The world has known for some time now that the Pokémon anime is moving on from Ash Ketchum after the perpetual preteen finally became the best trainer in the world. Fans of the show generally found this information bittersweet but understandable, considering there are no more mountains for Ash to climb after having achieved the goal promised by the first lyric of the anime's iconic theme song.

However, moving on from Ash apparently means moving on from Team Rocket’s iconic trio of Jessie, James and Meowth, the perpetually bumbling villains throughout the series history.

In a recent episode, the third before the end of Ash's arc, it sure looks like the trio opted to go their separate ways after one final all-out attempt to steal their raison d'etre, Ash's Pikachu. This suddenly made the imminent end of Ash Ketchum's run feel a lot more real in the eyes of many Pokémon fans.

After 25 years of annoying yet funny, wholesome, heartwarming and entertaining moments, Team Rocket’s Trio – Jessie, James and Meowth leave the Pokémon anime. These characters were some of the most charming and they for sure made the anime special. I will miss them ❤️ #Anipoke pic.twitter.com/fbjxLmMLeA

— Rafi (@ThePokeRaf) March 10, 2023

After literal decades of seeing Jesse, James and Meowth get back up after suffering various defeats, often concluding with them being launched into the stratosphere as they utter their beloved catchphrase "Team Rocket's blasting off again," fans were not prepared to see the trio simply give up.

To many, a future without Jesse and James creating comically elaborate plots to capture Pikachu seems just as emotionally devastating as Ash no longer being Pokémon's protagonist, if not more so.

There are still two more episodes in the Pokémon anime to go, so it's possible this could be a fake-out and Team Rocket may get another shot at a more satisfying ending.

Even if that's the case, the gang will ultimately have to stop trying to steal Pikachu, and their 25-year quest will be a failure. All that's left to see is if they make up before the finale.