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maliceincandyland · 1 year

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James (Pokémon) & His Inner Demons

James is a gangster who struggles with depression and has a paralyzing fear of commitment, but he’s a fighter.

James’s Past

TW: Abuse

James grew up wealthy, but left home when he was around 10. His private tutors were physically abusive whenever he got something wrong or showed emotion (AG147). His ex-fiancée, Jessibelle, was emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive. We see her try to r*** him onscreen and she’s done it in the past (Japanese version: “This is... the same stuff... you used last time.” English dub: “This is just like... This is just like... last time.”). His parents help her assault him because he’s only useful to them as someone who can produce heirs. They also didn’t let him have toys. He collected bottle caps in secret, but his mother threw them away whenever she found them (XY85).

In my opinion, James seemed to imply that he doesn’t want kids, with anyone, because of his parents’ abuse. That is, in SM46, Ash’s friend Lillie says that it’s unfair that her toxic mother expects her to bend over backwards for her. In the Japanese version, James says to Jessie, “Such is the fate between parents’ relationships with their children.” I take that to mean that he doesn’t like the idea of having kids, because only two episodes later, Professor Burnett drops the hint to Professor Kukui that she wants kids and he blushes. (As for Jessie, she’s never fantasized about having kids.)

James met Jessibelle at a ball abroad in his social circles. He got excited that someone noticed him for once and he thought she was pretty. In the DP series, so like half-way through the Pokémon series, he says that he was in “love” with her (Japanese and dub versions say “love”) but she broke his heart. He says this was the primary reason that he left home (DP153). Physical harm was one thing but manipulating his feelings hurt much more. When talking about this, his voice sounds like he’s going to cry, and he smiles when he recalls writing her a love letter. This makes me think that in DP, he thought that some part of him was still in love with her. Curiously, when James sees Jessibelle for the first time in years (Kanto 48), a jazzy noir-sounding song plays that’s called “Hiya, Hot Stuff!”

Of course, it isn’t love. Attraction, sure. But, during DP, he still had PTSD from her abuse, so any ‘feelings’ for her after they first met would be Stockholm Syndrome. I think the other reason that he thought he loved Jessibelle is because he doesn't (or didn't in DP) know what love is. Fortunately, he's quite sure that he is no longer in love with Jessibelle (Kanto 48, DP2, DP117, DP153). Even though he hates balls, because of Jessibelle, he manages to be Jessie’s date at a ball (a ball for regular people; not aristocrats) (XY105). He doesn’t enjoy it, but he doesn’t complain out loud, for Jessie’s sake. She has a great time at the ball.

After leaving home, James applied to Pokémon school and met Jessie, who was also applying (Kanto 9, Kanto 48). It would’ve been immediately obvious to him that she looks exactly like Jessibelle. We know that he knows that she looks like Jessibelle (DP153). He could have had genuine feelings for Jessie when he met her. But I think part of him would’ve wanted to have her replace his first love. The catch is that her looking like Jessibelle probably made/makes physical contact, uh, challenging.

James didn’t pass the school’s entrance exam. Jessie did, but she chose not to go (Japanese version of Kanto 9). So they joined a biker gang (Kanto 36, Kanto 48). At some point, they parted ways until they were adults. Jessie ended up joining Team Rocket. Then James joined and seemingly volunteered to be her partner. She was a femme fatale known as The God of Death, so she was always in need of a new partner, as no one wanted to work with her.

Although there are different ways that this flashback can be interpreted, it seems like Jessie and James recognized each other and that Jessie was upset with James (like if he left her or if they had a fight). I interpret it as him having left her because later on (in the Japanese version) he confesses that he tried to outrun his past and has been running away his whole life.

If James joined Team Rocket for Jessie, then that’s a rather grand gesture, because, in Pokémon, gangsters are highly stigmatized. They can leave Team Rocket any time they want to, but they would have trouble finding a job and a significant other. They could change their identity, but that would also be hard on a person. Never, ever telling their significant other and friends who they are and knowing that they wouldn't be accepted. The red "R" on their uniform is almost literally a Scarlet Letter. Three of Jessie and James's friends left Team Rocket, but they started their own businesses and made no attempt to fit in with ordinary society.

In any case, being in Team Rocket empowers James with a sense of confidence (DP139), and he seems to enjoy the military exercises (DP137).

Barbed Wire Fences

James’s traumas affect him throughout the series, but he becomes less and less affected over time.

On the positive side, James has strong boundaries and won't hesitate to cut people who cross them out of his life (Kanto 48, DP153, SM58). He does not allow others to manipulate him, play mind-games with him, or rope him into their drama.

On the other hand, when Jessie tries to get him to talk about how he's feeling, he typically ices her out (DP54, DP55, DP70, DP165, XY85, SM58, ATBAM 9, etc.). In DP117, Jessie saves him and his first instinct is to pretend that he doesn't care. She then tells him to stop lying, and he cuts it out.

