Jessie's Seviper
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Jessie's Seviper (Japanese: ムサシのハブネーク Musashi's Habunake) was the first Pokémon caught by Jessie of Team Rocket during her travels through Hoenn, and her fifth overall.
History
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
Hoenn
Jessie caught Seviper in A Tail with a Twist after initially being impressed with its sneaky and aggressive demeanor. It had defeated Ash's Treecko earlier in the episode, which is why Jessie wanted it so much. Although Seviper was intelligent, and outsmarted Team Rocket's multiple attempts to ensure its capture, Jessie caught Seviper after it had bitten off a chunk of her hair, mangling poor Seviper with her "Fury Swipes" and "Mega Kick". Later in the episode, Seviper had a rematch with Treecko, which it lost due to Treecko's new spinning maneuvers.
Seviper is Jessie's primary battling Pokémon, often seen battling alongside James's Cacnea in Hoenn and later James's Carnivine in Sinnoh. While shown to be fairly powerful before being caught by Jessie, after it fell into her command, it suffered the inevitable fate that all Team Rocket Pokémon face- defeat by Ash and/or another protagonist.
Seviper has also entered a few Contests. In Mademoiselle Jessica's Contest debut, in All Things Bright and Beautifly!, Seviper was Jessie's chosen Pokémon to enter the Contest, but miserably failed to pass the Appeal Round, as Jessie didn't prepare herself for the Contest, and ordered Seviper to use attacks that Seviper can't learn, such as Blaze Kick. She is then seen apologizing to it, meaning she does care about Seviper.
In The Spheal of Approval, Seviper and Cacnea fought against Tabitha's Mightyena. Jessie commanded Seviper to use Poison Tail while James had Cacnea use Pin Missile, but Mightyena proved too powerful for the two and sent them flying back.
In ZigZag Zangoose!, Seviper was sent out in an attempt to capture Pikachu. However, Seviper noticed Nicholai's Zangoose and the two of them started to fight, ignoring everyone else around them. They both fall into a river and Seviper knocks Zangoose unconscious with its Poison Tail. Just as Seviper is about to finish Zangoose off, Ash sends out Corphish. Corphish uses Bubble Beam to attack Seviper, allowing Zangoose to escape. Team Rocket later uses a machine to amplify Seviper's voice to draw Zangoose to them. Seviper and Zangoose continue their fight while everyone else fights over Pikachu. Zangoose ends up beating Seviper this time and Team Rocket is sent blasting off. Throughout this episode, both James and Meowth were shown to be quite scared of Seviper. For example, James called Seviper a "legless loser" but after a threatening look from Seviper, James quickly retracted his statement and began to apologise. Meanwhile, Jessie was supportive of Seviper's feud with Zangoose and stayed to encourage her Pokémon in its battle while James and Meowth attempted to escape with Pikachu.
In The Bicker the Better, Seviper was used in a Double Battle along with Cacnea against Oscar and Andi and their Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Seviper ends up using Wrap on Cacnea, which causes Jessie and James to argue, allowing Oscar and Andi to take the win with dual Hyper Beam attacks, sending Team Rocket flying. Team Rocket later encounters Ash and May and agree to do a tag battle with them, with Ash using Corphish and May using Skitty. Cacnea and Corphish end up working well together and begin to get an advantage over Seviper and Skitty. Jessie soon sends out Dustox to help win and the battle quickly grows out of control when attacks start to fly undirected. Meowth then takes the opportunity to try to capture Pikachu and has Seviper and Cacnea use Haze and Sandstorm. Fortunately, Pikachu is rescued and Team Rocket is sent blasting off.
Kanto Battle Frontier
In Queen of the Serpentine!, Seviper was used to battle against Lucy and her Seviper. Barbara points out that Jessie's Seviper is weaker than Lucy's, which infuriates Jessie and Seviper. Both Seviper collide with their Poison Tails and, true to Barbara's word, Lucy's Seviper's Poison Tail is more powerful and sends Jessie's Seviper flying. Lucy's Seviper finished it off with a Flamethrower, blasting Team Rocket off.
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
In Settling a Not-So-Old Score!, Jessilina used Seviper in the Performance Stage of the Floaroma Contest. Not much of the appeal was seen, because while Seviper was performing it, Dawn was thinking about her Pachirisu's appeal, focusing the attention on her, not on Jessie. However, Kenny stated that Seviper was quite good. The appeal ends with Jessie ordering Seviper to perform Wrap and Bite on Jessie herself, and thus, amazing the crowd.
