Team Rocket motto

The Team Rocket motto is a motto that Team Rocket members recite or live by.

In the anime

Jessie, James, and Meowth have a motto that they say in almost every episode when they reveal themselves to the good guys.

They have had several versions of it.

The first one was this:

English version

• Jessie: Prepare for trouble...
• James: ...and make it double!
• Jessie: To protect the world from devastation!
• James: To unite all peoples within our nation!
• Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
• James: To extend our reach to the stars above!
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: James!
• Jessie: Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
• James: Surrender now or prepare to fight!
• Meowth: Meowth, that's right!

Japanese version

• Musashi: Nanda kanda to kikare tara... (If you ask us who we are...)
• Kojiro: ...Kotaete ageru ga yo no nasake! (The answer we give will be the universe’s sympathy!)
• Musashi: Sekai no hakai o fusegu tame! (To prevent the universe’s destruction!)
• Kojiro: Sekai no heiwa o mamoru tame! (To protect the universe’s peace!)
• Musashi: Ai to shinjitu no aku o tsuranuku! (To bring love and honesty’s evils to light!)
• Kojiro: Raburii chaamii na kataki yaku! (The lovely, charming villains!)
• Musashi: Musashi!
• Kojiro: Kojiro!
• Musashi: Ginga o kakeru Roketto dan no futari niwa! (The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!)
• Kojiro: Howaito hooru, shiroi ashita ga matteruze! (A white hole waiting for a bright day!)
• Nyaasu: Nya-nte na! (Something like that!)

Since the first episode the opening of the motto used rhyming "Prepare for trouble" and "Make it double" phrases. An example from Zig Zag Zangoose!, where Jessie was training her Seviper and Meowth filled in for her, is

• Meowth: Prepare for trouble, here in the wood...
• James: ... and make it double, like you know that you should!

During the Battle Frontier saga they switched to this:

English version

• Jessie: Prepare for trouble from beyond the skies!
• James: From beyond the stars, a nasty surprise!
• Jessie: An evil as old as the galaxy...
• James: ...sent here to fulfill our destiny!
• Meowth: Plus, there's me! (sometimes spoken as "Meowth, dat's me!")
• Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
• James: To extend our reach to the stars above!
• Jessie: Jessie!
• James: And James!
• Meowth: And Meowth are the names! (somtimes spoken as "Meowth's my name!")
• Jessie: Anywhere there’s peace in the universe...
• James: Team Rocket...
• Meowth: ...Will be there...
• Jessie, James, and Meowth: To make everything worse!
• Wobbuffet: Wobbuffet!
• Mime Jr: Mime Mime!

Since the first episode, they have adapted their traditional rhyming phrases "Prepare for trouble" and "Make it double" into the motto, thereby restoring the first two lines of the original motto.

Japanese version

• Musashi: Nandakanda to koe ga suru. (There is a voice saying something.)
• Kojiro: Chiheisen no kanata kara... (From beyond the horizon...)
• Musashi: Bigguban no kanata kara... (From beyond the Big Bang...)
• Kojiro: Warera wo yonderu koe ga suru! (A voice is calling us!)
• Nyaasu: Omatase nya! (Here goes!)
• Musashi: Kenage ni saita aku no hana! (Evil flowers who have courageously bloomed!)
• Kojiro: Haado de suiito na katakiyaku! (In the role of the villains who are hard and sweet!)
• Musashi: Musashi!
• Kojiro: Kojiro!
• Nyaasu: Nyaasu de nyaisu! (And Nyaasu!)
• Musashi: Roketto dan no aru tokoro- (The place where Team Rocket is-)
• Kojiro: Sekai wa- (The world-)
• Nyaasu: Uchuu wa- (The universe-)
• All: Kimi wo matteiru! (Awaits you!)
• Soonansu: Soooonansu! (Of course!)

In Sinnoh, the trio changed their motto again.

Japanese version

• Musashi: Hitainan no koerokiki (You hear voices saying this and that...)
• Kojiro: Hikari no hayase no tekita (We came along in a swift current of light...)
• Musashi: Kaze yo (The wind!)
• Kojiro: Daichi yo (The universe!)
• Nyaasu: Oozora yo (The large sky!)
• Musashi: Sekai ni todo keiyo danjerasu (Reports in this world call us dangerous...)
• Kojiro: Uchuu ni tsutai yo kuraishisu (Our legend of the universe is we're in crisis!)
• Musashi: Tenchi kaaku naka sono na yobiba (If we choose this mischief, we chose between devils and angels...)
• Kojiro: Dare mo na kuru eru miwano hibiki (Everyone will hear the echo of our warning!)
• Musashi: Musashi
• Kojiro: Kojirou
• Nyaasu: Nyaasu de nyaisu! (And Nyasssu!)
• Musashi: Jidai no shioku atashitachi (We were selected for the leading roles...)
• Kojiro: Warera no tekiru (We are the unrivaled...)
• All: Rocketto-dan!!! (Team Rocket!)
• Soonansu: Soooonansu!!! (Of course!)
• Manene: Maaaanene!!!

The English translation has yet to be seen.

Butch and Cassidy also have a motto, which is similar to that of Jessie's and James' original motto.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Special manga, the Rocket in Team Rocket is apparently their motto, which is an acronym for:

Raid On City Knock out Evil Tusks