RocketShipping: Difference between revisions

This article is about shipping. As hints and evidence for ships are mostly speculation, this page may contain personal points of view.

Jessie and James

RocketShipping (Japanese: コジムサ KojiMusa) is the belief that Jessie and James of Team Rocket belong in a romantic relationship. It is also known as JAJL, or Jessie and James Love.

History of RocketShipping

An image from the epilogue to Electric Tale of Pikachu

The term "RocketShipping" was the first time the suffix "Shipping" had been applied to any couple outside of the X-Files fandom where it originated. Maria Rocket and other fans on the message board of TRHQ applied the term to Jessie and James. Other names for the pairing were coined later.

The RocketShipping fandom has seen some changes over the years. In the beginning, there was only one kind of RocketShipper—the one who thought that Jessie and James were attracted to each other. Some fans hoped they would eventually become a full-fledged couple. The situation grew more intense when a member of TRHQ came across an untranslated graphic novel in a bookstore.

Upon first glance, it appeared to be simply the last volume of Toshihiro Ono's The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, which was in the process of being released in the United States. However, inside the book was something that changed the face of the fandom. Inside the epilogue were two important scenes: one was James confessing his love to Jessie; the other was a full-page illustration in which Jessie and James were married and Jessie visibly pregnant. Most importantly of all, this was all official and approved by Nintendo.

The RocketShipping fan community went crazy. It finally had officially sanctioned proof that Jessie and James were a romantic couple. Some believed that it was only a matter of time before something similar happened in the TV anime series.

Eventually, the famous manga was translated and released in the United States, and RocketShippers rejoiced now that they could hold the evidence in their own hands. Around the same time, a website named Pokemopolis was getting attention for rebutting the "evidence" found in the manga. Pokemopolis became and has remained the most prominent anti-Rocketshipping site in the Pokémon fandom, as well as the main proponent of the theory that James is gay.

Around the same time, the number and frequency of the Rocketshippy hints on the anime decreased, along with other changes in characterization. As a result, the RocketShipping fan community split into several sects, each with different takes on RocketShipping.

Nowadays, thanks to the episode Noodles! Roamin' Off!, RocketShipping has had a resurgence in popularity, and RocketShippers feel more confident about their ship than ever.

Sects of RocketShipping

These sects were in use to differentiate between various "types" of RocketShipper who each had a different perception of the ship. It should be noted, however, that they have not actively been in use in the fandom since the Advanced Generation series of the anime started airing in America.

RocketShippers
This is the general term for anyone who supports the idea of Jessie and James being a couple, whether past, present, or future. It is was also a term for a sect consisting of people who believe that Jessie and James are currently not in love but believed that they eventually would be.

R*cketShippers
This was a more extreme type of RocketShipper, who believed that Jessie and James are currently attracted to each other. They fervently denied that James is anything but heterosexual.

QueerShippers
Self-proclaimed "in-character RocketShipping". Supporters generally believed that James plays the role of a woman and Jessie plays the role of a man, but that they would become a couple nevertheless.

WrongRocketShippers
Smaller sect which believed that Jessie and James are currently in a "friends with benefits" type relationship. They didn't necessarily believe that they are in love with each other, but did believe that they have some kind of secret physical relationship going on. They took a more relaxed and joking stance to the Ship.

AntiRocketShippers
Supporters denied any sort of romantic relationship between Jessie and James. They liked to see them as best friends, but nothing more. In most cases, they believed that James is undeniably gay, based on the more camp portrayal of James by Eric Stuart and James' cross-dressing. Opinions on Jessie's sexuality varied.

Evidence

The following is a list of points that point to a potential relationship between James and Jessie.

Anime evidence

Jessie's hints

• The Ninja Poké-Showdown

Jessie tosses a rose to James, who gets pricked, and warns him that "for perfidious people like us... beautiful things can be painful."

• A Farfetch'd Tale

Jessie blushes and looks at James adoringly when he is doing well in battle against Ash and company.

• Spinarak Attack

After James picks a lot with a paper clip, Jessie nudges James with her elbow and says, "Ooo, nice work James" in a flirtatious way.

