Tragic & Twisted Pokémon Series: Team Rocket's Meowth

The best villains often come with a backstory – and Team Rocket's Meowth is absolutely one of the best. This is how the cool but sometimes cruel cat came to be the way he is.

Meowth's story began when he was a tiny, struggling bundle of fluff with dreams. He was a stray – something that absolutely breaks our heart, having several rescue fur babies ourselves – scraping to survive. He was living with a small gang of Pokémon; a family of convenience who shared stolen food and scraps. Their leader was an aggressive Persian who had little tolerance for others but ultimately protected his group. It wasn’t pretty and life was tough – something that draws parallels with its namesake; Hollywood. 

The Hollywood that exists in the Pokémon world is not the one we know, but they are both symbols of hope with dark histories of broken dreams. Connecting them linguistically, and so directly, reveals a harsh reality in reflection.

The Hollywood we know has become a symbol of lost hope, in part because of the many lives intentionally ended there – many taken by the deceased. The most famous was Peg Entwistle, a 24-year-old actress, who climbed to the top of the ‘H’ on the iconic Hollywoodland sign and ended her life. The note she left talked about her despair over her meager career and how her dreams had failed since uprooting everything to come to this promised land. The location now has become a 24-hour guarded sight with a disturbing history of death, depression and ruined lives – as well as several urban legends and haunting accounts. 

The glitz and glamour, contrasted with the dirty secrets and guttered dreams, is unequivocally shown in the fiction Pokéverse Hollywood. 

As a stray Pokémon, Meowth is living on the brutal side of the streets. He faced constant hunger, rejection and loneliness – but he did at least have some company as a member of a group of strays. The Persian who led the gang in scavenging for food was probably his best chance at survival. Humans were rarely kind to them, revealing a sickening side to both of our worlds.

We won't go on a lecture, but please be kind where you can – we'll leave some links to animal charities at the bottom if you'd like to support, foster, adopt or donate. That’d be really cool.

One day, when Meowth was scavenging, he came across an outdoor screening of a movie – another connection between the two Hollywood's. 

In the movie, Pokémon were being pampered by humans. The humans were treating them so well that he could hardly believe it. These humans weren’t shooing away Pokémon, but instead caring for them by giving them delicious food, pets, attention and love. They were accepted and cared for – something Meowth craved.

Meowth saw this as an inspiration. He started to teach himself to walk upright and to talk like those kind citizens. This was so unnatural to him that it hurt, but he pushed through that pain to try.

It was during this time that Meowth started to go further from the Pokémon gang. One day, while looking for food by himself, Meowth ended up in a wealthy area where he saw a female Meowth. Her name was Meowzie. 

Meowzie was a beautiful kitty who belonged to a wealthy woman, so she lived a life of comfort with adoration and even a pretty gold collar. Meowth was instantly in love with her, and he could see how much she adored her human.

Meowth and Meowzie

After feeling some anxiety about not measuring up to the beautiful Meowzie, Meowth continued his human behaviour training. He wanted to better himself and earn her affection.

Once Meowth perfected walking and talking – at the cost of his Pay Day skill – he approached Meowzie to express his affection, hoping that she would be impressed by his human-like talents. He didn’t face her until he had perfected his walking and talking like the caring people in the movie. 

In a cruel twist, Meowzie was horrified and disgusted by this behaviour, even calling him a ‘freak’ and crushing his heart. She horribly told him that she liked humans for what they could give her and that a street Meowth couldn’t offer her any of that. Despite proving herself to be a selfish creature, rejection devastated him.

This moment marked a turning point. Meowth realized that in trying so hard to become like a human, he had alienated himself from both humans and Pokémon. He could no longer fit in with wild Pokémon like his former gang, who saw him as unnatural and judged him for wanting to be like the cruel versions of humans they knew. On top of this, he wasn’t accepted by humans either – the bad or the good. He was alone in every world he tried to belong to, all because he had tried to fit in.

Disillusioned and heartbroken, Meowth eventually found humans who didn’t judge him – Team Rocket. Jessie and James accepted Meowth just as he was – broken, rejected and misunderstood like them. Here, Meowth found something he had not experienced before. He had reassurance, friendship and a sense of belonging. He had found his family – albeit a dysfunctional one. 

Jessie, James & Meowth

The story doesn’t end there. Meowth, Team Rocket and Ash's group found themselves in Hollywood a few years later. Filled with nostalgia and curiosity, he revisited the sad streets where he had been a small and scared Meowth in the Persian’s gang. 

Shockingly, he saw Meowzie again – but she was now part of the gang, scrounging and eating scraps. She had been abandoned by her owner. Heart wrenched, Meowth still had feelings for her, but he didn't try to win her over again. Instead, he let her go – along with the pain that changing himself for her had caused. This moment of longing and loss, as Meowth quietly returned to Team Rocket, showed immense character growth, but it didn’t make it any less sad. 

There are a few hints throughout the series that point to the ingrained desire for acceptance that Meowth still has – like his jealousy of (and rivalry with) Giovanni’s Persian (Advanced Generation episode 79 ‘Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend’}, gratitude when Jessie and James use all of their savings to fake his payday and save him (Episode 96, ‘Meowth Rules!’), and how Meowth is so crucial in getting the mistreated Chimchar to join Ash’s cared for collection (Diamond Pearl, episode 53 ‘Tears for Fears!’)

Finally getting treated well

Team Rocket’s Meowth’s story is bittersweet, and simply sad for Meowzie, but at least he found what he needed. Not all Pokémon are so lucky, and we’ll talk about those in the rest of our tragic & twisted Pokémon series. 

Thanks for joining us, if you’d like to know some more about Meowth, we have a blog post filled with unusual and little known Meowth facts here! Time to blast off at the speed of light, see you soon – Meowth, that’s right!

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