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The Rocket trio's lack of screentime in Sun & Moon is honestly kind of appalling

What does everyone think is the likelihood of the Rocket trio leaving after this series? This is really the first time I'm having serious thoughts that they might be retired. The way Sun&Moon has set it up makes it seem like the trio could very well stay as food salespeople in the Alola region with Kiteruguma being their permanent guardian.
I've already said my piece here but TL;DR: after SM 122, for the first time I am genuinely fearful that SM may be their swan song. If nothing else it seems increasingly likely that some kind of Rocket arc is coming.

I'm not sure I agree with your idea of how that would be facilitated though. I'm 100% sure that even if the TRio stay in Alola there will be some degree of separation from Kiteruguma. Perhaps I'm being optimistic, but if the Rocket organisation disbands, the TRio has to have some agency in choosing their future paths and living out their days in Kiteruguma's tree as her children/hostages is just too passive for these characters.

Anyways, I hope we're all wrong and they stick around. The end of the TRio would force me to actually look up and face my real life so I'm holding my breath that that won't happen :p
 
kantoskies said:
Besides, the Pokemon Company apparently loves shilling out Kanto and these are the only main characters other than Satoshi who have ties to the region, it definitely gives opportunities to make connections to the region.

And yet...they were mostly MIA during the Let's Go! Pikachu / Let's Go! Eevee promotional period :cautious:

Golducky said:
I just can't see them leaving, I mean they've been around almost as long as Ash.

People were saying that about Takeshi for years.
 
And yet...they were mostly MIA during the Let's Go! Pikachu / Let's Go! Eevee promotional period :cautious:
That's because the games aren't character-driven, so you aren't going to see too much of any character in trailers and such. They're still the only anime characters that were kept from Yellow (okay, save for Joy and Jenny), with Red and Blue being more removed from Ash and Gary than before.

If you're referring to the LGPE-based anime episodes, there were hardly any and TRio were in them. I'm still surprised they haven't showcased the alternative catching method.
 
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And yet...they were mostly MIA during the Let's Go! Pikachu / Let's Go! Eevee promotional period :cautious:

Well, there was them being in both episodes of Brock & Misty's second guest stint, and trying to go after Meltan or Sandy a couple of times.

People were saying that about Takeshi for years.

Yeah, but Brock didn't have as an important a job as the TRio. The writers like to keep them around to provide antagonism or comic relief as needed (though they've FINALLY realized other characters can do that). By the time Brock left, he was 100% useless and had barely done anything worth talking about in years. Hell, I'm surprised they kept him around so long, and will NEVER understand why people miss him and want him back...

I'll admit the lack of the TRio this series is a little suspicious....BUT it's countered by them being at their all time best! :love:
Hell, they would've actually WON a few times if it weren't for Bewear, bad writing, and being shackled by an archaic, obsolete archetype. :cry:
 
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Dogasu said:
And yet...they were mostly MIA during the Let's Go! Pikachu / Let's Go! Eevee promotional period :cautious:

Most of the attention was put on Pikachu, Eevee and to a lesser degree Meltan during that promotional period. Even SM had pretty minimal Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee promotions aside from Lana catching Eevee and arguably Ash catching Meltan.

People were saying that about Takeshi for years.

To be fair, the situation with Brock was a bit different. He was around for so long that people thought that he'd stick around too, but he was already replaced for one arc. Even though he came back for Johto, it showed that he was replaceable and that removing him from the cast wasn't such a stretch. Team Rocket, on the other hand, have been around for much longer than Brock at this point and they serve as the comedic villains, which is a more noticeable role than what Brock had as the slightly older and wiser mentor of the group.

I suppose it's not impossible for Team Rocket to be replaced, but I still find it pretty unlikely given how long they've been around and how popular they seem to be in Japan. Even with their more minimal appearances in SM, I don't see it as a sign that they're getting ready to replace Team Rocket.

Yeah, but Brock didn't have as an important a job as the TRio. The writers like to keep them around to provide antagonism or comic relief as needed (though they've FINALLY realized other characters can do that). By the time Brock left, he was 100% useless and had barely done anything worth talking about in years. Hell, I'm surprised they kept him around so long, and will NEVER understand why people miss him and want him back...

