Summary
In the XY era, Team Rocket finally became a real threat thanks to their beautiful and dangerous high-tech gadgets. These new devices, such as control collars and collapsible cages, are more high-tech and more efficient than previous machines. Despite their new technology, Team Rocket’s incompetence and reliance on giant mechs ultimately undermined their effectiveness as villains.
Team Rocket is a long-time rival Pokémon anime, but it’s only in the XY era that Team Rocket really feels like a real threat, and it’s all thanks to the enhanced technology they have at their disposal. While previous eras of Team Rocket often used giant machines and contraptions to achieve their goals, the devices the XY version has at their disposal are fancier and less obvious, making them even more become more dangerous.
Of course, Team Rocket spends most of their time in the Pokémon anime trying to steal Pikachu, along with many other Pokémon. In earlier eras of the anime, Team Rocket relied on fairly simple disguises and traps, such as their long-time favorite pit traps, which had a miserably low success rate even on a moment-to-moment basis. The Hoenn and Sinnoh eras saw Team Rocket’s flair for impressive results in turning to ridiculously giant Team Rocket robots to achieve their goals, although the results were common. The common practice of using these machines is for them to blow up in Jessie and James’ faces. However, in XY, Team Rocket has some new technology at their disposal that makes their old stuff look like toys.
Starting from the second episode of XY, Team Rocket has new methods to try to steal Pokémon. First, they deployed a control collar on a Garchomp living at Professor Sycamore’s lab, causing it to go on a rampage and destroy a large portion of Lumiose City. In later episodes, they have collapsible cages with electrified bars, as well as energy nets that generate themselves after being thrown. Although Team Rocket has tried hundreds of tricks to catch Pikachu at this point, the devices they use in Kalos are more high-tech and even their momentary effectiveness is enough to make fans must stop, because their stuff really might be like that. Complete the mission once.
Of course, Team Rocket is as incompetent as ever, so even these high-tech gadgets aren’t enough to truly escape Pikachu or the other Pokémon they try to steal early in XY. However, Jessie and James seem to appreciate the value the new technology brings them and even have the foresight to turn Ash’s new tinker companion, Clemont, against him by tricking him. We work on their own machines. In the end, they had to use the giant machine again, which went as well as ever. It’s a bit of a shame, as Team Rocket with its smaller, higher-tech devices is certainly a bigger threat than any hastily assembled mech.
While Team Rocket never really became a serious threat, the technology they used on Kalos was notable largely because in someone else’s hands, it could have actually stolen Pikachu . It’s the kind of technology one would expect Pokémon thieves to use rather than silly disguises or obvious traps. These devices are very practical and useful, some devices such as collapsible cages work perfectly and are only canceled because Team Rocket loses control. Team Rocket may never have truly been the dangerous and capable villains they claim to be, but their equipment in Pokémon XY anime is the kind of pro stuff that should keep Ash up at night.
