parabolic antenna on the roof."
Butch also seems quite masculine compared to the more effeminate James. He appears to be the tough type, and slightly arrogant with it. In 'Showdown At The Oak Corral', when Butch and Cassidy were disguised as a Golem and a Nidoqueen, Butch stated, "I think I make a good Golem!" When Cassidy replied, "And why is that?" He began to go on about how he was, like Golem, tough, strong, powerful, fearless, etc. until Cassidy told him, "Enough already! I get your point!"
A recurring gag in the anime is that almost every single character fails to get Butch's name right, much like Stephan in the Black and White series. Variations include Botch, Biff, Buzz, Patch, Hutch, and a few more (コサンジ, Kosanji in Japanese version). This of course infuriates him. He gets extremely wound up and over the top about it, and continues to furiously correct the culprits of getting his name wrong. In "The Ole Berate And Switch," Butch seemed rather depressed about the fact that Cassidy, despite the two of them knowing each for a long time and being partners ever since they were Team Rocket-trainees, still often forgets his name. This suggests he perhaps values her opinion more than the others.
He has OCD regarding people getting his name wrong, meaning that he is very sensitive of the issue. His annoyance with people getting his name wrong even got to the point where he says "That does it, I am changing my name," after his third name mishap in about two or so minutes in SS012: Training Daze, but Cassidy did call his name correctly.
By the time of Journeys, he is no longer hostile to Jessie and Meowth and is more than happy to let them run his bakery for a while. He is still sensitive about people mispronouncing his name, though he was shocked that Jessie pronounced Butch's name correctly.
Biography[]
Butch was a recruit in the Team Rocket Academy to become an official member of Team Rocket, and was paired with Cassidy on the Blue Team. During a test he took, Butch along with Cassidy and Raticate as his partners have become the top group of trainees in the Blue Team. He and his partners compete with the Red Team (Jessie, James, and Meowth) on catching the red-colored Snorlax. However, while conducting the theft, Cassidy and Butch fell into a trap, and injured themselves. Even though neither side managed to steal Snorlax, they were made into official teams.[1]
Pokémon the Series: The Beginning[]
Butch and Cassidy were working in a breeding center when they were approached by the heroes. Misty wanted of them to take care of her Psyduck, so they took it on the conveyor belt, taking it in their backroom. However, the heroes later returned, and found the center closed. In the back, they saw that the duo was running a scam to steal Pokémon, which were caged. The two were examining a Sandshrew, thinking of their boss giving them a bonus for this mission. Their boss, Giovanni, contacted them, pleased of the results, thinking the mission would be ruined if Jessie and James had been involved in it as well. Suddenly, Butch saw the flash from Todd Snap's camera, as he was taking pictures of the caged Pokémon for evidence. Luckily, Ash's Pikachu was able to fool Butch with his electrical discharges.
Soon, Butch discovered them when Jessie, James, and Meowth infiltrated the building to steal the Pokémon themselves, discovering Cassidy and Butch's plan to send them to Giovanni. Butch managed to capture, Ash, Brock, Snap, and his fellow Team Rocket operatives, and confiscated Snap's camera. Without it, Cassidy was able to dupe the local Officer Jenny into thinking Ash and the others were the criminals and have them carted off to jail. However, Misty and Pikachu escaped being caught, and were able to retrieve Snap's camera, develop the photos, and prove Ash and the others were innocent and Cassidy and Butch were the guilty ones. A furious Jenny returned to the breeding center, catching Cassidy and Butch red-handed, especially since they were caught in their Team Rocket uniforms. After Pikachu defeated their Raticate, Ash's Bulbasaur restrained Cassidy and Butch when they attempted to flee, and were soon imprisoned.[2]
With their boss having paid the fine to get them out of prison, Cassidy and Butch went on a new scheme. On Mandarin Island in the Orange Archipelago, James and Jessie followed Meowth in a building. There, Meowth turned on them, as the duo saw Cassidy and Butch. The two claimed that Jessie would get kicked out of Team Rocket, though she knew they were just trying to get her upset. Meowth went to Cassidy and Butch, who showed that they had captured a lot of Pokémon, using Drowzee's powers. Jessie and James sent their Pokémon to fight, but Drowzee made them turn on Jessie and James, who were beaten up.
