Jessie, James, and Meowth, better known as Team Rocket, have been blasting off ever since the Pokémon anime made its debut way back in 1997. Over the course of the years, the writers have had to come up with hundreds of different versions of the ubiquitous trope.
Despite their evil intentions of stealing prized Pokémon—more often than not, Ash's Pikachu—Team Rocket have another side to their constant blundering. Each member had a tough childhood, which on numerous occasions has seen them feeling sympathy for the plight of other people and Pokémon, resulting in the occasional wholesome blast-off.
10 Team Rocket Blasted-Off While Trying To Save Caged Pokémon From A Poacher
In A Poached Ego, Team Rocket showed that they care deeply for Pokémon and that in the face of true evil, they can be the good guys. Upon finding a cage full of Ekans, they tried to free them using Arbok's Acid, but Rico, a Pokémon poacher, showed up and a battle ensued. With Arbok in the ascendency against Rico's Fearow, the poacher sent out Pupitar, whose Sandstorm sent Team Rocket flying.
9 Team Rocket Took The Fall To Save A Blissey's Career
Jessie and Chansey bonded when they were both at nursing school. Jessie obviously did not graduate or become a nurse, instead dropping out and joining Team Rocket. One day, Jessie recognized Blissey from the bottom half of Blissey's graduation pendant the Pokémon had given her. In order to thank Jessie for her encouragement while they were at nursing school, and knowing Jessie needed food, Blissey raided the storeroom of the Pokémon Center where she worked and gave all the food to Team Rocket. After watching security camera footage of Blissey taking the food out of the storeroom, it was in hot water with Nurse Joy, who would have to fire Blissey. To save Blissey's career, Team Rocket made it look like they were the culprits, only for Ash's Chikorita to slice a hole in their Meowth balloon to send the virtuous trio into the sky.
8 Team Rocket Encouraged Kids To Dream During A Reunion Blast-Off
"Noodles! Roamin' Off" saw 3 Team Rocket blast-offs. In this episode Jessie, James, and Meowth went their separate ways: Meowth left Team Rocket to work at a noodle restaurant; Jessie decided to be a full-time Pokémon Coordinator; and James, now all alone, went after a Metagross for the boss, hoping it would make him rich and bring Jessie and Meowth back.
The third and final blast-off is the most wholesome of all because by then, the team had reunited to help James. Even when they were blasted away by Metagross's Gyro Ball, they were filled with joy that their dream of catching Pikachu was still alive. What makes it even more wholesome was the fact that Dawn saw Team Rocket's blast-off glint in the sky, thought it was a shooting star, and made a wish.
7 Butch & Cassidy's Arrival Filled Team Rocket's Blast-Off With Pathos
The introduction of Butch and Cassidy made fans see Team Rocket in a new, sympathetic light. After a career of failure, it was plain to see that they weren't a threat to anyone but themselves, and with a more competent team on the scene, complete with jet packs and motorized scooters, Team Rocket felt inferior. They resolved to become a new and better Team Rocket, but when they asked Giovanni for some high-tech equipment like Butch and Cassidy's, they were given pogo sticks. Motivated to do better than their counterparts, they went after Pikachu. When they got blasted off by a combination of Golbat and Pikachu, they were left lamenting their plight and the fact that for them, nothing ever seemed to change.
6 They Were Lauded As Heroes Once They Landed After A Blast-Off
"We're No Angels," the seventh episode of Pokémon Chronicles, began with viewers able to see Team Rocket landing after Pikachu sent them flying. They landed in a village whose crops were being destroyed by a robot created by a mad scientist. The villagers believed the trio was the similarly named Team Righteous, and that they would save their village. In trying to prove their villainy by destroying the robot, Team Rocket only proved that they really did come to save them. They even helped to prevent a flock of ravenous Taillow from eating the villagers' crops using a flying mecha. But when it malfunctioned, Team Rocket blasted off again, unable to claim a reward for their good deeds.
5 Ash Sent Team Rocket Blasting Off To Save Them From A Sinking Ship
"Meowth Rules!" opened with Jessie and James repairing their Magikarp submarine. The team was in a dispute about Meowth's inability to learn Pay Day because of his ability to talk when they spotted Ash and company riding Lapras. They confronted the group but their submarine began to sink, so mercifully Ash sent out Squirtle to Water Gun them to the shore.
Meowth landed on Golden Island, where Meowth was considered a god by the people living there, believing that one would appear one day and use Pay Day, making them all rich. They ended up using James' prized bottle cap collection to save Meowth, whom the islanders wanted to use Pay Day in battle, which he couldn't do. The gesture brought Meowth to tears and the team closer together, and it never would have happened had Squirtle not blasted them away.
4 Jessie Was So Enamored By Her Freshly-Evolved Dustox She Didn't Even Notice She Was Blasting Off
In "Seeing Is Believing," Jessie desperately wanted what she thought was her Silcoon (which was actually a Cascoon) to evolve into a Beautifly. In trying to get it stronger so it would evolve, Jessie sought out Ash and his friends. During a battle with Beautifly, Cascoon evolved into a Dustox. Far from being disappointed, however, Jessie was smitten with her Dustox, so much so that when Ash's Crawfish Bubblebeamed Team Rocket away, Jessie didn't even realize.
3 Team Rocket Sacrificed Themselves So That Ash Could Save The World
In Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power Of One, Ash and Pikachu were riding on Lugia's back, with Team Rocket holding onto its legs. But they were holding Lugia back—it needed to prevent a catastrophic natural disaster and there was no time to waste—so they nobly let go, blasting off "for good" this time, or so they thought. They landed in the water amongst hundreds of Pokémon. Lamenting the fact that no one saw their heroic deed, a Slowking appeared and told them lots of people saw them, referencing the audience.
2 Meowth Helped A Pidgey Achieve Its Dream Before Blasting Off On A Rocket
In "Fly Me to the Moon," Orville, a Pidgey living on an island of overweight Pidgies—or "Pudgey Pidgies"—wanted to fly higher than any other Pokémon. Meowth, recalling his difficult days before he met Team Rocket, helped Orville by giving him the kind of motivational speech he wished he'd had back when he was learning to talk. Thanks to Meowth's support, Orville flew to the edge of the atmosphere. He was coming in too fast on the way down, however, so Meowth directed him to fly into the Meowth balloon that Team Rocket and Ash and company were on for a soft landing. Orville crashed into the balloon and it floated safely to the ground, but Team Rocket wasn't so lucky. They were clutching one of the rocket boosters, which went off, taking the Rockets with them.
1 Team Rocket Helped Train A Paras & Got Their Blast-Off Bruises Patched Up In Return
In "The Problem With Paras," a young girl called Cassandra fed some crushed-up herbs to a sick Meowth, healing him. She wanted her Paras to evolve so that she could use its mushroom to develop a miracle Pokémon medicine. Bumping into Meowth, he agreed to help Cassandra as she'd make him her company mascot, earning him lots of money in the process. Meowth made it look like Paras defeated Team Rocket's Pokémon, which pumped Paras up. Paras then battled Pikachu, who took a dive, but then Charmeleon was sent out, and it didn't play ball. When it went to attack, Paras held out its pincer, downing Charmeleon. It got back up and angrily blasted Team Rocket away. Paras evolved into Parasect and Stun Spored Charmeleon to sleep. Team Rocket landed near Cassandra, who patched Meowth up in return for helping train Paras. They wouldn't be getting any money, however, as Cassandra mistakenly believed Team Rocket was a superhero team and didn't want to break them up and prevent them from helping other Pokémon.