When Jessie and James became partners in Team Rocket, he was standoffish. While his heart was in the right place, he was averse to accepting help. Jessie offered him her food ration because he didn't eat anything all day (she didn't either, as she gave the rest of the ration to Meowth), but he turned it down. Then she insisted, so he took it. She tried to keep him from falling in a river, but he intentionally let go of her hand. She tried to keep him from falling down a chute, but he let go of her hand. Anticipating that, she grabbed his wrist, and he got mad and insisted she let go. She refused, and he was moved.

However, he seems to have mostly moved past shutting out loved ones, as he is brutally honest about what he thinks, in SM58.

Heart of Darkness

James’s inner darkness also seems to affect his ability to be a Trainer.

A Pokémon is mostly an extension of its Trainer (ex. JN72). They pick up their Trainer’s mannerisms and interests because Trainer and Pokémon are bonded through their hearts. Sometimes the bond between Trainer and Pokémon is so strong that they can psychically sense where the other one is (XY28, XY30, XY68, ATBAM6). The Gym Leader Korrina calls this being “soulmates” (Japanese version of XY30).

When Pokémon battle, they connect their heart with that of their Trainer. They siphon some energy from the Trainer (a lot of energy if they do a Z-Move, G-Max, or Mega Evolution) and feel each other’s emotions. That’s what they mean when they say that a Trainer has a heart that’s true or a heart that’s pure. Trainers can also send energy to their Pokémon in other situations, like while riding the Pokémon (ex. XY53) or when the Pokémon needs energy to heal (ex. XY105).

Pokémon attacks are relatively weak if Trainer and Pokémon don't connect to each other's hearts, or if the Trainer's heart doesn't feel love. For instance, in AG177, Jessie and James Tag Battle Ash and Brock, using Pokémon on loan from Team Rocket Headquarters. It starts off well for Jessie and James. But battling seems to bring out the true feelings in their hearts because they start arguing about personal issues between them. The Pokémon, even though they don't belong to Jessie and James, start arguing with each other too, because their hearts are connected with Jessie and James for the time being.

In the SM series, characters learn Z-Moves, which are special moves that use the Trainer's auric energy to fuel the attack. The Kahuna (Gym Leader, basically) of Melemele Island, says that Z-Moves allow people to feel a Trainer's emotions, because it brings out a Trainer’s aura. Ash's friend, Kiawe, says that to use a Z-Move, a Pokémon and Trainer's heart have to become one, and then their combined feelings turn into energy that can be used in battle. But they can't be just any feelings; they have to be feelings of love for all living things. When using Z-Moves, they are to focus on their love of community, love for their fellow man, or love of Pokémon.

James's aura would not feel pleasant. It would be full of pain, fear, resentment, betrayal, and loneliness. It reminds of Howl’s Moving Castle when Howl’s depression is triggered. His hair turns black, green slime comes out of him and covers his skin, and dark spirits emerge from the shadows. Actually, the first analogy that came to mind was that feeling James's aura would be like blasting "Down With The Sickness" by Disturbed, but that's neither here nor there.

James makes a point of telling us that he’s black-hearted. In the BW series motto, he says he's "The pure heart of darkness" (Dub: "With thunderous emotion") who is "The hammer of justice in a black universe" (Dub: "Thrusting the hammer of justice down onto the black darkness of the universe."). In the SM series motto, he says he's "An exquisite talent and the perfect gentleman. A disciple of evil fighting back against this tragic world." (Dub: "The nobly heroic man of our times. The master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world.")

In mottos, the darker imagery is afforded to him. The clearest examples are in the BW series. We see James with black darkness behind him; and white light behind Jessie. We see James with a dark purple aura and a black background; and white light behind Jessie. We see James colored all-black and against a white background; and Jessie all-white against a black background.

In the DP series mottos, we see James stomping or hitting the ground and causing earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. We see Jessie soaring through the sky with whirlwinds, gentle wind, or gentle winds carrying rose petals (autumn leaves in AG188). We even see James with hellfire behind him and Jessie floating above him towards celestial white light coming from the heavens.

James's darkness isn't just metaphorical either. He's a mad scientist and a computer hacker who can get pretty lost in the madness. In XY124, he hadn't slept for three nights because he was too obsessed with building his mecha. If Jessie weren't around to balance out his darkness, I’m sure he would end up consumed in darkness and madness.

Though Z-Moves require special crystals (Firium-Z for Fire attacks, Normalium-Z for Normal Type attacks, etc.), the attacks are still depicted as directly correlating with the Trainer's personality. James has Darkinium-Z and can use a Dark Type Z-Move called Black Hole Eclipse. Unlike other Trainers, Jessie and Meowth can also add energy to the attack since the bonds between Jessie, James, and Meowth are inseparable. However, this is really James's Z-Move and he is also able to do it by himself.

