It's hard to think about Pokémon's Team Rocket without quickly arriving at the word failure. As a group, Jessie, James, and Meowth have failed countless times and in myriad ways. Their inability to complete their plans has made them into a group of comical ragtag underdogs whom audiences can't help but root for, even if everyone knows they'll find a way to snatch failure from the jaws of victory.
However, they have not always been this way. For a period, Pokémon Black & White turned the usually foolish group into an effective villain squad.
Pokémon Black & White is the fourth series of the sprawling Pokémon anime. It followed Ash Ketchum as he headed to the Unova Region to catch more Pokémon and win gym badges, accompanied by Pikachu and his new friend Iris. As is tradition, the villainous Team Rocket followed Ash to Unova, hoping to capture Pikachu and perform many other criminal acts.
Giovanni, Team Rocket's leader, has devious new plans in the Unova region. His secretary, Matori, convinces him it would be best to get Jessie, James, and Meowth to help him with these plans. Giovanni agrees, so the trio gets promoted and is given snazzy new black outfits to mark this momentous occasion. Surprisingly, this change led to Team Rocket becoming very competent as they start acting more like actual villains instead of comic relief characters.
In fact, Team Rocket grows smarter almost immediately, nearly capturing Pikachu a few times during the first couple of episodes. Even when they fail in Pokémon Black & White, it's often not due to incompetence. The best example of this change is how they actually escape escaping from bad situations rather than being comically launched into the sky, while many of their various heists are much more skillfully performed. Over the first half of the Unova arc, they break into several locations -- including the Antimony Research Facility and the Dreamyard -- to collect data and information for Giovanni. After this, they break into the Nacrene City Museum and successfully steal an object called the Meteonite, something the old Team Rocket would never do successfully.
Jessie, James and Meowth's newfound competence doesn't last long, however. After the episode "Battling For the Love of Bug-Types!" Team Rocket are informed by Matori that Giovanni won't be needing them for future missions. As a result, they presumed the boss was upset with them and reverted to their old outfits. However, they didn't give up entirely and continued to plan their own schemes with Dr. Zager, retaining their more villainous edge.
This culminates with Team Rocket pulling off a massive Pokémon heist, breaking into a Pokémon Center vault while Meowth executes a perfect double-cross. During their escape on a subway train, they not only fill the rail system with decoy trains but actually rig several of these trains to explode, far eviler than many of their old wacky plans. The scheme is only thwarted due to Pikachu and a horde of other Pokémon working together. Despite this, Team Rocket is not defeated and instead escapes via helicopter, keeping their dignity in the process. They show up again as part of Giovanni's Operation Tempest, where they try to capture a trio of legendary Pokémon called the Forces of Nature. Again, they get close but are forced to retreat by helicopter after being thwarted.
It seems that marked the end of the improved Team Rocket. When they next appeared in the episode "New Places...Familiar Faces!" they had returned to their old Pikachu-capturing ways. While they occasionally show signs of competence and retain some of their newer technology, they become more and more comedic, finally returning to their original silly selves.
Pokémon Black & White making Jessie, James, and Meowth competent was a welcome surprise that added new depth to the long-running characters. Their organized, efficient approach to crime led to some fantastic and action-packed battles and episodes. While it isn't a bad thing to see the trio return to their comedy roots, hopefully, they get another chance to be competent antagonists in the future.
