Team Rocket motto

The Team Rocket motto is a motto that Team Rocket members often recite and/or live by.

In the anime

Jessie, James, and Meowth have a motto that they say in almost every episode when they reveal themselves to the good guys. In the Kanto saga, it would reveal the team in disguise because whenever they heard the word "trouble" it caused an irresistible urge to say the motto.

They have had several versions of it throughout their travels through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh.

The original one was this:

English version

• Jessie: Prepare for trouble...
• James: ...and make it double!
• Jessie: To protect the world from devastation!
• James: To unite all peoples within our nation!
• Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
• James: To extend our reach to the stars above!
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: James!
• Jessie: Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
• James: Surrender now or prepare to fight!
• Meowth: Meowth, that's right!

Japanese version

• Musashi: なんだかんだと聞かれたら If you ask us something or other...
• Kojirō: 答えてあげるのが世の情け The answer we give will be the compassion of the world!
• Musashi: 世界の破壊を防ぐため To prevent the destruction of the world!
• Kojirō: 世界の平和を守るため To protect the peace of the world!
• Musashi: 愛と真実の悪をつらぬく To carry out the evils of truth and love!
• Kojirō: ラブリー・チャーミーな敵役 The lovely, charming villains!
• Musashi: ムサシ Musashi!
• Kojirō: コジロウ Kojirō!
• Musashi: 銀河をかけるロケット団の二人には…… The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!
• Kojirō: ホワイトホール、白い明日が待ってるぜ A white hole, a white tomorrow awaits us!
• Nyarth: にゃんでにゃ Something like that!

Since the first episode the opening of the motto used rhyming "Prepare for trouble" and "Make it double" phrases. An example from Zig Zag Zangoose!, where Jessie was training Seviper and Meowth filled in for her, is

• Meowth: Prepare for trouble, here in the wood...
• James: ... and make it double, like you know that you should!

Also, in many later episodes, James said "fight, fight, fight" at the end of his last line.

It should also be noted that this version of the motto was used in commercials for Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen with each line being said by different children, omitting the parts where Jessie, James and Meowth say their own names and the line "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

Song Version

In episodes where singing is the central theme and Jigglypuff or Igglybuff are the stars, Jessie, James, and Meowth have also sung a song version of their motto.

• Jessie and James: You know us as Team Rocket and we fight for what is wrong. We're tired of our motto so we thought we'd try a song. The speed of light, prepare to fight.
• Meowth: Meowth, that's right!
• James: I am the handsome one.
• Jessie: I'm the gorgeous one.
• All: Looking good its lots of fun. We get some things wrong but we keep rolling along. We want to capture Pikachu. We hope to do it soon. And when we do we'll be the new stars of this... cartoon!

Butch and Cassidy's motto

Butch and Cassidy also have a motto, which is similar to Jessie and James's original motto. During Pokémon Chronicles, they add the line "(Now) Here's our mission, so ya better listen." after saying the line "...and make it double!" Also, Raticate occasionally appears at the end of the motto. One time, the two duos argued about their motto differences and said it, complaining that one did not know how to say the motto.

• Cassidy: Prepare for trouble...
• Butch: ...and make it double!
• Cassidy: To infect the world with devastation!
• Butch: To blight all peoples in every nation!
• Cassidy: To denounce the goodness of truth and love!
• Butch: To extend our wrath to the stars above!
• Cassidy: Cassidy!
• Butch: Butch!
• Cassidy: Team Rocket circles the world at the speed of light!
• Butch: Surrender now or you will surely lose the fight!

Team Rocket's good motto

In The Power of One when Team Rocket decides to help Ash they use a different version of their motto.

• Jessie: If that kid thinks were here for trouble...
• James: ...we're certainly going to burst his bubble!
• Jessie: Instead of causing tribulation...
• James: ...we've undergone a transformation!
• Jessie: Though it's way outside our usual range...
• James: ...we're going to do something nice for a change!
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: James!
• Jessie: Up til now Team Rocket's been quite unscrupulous!
• James: Being good good guys for once would be super-dupulous!
• Meowth: That's right!