In contrast, Jessie has Mimikium-Z and uses it for a Z-Move called Let's Snuggle Forever. It's more like 'Let's snuggle forever because I'll suffocate you to death,' but it's pretty cute compared to Black Hole Eclipse. It's a Fairy Type move with a cutesy pose. James and Meowth are able to power it up with her.

Acquiring a Z-Crystal seems to require a test of character. Before getting Darkinium-Z, Jessie and James tell some petty thieves that they deserve better than their toxic friend who threw them under the bus. Jessie and James have a shot at getting the crystal, but their Pokémon all get knocked out, so they rush to their Pokémon instead. Ultimately, they do get the crystal anyway.

When James Tag Battles with the Gym Leader Gardenia, they lose; and she says that the main problem was that Trainer and Pokémon weren't in sync so they weren't battling as one. James loved Cacnea dearly, so how could that be? Maybe it's that James's heart is covered in darkness and this type of connection isn't possible for him. Maybe only Dark Type moves work for his dark aura. Maybe he didn't open himself up to others enough at that point in the series (DP54). Indeed, in the next scene, Jessie tries to get him to talk about his feelings and tells him to stop lying to her about being "fine." He just doubles down on saying that he's fine.

To answer that, consider * how * James learns Black Hole Eclipse. In order to learn it, James has to do some Jungian shadow work (SM58). That is, he has to have an honest conversation with his Pokémon, Mareanie, about what he will and will not tolerate in a friend (he detests emotional manipulation, drama, jealousy, people who are controlling, etc.). His terms are unconditional. Him telling Mareanie what to expect puts them on the same page and allows them to connect their hearts, now that James's shadow self isn't blocking the way.

♪ I Wanna Do Bad Things With You ♫

Jessie and James used to camp out and rent cabins, so they traveled light and could pack up and go at any time. They were lost souls wandering the earth. But then they get an apartment together in Vermillion City and make it homey. We see them travel to lots of countries, yet always returning to their apartment when they’re back in Kanto.

They even start a podcast (JN106) and YouTube channel (JN115), WhamBam-Z (dub: DumDumDum-Z) as Charm Deluxe (dub: Cosmic Charm Deluxe), Princess (dub: Princess), and Blue Bruise (dub: Bluesilocks). According to the Narrator, they continued thereafter to be content creators in addition to being in Team Rocket (JN106).

James even sacrifices his bottle cap collection to make pins as podcast freebies and sacrifices his PokéBall collection to give as podcast grand prizes. Jessie and Meowth had never understood his love of collecting things. To them, things only have value if you can use them or hock them for cash (XY85, SM4). But they understand what a huge sacrifice giving up his collections is, and are moved. James is moved that they appreciate the sacrifice, and that they see his collections as having value, just as he has always seen them as having value (JN106).

Nevertheless, for someone who's so afraid of getting close to people, living together must be a difficult adjustment for James. It used to be one of his worst fears (AG147). At the end of the series, they have a fight and James is very standoffish. I think that it’s mainly brought on by the stress and fears from them settling down together, because that’s the big change in their life in the SWSH series. It’s taking things to the next level. I could see that triggering his depression and making him build up walls.

Jessie is concerned that his heart isn't in being a gangster anymore. James is deeply offended. The viewer, at first, might think that he’s being defensive because he knows she’s right. However, we find out that she’s completely wrong and just projecting her fear that he will lose interest in being a gangster. He’s actually upset because he’s completely devoted to their job and to her. He’s insulted that she could lose faith in him.

Until they find new Team Rocket partners, they still have to work together. Since they're Field Agents who aren't out in the field, they work at Headquarters for a while. Interestingly, on one of their breaks, James drinks a Granbull canned coffee (so, Red Bull Cold Brew Coffee), which is a drink that Jessie once bought him, to show him that she wasn’t upset that he backstabbed her (SM132).

Jessie, James, and Meowth individually go off to do the same villainous scheme. Perhaps this is the same type of heart bond that allows Ash and Pikachu to sense where each other has gone when they are apart (ATBAM6). The fact that they had the same plan moves Meowth to tears and makes Jessie and James smile. They realize that the three of them are inextricably linked, and what initially linked them was their love of villainy. While Meowth is included in this bond, Trainers can have heart bonds with their Pokémon; but, as far as energy bonds between humans go, Jessie and James are the only characters shown to have one. Moreover, Jessie and James have promised to be at each other's side even in the afterlife (DP117).

Jessie and James used to cycle through lots of successful normal careers. In the finale, besides podcasting and YouTubing, they cast away their previous careers and embrace what truly brings them passion. Not always success, but passion. The thing that brought them close together in the first place - doing deliciously bad things together.

