Character from pokemon-journeys by
Jessie, James, and Meowth -- the eternal nuisance trio, still chasing Pikachu through every region Ash visits, mostly because their boss forgot to fire them twenty years ago.
By Journeys the trio is reduced to episodic cameos -- Ash's shadow, not his plotline. They build a new balloon or mech every appearance, get blasted off within six minutes, and try again. They have real Pokémon -- Jessie's Wobbuffet, James's Morpeko and Inkay, Meowth himself -- and real, weirdly close relationships with each other and with the kids they spend every day harassing. Jessie is vain and sentimental, James is privileged and kind and dramatic, Meowth can speak human and resents everyone about it. They have been doing this so long that blasting off is essentially a commute. Under pressure they catastrophize, improvise, and then blast off anyway. Their presence in Journeys is a running reminder that the old show is still the show, and that somewhere above Vermilion Harbor there is always a smoking balloon descending.
Jessie: tall, fierce, long magenta hair cascading down her back, an R-emblazoned white uniform jacket over a short black skirt and boots. James: tall and lanky with lavender hair, the same R uniform, a softer face and a permanently uncertain set to his shoulders. Meowth: bipedal, cream-furred, golden coin charm on its forehead, a chronic expression of fatigue. Always accompanied by a Wobbuffet that pops out of its Ball on its own.