Executive (Trainer class)
| Executive ロケットだんかんぶ Team Rocket Executive | |
 Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver | |
| Other names | Rocket Executive (ロケットだんいん のかんぶ Team Rocket Executive) (Generation II) Team Rocket Admin (ロケットだんいんのかんぶ Team Rocket executive member) (Generations III and VII) |
|---|---|
| Introduced in | Generation II |
| Appears in | Gold, Silver, and Crystal FireRed and LeafGreen HeartGold and SoulSilver Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee! Stadium 2 |
| Gender | Both |
| Notable members | Proton, Petrel, Ariana, and Archer Sham, Carl (Adventures) Grey (The Golden Boys) |
| Manga debut | Piloswine Whine (Adventures) Gold and Black vs. Team Rocket (The Golden Boys) |
An Executive (Japanese: ロケットだんかんぶ Team Rocket Executive), known as a Team Rocket Admin (Japanese: ロケットだんかんぶ Team Rocket Executive) in Generations III and VII, and as a Rocket Executive (Japanese: ロケットだんいんのかんぶ Team Rocket executive member) in Generation II, is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation II games. They are the highest ranked members of Team Rocket after Giovanni, and are the heads of Team Rocket after he abandons the organization. They tend to use a combination of Poison-type and Dark-type Pokémon.
In Generation II, Executives are unnamed, with a visual distinction only existing between male and female Executives, making it unclear how many distinct Executives there are. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, there are four Executives, each having their own name and appearance.
Differences between Generations
Generation II
In Generation II, Executives have the same Trainer class name as Team Rocket Grunts—Rocket (Japanese: ロケットだんいん Team Rocket member)—but have the name Executive (Japanese: かんぶ Executive) and a different sprite.
In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Team Rocket has four male executives and one female executive (who is battled twice). They battle the player at Team Rocket HQ and Goldenrod Radio Tower.
Two Executives, one male and one female, also appear in Pokémon Stadium 2, along with a pair of Rocket Grunts, interrupting the player's progress through the Johto Gym Leader Castle after the player has defeated Jasmine. Because their teams contain the distinctive Pokémon Vileplume and Houndoom, they appear to be inspired by two of the admins from Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal.
Generation III
In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, two higher-ranking members of Team Rocket appear in command of the Rocket Warehouse. They seem to be two of the same members who would head the Team in Johto three years later. Here, their Trainer class was changed to Team Rocket (Japanese: ロケットだん Team Rocket) in order to remain identical with the Grunts', whose sprites they also shared. However, they are both given the name Admin (Japanese: かんぶ Executive).
In the Rocket Warehouse, the female Team Rocket Admin is battled before going into the male administrator's room. She objects that Team Rocket is disbanded, but after a battle, admits that it probably is and as a final act, turns off the floor so that the player can go back and heal. After defeating the male Team Rocket Admin, he sees the player's Earth Badge and realizes that the Viridian City-based Team Rocket has disbanded; he then tells the player that he will find Giovanni and revive Team Rocket.
The Team Rocket Admins are the same people as the Rocket executives in Generations II and IV, as hinted by the similarity in their teams and the male administrator's determination to revive Team Rocket after he is defeated, as well as the information given on the computer screen which the Rocket administrator was working on ("The influence of magnetic waves on Pokémon evolution"). This is linked to what happened in Generations II and IV, when Team Rocket used radio waves to evolve the Magikarp at Lake of Rage.
Generation IV
Their Trainer classes are finally dissociated from those of the Grunts when they make a return in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where they are each known as an Executive. However, the Japanese Trainer classes remain unchanged from Generation III, but they are still given names. They are all adapted from the Executives from Pokémon Gold and Silver but given individual names and identities. Their names, Proton, Petrel, Ariana, and Archer, refer to real-life rockets or missiles in all languages, much like Team Galactic's Commanders, who were named after celestial bodies.
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver changed the number of Executives slightly: a Grunt in Slowpoke Well was amalgamated with an Executive in the Radio Tower to become Proton, and the Executive in Giovanni’s office in the Team Rocket HQ was merged with the Executive disguised as the Radio Director to become Petrel.