In the episode A Stand-Up Sit-Down!, Jessilina decided to face Dawn to practice for the Hearthome Contest. However, it was Zoey who accepted the challenge. Jessie used the combination of Seviper and Dustox and her idea was to make Dustox use Poison Sting and then to make Seviper use Poison Tail on Dustox's Poison Sting, making it spin and adding extra-power to it. Brock even said that that was a smart combination. However, that didn't work as Zoey's Glameow countered with Iron Tail, making the combination go to the other side. Zoey's Shellos then used Mud Bomb, breaking the combination of Poison Sting and Poison Tail. Seviper and Dustox were then both easily defeated by Zoey's Glameow.
In Dawn's Early Night!, Seviper was used along with Dustox in the Battle Stage of the Hearthome City Pokémon Contest. They were briefly seen battling against Nando's Kricketune and Roselia in the semifinals. The battle ended after Roselia and Kricketune used Petal Dance and X-Scissor, respectively, to deplete their points.
In Tears For Fears!, while enjoying lunch, Seviper sensed three Zangoose heading its way. They began fighting furiously and Seviper, despite trying its best, found itself outnumbered and outmatched. Jessie attempted to return Seviper to its Poké Ball to keep it safe, but it refused to give up and continued to come back out until the Zangoose sent Team Rocket blasting off. Later, when attempting to capture the twerps Pokémon, Seviper popped out of its ball again to battle the Zangoose. This led to Team Rocket hiding in one of their capture containers while the Zangoose pushed it closer and closer to the edge of a cliff. Ash's Chimchar stepped in to save them, and after the Zangoose were defeated, Team Rocket was sent blasting off once again.
In Sleight of Sand!, Seviper battled Cassidy's Granbull. In the midst of the battle, it was taken out by Dawn's Piplup and a wild Hippopotas.
In Steeling Peace of Mind!, Seviper was sent out alongside Team Rocket and Barry's Pokémon to confront Team Galactic, only for it to get hit by Golbat's Air Cutter.
In Old Rivals, New Tricks!, Seviper was Jessilina's choice for the second round of the Sandalstraw Contest. It battled a Gastrodon in the first match and managed to win by using its Wrap attack, reaching the semifinals. There, it went up against Dawn's Ambipom. Despite putting up a good fight, it was eventually defeated, resulting in Jessilina's elimination from the event.
In Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!, Jessie used Seviper in the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest, which was held under the Double Performance rule. For the Performance Stage, Jessie had placed Seviper's Poké Ball inside Carnivine's mouth. During their performance, Jessie played an Arbok-shaped flute, a cue for Seviper to pop out of its Poké Ball and join Carnivine on stage. After that, the two Pokémon were able to impress the panel of judges with their synchronized moves, securing Jessie a place in the Battle Stage.
In Playing the Performance Encore, Seviper battled alongside Yanmega against Ursula's Plusle and Minun in the Battle Stage of the Daybreak Contest. Seviper and Yanmega were able to combine their attacks well, creating a Haze-Sonic Boom and Poison-Silver Wind. However, Plusle and Minun managed to defeat them using their Spark and Helping Hand attacks, knocking Jessie out of the competition.
In Teaching the Student Teacher!, Jessie used it for the Neighborly Town Pokémon Contest, where it was used for the Performance Stage, aiding her to win her fourth Ribbon. In Dawn of a Royal Day!, Jessie used Seviper during the Battle Stage of the Arrowroot Town Contest, where it battled Salvia's Togekiss. After a fierce battle it lost, but Salvia gave Jessie the Arrowroot Ribbon for the performance she gave during their battle, allowing her to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
Jessie used Seviper multiple times during her campaign to become a Top Coordinator at the Sinnoh Grand Festival, including the Performance Stage, in which Seviper performed alongside Yanmega and impressed special guest judge Fantina. Seviper was also used in the Battle Stage, battling alongside Yanmega once and facing off against Dawn's Buneary and Cyndaquil along with Carnivine in the semifinals. However, Jessie lost her semifinal battle to Dawn.
In Memories are Made of Bliss!, Seviper battled Ash and his friends for the final time in Sinnoh. It got knocked back by Torterra's Energy Ball before getting blasted off with the rest of the team.
Following the Team Rocket trio's journey in Sinnoh, Jessie was forced to leave Seviper at Team Rocket's headquarters as it is not a Pokémon native in the Unova region and thus would attract unwanted attention to the trio.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
In Rocket Revengers!, Seviper, alongside the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon at Team Rocket HQ, were sent to Jessie and James so they could be added back to their team. Realizing the potential of such a large group, the team hatched a scheme to isolate Ash's Pikachu and capture him. Seviper was one of the many Pokémon that waited at the end of the trap, where it ambushed an isolated Pikachu. When the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon returned, Seviper joined them to launch a combined attack at the Mouse Pokémon. However, it was dodged, and Wobbuffet ended up sending it back with Mirror Coat. A wild Latias that had been following Ash then intervened and sent the evil group blasting off.