• The Heartbreak of Brock

Although Jessie seems enthusiastic about James marrying Temacu, her reason for getting them together is so that Team Rocket can steal the Pokémon Temacu's father's keeps for research. She assures the reluctant James that he will only have to stay with Temacu as long as it takes for them to get close enough to the Pokémon. When telling Temacu's father a false story of how Temacu and James came to be together, she adds that the meeting was "perfect, beautiful, like something someone with an overactive imagination would dream up in her unfulfilled fantasies!" Presumably those fantasies involve James saving her (Jessie).

• We're No Angels

Jessie becomes alarmed when Kate asks James to live with her. When James asks Jessie and Meowth if maybe they could try living in the village to see if they'd like it, Jessie unenthusiastically agrees to it, rather than leaving James behind.

• Exploud and Clear!

Jessie blushes after James plugs the holes in Guy's Exploud.

• Sweet Baby James

Jessie becomes annoyed when James says that he'd "rather die" than marry her. James envisions her making him do all the housework for sheer amusement, but given Jessie's reaction, that's not how Jessie pictures their marriage.

• Reversing the Charges

When blasting off, James says that no matter how many times this happens, he's fine as long as he's with with his Mime Jr. This causes Jessie to turn and look at him, very annoyed. Normally she and Meowth are the objects of James's attention.

James' hints

In the Diamond & Pearl series when James watches Jessie participate in events under an assumed name, he keeps forgetting to call her by her fake name, and instead calls her Jessie before correcting himself. Apparently, James cares more about watching her participate than the current plan Team Rocket is up to. In Dawn of a Royal Day!, James cheers on Jessie using her real name and does not correct himself. When Jessie tells him to focus on selling merchandise instead of watching her perform, James protests.

• The Ultimate Test

After Jessie is expelled from the test, James says in a determined voice that he'll do his best for her.

• The Legend of Dratini

When Kaiser starts shooting at Team Rocket, James smiles and tells Jessie to trust him, then grabs her by the waist and jumps off the roof to what he believed to be to safety. After they land, their parachute falls on top of them and they scramble to get out of it. During this, Jessie says "Where do you think you're touching?!" implying that James is doing more than simply trying to get out of the parachute.

• Snack Attack

James blushes after Jessie compliments him on having a good memory.

• Good 'Quil Hunting

Jessie, James, and Meowth cry at the thought of their poverty. Jessie cries a little harder than she can handle and has to sit down. She apologizes for crying so hard, so James holds her hands and stops his crying for her.

• Hocus Pokemon!

When Team Rocket is hanging on the cliff because of Murkrow's attack, Jessie, James and Meowth are complaining what to do now. As the cliff shakes, James screams "No matter what happens to us, I want you all to know that I love you!" Jessie and Meowth respond with a light nod.

• Ready, Willing, and Sableye

Jessie wants to throw a bomb at a Taillow for messing up her hair, so, to calm her down, James gently says, "but Jessie, sweetheart..." Jessie throws the bomb anyway.

• Pace - The Final Frontier

As Regirock and Registeel use Lock-On attack to aim at Team Rocket, James immediately carries Jessie and tries to escape the dungeons, wanting to rescue her. Since Jessie is the more athletic character (as shown in Training Daze!, which is an earlier episode), there is no logical reason for James to do this. Apparently, it gives James comfort to know Jessie's safe.

• A Secret Sphere of Influence

After landing on top of James, Jessie shouts "Would you fall a bit lighter next time?!" He nods and agrees, smiling. She responds with, "Enough of the sweet talk!", to which he says "Yes dear."

• Old Rivals, New Tricks

Up until this episode, James has never liked Jessie using his Pokémon in Contests, mostly due to her mistreatment of Chimecho. He now has no problem with it (most likely due to the fact Jessie has treated all his Pokémon very well since, and she is doing well in Contests) and even told Mime Jr. that's he counting on it and Jessie's third ribbon depends on it.

• Dressed for Jess Success!

