Jessie Has Always Been Pokemon's Most Important Character

thegamer.com:

Jessie and James are the lifeblood of the Pokemon anime. Ash's various companions have come and gone, but Team Rocket has remained resolute. Pikachu makes for a good mascot, and Ash is an effective everyman, but the essence of drama is conflict, and Team Rocket provides that brilliantly. When our own Eric Switzer watched every Pokemon movie in an attempt to review each one weekly, he discovered that movies where Team Rocket impacts the plot were invariably better than movies where they just showed up, or were hardly present at all.

Since Team Rocket are a trio (the infectiously charismatic Meowth joining Jessie and James), it might be strange that I'm highlighting Jessie alone. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, we at TheGamer have singled out both James and Meowth previously for their greatness, and it simply will not stand that Jessie is yet to get the treatment. But also, Jessie is the de facto leader of the trio, it is she who comes up with the schemes, she who drives them forward, and she whose lenience gives James and Meowth the opportunity to lean away from the villainous nature of the organisation whose uniform they wear.

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Jessie is Team Rocket. She might not run the whole organisation at the level Giovanni does, and indeed in terms of their overall global domination ambitions, she seems quite incompetent. She is constantly wasting her time trying to steal what amounts to an above average but largely unremarkable Pikachu. These creatures are not rare, and Pikachu isn't even shiny - although Pika's shiny is so garbage one could hardly tell.

The reason the trio remain in pursuit of Pikachu is because of Jessie's determination, but this is