The heroes, along with Officer Jenny, made a new plan: Jessie and James snuck the group inside in a cart, to have Officer Jenny use her Gastly to battle Drowzee, since the former was unaffected by its powers. However, Drowzee was still powerful, and Ash confronted Pikachu. A clever move involved having Ash electrocuted by Pikachu resulted in the device Drowzee was in being destroyed, and when Drowzee passed out, its control on the Pokémon was broken, returning them to normal. Refusing to give up, Butch and Cassidy had Drowzee battle the Pokémon, and had it use Metronome. Togepi cheerfully mimicked it, and triggered Explosion, destroying Butch and Cassidy's hideout, and leading to their arrest once more.[3]
Pokémon the Series: Gold & Silver[]
In Johto region, Cassidy and Butch disguised themselves as Day Care couple to steal Pokémon, and also sell books. The heroes were interested, much that they obtained a fortune-telling book. James and Jessie, at the former's order, went to steal Pokémon from the center, and at that moment, they saw that the couple was Butch and Cassidy. The two tied Meowth, James and Jessie up, then went to report to the boss about their mission. The heroes had interest in trading, and went back to the Daycare, only to discover Butch and Cassidy were stealing Pokémon. Butch and Cassidy went to battle, but James and Jessie jumped in to interfere. James, confident in the abilities from the fortune-telling book, was distraught when Cassidy mentioned that the book was fake. Cassidy and Butch were able to defeat James and Jessie, and noticed the heroes attempted to free the caged Pokémon. Misty and Ash instantly had their Pokémon battle their Raticate and Primeape, defeating them. Once more, Cassidy and Butch were put behind bars.[4]
At Whirl Islands, Cassidy and Butch were sent by Dr. Namba to capture Lugia. They cast a net to capture the young Lugia, Silver (a friend to a boy named Oliver), but their efforts were thwarted by the heroes. After they lost the battle, Cassidy and Butch retreated, promising to return. At the underwater base, Butch and Cassidy reported their findings to Dr. Namba. James and Jessie were interested in the mission, but the former was angry when Cassidy simply asked of them to serve food for Dr. Namba, instead of doing something notable. Cassidy and Butch attracted Silver by using a decoy, and trapped it. The heroes, as well as James and Jessie, attacked Butch and Cassidy to free Silver. Cassidy's Houndour used Smog, distracting the heroes, which led to Butch and Cassidy snatching Silver and making their getaway.[5] Dr. Namba was pleased by their results, knowing that Silver's mother, Lugia, would be enraged, and that their plans to capture it would, too, be soon fulfilled.
Conducting the plan, Butch and Cassidy took the cage with Silver to the shore, which led the latter utter a cry. Its mother soon arrived, and despite the heroes' attempts to stop it, Lugia was captured. Cassidy and Butch also sent their Pokémon, equipped with headbands to increase their aggressiveness, to defeat the heroes and imprisoning them in their underwater base.[6] To steal credit from Cassidy and Butch to capture Lugia, Jessie and James let Oliver free the heroes. Cassidy and Butch were furious, and sent their Pokémon to attack the heroes. This time, the heroes' Pikachu used Thunderbolt to destroy their headbands. Realizing someone was trying to free Lugia, they went to the room, finding James and Jessie, and had their Pokémon attack their Arbok and Victreebel. In that battle, the attacks were thrown so that Lugia's cage was destroyed and Lugia itself was rescued, which led to everyone evacuating the underwater base before it collapsed.[7]
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire[]
Cassidy and Butch went to Professor Oak's lab. Hiding their getaway helicopter in the bushes, they noted this would be an easy plan to snatch all the Pokémon, knowing only the professor and his assistant were in the laboratory. They went in disguises of Golem and Nidoqueen, though they were noticed by Ash's Bulbasaur, and annoyed by Ash's Totodile. They took their disguises for a moment to wipe their faces, and were seen by an Oddish, who went to warn Bulbasaur about these intruders. They continued on, stepping on Ash's Cyndaquil, causing it to faint. They went to a window to break in, and were seen by Ash's Noctowl, whose Foresight made it conclude that these two were, indeed, intruders. They made it past the professor and started taking Poké Balls. As they took the Poké Balls, they went outside, only for Cassidy - who was wearing the Nidoqueen costume - to be hugged by an actual Nidoking. Butch attempted to push Nidoking away, but failed, and Ash's Muk went on the cart.