When a sick Jessie overexerts herself and begins to faint, James catches her, helps her stand up, and supports her weight as he walks her back to bed, all the while having a comforting smile on his face. When Meowth says Jessie should rest, James agrees, saying with a caring tone of voice that, "That would be best." Later, James disguises himself as Jessalina and enters his first contest in her place. He is reluctant at first, but knows depression will make Jessie's sickness worse, so he puts on a performance that is met with the loudest cheers ("unprecedented") that Master of Ceremonies Marian has ever heard. He ends up winning the ribbon. When James and Meowth get back to the cabin, Jessie hugs them and adorably nuzzles her ribbon. Meowth comments that "THIS Jessie was worth the wait," and James seems to share the sentiment.

Shared hints

Jessie and James have a tendency to hug or hold onto each other when they are scared (dubbed "fearhugs" by RocketShippers) or happy. Jessie and James also don't have a problem with physical contact such as sleeping on parts of the other's body or holding each other in ways that people who were simply friends normally wouldn't.

• Pokémon Shipwreck

Worried about not having a means to cross a fire, Jessie and James hold hands. James says, "Jessica... whoever said beauty doesn't last, must have been thinking of us," implying that he thinks Jessie is beautiful. This quite possibly the only time James ever calls Jessie by her real name, underlining the seriousness of his sentiments. Jessie replies with, "I'll always remember what a wonderful dresser you were." James whines, "So will I," in return.

Later, James is too scared to go any further, so Jessie slaps him to snap him out of it, which causes both Jessie and James to blush. In a caring tone she assures him that they will cross together and that she won't abandon him. James continues to blush, and cries in Jessie's arms.

After getting off the ship and onto a raft with Ash and friends, all present go to sleep for the night. Ash, Misty, and Brock have plenty of space between them, but instead of sleeping horizontally like them (there is plenty of space for it), Jessie and James are sleeping vertically. James is sleeping on Jessie's thigh, and has his hand on her ankle.

• The Ghost of Maiden's Peak

When the ghost is dragging James away, and James cries that he doesn't want to go to the ghost world, Jessie pulls out a bazooka and shoots the ghost. The ghost drops James into the water, and he scrambles out of it, smiling on the verge of tears. He proclaims, "Jessie, you really do care!" Jessie claims that she did it because women who wait for when to come back to them bother her. This is extremely suspect because when she fires the shot she says, "Hey girl, you can't have him!"; and we see in Pokémon Shipwreck that Jessie IS a hopeless romantic.

• Holiday Hi-Jynx

Jessie and James are sleeping in a bed (at what appears to be a Team Rocket headquarters that Miyamoto had taken Jessie to), though Meowth is in the middle.

• Holy Matrimony!

Jessie tells James to marry Jessibelle so he can claim his inheritance, and then leave her. Jessie completely changes her mind once she finds out that there is a whole torture chamber in James's main estate devoted entirely for James's (BDSM) torture.

At the end of the episode, Jessie and Meowth assume that James couldn't resist money and luxury, and they didn't blame him for it.

James shows up in their Meowth hot hair balloon, grabs Jessie's hand (as her eyes tear up), and pulls her into the basket. They completely forget about Meowth (which is very unusual for them), who they left behind, and James very nervously puts his hand behind his head. The two awkwardly shake hands, making a heart-shape with their hands, but choose not to let go. They deeply gaze into each other's eyes as the music swells.

• Who Gets to Keep Togepi?

Jessie and James are sleeping in either sleeping bags or mats that are right next to each other (such that it looks like a mattress at first glance), without Meowth in the middle.

For a short time, Jessie wears a dress and an apron, like a housewife, while James wears a suit.

• Princess vs. Princess

Jessie cries while telling James and Meowth that she always hated the Princess Festival because it was a reminder of how poor she was. James cries as well (but tries to hold back some tears), holds her hands (causing Jessie to cry harder), and tells her that he hopes she'll win the Hina Matsuri dolls in the Princess Festival Contest.

Jessie looses the contest to Misty, and cries. James dresses himself and their Pokémon as the dolls, causing Jessie to cry happily.

• Roll On, Pokémon!

While Meowth is eating, Jessie and James are asleep on a bench. James is upright and Jessie's head is on his thigh, with her hands on his knee.

• Training Daze!

The use of the word "partners" (in Team Rocket) in the episode consistently seems to parallel the use of the term in the sense of romantic partners. For instance, Cassidy informs Jessie that she (Jessie) is "getting quite a reputation" for going through so many partners.

