>>37227698Because they don't really want to catch Pikachu. There was an episode in XY&Z where they literally had the perfect chance to capture Pikachu but they ended up not doing it because they felt that Pikachu wasn't strong enough (it was separated from Ash so its Thunderbolts were weaker because something about no power of love from Ash to boost it).
Team Rocket are just going through the motions in every region, doing just enough to keep within Giovanni's good books, but they were never serious about capturing Pikachu for him.
