James's Carnivine
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James's Carnivine (Japanese: コジロウのマスキッパ Kojirō's Muskippa) was the only Pokémon that James obtained in the Sinnoh region, and his second overall.
History
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
James originally caught Carnivine in the Great Marsh as a boy, as mentioned in a flashback in Cream of the Croagunk Crop!. It debuted in Two Degrees of Separation!. During this episode, Team Rocket went to James's parents' vacation home in Sinnoh. While there, James found Carnivine's Poké Ball among a collection of bottlecaps, but he left quickly after being informed that Jessebelle was on her way. Before leaving, however, he decided to bring Carnivine with him. For the duration of time James had it with him, Carnivine took Cacnea's place as his main battling Pokémon.
Carnivine had its first battle against Ash and his friends in Dawn Of A New Era!, fighting Dawn's Piplup. Piplup fired off a Bubble Beam, but Carnivine literally ate it and charged forward with Bite. However, Nando's Budew intercepted, pushing Carnivine back and firing a Bullet Seed, sending Team Rocket flying.
In Jessilina's Sinnoh Contest debut, Carnivine was used in both the Performance Stage and the Battle Stage. In the first round, Carnivine used Bullet Seed on a lollipop that Jessie threw, and amazed the crowd by biting Jessie's head. The performance impressed the Contest Judges and, as a result, Jessilina was one of the eight Coordinators moving on to the second round. There, it was seen defeating a Rhydon, showing that it was a skilled battler, and thanks to it, Jessie reached the final stage. However, it lost against Zoey's Glameow.
In Sleight of Sand!, Carnivine battled Butch's Shuckle. In the midst of their battle, it was taken out by Ash's Pikachu and a wild Hippopotas.
In Steeling Peace of Mind!, Carnivine was sent out alongside Team Rocket and Barry's Pokémon to confront Team Galactic, only for it to get hit by Golbat's Air Cutter.
In Another One Gabites the Dust!, Jessie used Carnivine in the Battle Stage of the Chocovine Contest. It got to the semifinals, where it lost to Ursula's Gabite.
In Noodles! Roamin' Off!, after Jessie, James, and Meowth had disbanded, James went after a Shiny Metagross with the intention of presenting it to the boss and crediting the whole trio, believing the promise of success would be enough to bring Jessie and Meowth back. Upon finding it, Carnivine and Mime Jr. battled it only to quickly fail. Thankfully, Jessie and Meowth showed up to help, having heard what James was trying. Although they were blasted off again, the three were happy to be back together.
Carnivine was also used in Dressed for Jess Success! to compete in the Battle Stage of the Lilypad Contest. Together with James, who was the one disguised as Jessilina at that time, they defeated Dawn and her Mamoswine in the semifinals, and eventually won the Ribbon.
In Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!, Carnivine stopped Jupiter's Skuntank from attacking Looker with Vine Whip. However, an explosion occurred, giving Skuntank the opportunity to defeat Carnivine with X-Scissor.
In Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!, Carnivine teamed up with Seviper to perform at the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest, which was being held under the Double Performance rule. It walked into the stage alongside Jessilina with Seviper's Poké Ball inside its mouth. When Jessilina began playing her Arbok-shaped flute, Seviper popped out of its Poké Ball and joined Carnivine. The two were able to dazzle the judges and the audience with their performance, which secured Jessilina a spot in the Battle Stage.
Carnivine was used by Jessilina multiple times during the Sinnoh Grand Festival, with the final one ending in Jessie's defeat to Dawn.
Carnivine appeared in Memories are Made of Bliss!, where it battled Ash and his friends for the final time in Sinnoh, but got knocked back by Togekiss's Air Slash before getting blasted off with the rest of the team.
Following the Team Rocket trio's journey in Sinnoh, James was forced to leave Carnivine at Team Rocket's headquarters, as it is not a Pokémon native to the Unova region and would seem suspicious.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
In Rocket Revengers!, Carnivine, alongside the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon at Team Rocket HQ, were sent to Jessie and James so they could be added back to their team. Realizing the potential of such a large group, the team hatched a scheme to isolate Ash's Pikachu and capture him. Carnivine and Gourgeist were the third to do so, distracting Ash and his Pokémon while Pikachu ran ahead. Ash quickly realized Pikachu was in trouble and ran off. Gourgeist sent out a distress signal to let everyone know, and she and Carnivine returned to their Trainers to take on Pikachu as a group. It joined all of Team Rocket to launch a combined attack at the Mouse Pokémon. However, it was dodged, and Wobbuffet ended up sending it back with Mirror Coat. A wild Latias that had been following Ash then intervened and sent the evil group blasting off.
In The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!, Carnivine was used to try and capture Pikachu, but was thwarted by the arrival of Ash's Pidgeot. At the end, as the group was blasting off once more, Carnivine held out its leaves for Wobbuffet to cling to, and together they disappeared over the horizon.
Personality and characteristics
Carnivine continues the series' running gag of James's Grass-type Pokémon showing affection for him by hurting him whenever they are sent out from their Poké Balls. This affection is probably due to the fact that James and Carnivine shared a close bond when James was a child.
Carnivine shares a great relationship with James, like his other Pokémon. In Saving the World From Ruins!, Carnivine saw the fear in James's eyes at the face of death and heroically learned Vine Whip to rescue him and the others.
Moves used
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Moves improvised
| Picture | First Used In | Moves Involved | Partnered With |
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Rocket Revengers! | Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Psybeam, and Silver Wind | Seviper, Yanmega, Frillish, Gourgeist, Yamask, Amoonguss, and Inkay |
| Description: A combination move used by Jessie and James's Pokémon. Woobat launches Air Slash, Frillish, Gourgeist and Yamask launch Shadow Ball, Amoonguss and Carnivine launch Energy Ball, Yanmega launches Silver Wind, Inkay launches Psybeam, and Seviper launches Sludge Bomb. The attacks fuse together to create a single massive beam of energy. This was used against Ash, Pikachu, Infernape, and Hawlucha in Team Rocket's attempt to steal Pikachu, but once they dodged, the attack headed towards Team Rocket. | |||
Artwork
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| Official artwork from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl |
Trivia
- For DP027, Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia is about Carnivine. He writes this Pokémon senryū about it: マスキッパ きょうもはらぺこ すきっぱら Muskippa is also starving today: empty stomach.
- Carnivine is the only one of its species to have appeared in Pokémon the Series.
- Out of all the Pokémon obtained by a main character prior to the start of the anime, Carnivine has the largest gap between it and its Trainer's debut, at 466 episodes.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Carnivine.
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| For a list of other Pokémon Team Rocket has commanded, see here and here | |||||||
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |