Meowth (Team Rocket): Difference between revisions

 

In ''[[EP017|Island of the Giant Pokémon]]'', Team Rocket was swept away onto [[Pokémon Land]], located on the [[Island of the Giant Pokémon]], after a group of {{p|Gyarados}}, including {{OP|James|Gyarados}} own, triggered a cyclone using {{m|Dragon Rage}}. Meowth, Ekans, and Koffing were separated from Jessie and James in the chaos and landed on another part of the island. When Meowth found Pikachu without Ash, he ordered Koffing and Ekans to attack Pikachu, but they refused since Meowth was not their actual master. The following day, the trio found their way back to Jessie and James.

Jessie used Meowth during the [[Princess Festival|Queen of the Princess Festival contest]] in ''[[EP052|Princess vs. Princess]]''.

Because of the effort Meowth exerted while learning to speak and walk like a human, he has not learned the [[signature move]] of his species, {{m|Pay Day}}. In ''[[EP096|Meowth Rules!]]'', Meowth was worshiped by an island of people who believed that he could bring them riches with Pay Day. When he was caught in a battle meant to induce Pay Day, Jessie and James had to secretly bail him out by throwing the last of their spare change and some of James's prized bottlecaps in order to appease the islanders.

Several times, Meowth and Pikachu have had to team up, such as in the episodes ''[[EP104|Bound for Trouble]]'' and ''[[EP274|Hoenn Alone!]]'' when both were separated from their respective parties. His relationship with Jessie and James varies in quality; for example, in ''[[EP070|Go West, Young Meowth]]'' they stated that they regarded Meowth as a friend, but in ''[[EP104|Bound for Trouble]]'', having discovered Meowth and Pikachu after the two had been stuck together, they both stated that they had really been looking for Pikachu and Meowth was just 'part of the package'. Meowth seems to have aspects of each of his teammates in him; in arguments, he can often be seen siding with either Jessie (usually denouncing James' incompetence) or James (usually complaining about Jessie's overdramatic and rash behavior). Despite these fights, the three remain very close and loyal friends, although at one point in Giovanni's Gym in Viridian City, they threatened to split up. However they realized they had over reacted, and became friends again, proving themselves very loyal to each other.

In ''[[EP175|The Trouble with Snubbull]]'', Team Rocket first tried using Meowth as bait for a newly-evolved {{TP|Madame Muchmoney|Granbull}}, which had been persistently following Meowth, so they could collect a reward from the Granbull's owner, [[Madame Muchmoney]]. This failed, and they subsequently used a Meowth-shaped mecha for their next attempt. Through a misunderstanding over Meowth trying to release Granbull from the mecha's tail, Team Rocket were mistakenly assumed to have tricked Madame Muchmoney. When Team Rocket was blasted off following a battle between the mecha and Granbull, Granbull returned home and no longer followed Meowth.

Meowth has also, since late [[Johto]], had frequent [[Boss fantasy|fantasies]] about presenting Giovanni with various Pokémon. These fantasies often involve whatever creature it happens to be assisting Giovanni in his daily routine.

{{incomplete|section|needs=role in AG}}

Jessie, disguised as "The Jester", used Meowth in the {{to|Pacifidlog}} {{pkmn|Contest}} in ''[[AG115|Mean With Envy]]''. In the Appeals Round, he created an ice sculpture of {{an|Giovanni}}, [[Giovanni's Persian|his Persian]] and himself. During his [[Contest Battle]] against [[Erica]]'s {{p|Jynx}}, he used "{{m|Transform}}" by using the pouch attached to his belly. He transformed into a {{p|Sunflora}} first, using {{m|Razor Leaf}} against Jynx. Later, he transformed into a {{p|Kirlia}} and again into a {{p|Wailord}}. He popped the inflatable Wailord with his claws and Jessie was eventually disqualified.

In ''[[DP117|Noodles! Roamin' Off!]]'', {{OBP|Christopher|DP117}}, a former Team Rocket member and the owner of the ramen shop, saw Meowth use {{m|Fury Swipes}} to slice dough in order to make ramen and asked him to work in his restaurant as a noodle maker. After some thought, which included reflecting back on previous failures and the lack of appreciation and respect from Jessie and James, Meowth quit the Team Rocket Trio and accepted the offer. However, he eventually rejoined the group after hearing that James and Jessie were in danger.

Meowth has used his claws to pick locks on several occasions, such as when Jessie, James, and he wanted to get into [[Canalave City]]'s [[Old Chateau]] in ''[[DP105|Get Your Rotom Running!]]''.

[[File:Jessilina and Meowth.png|thumb|250px|Meowth in the Lilypad Contest]]

Jessie, James, and Meowth were sent to the [[Unova]] region under orders from Giovanni after they were promoted in ''[[DP191|Memories are Made of Bliss!]]''. To prevent them from getting too much attention, Giovanni did not allow Jessie's and James's other Pokémon to be sent to them, only making them use Pokémon native to Unova. This, however, made Meowth think of what would happen to him. Throughout most of the series, Meowth and his two friends were presented as horribly failing and erroneous criminals, always failing in their missions to capture Ash's Pikachu or other Pokémon. In Unova, however, he, along with the rest of his team, developed a more serious attitude in their work, as he had when first introduced, being quicker-witted and much more resourceful than before and using ingenious methods of escape and thus proving much more difficult for Ash to defeat. He has also demonstrated much more battling skill than before, being agile enough to land on his feet when blown back by Ash's {{TP|Ash|Pidove}}'s {{m|Gust}}, and unlike before, does not horribly injure himself in battle.

[[File:Meowth under Colress control.png|thumb|250px|Meowth under Colress's control]]

In ''[[BW042|Club Battle Finale: A Hero's Outcome!]]'', while in [[Nimbasa City]], Team Rocket prepared to put their latest plan into action. Later, in the next episode, ''[[BW043|Meowth's Scrafty Tactics!]]'', Meowth was found injured by Ash, {{an|Iris}}, and {{an|Cilan}}. While recovering, Meowth explained that while in Nimbasa City, he had botched up Team Rocket's scheme badly and was fired by Giovanni, leading to Jessie and James turning their backs on him. Later, [[Iris's Axew]] was kidnapped by a {{p|Scrafty}}, who wanted Axew's help to get its home back from a {{p|Mandibuzz}}. Using his ability to speak to both Pokémon and humans, Meowth not only helped get Axew back but also helped Scrafty get its home back and helped Mandibuzz return to her original nest. Afterwards, Meowth decided to travel with Ash and his friends, only for Iris to attempt to capture him in a {{i|Poké Ball}}. The capture nearly succeeded but Meowth broke out and told her he was going to help her regardless. Ever since, it seems to have become a running gag that he ends up in a Poké Ball at one point in an episode, as Iris tried twice (one of which was because Meowth didn't want a {{p|Purrloin}} to get caught), and by {{OBP|Cliff|BW046}}. However, in ''[[BW047|Crisis from the Underground Up!]]'', it was revealed that Meowth's being fired was fake and all just one of Team Rocket's schemes to steal all the Pokémon from Nimbasa City's Pokémon Center.

He along with Jessie and James later left Unova temporarily in ''[[BW097|Unova's Survival Crisis!]]'' and then reappeared starting in ''[[BW109|New Places... Familiar Faces!]]''.

=====''[[Pokémon the Series: XY]]''=====

Meowth continued to travel with Jessie and James through Kalos in ''[[Pokémon the Series: XY]]''.

In ''[[XY003|A Battle of Aerial Mobility!]]'', Giovanni approved the trio's plan to steal as many rare and powerful Pokémon as they could in [[Kalos]].

In ''[[XY019|A Conspiracy to Conquer!]]'', Meowth along with Jessie and James encountered an evil {{an|Malamar}}, who managed to take control of Jessie and James, as well as their Pokémon, but Meowth used Fury Swipes on himself to endure the hypnotizing. After escaping, Meowth encountered Ash and his friends and warned them of the Malamar. With Team Rocket in tow, Malamar found the whereabouts of Ash's group by a tree. It took Pikachu with them and forced him to be under their control. By the time Meowth, Ash and his friends arrived in the observation chamber of the radio observatory, Malamar took control of {{an|Clemont}}, {{an|Bonnie}}, and {{an|Serena}}. Meowth and Ash managed to endure it by once again using Fury Swipes on their faces to keep focus. The [[Clemontic Gear|Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device]] that Clemont built earlier entered the observatory and crashes into Malamar, breaking its control over everyone it hypnotized. Meowth translated Malamar's evil ambitions of conquering the world as part of an evil grand design to Ash and company and tried to stop it from doing so. But unfortunately for them, Malamar escaped. As Team Rocket recuperated from their ordeal with Malamar, Meowth revealed them that Malamar is the [[Evolution|evolved]] form of {{p|Inkay}}, causing them to react nervously when they looked at [[James's Inkay]].