You can check out my Jessie character study here

You can check out my Team Rocket music playlist here

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musashi · 4 years

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What’s the best Jessie episode, James episode and Meowth episode (as in, one for each) in your opinion? Also, which character that made their debut in the games has the best/worst anime portrayal and why?

answering your second question first cause i have less to say about it!!!!

gonna be real i haven’t played all the games eheh..... but, um, i actually think ALL the game characters are better in the anime? like. i legit think they’re kinda boring in the games compared to how the anime portrays them xD idk. theres so many. if i had to pick a fave i probably like anime!lusamine the most in terms of contrast.

as for the first question, oh god thats hard

cracks knuckles

meowth: it’s cliche and an obvious answer but EP070/go west young meowth is probably the deepest window into meowth as a character. unlike the other two he really wears his heart on his sleeve all the time (i mean, save for when he’s scheming/lying) so his inner depth is almost always on display, he rarely hides parts of himself away. this episode shows most of what you don’t get to see on the reg as well as what you do--his romantic heart, his stalwart determination, his refusal to give into anything or anyone. its gud episode.

jessie: mmmmmmmmmmm gonna have to say xy063/a fork in the road, a parting of ways! simply because it shows off the most facets of her personality at once. it leans into the trait that hashtag woke folks on tumblr like to ignore about her which is that she’s desperate for stability and to be a housewife specifically. it’s got her kinking on a brunette doctor which is what she does best. it shows of one of her most tragic traits--that in the game of fight, flight, or fawn, she’s a fawner. she will completely bury her true personality at times to make someone love her back. on top of that, the narrative shows us that this IS a toxic trait on her--because the person she falls for falls for another woman who is loud and rude and brash and the person jessie is when she isn’t pretending to be meek and quiet and wifeable.

it also showcases her bond with wobbuffet in crystal clear detail, with her trying to release him in a moment of “live your best life, forget about me” like she does with all her fucking pokemon except wobbuffet is the ONE who chases after her and is like hi mom shut the fuck up you are my best life and i would kill in your name provided the thing i am killing hits me first. this episode cements that jessie and wobbuffet have one of the strongest trainer/pokemon bonds of any pair in the whole anime. wobbuffet quite literally defies his own passive nature to run to her side, away from love and stability. they are so fucking romantic.

james: fucking ag147/sweet baby james. this is james at his rawest. this is james with literally no facades. okay, well, some facades, but much less than usual. when james tunnel visions in on one specific goal he is the most single-minded individual in the world and he completely 100% forgets who he is in the interest of pursuing it. all his more muted & cowardly traits go away. within the first like 4 mins of this episode he is screaming at jessie and meowth he doesn’t give a fuck. hes at his saffron estate talking to the only people in his “family” (they’re servants in the sub & his grandparents in the dub) who treated him like a whole human person keeping it on the fucking d/l that hes in the mafia and the kids show up and he just no fucking hesitation runs at the door and locks himself outside with them like HI WE’RE TRUCING. WE’RE TRUCING NOW. I WON’T DO SHIT DON’T SAY A WORD WE’RE TRUCING and ash is just like um. ok

james is fierce in the face of anything trying to keep him from nursing his sick pokemon back to health and that includes literally blasting his own teammates off because they’re acting like shitheads. in the same episode we have him being incredibly soft awake by its bedside and genuinely connecting with may over their shared worry. james is literally not trying to do anything other than what HE wants to do in this episode. he doesn’t let anyone walk all over him, he doesn’t let anyone take what he wants away. and he does all this with GIANT PORTRAITS OF HIS ABUSIVE PARENTS LOOMING OVER HIM. i dont even fucking care man i dont care. this is james’ fucking episode like if you want to see the person he really is at heart, determined and unyielding and strong and with a heart full of love that does not quit, this is the goddamn episode. oh my fucking GOD i love james.

fucking LEGEND

#wendy rambles #os #ep070 #xy #xy063 #ag #ag147 #tetedetele #wendy answers

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bbdeathz · 3 years

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Folge 146 hab ich nicht, also auf zu Folge 147. Und ich habe sogar NEUE subbed Folgen gefunden :D Konnte die Folge also sehr genießen und ich fand die Folge echt schön. Die gute Seite von James wieder, weil Palimpalim krank war. An sich bisschen lustig, weil es nie Fokus hatte oder viel Screentime, aber erstmal los werden xD Die beiden Nannies von ihm sind auch echt gute und süße Charaktere gewesen, fand ich sehr nett.

