A Twitter post has once again thrown a brick through the window of my adolescent remembrances. Despite watching likely hundreds of episodes of the Pokémon animated series as a wee lad, I never once noticed the show’s most obvious visual gag.
Recurring villains Team Rocket, chaotically bisexual duo Jessie and James, along with the independent and talkative Pokémon Meowth, would repeat a mantra in every episode.
Prepare for trouble!
And make it double!
To protect the world from devastation!
To unite all peoples within our nation!
To denounce the evils of truth and love!
To extend our reach to the stars above!
Jessie!
James!
Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
Surrender now, or prepare to fight!
Once recited, Team Rocket would always strike a pose accented by a booming sound effect and a colourful backdrop. But what I did not realise, despite seeing it hundreds of times, was that Jessie and James’ pose almost always formed the shape of a capital letter ‘R’ with their bodies.
OBSERVE:
i love how they form an R everytime they pose pic.twitter.com/BRtLmurSo4
— Out of Context Pokemon (@OoCPokemon) October 2, 2022
… HOW DID I MISS THAT?
Clearly, young David was not paying that much attention. While Team Rocket didn’t hit that ‘R’ pose every single time, a quick glance through a number of Pokémon back episodes reveals a LOT of sneaky, hidden R-posing. I think this makes them honourary Jojo fans tbh.
Thank you to Twitter user Out of Context Pokémon for bringing this to my attention.
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