Jessie and James

Jessie and James are special Grunts of Team GO Rocket and subordinates of Team GO Rocket Leaders and Giovanni. They appear in a Meowth balloon and battle using Shadow Pokémon.

Encountering Jessie and James
Jessie and James can be both encountered at the same time when Trainer finds and interacts with the Meowth Balloon. Similarly to regular Team GO Rocket Balloon, Meowth Balloon can spawn one at the time above the Trainer's avatar in the Map View, however Meowth Balloons are rarer. You do not need a Rocket Radar to encounter them.

Jessie and James had increased appearance during Team GO Rocket Event and Day 2 of Pokémon GO Fest 2020.

Jessie and James would no longer appear starting on September, 2020. They had increased appearance from September, at 12:00 a.m. to September , at 11:59 p.m. local time. Also, the rate of balloons increased to every three-hour period starting on September.

Jessie and James returned in Secrets of the Jungle Event. They guide the Trainer in the Special Research Distracted by Something Shiny. They have left the game on February 2021.

Battling Jessie and James
Battle with Jessie and James is similar to battle with any other Grunt from GO Rocket Balloon, however both of them can be fought from the same Meowth Balloon. Right after defeating Jessie, player can engage battle with James.

Similar to regular Grunts, they do not use shields, defeating them counts (as two Grunts) towards the Hero medal and Research tasks and awards two Mysterious Components. However, like Team GO Rocket Leaders, their Shadow Pokémon can be shiny in the encounter.

Battle parties

 * Pokémon highlighted with green can be caught after winning a battle.

Changes to battle parties
Before their return, Jessie and James had different Pokémon.


 * Pokémon highlighted with green can be caught after winning a battle.

Introduction

 * Jessie:
 * "To protect the world from devastation!"


 * James:
 * "To unite all people within our nation!"

Before battle

 * Jessie:
 * "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"


 * James:
 * "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Pre-battle screen

 * Jessie:
 * "Hey, do you want to join Team Rocket?"
 * "The Boss’s Persian is so elegant..."
 * "Who are these Team GO Rocket Leaders, anyway?"


 * James:
 * "Hey, would you like to join Team Rocket?"
 * "You’ll regret this!"
 * "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

Upon victory

 * Jessie:
 * "Looks like I’ve just denounced the evils of truth and love!"
 * "Can’t wait for the Boss to hear about this!"
 * "Team GO Rocket’s first take-over would’ve been much more successful if only we’d been invited!"


 * James:
 * "Looks like our reach has extended to the stars above!"
 * "I hope the Boss will be proud of me!"
 * "If only the Boss had sent us here the first time around!"

Upon being defeated

 * Jessie:
 * "You’re just a Twerp. Why are you so strong?"
 * "Hmph! How infuriating! Don’t let it go to your head just because your Pokémon were a teeny-tiny bit stronger!"
 * "We’re blasting off again!"
 * "I only lost because I’m using these borrowed Pokémon! You’re no match for Team Rocket!"


 * James:
 * "We got beat by a Twerp?!"
 * "But I was so confident this time!"
 * "Even if you did defeat us in battle, we’re still bigger and stronger than you!"
 * "We’re blasting off again!"
 * "Argh! I despise Twerps!"
 * "I should have known I couldn’t win with borrowed Pokémon..."

Trivia

 * In their introduction in-game dialogue, they mentioned borrowing Pokémon from other people. This can be observed as their second and third Shadow Pokémon were previously first Pokémon in parties of Team GO Rocket Leaders.
 * After Jessie and James debuted in the game, the Team GO Rocket Leaders parties were changed.
 * Jessie had Shadow Scyther and Shadow Bagon which was previously belonged to Arlo.
 * James had Shadow Sneasel and Shadow Beldum which was previously belonged to Sierra.
 * In their second appearance, they had Shadow Stantler, Pinsir and Grimer which were previously belonged to Cliff.
 * Their uses of Ekans and Koffing reference their iconic Pokémon of the anime.