Team Rocket Grunt (Trainer class)

Team Rocket Grunts (Japanese: ロケットだんいん Team Rocket Member in Generation I, ロケットだんいんのしたっぱ Team Rocket Underling Member in Generation II, ロケットだんのしたっぱ Team Rocket Underling in Generations III, IV, and VII) are members of Team Rocket. They act as fodder, enforcers, soldiers, workmen, crooks, and backup for various leaders in the criminal organization.

In the games
Being the underlings of Team Rocket, the grunts have appeared in all of the games this villainous team has appeared in; namely, in Generation I and Generation II, as well as their remakes, and, respectively.

How grunts are referred to has varied slightly throughout the generations. A grunt is called Rocket (Japanese: ロケットだんいん Team Rocket Member) in Generation I, Rocket Grunt (Japanese: ロケットだんいんのしたっぱ Team Rocket Underling Member) in Generation II, and finally Team Rocket Grunt (Japanese: ロケットだんのしたっぱ Team Rocket Underling) in Generations, , and. Additionally, unlike other Trainer classes, Team Rocket Grunts are never given individual names, a tradition continued with the other villainous teams, whose members are also referred to as simply grunts. Due to the nature of how NPC Trainers are named, however, the Trainer class was technically Rocket in Generations I and II, and Team Rocket in Generations III, IV, and VII, with the name from Generation II onwards being Grunt. Despite them all having the same in-game name, there are four grunts that appear to be related to each other, the Rocket Brothers, in Silph Co.

Appearance
Male Team Rocket Grunts are depicted as men wearing black uniforms with a big red R on them, as well as gray gloves and boots (white in Generations I and II). They also wear a black cap, which in the first three Generations completely hides their short hair, though it is shown as pink in Generation IV. In Generation I, they each hold a whip, though, in a similar change to the, it is omitted in all further depictions. They also seem to be adults in Generation I, though they seem a bit younger, perhaps even teens, in further games.

In Generation II, female Team Rocket Grunts debuted. In their introductory games, these female grunts are depicted as red haired women in white Team Rocket uniforms without caps, with their design being very similar to Cassidy and their outfit similar to Jessie's. However, their overworld sprites had caps and black uniforms like the males. In Generations III and IV, their design is drastically changed, and they are shown more similar to their male counterparts, wearing a black uniform with a red R, a black cap, and gray gloves and boots, though they wear black shorts or a skirt instead of pants. They are shown to have short, pink hair in the games, though their artwork from shows their hair as green.

History
In and, the grunts are found throughout Kanto creating general disruption. They first appear in Mt. Moon, going after Fossils. One grunt is found at the end of the Nugget Bridge recruiting for Team Rocket, and another had stolen a TM from an elderly couple in Cerulean City. In Celadon City, the grunts operate a base under the Game Corner trafficking all over the world, and they are also responsible for the murder of the mother  in Pokémon Tower as part of a plan to steal  and sell their skulls. They also appear when they take over the Silph Co. headquarters. After the player defeats them there, Giovanni disappears, later reappearing at his own Gym, and the grunts are not seen after this in the original games. However, in, two grunts remain in an old man's house next to the restaurant in Celadon City; they will never leave, nor will they the player. Additionally, in, both Jessie and James are from the Rocket Trainer class, and appear next to the regular grunts in Mt. Moon, the Game Corner and Silph Co.

In, grunts are also found on several of the Sevii Islands, even after Giovanni's defeat. On One Island, the player faces two in front of a cave which leads to the Ruby for the Pokémon Network Center. On Four Island, the player helps Lorelei, who nearly defeated a grunt with her 's while interrogating Team Rocket at Icefall Cave. On Six Island, there is a grunt in front of Altering Cave. On Five Island, the player finds a group of male and female grunts operating from a warehouse obtaining a large number of Pokémon, most of them rare, and trying to make a working prototype of the high-frequency sound wave machine which would influence evolution. After the player defeats the grunts and the two, they will pull out, but not before telling the player that they will find Giovanni and restore Team Rocket. They have not been seen in the Sevii Islands since.

In the Generation II games and their remakes, three years after the events of the original games, Team Rocket, under the administration of the Executives, create havoc throughout Johto gaining profit and trying to communicate with their old leader, Giovanni. The grunts are first seen operating in the Slowpoke Well, led by Proton, cutting off 's tails to sell. In, a Grunt is seen bothering a Kimono Girl at the Ecruteak City Dance Theater. In Mahogany Town, the player finds Team Rocket HQ underneath a souvenir shop, in which Team Rocket have been using a fully-working high-frequency sound wave machine that influences Pokémon evolution, transmitting it from an antenna in a tree. They also help their Executives take over the Goldenrod Radio Tower, as well as guard the Radio Director, who is hidden in the Goldenrod Tunnel. After defeating Archer, most grunts are gone for good. However, a lone grunt appears in Cerulean City later on, unaware of the disbanding of Team Rocket, who has stolen the Machine Part from the Kanto Power Plant. After he is defeated, he states that he will return to his home country and revive Team Rocket there. It is later revealed that when he returned home to Icirrus City, he fell in love and started a family, effectively abandoning the idea for a quiet and peaceful life with his wife and child. Team Rocket has not been seen since.