Appearance
In the core series
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| Proton's Grunt sprite from Generation II |
Proton, Petrel, and Archer's sprite from Generation II |
Ariana's sprite from Generation II |
Archer's sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen |
Ariana's sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen |
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| Proton, Petrel, and Archer's overworld sprite from Generation II |
Ariana's overworld sprite from Generation II |
Archer's overworld sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen |
Ariana's overworld sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen | |
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| Proton's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Petrel's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Ariana's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Archer's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Archer's VS model from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! |
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| Proton's overworld sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Petrel's overworld sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Ariana's overworld sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Archer's overworld sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
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In other games
| File:S2 Rocket ExecutiveM.png | File:S2 Rocket ExecutiveF.pngFile:S2 Rocket ExecutiveF alt.png |
| Rocket Executive♂ portrait from Stadium 2 |
Rocket Executive♀ portraits from Stadium 2 |
Trainer list
Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal
| Trainer name | Battle | Winnings | Pokémon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Executive ♂ | Initial battle | $1584 |  Lv.22 |
 Lv.22 |
 Lv.24 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $2160 | Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
 Lv.32 |
Lv.30 | |
| Rocket Executive ♀ | Initial battle | $1800 |  Lv.23 |
 Lv.23 |
 Lv.25 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $2304 | Lv.32 |
 Lv.32 |
Lv.32 |
------- | ------- | ------- | |
| Rocket Executive ♂ | Initial battle | $2592 |  Lv.36 |
------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
| Rocket Executive ♂ | Initial battle | $2520 |  Lv.33 |
Lv.33 |
 Lv.35 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
| Trainer name | Battle | Winnings | Pokémon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket Admin ♀ | Initial battle | $1728 |  Lv.53 |
Lv.54 |
Lv.55 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
| Team Rocket Admin ♂ | Initial battle | $1760 | Lv.53 |
Lv.54 |
Lv.55 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
| Trainer name | Battle | Winnings | Pokémon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Proton | Initial battle | $480 | Lv.8 |
Lv.12 |
------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $1320 | Lv.28 |
Lv.33 |
------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | |
| Executive Petrel | Initial battle | $880 | Lv.22 |
Lv.22 |
Lv.24 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $1200 | Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
Lv.30 |
Lv.32 |
Lv.30 | |
| Executive Ariana | Initial battle | $2960 | Lv.25 |
Lv.25 |
Lv.27 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $2560 | Lv.32 |
Lv.32 |
Lv.32 |
------- | ------- | ------- | |
| Executive Archer | Initial battle | $3040 | Lv.35 |
Lv.35 |
Lv.38 |
------- | ------- | ------- |
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
| Trainer name | Battle | Winnings | Pokémon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket Admin Archer | Initial battle | $3,300 |  Lv.33 |
 Lv.33 |
------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
| First rematch | $4,652* |  Lv.37 |
Lv.37 |
Lv.37 |
------- | ------- | ------- | |
| First rematch | $5,400 | Lv.54 |
Lv.54 |
 Lv.54 |
Lv.54 |
------- | ------- | |
Pokémon Stadium 2
| Trainer name | Battle | Pokémon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Executive ♀ | Initial battle |  Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 | |
| Second battle | Lv.50-100 |
Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 | ||
| Rocket Executive ♂ | Initial battle |  Lv.50-100 |
Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 | |
| Second battle | Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 |
 Lv.50-100 | ||
In the anime
It is unknown whether or not there are executives present in the anime, as Giovanni is still in control of the organization. Instead, the anime tends to focus much more on high-ranking Team Rocket field agents such as Domino and the Iron-Masked Marauder. Annie and Oakley were also inclusive to the ranks of Team Rocket, working as hired spies hunting Latios and Latias, but this was only in the English dub. Matori, Giovanni's personal secretary and commander of the elite Matori Matrix unit, frequently fulfills an Executive-like role by giving assignments when Giovanni is not available.
In the manga
Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure
The four Generation IV Executives appear in the Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure manga, fulfilling similar roles as in the games.
Pokémon Adventures
Red, Green & Blue arc
Lt. Surge, Koga, and Sabrina are Team Rocket executives, having abandoned their respective Gyms to work for the evil organization instead.
Yellow arc
After witnessing a battle between Yellow and Lance, Giovanni realized that he still had a lot to learn and told his three executives to return to their Gyms.
Gold, Silver & Crystal arc
Under the Masked Man's leadership, Neo Team Rocket's executives were Sham and Carl, who were based on the Generation II Executive designs.
HeartGold & SoulSilver arc
Archer, Ariana, Petrel, and Proton take over the organization from Carr and search for Arceus and its Plates to accomplish their plan of making Giovanni return to Team Rocket's leadership.
Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys
Grey from the Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys manga is based on the male Executive design. His role within the team is based on Archer's.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Team Rocket Executives in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
| Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
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| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Team Rocket's Evil Deeds | T | Neo Destiny | 
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103/105 | Darkness, and to Light... |
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| Team Rocket's Trickery | Su | Undaunted |
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78/90 | Reviving Legends |
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076/080 |
| Tyranitar Constructed Standard Deck | 018/019 | ||||||
Trivia
- Though Rocket Executives are members of Team Rocket, like Rocket Grunts and Scientists, the background theme played when fighting them is the normal Trainer battle theme in Gold, Silver, and Crystal Versions. This was rectified in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where all members of Team Rocket-related Trainer classes play the Rocket battle theme.
- In merging multiple Executives together, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver introduced a plot hole: Petrel is present in both the Goldenrod Radio Tower and the Team Rocket HQ at the same time. When the player first visits Goldenrod City, a guard comments on the Director's changed nature:
- "Sorry. Authorized personnel only beyond this point. It wasn’t that way before. There’s something wrong with the Director…"
In other languages
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 Team Rocket
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| Rocket Game Corner • Team Rocket Hideout • Viridian Gym • Team Rocket HQ • Rocket Warehouse | |||||
| Boss | Admins | ||||
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| Giovanni (Masters • Pocket Monsters) |
Archer (Masters) |
Ariana (Masters) |
Petrel (Masters) |
Proton (Masters) | |
| Other members | |||||
| Jessie (Masters) • James (Masters) • Meowth • Team Rocket Grunts (Rocket Siblings) • Scientists (Gideon) Grey (Golden Boys) • Kaede (How I Became a Pokémon Card) | |||||
See also: Pokémon the Series • Adventures • Team GO Rocket • Team Rainbow Rocket
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This Trainer Class article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |