I just suffered one of those weird moments when something you’ve known for a long time suddenly appears in a different light.
I’ve been quite familiar with Pokemon for at least 8 or 10 years now, and I’ve read the Pokemon Hall of Fame to the kids numerous times…but only this time, as we reviewed Team Rocket teams ‘Annie and Oakley’ and ‘Butch and Cassidy’ did I stop to wonder why our regular team of Team Rocket Villains did not have some similar witty name…
And then I saw it…Jesse James.
Jesse and James from Team Rocket are named after the bandit Jesse James.
Blew my mind.
OK, I have to do it!!:D
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!
OK, I have to do it!!:D
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!
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
And then it hit me!
My kids actually figured this out long before I did!
A lot of the Pokemon also have clever names based on their ‘species’ or whatever they call ’em but sometimes the clever name is only clever in Japanese. I never understood the reason that Magicarp turns into Garidos – until we read that in Dragon lore, a carp can jump over a magic gate and transform into a dragon. And Articuno, Zapdos & Moltres are “Uno” “Dos” & “Tres”. Jigglypuff is named Pulin in Japan which means “Pudding” in Japanese.
The things one learns from one’s children! (Now, tell me why they can remember a thousand detailed facts about 400andsome pretend cartoon animals and can’t seem to recall the multiplication tables-?) –Ave
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Oh, that’s pretty neat!
I know Jesse and James are not called that in Japan. I wonder if their names mean something there.
My favorite is Pikachu, whose name in English would be, roughly, Zap-Squeak — the sound lightning makes followed by the noise a mouse makes.
My sister-in-law also thought Meowth was very funny. Apparently, in Japanese, all his word endings have a cat meowing sound to them, something they did not reproduce in English.
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Pikachu and Jigglypuff are my 2 fave Pokemon!!^_^ And, Sean’s fave is Squirtle.:D
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
My daughter has pointed me to this site: http://www.trsrockin.com/japan.html
and we found that James is “Kojiro” and Jesse is “Musashi”.
Both are named after important Samurai; Musashi defeated Kojiro in a very important battle (and this is probably why Jesse always beats up on James all the time)
Kojiro means ‘second son’ and we haven’t found the meaning of Musashi, except to mean ‘warrior’
Meowth is “Nyarth” which is the sound cats make in Japan.
The site posted above has more stuff in it than I ever wanted to know…but undoubtedly will be expected to learn. – Ave
PS
My favorite Pokemon is Psyduck. Its the perfect Pokemon for a mother of a large family. In fact, I have been informed on more than one occasion that I resemble said creature. I love my children, realIy I do!! :) – Ave
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Arhyalon, I remember awhile back you told me you also liked Charmander. Do you still like him as well?^_^
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Oh yes, Charmander is one of my favorites. I also like Ponyta, Rapidash, and Nine-tails. (Still smarting over the pokemen picked as ‘most beautiful’ in the Scolasatic Hall of Fame book.)
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
And then it hit me!
My kids actually figured this out long before I did!
A lot of the Pokemon also have clever names based on their ‘species’ or whatever they call ’em but sometimes the clever name is only clever in Japanese. I never understood the reason that Magicarp turns into Garidos – until we read that in Dragon lore, a carp can jump over a magic gate and transform into a dragon. And Articuno, Zapdos & Moltres are “Uno” “Dos” & “Tres”. Jigglypuff is named Pulin in Japan which means “Pudding” in Japanese.
The things one learns from one’s children! (Now, tell me why they can remember a thousand detailed facts about 400andsome pretend cartoon animals and can’t seem to recall the multiplication tables-?) –Ave
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Oh, that’s pretty neat!
I know Jesse and James are not called that in Japan. I wonder if their names mean something there.
My favorite is Pikachu, whose name in English would be, roughly, Zap-Squeak — the sound lightning makes followed by the noise a mouse makes.
My sister-in-law also thought Meowth was very funny. Apparently, in Japanese, all his word endings have a cat meowing sound to them, something they did not reproduce in English.
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Pikachu and Jigglypuff are my 2 fave Pokemon!!^_^ And, Sean’s fave is Squirtle.:D
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
My daughter has pointed me to this site: http://www.trsrockin.com/japan.html
and we found that James is “Kojiro” and Jesse is “Musashi”.
Both are named after important Samurai; Musashi defeated Kojiro in a very important battle (and this is probably why Jesse always beats up on James all the time)
Kojiro means ‘second son’ and we haven’t found the meaning of Musashi, except to mean ‘warrior’
Meowth is “Nyarth” which is the sound cats make in Japan.
The site posted above has more stuff in it than I ever wanted to know…but undoubtedly will be expected to learn. – Ave
PS
My favorite Pokemon is Psyduck. Its the perfect Pokemon for a mother of a large family. In fact, I have been informed on more than one occasion that I resemble said creature. I love my children, realIy I do!! :) – Ave
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Arhyalon, I remember awhile back you told me you also liked Charmander. Do you still like him as well?^_^
Re: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger
Oh yes, Charmander is one of my favorites. I also like Ponyta, Rapidash, and Nine-tails. (Still smarting over the pokemen picked as ‘most beautiful’ in the Scolasatic Hall of Fame book.)