Once these distractions were removed, the duo continued on towards the helicopter, but were discovered by Professor Oak and Tracey, since the two were warned by the laboratory Pokémon that something was odd. The two reminded that these Pokémon belong to their trainers, and shared friendships with them. Butch and Cassidy sent Hitmontop and Houndour, to which Tracey sent Scyther, Professor Oak used Ash's Bulbasasur and were joined by Delia, who sent Mimey. Their attacks were thwarted as Bulbasaur redirected Hitmontop's Rapid Spin on them, and were blasted off with a Solar Beam.[8] DJ Mary was rehearsing with Professor Oak before their broadcast began. When they went to get some lunch, a bunch of suspicious people approached Professor Oak, wanting to get his attention on something. Oak parted ways with DJ Mary for a bit, but the latter did not see him for a while, making her think that he was abducted.
These scientists were Butch and Cassidy in disguise, who fooled Oak into examining a fake egg. A smoke caused Oak to fall unconscious, so the two placed Oak in a Nidoqueen disguise to fool others and place him in a truck, and deliver him to a secluded place. There, they woke Oak up so he could speak to their superior, Dr. Namba. Dr. Namba wanted Oak to force Oak to reveal information about the Pokérus, a virus that boosted a Pokémon's growth, as well as where could one find such samples. Oak refused to answer, so Butch and Cassidy attempted to torture him with a shrieking sound by a nail on a board. However, Ritchie and Tracey arrived with Officer Jenny to rescue Oak. Butch and Cassidy attempted to flee, capturing Oak in a truck. Ritchie used his Charmeleon, nicknamed Zippo, to attack Team Rocket, nearly burning Professor Oak in battle by accident. Oak was rescued, and Butch and Cassidy were defeated soon afterwards.[9]
Butch and Cassidy went to a hamburger restaurant, having a "special" meal. One of the chips had a recording of Dr. Namba, ordering them to capture a Delcatty, which pleased the duo for a new task. Waiting for Georgio to battle Misty at the lighthouse, Butch and Cassidy snatched Georgio's Delcatty, using paragliders to fly away. However, Georgio had Pelipper blast them with Water Gun, forcing them to battle Misty and Casey. The two were blasted off with Casey's Meganium's Solar Beam.[10] The two went on an island, to capture a revived Aerodactyl. They watched the events for a while, then went to search. At first time, they found Aerodactyl, but startled it and made it fly away. Later, Gary's group found the lone Aerodactyl: the group attempted to return it to the lab (as Tracey went to grab it by its leg), but were intercepted by Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket, who captured Aerodactyl.
Gary sent his Pokémon out to battle Team Rocket, and thwarted their efforts as Aerodactyl was freed. Taking the seeds they found near its egg, the group wanted to bait Aerodactyl by offering it food, but Butch and Cassidy reappeared in a helicopter to snatch Aerodactyl. This time, Gary's Dodrio was sent to use Drill Peck to smash the helicopter, while Aerodactyl's Hyper Beam blasted them off.[11] Meowth imagined in one of his fantasies that the boss would yell to his lazy underlings (like Butch and Cassidy). He'd then be calmed down by Swablu's singing, which made Team Rocket plan on capturing Swablu that they had found.[12] Butch and Cassidy disguised themselves as two scientists, wanting to capture Moltres, and joined Silver, who was accompanied by Ritchie. Ritchie did not knew much about Moltres, while Silver was slightly offended by these scientists, even if he promised to help them, which made Ritchie suspicious of these scientists.
They went on a boat, which came to an island with a volcano: it was reported that the volcano would erupt soon. Ritchie saw Silver and the two scientists coming on the island, and followed them. Ritchie followed the three, and wanted to join them to see Moltres, which was supposed to be in the volcano. The scientists didn't want to have Ritchie following them, and insulted Ritchie. Ritchie stalked them, and found at their camp that the two scientists were from Team Rocket, working for Dr. Namba. In fact, the two scientists wanted to trick Silver into weakening Moltres, then capture it and bring it to the HQ. The scientists walked away, while Silver found Ritchie, and invited him for dinner. Ritchie tried to warn Silver that these men were bad people, but Silver ignored him. Silver admitted that Ritchie resembled him when he was young, which made Ritchie compare himself to Ash, as he too was excited to see rare Pokémon.