Die Szene dann später am Bett war auch emotional, dank insert song. Da fühlt man mit, obwohl Palimpalim jetzt nicht so wichig war

James ist ja eh immer super zu seinen PKMN, aber solche Folge lassen dann noch mehr Fokus auf ihn scheinen. Wie er am Bett wartet und über Palimpalim wacht und generell war seine Art süß. Auch wie er seine Nannies nicht verletzen wollte, dass er bei TR ist, obwohl sie es gegen Ende doch ok fanden

Die haben sogar mit gemacht und wieder paar nette Interaktionen zwischen denen und TR. AG kann es gut :D Jessie und Mauzi waren auch lustig

Ich find den Artstyle bei James immer gut, wenn er solche Szenen hat. Mich ht der insert song mitgenommen, aber auch ein wenig der Dialog. Fand die beiden Nannies so nett, dass man das echt an derem Dialog gut sehen kann

Ich fand auch süß wie Palimpalim lächelte als Pantimimi sich angeschlossen hat. Als wenn es froh ist, dass James dann nicht so alleine ist und quasi approved, dass es ‘ersetzt’ wird

Dieser Dialog zu dem Fakt, dass er bei Team Rocket ist, hat mich auch getroffen. Dass sie ihn so akzeptieren wie er ist und es die nicht wirklich juckt, solange Jams gut auf ist

#AG147 #AG2021

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pokemonislanderprincess · 4 years

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Pokeani Re-Watch: AG

My favorite AG episodes are under the cut! This list I cut up between Hoenn and the Battle Frontier, since the latter actually takes place in Kanto.

Hoenn

AG001 - Get the Show on the Road!

AG003 - There’s No Place Like Hoenn

AG004 - You Never Can Taillow

AG006 - A Poached Ego!

AG007 - Tree’s a Crowd

AG009 - Taming of the Shroomish

AG013 - All Things Bright and Beautifly!

AG015 - Gonna Rule the School!

AG017 - Stairway to Devon

AG020 - Brave the Wave

AG023 - Gone Corphishin’

AG025 - A Mudkip Mission

AG033 - Now That’s Flower Power!

AG035 - Win, Lose, or Drew!

AG039 - A Poke-BLOCK Party!

AG042 - Love at First Flight

AG044 - The Princess and the Togepi

AG045 - A Togepi Mirage!

AG050 - Pros and Con Artists

AG051 - Come What May!

AG060 - Delcatty Got Your Tounge

AG061 - Disaster of Disguise

AG062 - Disguise Da Limit

AG068 - A Double Dilemma

AG069 - Love, Petalburg Style!

AG070 - Balance of Power

AG071 - A Six Pack Attack

AG072 - The Bicker the Better

AG077 - A Fan with a Plan

AG078 - Cruisin’ for a Losin’

AG086 - Lights, Camerupt, Action!

AG103 - A Cacturne for the Worse

AG108 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snorunt!

AG109 - Do I Hear a Ralts?

AG113 - Who, What, When, Where, Wynaut?

AG121 - Hi Ho Silver Wind!

AG122 - Deceit and Assist

AG123 - Rhapsody in Drew

AG129 - A Judgement Brawl

AG130 - Choose It or Lose It!

Battle Frontier (Kanto)

AG132 - The Scheme Team

AG133 - The Right Place and the Right Mime

AG134 - A Real Cleffa-Hanger

AG139 - On Cloud Arcanine

AG143 - The Saffron Con

AG144 - A Hurdle for Squirtle

AG147 - Sweet Baby James

AG153 - Tactics Theatrics!!

AG156 - From Cradle to Save

AG157 - Time Warp Heals All Wounds

AG160 - Harley Rides Again

AG162 - Spontaneous Combusken!

AG163 - Cutting the Ties That Bind!

AG167 - What I Did for Love!

AG174 - New Plot, Odd Lot!

AG175 - Going for Choke!

AG177 - Grating Spaces!

AG178 - Battling the Enemy Within!

AG180 - May, We Harley Drew’d Ya!

AG181 - Thinning the Hoard!

AG182 - Channeling the Battle Zone!

AG187 - The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing!

AG189 - Gathering the Gang of Four!

AG192 - Home is Where the Start Is!

#Pokeani #Pokeani Rewatch #AG

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shopequip · 6 years

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PDQ Thermal Credit card Rolls 57 x 30mm - AG147

http://dlvr.it/Q2gV1P

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xxrandomfan13xx · 8 years

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Emotional Team Rocket episodes get me every time my god. Probably more than any of the other characters tbh. Seriously though it got a bit dusty in here when James was crying over his sickly Chimecho. Also I love how he gets new pokemon because they want to follow him cause they can tell he’s a big softie.

