Pokemopolis - 'cause Pokemon is NOT a Childrens Cartoon

Think Jesse and James are the "perfect couple"?

They are obviously "so in love with each other."

This is the kind of thing you may read on many web sites dedicated to Pokemon or Team Rocket, by people who have failed to understand the true nature of the characters.

Pokemopolis aims to make itself the central port of call for all anti-Rocketshippers on the net, by presenting all the facts like no-one has ever presented them before on the net. We've looked hard to find a hub of anti-Rocketshippingness, and found there was none. We have and will bring together all the most conclusive evidence that Jesse and James are not a couple and it will all be here in this section.
What annoys us most about Rocketshippers is that that take a comment or a scene and, without any real understanding of the characters or past and future events, that it is proof of Rocketshipping.
They fail to see the real picture and understand the character enough to think that a girl and a boy could be anything other then friends, and that the boy is this macho, heroic stallion and the girl, a frail desperate beauty who swoons in the face of danger.

Does this sound like OUR Jesse and James?

Sounds more like a Mills and Boon Jesse and James, or worse yet, the sort of Jesse and James that Julia Roberts and David Boreanaz would play in a Hollywood movie directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (refer: MOVIE CASTING page)

And we are sick of it. We are sick of sites pedalling this rubbish off to the masses as "proof". Fanworks are created around this theory, message boards, Yahoo groups, and chat rooms.
Someone needs to take a stand.

And we accept the challenge.

This first page is an "Evidence and Rebuttal" page.
The major Rocketshipping theories are presented here and then we rebut this mercilessly, at which point we will then present our own.
So please read this section first as
We Take Rocketshipping Apart - Piece by Piece

FIRST CASE

Cross dressing doesn't make James gay. It means he's evil. It's done to confuse Ash.

Rebuttal:
That is true. Cross dressing doesn't make anyone gay.
But James is not a cross dresser. He is a Drag Queen.
Cross dressers, or Transvestites are straight men who like to wear the clothing of women. Bug Bunny is a cross dresser. A Drag Queen is a gay man who dresses and performs as a woman. James is a Drag Queen.

There have been many occasions where James could have chosen the masculine attire (in some cases he has) but it all depends on what Jesse wants to dress as.

Doing drag, for James, is a guilty pleasure. Everytime he has put on a frock, a bonnet, tights, a mini, heels, and makeup, he has enjoyed it.
He has never grumbled about wearing drag (despite what the bastard America translators might have made us think). In fact he grumbles when the outfit he is wearing is not stunning enough.
Refer to Episode "The Stun Spore Detour" where James, wearing the costume of a rice paddy worker, passes the comment to Meowth "Couldn't you have stolen something more flattering?"

As for being evil, yes, in Japanese culture, cross dressing is the sign of a villain. it's done all the time. But the difference here is all in James' attitude to cross dressing. He may be evil, but he is also camp.

Trying to confuse Ash and is friends with swapping rolls, changing hair colour, wearing wigs, tacky uniforms or swapping gender outfits? Well, seriously, it's not that hard to confuse them anyway.
Unlike what some young girls believe, Ash is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and even when James is dressed as a man and Jesse as a woman with their trademark hair in full view Ash still does not recognise them. It's only when he sees a talking Meowth, a big red "R" or a hot air balloon does he realise he is talking to Team Rocket.
They have been duped so many times by Team Rocket's theatrical costume schemes, their acting is, obviously, just too convincing. You'd think that Ash would have clued on by now.....

The whole team do their fair share of cross dressing, even Ash and his friends have done it, and it doesn't make them gay, it's the enjoyment that James get's out of it, the campiness, the theatrics that is proof of anti- Rocketshipping.

SECOND CASE

They are always hugging each other and holding hands

Rebuttal:
This proves nothing.
Hugging and holding of hands only happens when Team Rocket are scared or in trouble or peril. The first sight of this may have been in "Pokemon Shipwreck" when J & J were facing a watery death. They held each other close and were prepared to go down as a team.
When facing death or something frightening, it is human nature to hold onto someone close for comfort.

Friends or strangers, even when they are both male, will do exactly the same in similar circumstances.

THIRD CASE

They get married and have a kid in the manga

Rebuttal:
We are not going to waste space by talking about this here. We have already covered this in our Manga section.

The anime and the manga are two different things. There are many differences between the two and we do not acknowledge this in any way.

Moving on...

FOURTH CASE

James always carries a rose and roses symbolise love

Rebuttal:
That is the most pathetic thing we've ever heard.
In "Pokemon Fashion Flash", James says, "Roses are the flowers of love and romance!"

So?

They are. it certainly doesn't make him straight and it certainly doesn't make him in love with Jesse. He carries a rose around with him, but he never once has given it to her. Not something a caring boyfriend would do is it?

No actually, we stand corrected.

That was not the most pathetic thing we have ever heard. the theory that James' rose matches Jesse's hair, that Jesse's eyes match James' hair and that James' eyes match Jesse's earrings and therefore they must be a couple, that is the most pathetic thing we have ever heard.

Again that proves nothing, specially not Rocketshipping.

FIFTH CASE

Holy Matrimony

Rebuttal:
Actually, if anything, this episode actually disproves Rocketshipping and sets up for future anti-Rocketshipping events.

This was the first of two times that Jesse tried to marry off James like he was a piece of meat and pocket the dowry. Not the sign of a true girlfriend.

But James left his inheritance and his estate to be with Jesse.
He left them many years before as a matter of fact and he didn't even know her at the time. Jesse has nothing to do with him wanting to leave behind his sadistic parents and the dominatrix they have arranged him to marry (and he is apparently still betrothed to her).