Brock wasn't useless. He played a key role in the Team Galactic climax and his knowledge on how to treat injured Pokemon was a huge reason why Dawn's Mamoswine started to listen to her. Admittedly, that might sound kind of minimal for a long running series, but it still shows that he wasn't useless or pointless in DP. I can understand why people didn't like that Brock stayed so long in the cast, but I always thought that people were kind of harsh on him, especially since both AG and DP gave him better focused episodes than he ever had in the original series. Granted, I don't really hear a lot of people saying that they want him back, especially compared to Misty, but after seeing his episode showcasing his skills as Pokemon Doctor in training in SM, I realize that I kind of miss serious Brock. He is better off working on his own goal off-screen than traveling with Ash again, although it would be so cool to see Brock and other former traveling companions either appear in the current series and/or get their own specials to further showcase their progress.
 
Said it before I'll say it again golden calf.

The fact they don't appear in every episode any more shows they aren't "needed". Ash's cavalcade of friends, and rivals had plenty of comic relief characters. Even before the TRio stopped appearing in every episode the anime had showed itself to be capable making other goofy chump antagonists.

The only thing stopping them from getting rid of them is the lack of benefit. Since they don't appear in every episode they don't stop new characters from appearing every episode. They aren't like Gary where defeating them ends their purpose (though I would have preferred Gary to stay). The writers can just have them show up whenever they want they seemingly aren't in the way of anything.
 
This would be pretty late in the series to start something like Team Rocket organization being disbanded or even somehow creating a Team Rainbow Rocket arc to led up to the defeat of the organization. They already have the League, I assume that they're doing to do something with Team Skull during/after that arc as well and then there will probably be a few episodes devoted to sendoffs for the Alola cast and setting up for Ash going to Galar. While I don't fully believe in the whole SM is going to be exactly 138 episodes theory, I don't think that there's any time to pull off a Team Rocket arc given everything else that they have to in order to wrap up SM.
 
If the upcoming episode doesn't foreshadow another plot, then I don't see it happening. And if they do intend to wrap up Team Rocket, it would only work with Mewtwo involved. Otherwise it would feel cheap like Operation Tempest.
 
There is only 13/15 episodes left and probably six of them will be league episodes. If they're planning an arc for TR's disbanding, it will be very underwhelmed for them.

Absolutely, I feel like there would be so much they should to just with the trio let alone the organization as a whole to make it even somewhat of a respectable sendoff (Yamato / Kosaburo coming back, Miyamoto, Rumika, etc) that it doesn't seem like there's very much time left. If they do try it it would be cheap and rushed.

However this show is no stranger to cheap, rushed sendoffs that I could absolutely see them wrapping them up in two episodes (one episode for the organization, could also be tied in with other storylines and one for the trio themselves, could also be shoved into the last episode itself).

I'm like 50/50 on if it will actually happen but I think at this point it's not as inconceivable as it would be in other sagas.
 
There could be room for a 4-episode arc. Mohn/Magearna and Melmetal are the only confirmed subplots other than the league, and there could be as many as 20 remaining episodes if you don't take the 138 listing seriously (and you shouldn't, because SwSh won't be released before November).

You think she's alive? It's never too late to show a flashback, I guess.
 
She really could be alive because Giovanni just referred to her whereabouts as unknown, and she kept making commentary during the radio drama. One assumption is that it's her spirit, but who knows with Mew involved?

I would not want to see Jessie reunited with her ghost, though. It's been done with Mallow and I didn't like it.
 
That old crone is alive for sure. Not sure what the anime could do with her mind you but I’d love for here to get an appearance :p
 
Absolutely, I feel like there would be so much they should to just with the trio let alone the organization as a whole to make it even somewhat of a respectable sendoff (Yamato / Kosaburo coming back, Miyamoto, Rumika, etc) that it doesn't seem like there's very much time left. If they do try it it would be cheap and rushed.

Dude, "cheap and rushed" is how they've handled almost every villain storyline. Besides, they've NEVER respected Team Rocket. Those people you mentioned aren't even going to be referenced. The organization never truly mattered. It was all about the TRio.
 
Dude, "cheap and rushed" is how they've handled almost every villain storyline. Besides, they've NEVER respected Team Rocket. Those people you mentioned aren't even going to be referenced. The organization never truly mattered. It was all about the TRio.
TG and TF were good.
And as for TRio leaving hey it be better here than back in BW.
 
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