In ''[[XY098|Dream a Little Dream from Me!]]'', Meowth appeared with [[Jessie|other]] [[James|members]] of his group, apparently unable to sleep due to the loud snoring of Jessie and James, but successfully did so after putting in earplugs and counting {{p|Mareep}}. Later it woke up in a nightmare of [[Squishy]], caused by a [[Wild Pokémon|wild]] {{p|Darkrai}}'s {{a|Bad Dreams}}, wherein he wished up to drink some water but is shocked to see [[Serena's Braixen|Serena's Delphox]], [[Clemont's Bunnelby|Clemont's Diggersby]] and [[Ash's Greninja|Ash's Froakie]] speaking human language during their conversation with Ash's Pikachu. He tried to tell this strange event to Jessie and James, and was all the more surprised to see the two talk like Wobbuffet and Inkay respectively. Utterly distraught by the strange happenings, he ran away from those two and collides with a similarly fleeing Pikachu. Glad that Pikachu is still normal, the two met up with Squishy who suggested running way as the trio stumbles across a flame monster and successfully evade the monster. Later when the Order Pokémon tries to explain its position in the ecosystem and transformed into its {{DL|List of Pokémon with form differences|Zygarde|Complete}} form, the real, still asleep, Meowth clang to James in horror. When the day sets in and he woke up, he set on to find Squishy after explaining his horrible experience to Jessie and James and collided once again with Pikachu. At this moment, the two were dragged into Squishy's nightmare once again by Darkrai. After meeting up with Squishy again, they were forced to flee the flame monster and pass a clearing burnt by the latter, which is subsequently replenished by Squishy. The trio continued further but was shocked to see the flame monster right in front of them. Squishy ordered the Scratch Cat Pokémon and the Mouse Pokémon to battle but the monster's powerful flame attacks easily caused Meowth to retreat. The monster was eventually dealt with assistance from Delphox, Diggersby, Froakie, [[Serena's Pancham|Serena's newly evolved Pangoro]] and [[Clemont's Chespin|Clemont's newly evolved Chesnaught]]. However, before the battle can be over, a ticking sound was heard and Clemont's alarm clock exploded, awakening Meowth, Pikachu, and Squishy. Meowth then returned to Jessie and James, and explained his strange dream. James however claimed that Meowth has been working too much and is starting to hallucinate, and Jessie suggested that Meowth should go back to sleep but the Normal-type Pokémon decided that he's never going to sleep again, because he didn't want that dream again.

{{incomplete|role|Role during the Nihilego-Lusamine arc}}

In ''[[SM004|First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style!]]'', Bewear looked after the trio, giving them food and shelter at its {{TP|Bewear|den}}.

In ''[[SM016|They Might Not Be Giants!]]'', Meowth attempted to catch [[Ash's Rowlet]] and [[Lana's Popplio]], who had been separated from their {{pkmn|Trainer}}s, but was defeated by a wild {{AP|Litten}}. Later, when {{p|Rowlet}}, {{p|Litten}}, and {{p|Popplio}} were caught by Team Rocket, Meowth invited Litten to join them. The Fire Cat Pokémon apparently agreed, but it turned out to be a ruse to get itself and the other two free. Afterwards, they sent Team Rocket blasting off.

In ''[[SM062|Acting True to Form!]]'', Meowth became upset when Jessie stole his limited-edition ice cream and ran off, upset only to fall into some mud and encountered an {{rf|Alolan}} Meowth. Jessie and James came looking for him and mistook the Alolan Meowth for him. Returning to base, he discovered the Alolan Meowth was winning over Jessie and James and ignored his warnings about not trusting it. Later, the Alolan Meowth arrived at Team Rocket Headquarters and found itself the [[Matori's Meowth|assistant]] of [[Matori]]. It later contacted Meowth, stating its intentions to replace {{TP|Giovanni|Persian}} on Giovanni's lap.

In ''[[JN090|Showdown at the Gates of Warp!]]'', Meowth lost his ability to speak his human language as a result of a clash between {{OBP|Dialga|recurring}} and {{OBP|Palkia|recurring}} distorting time. After {{p|Arceus}} stopped the fight between Dialga and Palkia, the temporal and spacial Pokémon repairs the distortions their fighting had caused and grants the Jessie and James's wish in restoring the Pokémon when Meowth started talking again, reversing the [[devolution]].

Meowth normally does not battle unless there are extreme circumstances; his explanation is that his ability to talk and walk upright came at the expense of battling ability. However, when forced to fight, Meowth is fairly resourceful, such as dumping a bucket of water on an {{p|Onix}} to weaken it, most notably Brock's Onix in ''Who Gets to Keep Togepi?''.