Jesse has nothing to do with him being bored and sick of money and wealth and wanting to get out from under his parents' thumb and live his own life. Jesse has nothing to do with him wanting to abandon his ice cream sandwiches and Olympic swimming pool.

When Jesse learned of James' wealthy past, her first and only thought was to marry him off against his wishes and "scram with the cash". James is not keen, not because he doesn't want to marry anyone but Jesse, perish the thought. No, he doesn't want to because he doesn't want to get married at all. You can see it in his face, the thought of heterosexual honeymoon sex scares him shitless.
He doesn't want to return home because he knows as soon as he does, he will have to get married to Jessebelle.

And the final scene, that infamous singular piece of Rocketshipper "evidence". Jesse and James stare lovingly into each others faces as the balloon floats away leaving Meowth behind and their hands form in the shape of a heart. That scene?
True it is a nice scene. Jesse has realised she has done wrong by betraying her friend for money. James knows his place is now with Team Rocket. It was at that point that their friendship became stronger and it wasn't until a couple of hundred episodes later that history would repeat itself and she would try the same stunt again.

SIXTH CASE

James thinks girls are cute

Rebuttal:
Not true at all.
This comment, a comment we feel is not true to the Japanese text, was made once in "School of Hard Knocks" (an episode when James had a very butch voice) and, despite all the attractive and cute girls that have graced the series since that early episode, he has never once made that or a similar comment again.
As for calling a girl cute? Well so what? Is it impossible for a gay man to appreciate a girl's beauty, not at all, in fact it seems more than likely that he would be appreciative of her appearance without being attracted to her in any way. Gay men are known to often pass judgment about girls just as other girls do.

SEVENTH CASE

The Ghost of Maiden's Peak

Rebuttal:
Rocketshipers would have us believe that this episode is proof enough of the love between Jesse and James. In this episode James and Brock are hypnotised by a Ghastly into thinking he is, (and yes this Ghastly is most definitely a he) that he is a beautiful polterguiste causing them to go ga-ga.

James is not well known for having the strongest of will or of brain power, and actually neither is Brock, and Ghastly was able to snatch them up easy. And while Brock was content to let his pants dictate where he goes, James was, early on, quite fearful for his life.
Jesse set out to rescue James, teaming up with Ash who was trying to rescue Brock, but love was the last thing on her mind. When James confessed to a surprised Jesse that he had no desire to go with the ghostly maiden, this was not because he had "feelings" for Jesse, not in the way Rocketshippers would have us believe. As we have mentioned in Holy Matrimony, his fear of heterosexual lust is great.

Towards the end of the episode, Jesse goes Rambo and takes to the ghost with a bazooka she keeps hidden in her stockings. James, relieved and a little teary eyed suggest that she really does care about him (obviously no instance of her caring for him has ever happened before).
Jesse cares too much about herself to care about anyone else and, without batting an eyelid, retorts that she cares not for James, in fact, she could give a flying f**k about him, it's that she was trying to teach the maiden a lesson. Her words: "It's not 'cause of you. Girls like her disgust me. Always waiting around for her man as if she were his faithful pet."

She can't stand girls who are frail and weak minded and would dedicate themselves to just one guy forever and ever and ever. This is no sign of any love she might have for James if she had any love for him which she doesn't.

The problem is with this episode, Rocketshippers base almost their entire argument on it. And it's a very piss poor argument at that.

EIGHTH CASE

James proves his love in "Princess vs Princess"

Rebuttal:
What a load of bunk.
We are lead to believe by Rocketshippers that this episode proves love between them?
Don't see it.
Firstly, when James is stunned by how good Jesse has scrubbed up, there is no rumbling in his y-fronts. Again we refer back to "School of Hard Knocks" and our point where James has every right to think a woman is beautiful even if he is gay. Gay men are more likely to then straight men anyway. He actually looks stunned that she would almost look better then him in the same outfit (we say almost).
And James, well if he is gay why doesn't he enjoy shopping with Jesse?
Even gay men wouldn't want to go bargain shopping with a rabid female. After all, there is no way she would have listened to any of his suggestions.

James offers to bump off Misty to help Jesse win. They (the "they" being the Rocketshippers here) tell us he acts all butch and macho so his girlfriend can come out the champion. This is not a love this, this is an evil villain thing. Team Rocket are always trying to look for ways to cheat so they can win. Why must this episode be singled out as "proof"?
And when Jesse loses to Misty, James and Meowth along with their pokemon chums dress up as dolls for her. This is more borderline nut case then anything else. It is not often Jesse is down in the dumps, and both James and Meowth find it hard to fathom; their normally fearful and sadistic female friend mooching around in the doldrums. they want her back to normal and hitting them with mallets and cursing them again. So they play some dress up. James and we all know is very good at dress up.
And he would have designed all the garments and put all the makeup on the Pokemon too.

Well, that about takes care of that. Rocketshipping theories rebuked.
There were some others that we found that were quite frankly ridiculous, based on nothing more then "I think that".

In order to lead the way in combatting this vile act against everything that is decent, good, and pure in the world, we have collated all our own evidence against Rocketshipping and assembled it here for your reading pleasure.

We'll take you through all the Leagues and their episodes that contain the evidence that is proof positive that Rocketshipping could not be possible.

Anti-Rocketshipping - Indigo League
Anti-Rocketshipping - Orange League
Anti-Rocketshipping - Johto League
Coming soon: Anti-Rocketshipping - In the Movies
Coming soon: Anti-Rocketshipping - The Hug Factor
How to cure Rocketshipping
Rocketshipping: An Analysis

Pokemopolis supports the practice of Safe Sex