Pokémon
Team Rocket Grunts use Pokémon from a variety of types, but often employ Pokémon more than others. The majority of their Pokémon are from evolutionary families introduced in Generation I.

Original series
The Grunts first appeared in Battle Aboard the St. Anne, under the command of Jessie, James, and. Together, they trapped numerous Trainers aboard the St. Anne and attempted to steal all of their Pokémon. However, before Team Rocket could succeed in their plan, they were stopped by and.

Multiple Team Rocket Grunts briefly appeared in Mewtwo Strikes Back. They used 's Psychic abilities to capture a large herd of.

In Johto, operating from an undersea base, Grunts under the command of Dr. Namba, Butch, and Cassidy attempted to harness a and its child, but Ash, his friends, and Ritchie stopped them.

Later, they operated around the Lake of Rage under the command of Professor Sebastian and to assist with Project R; the project's goal was to force Pokémon to evolve artificially, thus giving the group powerful Pokémon to use. However, they were stopped yet again by Ash and his friends, with the help of Lance of the Pokémon G-Men.

They also appeared in copious amounts during Mewtwo Returns, led by and Domino, to recapture Mewtwo and build a new base for Team Rocket on Mount Quena. However, they were all mind-wiped and transported away from the mountain at the end of the movie.

Several Grunts were briefly seen helping Butch and Cassidy with their stadium scam in The Ole' Berate and Switch. There, they were disguised as several tournament officials.

One Grunt appeared in A Venipede Stampede!, where he informed Giovanni that they would arrive shortly in Unova. They were also to appear in two unaired episodes to do battle with Team Plasma, which would have been the first time Team Rocket as a whole (not counting Jessie, James, and Meowth) was seen battling against another villainous team.

More Grunts appeared in Meloetta and the Undersea Temple!, greeting Giovanni as he arrived to Unova to supervise Team Rocket's Operation Tempest. Two Grunts later appeared at Cynthia's villa, attempting to steal from Ash and his friends. The latter got assistance from Ridley, who used his to battle the Grunts'  and  while Ash and others ran away with Meloetta.

Multiple Grunts appeared in Filling the Light with Darkness!, forming part of a special unit under the command of Matori and Gozu. They were onboard a helicopter as it approached Alola and activated their helicopter's cloaking device.

The Grunts reappeared in Full Moon and Many Arms!, where they were afflicted with the same effect that all of the adults in Alola were suffering from. Despite this, they managed to catch, only for it to break free. After this, the helicopter activated its cloaking device.

They appeared again in The Prism Between Light and Darkness!, where their aircraft came under attack from and Faba as they were about to follow the Ultra Guardians through an Ultra Wormhole. Several of them, led by Gozu, left the helicopter and touched down on Ten Carat Hill. They got ready to battle, only for Gozu to stop them, having decided to handle Kukui and Faba himself with his.

The Grunts reappeared in Securing the Future!, where Kukui sent out his and defeated Aggron. Gozu's team subsequently returned to the recently repaired helicopter and prepared to head through the Ultra Wormhole. However, attacked the helicopter, forcing the unit to retreat.

Pokémon
Team Rocket Grunts have been known to use the following Pokémon:

In Pokémon Origins
In Pokémon Origins, several Team Rocket Grunts were seen. first encountered a Rocket Grunt in File 2: Cubone in Cerulean City, retrieving the stolen from him. A group of Grunts were later seen taking over the Pokémon Tower and making its top floor their base. When Red and later infiltrated the Tower, their path was blocked by the. While Red tried to battle the, Blue sneaked by it and made it to the upper floors, swiping the Silph Scope from one of the Grunts, which he then gave to Red, allowing him to identify the ghost. After 's spirit had been calmed, Red battled against one of the Team Rocket Grunts, and, thanks to the help of, was able to defeat the Grunt's with his , forcing the Grunts to retreat.

In File 3: Giovanni, a pair of Team Rocket Grunts were seen when Red raided the Rocket Hideout. Several more Grunts were seen patrolling around Saffron City after the organization had taken over the Silph Co. office building. Once Red has cleared through the building, he entered Silph Co.'s president's office, where he found Giovanni and a Grunt watching over the president. The Grunt was also seen being responsible of carrying around a suitcase containing Giovanni's Poké Balls. Several disguised Team Rocket Grunts were later seen serving Giovanni at the Viridian Gym.

