Summary
The reboot of Team Rocket in the Black and White era marked them out as more capable villains. The planned confrontation between Team Rocket and Team Plasma was replaced with Operation Tempest, a major clash between Ash and Team Rocket. Fan outcry may have saved Team Rocket from being written out of the show in future series.
Besides Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the most iconic characters from Pokémon anime are definitely Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket. While Ash's companions have come and gone over the years, Team Rocket has continued to pester Ash regardless of what has changed. However, that almost didn't happen, as a major storyline was originally advertised as a final confrontation with Team Rocket.
During the Black and White era of the anime, Team Rocket was rebooted, changing their uniforms from the classic white to black, and becoming much more capable and villainous at the same time. Although there were originally plans for a major fight between Team Rocket and Team Plasma in this series, that storyline never happened due to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, as the story featured some heavy destruction that was deemed inappropriate after a real-life disaster.
Team Rocket's grand battle was altered, as part of an event known in-universe as “Operation Tempest”.
Team Rocket's biggest challenge is almost their last.
Team Rocket's evil plot forces Ash to fight against the entire organization.
Operation Tempest was explained in the final episodes of Black and White as a plan for Giovanni to use the Legendary Pokémon, Meloetta, who had the ability to unleash powerful Pokémon known as the Forces of Nature: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. By manipulating Meloetta, who had accompanied Ash and his friends, Giovanni was able to control these powerful Pokémon to do his bidding, making him a huge threat, not only to the Unova region, but potentially to the entire world. Jessie, James, and Meowth were key parts of his plan, having been tracking Ash and Meloetta for some time.
This storyline, which begins with “Meloetta and the Undersea Temple,” is Originally advertised in Japan as the climactic confrontation between Ash and Team Rocket, it has been years in the making.. Indeed, the plot feels like a final battle, as it features the first (and only) time Ash and Giovanni meet face-to-face, and the threat posed by the Legendary Pokémon under Giovanni's control is very real. The idea seems to be to experiment with writing out the Team Rocket trio, who would therefore never be a part of Pokémon XY, Sun & Moon, or Journeys.
However, there was a huge negative reaction online to the idea of removing classic characters that had been around since the second episode, as Team Rocket has always been strangely popular with older Pokémon anime fans. Looking at the stories that followed this confrontation, there was the “Episode N” storyline, which focused on Team Plasma but not Team Rocket, and then the “spin-off” Decolores Islands, where Team Rocket appeared sporadically in their typical formulaic roles. Looking back at it all, it seems like the content written after Operation Tempest was designed without Jessie and James in mind, with their appearance in Decolores hastily thrown in to demonstrate that they weren't going anywhere.
This fan backlash may have saved Team Rocket from being written out of the series when Pokémon XY began. It's hard to imagine Pokémon with Ash, but without Team Rocket, given how integral the trio of Team Rocket have become to the series. Whether you like Team Rocket or not, it's hard to deny their important role in the series. Pokémon anime, even after this point.