Personality and characteristics
From its debut Jessie's Seviper was shown to have a passion for battling. It quickly became Jessie's main battling Pokémon. It was also proven to be intelligent, outsmarting Team Rocket and not falling for their traps. It was also shown to be a mean and nasty Pokémon, bullying May's Torchic and stealing its food. This, along with its ability to defeat Ash's Treecko, was why Jessie desired to catch it.
Even though Seviper has been shown to care for Jessie, it did not hesitate to ignore her orders upon encountering wild Zangoose, a trait of most Seviper. Seviper's hatred of them was so strong it has forced itself out of its Poké Ball to continue fighting even while at a disadvantage. It was also capable of sensing Zangoose from a distance. Jessie's reactions to this have varied from encouraging to annoyed, depending on the situation.
Ever since Jessie caught Yanmega, Seviper wasn't seen in as many battles as before. However, it was also used as Team Rocket's escapist rogue to blanket the area in Haze, replacing James's Weezing's duty to steal innocent Pokémon or other things under the shrouded premises.
Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Moves improvised
| Picture | First Used In | Moves Involved | Partnered With |
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A Stand-Up Sit-Down! | Poison Sting and Poison Tail | Jessie's Dustox |
| Description: Dustox uses Poison Sting towards the sky. When the purple darts start falling down, Seviper hits them with Poison Tail, making them spin very fast. The spinning darts head towards the opposing Pokémon at great speed with the extra power that the Poison Tail added. The combination was used during a Double Battle against Zoey's Glameow and Shellos. | |||
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Playing the Performance Encore! | Haze and Sonic Boom | Jessie's Yanmega |
| Description: Seviper uses Haze and Yanmega follows up with Sonic Boom. The two moves fuse into a swirling white wave with streaks of thick black smoke. The combination was used during a two-on-two Contest Battle against Ursula's Plusle and Minun in the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest. | |||
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Playing the Performance Encore! | Poison Tail and Silver Wind | Jessie's Yanmega |
| Description: Yanmega lifts Seviper into the air. Then Seviper uses Poison Tail and Yanmega hits Seviper's tail with Silver Wind, creating multiple arrow-shaped purple beams. The combination was used during a two-on-two Contest Battle against Ursula's Plusle and Minun in the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest. | |||
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Rocket Revengers! | Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Psybeam, and Silver Wind | Woobat, Yanmega, Frillish, Gourgeist, Carnivine, Yamask, Amoonguss, and Inkay |
| Description: A combination move used by Jessie and James's Pokémon. Woobat launches Air Slash, Frillish, Gourgeist and Yamask launch Shadow Ball, Amoonguss and Carnivine launch Energy Ball, Yanmega launches Silver Wind, Inkay launches Psybeam, and Seviper launches Sludge Bomb. The attacks fuse together to create a single massive beam of energy. This was used against Ash, Pikachu, Infernape, and Hawlucha in Team Rocket's attempt to steal Pikachu, but once they dodged, the attack headed towards Team Rocket. | |||
Artwork
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| Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire |
Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl |
Trivia
- In DP023, Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia is about Jessie's Seviper. He writes this Pokémon senryū about it: あかいキバ わわるとアブネー ハブネーク The red fangs, it's dangerous to touch them; Habunake.
- Aside from Wobbuffet, Seviper:
- Spent the most amount of time in Jessie's party, at 378 episodes.
- Is the oldest Pokémon that Team Rocket obtained to still be in their possession.
- Seviper is the only Pokémon Jessie currently owns that:
- Doesn't have a confirmed gender.
- Doesn't have an evolutionary line.
- Seviper is the only Pokémon Team Rocket obtained in Hoenn to still be in their possession.
- In Jessie's first encounter with Seviper, she was taller than Seviper. However, in more recent episodes, Seviper is much taller than her. This could be an error on the animator's part, or could just simply mean it has grown during its time under Jessie's ownership.
- In the 4Kids English dub, rather uniquely, some of the noises made by Satō are retained along with Sinterniklaas's voice. When TPCi took over the dub, they stopped retaining Satō's voice.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Seviper.
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| For a list of other Pokémon Team Rocket has commanded, see here and here | |||||||
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
