Summary

• Team Rocket's reboot in the Black and White era marked them as more competent villains.
• The planned showdown between Team Rocket and Team Plasma was replaced by Operation Tempest, a major clash between Ash and Team Rocket.
• Fan outcry likely saved Team Rocket from being written out of the show in later series.

Aside from Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the most iconic characters from the Pokémon anime are undoubtedly Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket. While Ash's companions came and went over the years, Team Rocket remained to bother Ash regardless of what else changed. That almost wasn't the case, however, as one major story arc was originally d as the final showdown with Team Rocket.

In the Black and White era of the anime, Team Rocket received something of a reboot, changing their uniforms from the classic white to black, and becoming far more competent and villainous at the same time. While there was originally planned to be a massive Team Rocket versus Team Plasma showdown in this series, that storyline never ended up happening due to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, as the story featured some heavy devastation that was felt to be inappropriate in the wake of a real life disaster.

Team Rocket had their big showdown instead changed, as part of something referred to in-universe as "Operation Tempest."

Team Rocket's Greatest Challenge Was Almost Their Last

Team Rocket's Evil Scheme Put Ash Up Against the Entire Organization

Operation Tempest is explained in late episodes of Black and White as a plan for Giovanni to make use of the Mythical Pokémon, Meloetta, who had the capacity to unleash powerful Pokémon known as the Forces of Nature: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. By manipulating Meloetta, who had been traveling with Ash and his friends, Giovanni could control these powerful Pokémon to do his bidding, making him into an immense threat, not only to the Unova region, but potentially to the entire world. Jessie, James, and Meowth were key parts of his plan, who had been observing Ash and Meloetta for some time.

This story arc, which begins with "Meloetta and the Undersea Temple," was originally d in Japan as a climactic confrontation between Ash and Team Rocket that had been years in the making. Indeed, the story arc feels like a final battle, as it contains the first (and only) time that Ash and Giovanni meet face to face, and the threat posed by the Legendary Pokémon under Giovanni's control was very real. The idea seems to have been to test the waters about writing out the Team Rocket trio, who would thus never have been a part of Pokémon XY, Sun & Moon, or Journeys.

However, there was a massive negative response online to the idea of getting rid of these classic characters who'd been there since the second episode, as Team Rocket has always been oddly popular with the older fanbase of the Pokémon anime. Looking at the stories that come after this confrontation, there's the "Episode N" story arc, which focuses on Team Plasma but not Team Rocket, and then the Decolores Islands "filler," where Team Rocket appear sporadically in their typical formulaic roles. Reviewing it all now, it does seem like the content written after Operation Tempest was designed without Jessie and James in mind, with their appearances in Decolores hurriedly rushed in to prove they weren't going anywhere.

This fan outcry may well have saved Team Rocket from being written out of the show with the start of Pokémon XY. It's especially hard to imagine what Pokémon with Ash, but without Team Rocket, would be like, given how integral the Team Rocket trio have been to the series. Whether one likes Team Rocket or not, it's hard to deny the important role they played in the Pokémon anime, even after this point.