The next day, the group went to the top, where they encountered Moltres. Silver attempted to battle Moltres, but gave up, since this was Moltres' resting place when it became weak. The two scientists sent Cloyster and Tentacruel to weaken Moltres even more, for they were Butch and Cassidy, who trapped Silver and Ritchie in a net. The latter two broke out, and Ritchie blasted off Team Rocket with Sparky's Thunderbolt.[13] James and Jessie later returned to Team Rocket headquarters. After speaking with their boss, they met up with Cassidy and Butch. The group sparked tensions, until a grunt arrived to give a mission from Dr. Namba to Butch and Cassidy. The latter two walked away, and were later seen flying away on their jetpacks.[14]
Butch and Cassidy ran a fake Pokémon Battle Tournament, disguised to steal more Pokémon. The heroes were interested and gave their Pokémon so that they could partake in the tournament. Butch and Cassidy recognized them, and Brock tried to flirt with Cassidy (being disguised as a Nurse Joy), but noted something was off about her. As the tournament progressed, Butch and Cassidy stole the Pokémon, until they met up with James and Jessie. Cassidy dismissed Jessie, and tried to convince James to join them instead. Jessie became frustrated, and went over to Butch, to carry the Poké Balls that they had stolen. Their activities were seen by Max, who warned his friends about this, and they confronted Team Rocket. Ash had Corphish attack Cassidy's Houndour, but knocked over some of the boxes, spreading Poké Balls around the stadium for all Trainers to see the scam. Butch and Jessie attempted to make their getaway, but Ash's Swellow attacked them, and Pikachu battled Cassidy's Raticate, borrowed by Butch, as well. Butch and Cassidy rejoined forces, attempting to take a box of Poké Balls and get aboard a plane. A hole set up earlier by Jessie and James prevented that, and the duo was blasted off by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.[15]
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl[]
On Dr. Namba's orders, Cassidy and Butch went to capture a Hippowdon in Sinnoh. Their efforts were thwarted by James and Jessie, who tried to grab the glory, as well as the heroes, for Dawn's Pachirisu got stuck in one of Hippowdon's holes. Butch and Cassidy used a robot to capture Hippowdon, and launched a horn to blast Team Rocket in their balloon off. The heroes sent their Pokémon to protect Hippowdon, having Turtwig launch Razor Leaf to cut their net. James, Meowth and Jessie reappeared in a Slowbro-like robot, to attack Cassidy and Butch, who launched another horn. The explosion caused Pachirisu to come out of Hippowdon's holes. Butch and Cassidy were adamant about capturing Hippowdon, for they sent Granbull and Shuckle to battle. After a brief battle with Jessie and James, they confronted the heroes' Piplup and Pikachu, whose Bubblebeam and Thunderbolt struck their Pokémon. Hippowdon's strong Sandstorm eventually blasted them off. Moments later, they called Dr. "Umba", to which Namba corrected them.[16]
Pokémon Journeys: The Series[]
Jessie, Meowth and Wobbuffet encountered Butch after they left James behind with Cassidy. The three of them found his bakery at a small coastal town, where his bread emitted some aroma when they were hungry. Jessie initially didn't recognize him, until he began reciting his motto, though she still got his name wrong, much to his offense. He originally was going to reveal his reason for quitting, though the three already knew that he shared the same one with Cassidy. Jessie, alongside Meowth and Wobbuffet, decide to help Butch run his bakery for a while, as well as getting Butch's name right, much to Butch's surprise. After seeing how Meowth seemed to like Butch's female Meowth after they finished helping Butch out, Jessie left Meowth to stay at Butch's place. However, a heartbroken Meowth soon left Butch behind, after realizing Butch's Meowth was already a mate of the Persian in his town.[17]
Pokémon[]
On hand[]
Voice actors[]
- Dutch: Finn Poncin
References[]
- ^ SS012: Training Daze
- ^ TB057: The Breeding Center Secret
- ^ TB088: Pikachu Re-Volts
- ^ GS041: The Fortune Hunters
- ^ GS104: The Mystery Is History
- ^ GS105: A Parent Trapped!
- ^ GS106: A Promise Is a Promise
- ^ SS004: Showdown at the Oak Corral
- ^ SS008: Oaknapped!
- ^ SS011: A Date with Delcatty
- ^ SS015: Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl
- ^ RS064: True Blue Swablu
- ^ SS018: The Search for the Legend
- ^ RS133: The Scheme Team
- ^ RS177: The Ole' Berate and Switch!
- ^ DP065: Sleight of Sand!
- ^ PJ095: The Good, the Bad, and the_Lucky!
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| Pokémon the Series: The Beginning | ||