Battle Frontier

During the Battle Frontier saga, they switched to this new motto:

English version

• Jessie: Prepare for trouble from beyond the skies!
• James: From beyond the stars, a nasty surprise!
• Jessie: An evil as old as the galaxy...
• James: ...sent here to fulfill our destiny!
• Meowth: Plus, there's me! (sometimes spoken as "Meowth, dat's me!")
• Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
• James: To extend our reach to the stars above!
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: And James!
• Meowth: And Meowth are the names! (sometimes spoken as "Meowth's my name!")
• Jessie: Anywhere there’s peace in the universe...
• James: Team Rocket...
• Meowth: ...Will be there...
• Jessie, James, and Meowth: To make everything worse!
• Wobbuffet: Wobbuffet!
• Chimecho: Chime Chime!/Mime Jr: Mime Mime!

Since the first episode, they have adapted their traditional rhyming phrases "Prepare for trouble" and "Make it double" into the motto, thereby restoring the first two lines of the original motto.

Japanese version

• Musashi: なんだかんだと声がする There is a voice saying something.
• Kojirō: 地平線の彼方から From beyond the horizon...
• Musashi: ビッグバンの彼方から From beyond the Big Bang...
• Kojirō: 我らを呼んでる声がする A voice is calling us!
• Nyarth: お待たせにゃ Sorry to keep you waiting!
• Musashi: 健気に咲いた悪の花 Evil flowers who have courageously bloomed!
• Kojirō: ハードでスイートな敵役 In the role of the villains who are hard and sweet!
• Musashi: ムサシ Musashi!
• Kojirō: コジロウ Kojirō!
• Nyarth: ニャースでニャース And Nyarth!
• Musashi: ロケット団のあるところ The place where Team Rocket is
• Kojirō: 世界は The world-
• Nyarth: 宇宙は The universe-
• All: 君を待っている Awaits you!
• Sonans: ソーナンス Of course!

Sinnoh

In Sinnoh, the trio changed to a new motto yet again.

English Version

• Jessie: Listen, is that a voice I hear?
• James: It's speaking to me loud and clear.
• Jessie: On the wind.
• James: Past the stars.
• Meowth: In your ear!
• Jessie: Bringing chaos at a break neck pace.
• James: Dashing hope, bringing fear in its place.
• Jessie: A rose by any other name is just as sweet.
• James: When everything's worse, our work is complete.
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: James!
• Meowth: And Meowth, now dat's a name!
• Jessie: Putting the do-gooders in their place...
• James: ...Team Rocket...
• Jessie, James and Meowth: We're in your face!
• Wobbuffet: Wooobuffet!
• Mime Jr.: Mime! Mime!

Japanese version

• Musashi: なんだかんだの声を聞き We hear voices saying this and that...
• Kojirō: 光の速さでやってきた We come along in a swift current of light...
• Musashi: 風よ The wind!
• Kojiro: 大地よ The land!
• Nyaasu: 大空よ The sky!
• Musashi: 世界に届けよう　デンジャラス The danger we will deliver to the world!
• Kojiro: 宇宙に伝えよう　クライシス The crisis we will convey to the universe!
• Musashi: 天使か悪魔か　その名を呼べば Whether angels or demons, if you call the name,
• Kojiro: 誰もが震える魅惑の響き The captivating echo that shakes everyone...
• Musashi: ムサシ Musashi!
• Kojirō: コジロウ Kojirō!
• Nyarth: ニャースでニャース And Nyarth!
• Musashi: 時代の主役はあたしたち The stars of the era are us!
• Kojiro: 我らは無敵の We are the invincible...
• All: ロケット団 Team Rocket!
• Sonans: ソーナンス Of course!
• Manene: マネネ Manene!

They often replace the first two lines with

• Jessie: Listen, is that a twerpish voice I hear?
• James: It's shrieking to me loud and clear.

or something similar.

It is notable that the Sinnoh motto is modified more often even in the Japanese version.

Their motto has also been ripped off by Ash and his friends every now and then. The first time was in Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, with the help of Duplica, the second was in The Chikorita Rescue, and the latest times are in DP044 when Brock says Prepare For Trouble DP056. Team Rocket are angered by this.

Blasting off

The trio have another catchphrase. When defeated, Jessie, James, and Meowth usually cry, "We're blasting off again!" (Japanese: "This isn't good!", Brazilian Portuguese: Estamos decolando de novo! lit. We're taking off again!, Finnish: "Rakettiryhmä ampaisee taas matkoihinsa!" as in "Team Rocket dashes off again!"). Butch and Cassidy have been known to say this, too. James once noted that he, Jessie, and Meowth had copyrighted it.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Special manga, the Rocket in Team Rocket is apparently their motto, which is an acronym for:

• Raid
• On
• City
• Knock out
• Evil
• Tusks