>>40466210Well, yes, they willingly work as Team Rocket agents. In fact, they prioritize this career so much they gathered money to pay their dues in Johto, when it turned out they went over budget by using Team-owned mechas and other resources, and their membership was suspended.
We know characters who were part of Team Rocket, but were let go, and Jessie & James don't just give up and choose that path.
Anyway, who knows what happened to the Unova Pokemon? Were they abused? Maybe they were cloned, bred, or given to rookie agents, we do not really know. Jessie and James themselves received Ekans and Koffing as holiday presents from an undetermined sender (maybe TR arranged the giveaway specifically for New Year's eve). By Unova era, though, even GRUNTS were given Rhydon and Golem to control, a far cry from going Poke-less in Kanto and being armed with Zubats and Dodrios in AG.