Team Rocket icons Jessie and James can now be battled in Pokemon Go

Jessie and James, the face of Team Rocket in the early Pokemon anime, have come to Pokemon Go.

Developer Niantic announced the duo's new event in a blog post. The pair's iconic Meowth balloon will now randomly appear on the game's map while you're playing. If you see it, you can tap it to battle Jessie and James, who presumably use Ekans and Weezing in battle. 

"As Team Go Rocket's balloons prowl the skies, we've been investigating them further," the studio says. "The Grunts piloting the balloons are just as perplexed as we are as to where these characters came from. From what we understand, Team Go Rocket has assigned Shadow Pokémon to protect Jessie and James as they seek to create more Shadow Pokémon." 

The Pokemon Go Team Rocket crew has been a major part of many events for some time now, but somehow this is the first appearance from the two characters that introduced a generation of trainers to the organization. Jessie and James helped establish Team Rocket's reputation as clumsy, lovable criminals, so it's nice to see them get a spot in one of today's biggest Pokemon games.

Jessie and James "won't be here for long," Niantic says, so battle them while you can. If you want to keep their memory alive, you can pick up some themed avatar items in the shop. I hope one of them is Jessie's impossible hairstyle. 

Pokemon Go seems to be due for another big Team Rocket event in the near future, with teasers appearing all over the world ahead of this year's virtual Go Fest.