#pokemon rewatch #ag147 #team rocket #james #chimecho #pokeani

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musashi · 4 years

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Brock wrangling anon(its hard to keep that much love in check)- I've gotten to the episode where James gets mime jr. and has to leave chimecho behind and I AM CRYING WHO GAVE JAMES THE RIGHT TO BE SO SOFT also I adore how the kids are immediately like >:0 and then James gives them the whisper talk and everyone except for max is like

I COULD LEGIT WRITE MY DISSERATION ON HOW THAT EPISODE IS THE BEST JAMES EPISODE IN THE WHOLE ANIME LMAO I PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE

my fave part is that bit at the beginning lmao.... sweet baby james is one of the only cathcart performances im kind of okay with it (which is wild it was like his second episode?? hello) but i love the way he just runs over to the door screaming GUUuUUUuUUUuuUUUUYSSSS LONG TIME NO SEEeEEEeEEeEee~!! and slams it like shut up. shut up its a truce. please shut up. please shut the fuck up.

that entire conversation lmao........ ‘YOU’RE TELLING THEM YOU’RE THE PRESIDENT OF A COMPANY THAT DOESN’T EXIST????’ ‘=^=‘ ‘wait does this mean you’re rich’ ‘loaded =^=;;;’

i love james

#ag #ag147 #Anonymous #wendy answers

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musashi · 5 years

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#pokeani #pokegraphic #pokemonedit #team rocket trio #ag #ag147 #wendy graphics #wendy gifs #hot koko #we have liftoff #like no one ever was #comfort #im love him...

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musashi · 5 years

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can you talk a little bit about james being a sexual assault survivor & him having PTSD? i remember his backstory vaguely but I somehow didn't pick up on any of that and i really like your analyses

oh anon this is my FAVE kind of ask, thank you.

let’s talk about james teamrocket babey. this turned into more of an analysis on ep048 as a whole fghgf whoops.

so i think for the most part people who grew up with the anime have a vague recollection of what his backstory entails, but for anyone who doesn’t: he’s the only son of two millionaires, they abused him and generally treated him like shit, he ran away at a young age and joined the mafia and is a lot happier starving on the streets than he ever was in his luxurious estates.

rocket backstory tends to be kind of scattered, so james only ever gets a few whole episodes where the extent of that abuse is really gone into, and everything else you kinda have to piece together in bits and pieces.

james’ parents have expressed that they view him as an utter failure, a delinquent, and someone who refuses to grow up. they bogged down his childhood with constant tutoring across all subjects, rarely allowing him free time and more or less forcing him to live in isolation. he’s expressed that his only friend growing up was his growlithe--which even as a gift from his parents to him, is a sign of nobility. in the original kanto games, growlithe are ever only really owned by the ‘rich bitch’ class of trainer. essentially, james’ parents saw him nothing more than one more blip in the family line growing up, and were intent to raise him into an upper-class gentleman who could keep their money secure and pass it down further.

as a child james naturally rejected this--his spirit was too free for them to keep down, he was a naturally passionate person and he gets excited over things like pokemon competitions and bottlecap collecting and pro wrestling. his tutors tried to physically beat this out of him and his caretakers have thrown his collections in the trash to teach him lessons, but none of that could stop him from being who he was, doing things the way he wanted to do them.

his parents last resort to ‘fix’ him into their ideal son was to introduce him into an arranged marriage. they purposefully manipulated the situation so that him and jessebelle--the girl they’d chosen to be his wife--would meet on their own, and james fell in love with her pretty much on the spot. within days of meeting her, he wrote her a letter asking her to marry him. once she was certain she had him she started abusing him, too.

the first order of business was to get him away from his growlithe--his only safe person--by demanding he replace it with a skitty. this was what tipped him off to her being a piece of shit, and he refused and went back on his plans to marry her. jessebelle spent the rest of their time together hovering over james and demanding he do and say things the ‘proper’ way for persons of their class, more or less never leaving him alone and acting as a more stifling & obsessive stand in for his parents. she did this until he ran away, never to be seen again. until he was.

so that’s where the real dark implications come in. jessebelle’s only duty wasn’t just to whip their son into shape, it was also to produce an heir. like i said before, james is their only son, so if he doesn’t have kids, their wealth dies with him.

for a show mainly geared toward kids, they REALLY make it clear in ep048 that james is ‘obligated’ to copulate lmao. like they just short of tell him that they’re expecting him to fuck asap.

james is literally tied up for this whole lecture, his friends drag him into the house bound and gagged. i should preface this by saying that his parents manipulate him into coming home here by faking their own deaths, and if the mere concept of that isn’t sickening enough, james literally doesn’t fall for it. if you’ve ever seen an episode of pokemon you know that team rocket collectively share one braincell, but james has been abused & misled by these people enough to suspect they’re tricking him. everyone else in this episode is like ‘james, what the fuck, you don’t even care your parents are dead?’ and james is like ‘guys.’

he approaches his childhood home with more apprehension than he does anything else in the series. the second he sees jessebelle again, he’s urging them to get away sounds more like he’s worried about THEM than himself.

as if he’s well aware of the danger here and what to do about it, but his teammates have NO idea what they’ve gotten themselves into and he’s terrified for them.

so the short version is that his parents and his friends and his fiancee and everyone drag him down to a sex torture dungeon. like i really do not know how to describe it otherwise. they talk and talk about how james needs to make babies to keep capitalism alive and then they take him here

and you can make the argument that that’s reading it with an incredibly adult lens, and i get that, i’m not usually a fan of ‘edgy theories!1!!! childhood ruined!1!!1′ except that misty and brock are blushing when they see this room:

and ash, who’s actually canonically aroace, looks like this

they get it, he’s romance-blind, he doesn’t. the mere existence of this shot with a little knowledge of these characters pretty much confirms that it’s MEANT to be read with all the unfortunate obligations present.

jessebelle then proceeds to chase him around the room for a solid five whipping him into submission. he’s slippery as ever, so she sends out her vileplume and has it use stun spore on him, and THAT is where most of the real black shit comes in, because when she does that, right before he goes down he chokes out the words “this is just like last time.”

and, like, i don’t think it’s a coincidence that these shots are framed like this.

a lot of people also try to wave off the ‘this is like last time’ line, but he alludes to it again in ep110--the stun spore detour--it’s just talked about less, because it’s only in the japanese version. in that episode, jessie is suffering from stun spore poisoning and is sick and bedridden from it, and james talks about how when he was a kid suffering from the same affliction, there was an antidote his grandpa made him from a certain plant. in the sub, he mentions vileplume, naming it as the pokemon that felled him.

(he also doesn’t mention this until jessie’s pretty fucking sick and in pain, and after she’s given him the runaround forcing him to tend to her every need. it would’ve benefited the both of them to know there was a cure sooner, but he doesn’t remember it until late in the day. why? i mean, if you ask me? repressed memories. he also waves off jessie’s sickness as theatrics, saying ‘look, all you did was get stunned by a vileplume.’ as if it’s just a normal occurrence, not worth freaking out over.)

there are a lot of discrepancies about when exactly jessebelle started doing this to him. a lot of people dont like to acknowledge that she was assaulting him when they were kids, but canon seems to suggest that james ran away when he was around 5-10 years old. i personally view the flashback where he supposedly runs for good as ambiguous, but it can be easily accepted that he was expressing it as the exact night he left, and the fact that all his parents have to use for his wanted poster are childhood photos supports this.

(personally, i think he returned back home after this point before running once more and joining team rocket, and thats when most of the terrible stuff happened. but, still just because they were kids doesn’t mean it couldn’t have.)

as for the PTSD, james canonically has triggers and flashbacks, all centered around marriage as a whole. in episode 198--the heartbreak of brock--a girl says the word fiancee at him and he literally has flashbacks so intense that he climbs a tree in terror. in ag147--sweet baby james--his caretakers ask if jessie his his wife, and he collapses to nothing and screams that he’d rather die than marry her. this has nothing to do with him not liking her romantically and everything to do with the word wife, he envisions what this would look like and it entails jessie on the couch bossing him around while he’s a slave forced to do her bidding. it’s strange on the surface, because jessie and james are incredibly domestic already and jessie does tend to boss him around, and maybe 7 times out of ten he’s actually kind of delighted to worship her. but throwing the concept of marriage in there suddenly turns it into a torture scenario in james’ eyes.

beyond that, there’s a lot of themes of retraumatization and reclamation in james’ personal story, which i talked about far more eloquently here. but yeah, suffice to say that as far as edgy black childhood theories go, this is one of the ones i am incredibly convinced of/attached to, if you ask me it is canon.

everyone drink your loving james juice today, please.

#long post #pokemeta #wendy rambles #abuse /#rape /#cocsa /#os #ep048 #ep110 #ep198 #ag #ag147 #dp #dp153

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musashi · 5 years

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“...sure, lets go with that, ANYWAYS my son is dying--”`

#ag #ag147 #wendy watches pokemon

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musashi · 5 years

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Quick! Top 10 best James TeamRocket episodes of all time and why are they good?

OH GOOD ASK TELLY. im actually gonna just to top 5 because i have too many feelings and putting them all in one ask makes me anxious haha.

5. DP153/The Treasure is All Mine! - bruh they really gave an homage to my favourite episode of pokeani smack dab in the middle of DP. god i lov this ep. i can’t believe they acknowledged james’ backstory in such detail so so late in the series and so far after his initial episode. mostly i love this episode because we actually get to see a lot of bby james living his life as a kid and it drops the BOMB that he actually did have feelings for his ex fiancee at one point, incredibly shallow ones that rode entirely on the fact that he thought she was pretty, and OH BY THE WAY SHE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE JESSIE BUT NO ROCKETSHIPPING BRO. i have too many feelings about this. also growlie was there i love growlie. also finally got jessie in disguise as jessebelle why’d that take so long??? i mean probably because the writers aren’t cruel enough to do that to james but yknow.

