James (Japanese: (コジロウ) Kojiro) is one half of of the Team Rocket duo that follows around Ash Ketchum and friends in the Pokémon anime. His voice actors are Ted Lewis (EP002-EP0??) and Eric Stuart ((EP0??-Present) in English and Shinichiro Miki in Japanese. He is somewhat famous for carrying a rose, however as of more recent episodes, he does not display it often.

The only child of millionaires, James was forced to endure formal society. At a young age, he was forcefully engaged to a girl of whom he was terrified, Jessiebelle, all because his parents wanted to have a wealthy daughter-in-law. Thus, he ran away from home, leaving behind his beloved pet Growlie. He attempted to enroll in Pokémon Tech, a trainer's school, but, along with his new friend Jessie, flunked out. Then, with Jessie, he joined the Sunny Town bicycle gang, where he was popular for being the only gang member to have to use training wheels (nicknamed "Trainer Jim"). Eventually James, Jessie, and the bike gang went their separate ways.

Due to conflicts in canon between Kanto and Johto episodes and the special episode The Origin of Love and Youth, what happened between James and Jessie after the bike gang is unknown. What is known, as shown in the special episode, is that they joined Team Rocket separately and were on initially unfriendly terms after being grouped with Meowth. However, they quickly made up and the rest is history.

Since he is proficient in several activities, including Pokémon haiku and Pokéringer, it is possible that he developed his skills during his temporary separation from Jessie, but this is not known for sure.

In the episode Holy Matrimony!, James returned to his home as a result of a trap by his parents, who pretended to be dead. He was reunited with his old pet Growlie and managed to avoid marrying Jessiebelle. Growlie stayed behind when James returned to Jessie and Meowth.

James has a tendency to be swindled by a Magikarp seller, who has on many occasions tricked him into buying a Magikarp or other useless Pokémon for large sums of money.

Pokémon

On Hand

• Cacnea
• Chimecho

At Home

• Growlie (Growlithe)

Released

• Koffing → Weezing
• Weepinbell → Victreebel
• Weepinbell → Victreebel
• Magikarp → Gyarados
• Magikarp
• Hoppip

Appearances

• Pokémon anime, EP002-Present
• Pokémon Yellow
• Pokémon Puzzle League
• It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!
• The Electric Tale of Pikachu

Musical Appearances

• Team Rocket Forever (English and Japanese)
• Lucky Lucky (Japanese)
• Meowth's Party (English and Japanese)
• Look Forward Team Rocket (Japanese)
• Double Trouble (English)
• Pokémon Christmas Bash (English)
• The Christmas Song (English)