Jessie gives up 2/3 of her loaf of bread to Meowth and the other 1/3 to James, who seems moved. Jessie has no food left for herself, but she doesn't tell James that. She considers it more important to offer him food as a token of friendship.

James has trouble sleeping because he keeps thinking about what great teammates Jessie and Meowth make.

When James lets go of Meowth's tail and falls into the river, Jessie screams. Earlier in the episode, James had said that she wouldn't go back for him if something like that happened.

Despite having had twelve previous partners and managing to abandon them all without regret, when James is in the hospital and cannot join her for the final task, Jessie almost gives up. When he shows up anyway, her eyes tear up.

James manages to fall in another hole, but when he tries to let go like he did the first time, Jessie and Meowth grab his hand. James's eyes become on the verge of tears. Since Jessie is footing the strength, she manages to pull James out, he falls on top of her. Jessie blushes and continues to blush even after Meowth notices, so the romantic moment had caused her to zone out. James glares at Meowth angrily when Meowth interrupts.

• The Bicker the Better

When Oscar and Andi assume Jessie and James are a couple, James looks confused and Jessie just ignores it. Since they didn't get upset at it like Ash and May did, it could be interpreted that neither has a problem with the idea.

Later in the episode James teases Jessie about being ugly and Jessie smiles, covering her ears and pretending not to hear it. Since Jessie is absolutely obsessed with her appearance, her lack of getting mad about it and the joking way James did it might be interpreted as flirting. At the end of the episode when Jessie and James make up, they link arms and smile at each other.

• Hail to the Chef

Jessie and James sleep together in an actual bed, without Meowth present (though a Sneasel is elsewhere in the room). They are partially covered by a blanket, and Jessie is laying somewhat on top James.

• The Ole' Berate and Switch

Cassidy, rather close to James's lips, convinces James to join her. After Cassidy drags away a very shocked and bemused James, Jessie kicks a fire extinguisher in anger.

Jessie then goes up to Butch, swerves her hips, and talks to him very close to his lips. Apparently she is trying to emulate Cassidy's strategy of flirting and getting people to agree without agreeing, but, when Butch (attempting to complement her) accidentally insults her, it's clear (and clearer in Training Daze!) that Jessie's personality differs from Cassidy. Jessie and Butch have some things in common. They are prone to shouting, sneaking away when the going gets rough, and staring blankly. Surprisingly, we also find that James has things in common with Cassidy. They both joke at Jessie's expense, try to retain their composure yet occasionally can't help but yell, and play dumb when backed into a corner. Nevertheless, Jessie and James try to steal some Pokemon to impress each other.

Jessie, James, and Meowth end up reaching for the same Pokeball, so their eyes tear up and Jessie apologizes for sometimes saying things she doesn't mean.

The scale in the Rocket motto

• Throwing the Track Switch

James is depressed over losing Cacnea, so Jessie and Meowth try to cheer him up by giving him pineapple slices. James doesn't even want to look at the food, so they try to cheer him up by stealing Buizel and Aipom. The wrong Pokemon get stolen, but James is just as touched. Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet cry and hug; then later Jessie and James hold hands and cry again. Jessie sees James no longer being distant as a sign that they are a "real" team again.

• Noodles: Roamin' Off

Jessie and Meowth decide to go their separate ways. For deserting and for suggesting he marry Jessibelle, James yells at Jessie. He asserts that she's a loser because quitters never win and that whenever things get tough she gets going (which he also yelled at her for before she decided to quit).

Sorry for what he said, and lonely, he gazes at the stars and thinks about how strong the bond between he and Jessie and Meowth is.

James decides to battle a shiny Metagross to get Jessie and Meowth's attention. Alarmed that James went to fight Metagross all by himself, Jessie rushes to his aid. Brock, Dawn, and two fellow tourists mention that it is nearly impossible to beat a Metagross, that they can make people "vanish" (die), and that serious injury is the best a person in that situation can hope for. Therefore, given James's state of extreme depression and his possession of a Pokemon card that has information on Metagross, one has to wonder if he ever expected to get out alive in the first place.