4. AG147/Sweet Baby James - god i just watched this episode for the first time in japanese and it’s so good. it’s so fucking good. i think my favourite thing about this episode is that it lets you know there were at least two more people looking out for james in his childhood. so he had them and his growlithe, which is a comforting thought. every time he starts talking abt his childhood i black out from heartbreak lol. i love this whole arc of the anime because james’ chimecho is arguably his favourite pokemon of all time and when he finally gets one he helicopter parents it to an extent that it’s kinda virtually useless from a story perspective (hence why it got written out so quick) and despite his obsession with protecting it from harm, it ends up getting so sick it can’t travel with him anymore. so even though it’s not explored there’s this underlying lesson he has to learn that no matter how much he loves something he can’t protect it from everything, and i think it would’ve been really cool if they had explored that more because in a way james is kind of perpetuating a cycle in how he was treated (sheltered, stifled, and locked away) on the closest thing he has to a child of his own. only instead of out of control and abuse, he makes that mistake out of love. again none of that is expanded upon in the episode, but this episode lays the GROUNDWORK for it, and i love that. it’s also really good how devoted he is to staying by its side, how easily he truces with team twerp and turns on his teammates for wanting to rob his estate & fuck everything up, and just how good of a person he is in this episode, owning up to his lies and staying true to himself. i rly think this episode is the rawest we ever get james? like this is him at heart, no facades, no fronts, just james as he is. i love that. i love him.

3. SM058/Fighting Back the Tears! - This episode belongs more to Mareanie than it does to James but upon rewatching it a few times I just gotta say: its good. Esp on a second rewatch. Mareanie does a lot of Questionable Things in the beginning of this episode u don’t understand until you know her backstory, and then once you do it hits twice as hard. Her and James have so many moments of quiet love together, talking one on one, and the way he speaks to her is with so much softness in his voice it quite literally rots my teeth out of my skull. There’s a lot of subtle callbacks to James’ own backstory that I’m downright ANGRY weren’t explored (Mareanie and James have the same backstory. They were both wronged by their first love and found a second chance in a partner who resembles those first loves. Despite being a direct parallel, THIS IS NEVER MENTIONED OR DISCUSSED??? POKEANI???) Oh and there’s whump & h/c. James is deathly poisoned at one point and his friends are at his bedside looking after him while he deliriously makes poor life choices. Also James fights a tentacruel w/ his bare fists. Also there’s a slutty bisexual crown of thorns starfish in this episode. a+. good episode.

2. DP146/Dressed for Jess Success! - i’ll do the horny part first: fetish brain like sick girl oughghhghhhg jessie hot sexy. K ANYWAYS this is my second fave episode of all time. mostly for horny reasons but theres a lot of good shit happening that isn’t that. despite only ever posting abt jessie when i liveblog this episode it’s actually an episode about james and meowth and jessie doesn’t do much besides scream at her tv while on a lot of cold medicine. this episode is fucking hysterical to me because james is really really good at being in disguise as any old rando, melts into roles perfectly, and overall never sees any of that as a burden--but the SECOND he has to act as the literal woman he has spent the last 10+ years of his life with he freezes up and is like “I DONT KNOW WHAT IM DOING??? HELP” like he can’t fathom it. that is so fucking funny. like is he scared he’s gonna come home and jessie’s gonna shove him in a closet and scream at him for being ooc. the other thing thats good about this episode is james spends like 10 minutes slinking around the contest hall like “ughghghg im not a fucking coordinator meowth lets lose” and he then proceeds to eviscerate not only the competition but the literal heroine as well, i mean he just EVISCERATES dawn. he has almost full points when he beats her and she has NONE. he humiliates the poor girl. and he gets the loudest cheers the MC has ever heard. loud enough that jessie yells at him fsdghfsg “i don’t like that you as me got more applause than i as me!!!” LIKE JAMES IS SECRETLY A REALLY GOOD COORDINATOR... CAN WE PLEASE GET MORE OF JAMES IN CONTESTS. fuck i love this episode. did i mention jessie’s hot

1. EP048/Holy Matrimony! - Like dude do I have to say any more about this episode... beyond being the quintessential Backstory Episode it has one of the most pivotal rocketshipping moments in it. The black comedy is so fucking good and makes you feel all kinds of weird for laughing and that is my favourite feeling of all. There’s a vileplume AND a growlithe, like thats a wombo combo of good pokemon. Everyone in the dub of this ep is blitzed off chaotic energy. Rachael Lillis does a steel magnolia accent for like 20 mins & they named her character after a biblical figure who gets eaten by wild dogs. I’m p sure Eric Stuart transcends his mortal form to make New Noises. This is the least objective part of this list because this is my favourite pokemon episode and I will take NO feedback or constructive criticism.

#wendy rambles #pokemeta #like no one ever was #we have liftoff #hot koko #os #ag #dp #sm #ep048 #ag147 #dp146 #dp153 #sm058 #tetedetele #wendy answers

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