In Pokémon Generations
Team Rocket Grunts first appeared in The Chase. A male Grunt was seen being arrested in Celadon Game Corner during a raid and a female Grunt was seen being interrogated by the International Police for information about Giovanni.

Four Team Rocket Grunts appeared in The Lake of Rage at the Team Rocket HQ. One male Grunt was shown alerting the others to the presence of Lance and, before they worked to stop Lance. However, all of them were easily overpowered by Lance's Dragonite.

Team Rocket Grunts also appeared in The Legacy, infiltrating the Goldenrod Radio Tower and sending out a broadcast announcing their comeback, hoping that Giovanni would hear them and return to lead them. This didn't happen, however, and the takeover ended in a failure.

In the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga
The Grunts have made recurring appearances in How I Became a Pokémon Card.


 * The debut of Team Rocket Grunts was in the first round of this chapter, Glimpse of the Glow, where they try to find in Pallet Town forest to finish 's development.
 * In Raging Rhydon they search for a Moon Stone in Mt. Moon. However, this mission also fails.
 * In Tauros the Tyrant, the grunts go after, hoping they can get back a disc containing information on Mew.
 * In The Jynx Jinx, the grunts try to capture Mew, but and  interfere.
 * In You Know... Articuno!, the grunts are sent to catch.
 * In Holy Moltres, an army of grunts is sent to take out Blaine, who left Team Rocket due to the creation of Mewtwo. After Red helps Blaine escape, the grunts use, that they captured on Indigo Plateau; Red defeats it with Aero, an that he brought back to life.
 * In Peace of Mime, Saffron City is taken over by the grunts.
 * In The Winged Legends, the grunts try to get out of Saffron City because of the fight between Red, Green and Koga. The Gym Leaders not aligned with Team Rocket block all the exits, keeping the grunts in.
 * In And Mewtwo Too!?, the Cinnabar Island base is destroyed by Mewtwo, killing the grunts and s inside.

The grunts as well as the Team Rocket Elite Trio were reorganized under Masked Man.


 * In Ursaring Major, the grunts are sent to cut the tails of Slowpoke living in the Slowpoke Well, but stops them.
 * In Ampharos Amore, the grunts and the two sub-leaders, Sham and Carl, are sent to destroy the Tin Tower, and are successful. However, they then lose a battle with and.
 * In Oh, It's Ho-Oh!, Carl gives a speech telling the grunts that it is time for the public to officially learn about the return of Team Rocket.
 * In Slick Slowking, the Elite Trio and the grunts ride a train to the Indigo Plateau.
 * In Lugia and Ho-Oh on the Loose (Part 1), grunts intrude upon the Gym Leaders' exhibition match.
 * In The Last Battle II, grunts are put under mind control by Masked Man. Although the Elite Trio were saved from the mind control by Lt. Surge, they are told by him to help free the other grunts from the Masked Man's mind control.
 * In The Last Battle VII, grunts are sent to retrieve the Silver and Rainbow Wings.
 * In The Last Battle IX, the grunts on the train to the Indigo Plateau are knocked out as Red and Green travel to fight Masked Man. Chuck tells the pair that the grunts will be taken care of.


 * In One Tough Togepi, a picture of two grunts was shown to by, alerting to their upcoming return.
 * In Dealing With A Koffing Fit, arrives at Lance's hideout and finds pictures of Team Rocket's recent activities, all of them matching their past deeds, indicating their return. Later in the same chapter, many grunts appear at Cliff Cave, watching Carr be deposed from his position of Boss by the.
 * In Weavile Wobbles But It Won't Fall Down and Pleased as Punch With Parasect, some grunts appear again in Silver's and 's imagination, respectively.
 * In All About Arceus IX, some grunts appear at Ilex Forest, attacking the Team Rocket Elite Trio under the Four Generals' orders. They are stopped by Gold's Pibu and Spiky-eared Pichu and end up following during his departure.

In the Pokémon Gold and Silver: The Golden Boys manga
The Team Rocket Grunts in this manga serve 🇬🇼 instead of Giovanni since it is based on the events of.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga
The Team Rocket Grunts appear in this manga where they have served.

In the Pokémon Zensho manga
Team Rocket first appear in Cerulean City where they invade Miracle Cycle. Later, they show up in the Cerulean Gym. In both of 's encounters, he easily defeats them.

In the Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure manga
The Team Rocket grunts first appear in a cameo in Aim to be the Strongest! The Hot-Blooded Brotherly Combination!! where they are seen arguing with Kurt about their treatment of the. In the next chapter, Jō comes to Kurt's rescue and the grunts battle Jō. They return in Jō VS Team Rocket where they battle with Jō once more, but this time with. Jō's Totodile and Tsubaki's Meganium manages to take out all of their Pokémon. They have not been seen since.

Artwork
Artwork from the cards:

Cards
This is a listing of cards mentioning or featuring Team Rocket Grunts or their Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.