Jessie saves him, but spends too much time crying with James, so the Metagross regains enough strength to kill them. Fully expecting to die, James apologizes for getting Jessie in that situation and Jessie tells James to look her up if they end up in "the great Team Rocket beyond." The notion of meeting in the ghost world calms down a terrified James. Meowth ends up saving them.

• Uncrushing Defeat!

One scene in the motto shows Jessie and James on a set of scales with a pink heart symbol on it, seemingly at balance despite it swinging slightly.

Movie evidence

Jessie's hints

• Jirachi: Wish Maker

At the end of the movie Jessie and James are holding onto each other and talking about how they don't care about wishes anymore and are just happy to be alive. They smile and Jessie says she's fine just doing this.

James' hints

• Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

After the leukocytes gets Jessie, James uses his Cacnea to try and rescue Jessie. He gets out of the way when it tries to hug him showing how serious he is taking this. After he fails to rescue Jessie they both cry out to each other and she is dragged down. James stands there speechless, visibly heart broken, and then gets engulfed as well.

Shared hints

• Mewtwo Strikes Back

Jessie and James are hugging each other throughout most of the movie.

• The Power of One

Meowth says to Jessie and James "You guys act love-love all the time", causing Jessie and James to get upset and blush. A few minutes later they are seen hugging each other.

• Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

Jessie and James are seen holding onto each other after they are freed from the leukocytes.

Non anime evidence

• The Electric Tale of Pikachu

At the end of the manga, Jessie and James end up married with a child on the way, and in the epilogue there is a panel in which we see a flashback to James confessing his love to Jessie. There is also some suggestive physical contact between the two throughout the manga.

• It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!

When Jessie, James and Mondo are about to be attacked by a hoard of Beedrill, they recite the lines of a famous Kabuki scene when two lovers do a double suicide.

• Pokémon Puzzle League

During stage five in The Spa, they are dressed as a bridal couple, with the Bridal March as the theme.

• Team Rocket's Secret Empire

During one of James' 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, "Because (she's my) eternal partner!" (「永遠のパートナーだからな！」)

Similarities

• Jessie and James have both owned Poison-type Pokémon until the Advanced Generation series.
• They both have a similar style of fashion and always coordinate their outfits. They have also donned various disguises pretending to be a couple, most notably as a couple getting married, as Volbeat and Illumise, and wearing outfits similar to the ones Oscar and Andi wore, which may be a reference to the the manga The Rose of Versailles.
• Jessie and James frequently use each other's Pokémon. Their Pokémon have rarely ever had a problem with this, and sometimes are happy about it.
• James' Grass-type Pokémon have occasionally "attacked" Jessie the same way they do James. Since James' Pokémon do it out of affection, some RocketShippers use this, among other things, to show that Jessie and James have a close relationship.

Trivia

Jessie and James' first fearhug in Showdown in Pewter City

• Both James's mother and fiancée look very similar to Jessie.
• Jessie and James' first fearhug was at the end of the episode Showdown in Pewter City.
• Jessie and James have a ramen shop named after them.
• Jessie and James have had voice actors with prominent roles in the Slayers anime series. Jessie's seiyuu, Megumi Hayashibara, is also seiyuu to the main protagonist and heroine of Slayers, Lina Inverse, while James's most famous English voice actor, Eric Stuart, dubbed the voice for Lina's self-proclaimed guardian and constant traveling companion, Gourry Gabriev. Incidentally, the two characters fell in love with each other over time.
• Due to a mistranslation before release of Celebi: Voice of the Forest, it was mistakenly thought for a time that the Iron-Masked Marauder was the future son of Jessie and James.

External links

• Rocketshipping General Discussion

RocketShipping support

• A White Tomorrow The fanlisting for the relationship between Jessie and James (Musashi and Kojiro)
• The Rocketshipper Photo Album
• Rocketshippy Fanart Club on Deviantart
• Rocketshipper forum
• Rocketshipping anthology A fan art and fiction project by fans
• FYRocketshipping A dedicated tumblr

AntiRocketShipping support

• Pokemopolis' AntiRocketshipping page

This article is part of Project Shipping, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each couple in Pokémon.