|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 Meowth was born at a summer camp, alone and hungry, with no friends or family. When the hungry kitten accidentally knocked over a basket of baseballs, mistaking them for food, the angry camp counselor tied him up in a tree. That night, Meowth saw a movie called "That Darn Meowth", in which a loved Meowth gets to eat fried chicken and ice cream! Hungry for these treats, Meowth broke free and hitched a ride on a truck headed for Hollywood, that magical place where there was ice cream and fried chicken, waiting just for him!
But when Meowth arrived, he was no better off. An angry restaurant owner chased after Meowth when he tried to get something to eat. Desperate to survive, Meowth joined up with a Persian and a gang of street Meowths, and finally tasted the food he wanted so much. But Meowth's heart still ached for love.
One day, Meowth saw a beautiful girl Meowth named Meowsy, sitting outside an expensive jewelry store. Recklessly running through traffic, Meowth approached Meowsy and tried to describe his feelings for her, but she was unimpressed.
Suddenly Meowsy's owner, an ugly rich lady, yelled at Meowth, telling him to get away from her precious kitty. She then produced a diamond-studded Poke Ball she had bought for Meowsy. Meowsy told Meowth, "She's a rich lady who buys me everything I want. And what are you? You're just a street Meowth! You'll never be human, so just forget about me!" and vanished inside the Poke Ball. But this rejection had made Meowth more determined that ever to win her love! If Meowsy thought humans were so great, he would try to act just like a human! Spying on a ballet class, Meowth tried to learn how to walk on two legs, not four. But he couldn't run fast enough, and kept getting caught and smacked around by the restaurant owner. Every day, Meowth would drag himself back to the attic of the dance school, where he would listen to a teacher instruct the dance class in proper speech. Meowth would try to copy what the girls said: "She sells seashells by the seashore."
Under the evening sky with the moon high up above
Finally, after many months of practicing, Meowth was able to speak "human-talk" at last! He then got an alphabet book and tried to learn the alphabet. The very first word he understood was "R is for Ro-Ro-Rocket!" If that hadn't been the first word he understood, he might never have joined up with the illustrious Team Rocket!
Finally able to speak and walk like a human, Meowth found Meowsy again, anxious to show her his new skills. However, she was far from impressed, saying that now he was worse than before: now he was a freak!
Crushed, Meowth angrily stalked off, muttering to himself: "She thinks I'm a freak? I'll show her! I'll become the richest, most powerful freak she ever saw! Then she'll come back, beggin' fer my love!"
Meowth joined up with Team Rocket, and for a while he was the Boss's favorite. But after repeatedly failing to capture Pikachu, Meowth was stunned to learn (right before boarding the St. Anne) that the Boss had a new favorite: a Persian.
In the CD Drama, "Rocket Gang: It's a White Tomorrow!", Jessie and James trade Meowth to Mondo in exchange for his Ditto. Even though he's angry with them, Meowth rushes to Team Rocket's aid when they get into trouble with a swarm of Beedrill. Mondo observes that the reason he finds Team Rocket so great is because they make the perfect team with all three of them. including Meowth! Unfortunately, Meowth's dream of becoming rich and powerful in Team Rocket never came true. Years later, when Team Rocket came to Hollywood for the premier of Cleevon Spielbunk's new movie, "Pokemon in Love", Meowth was reunited with Meowsy, who had joined up with the Persian's street gang.
After Meowth had left, Meowsy's owner realized that her fortune was almost gone, so she left Meowsy to fend for herself on the streets of Hollywood. Without the protection of her beloved human owner, Meowsy turned to the Persian and the gang of street Meowths, who looked after her when she needed help.
Even though he had been rejected twice, Meowth wanted to take Meowsy away from that awful place, risking the anger of the Persian and the whole gang. Luckily, Jessie and James showed up to help out their buddy, scaring off the street Meowths.
Meowth and Persian faced off on the rooftops of Hollywood, and Meowth won! But Meowsy pushed past him, rushing to the side of the Persian leader. She claimed that she couldn't leave the Persian who had protected her when she needed it. and besides, Meowth was still just a freak to her. Meowsy wasn't the only object of Meowth's affections. When Meowth became ill in Moss Green Village, the sweet Cassandra gave him medicine. In return for her kindness, Meowth strove to help her cowardly Paras evolve into Parasect so she could use its mushroom to make a healing potion for Pokemon. He convinced Jessie and James to help out, letting their Pokemon lose to Paras. Meowth's reasoning? Once Cassandra developed this new potion, she would make Meowth her company mascot, which would in turn make Jessie and James fabulously wealthy. But alas, this was not meant to be. After Paras evolved, and Cassandra began to work on her potion, her grandmother discovered a Persian living behind their shed, who was to be the company mascot. Cassandra told Meowth that Team Rocket needed him, so she would pamper the Persian just as if it was Meowth!
However, Meowth has had his moment in the spotlight. After being blasted off one night in the Orange Islands, Meowth landed in a place where the islanders waited for the coming of the "Great Meowth of Bounty", a fabled cat who would lead them into a golden age of wealth and prosperity with its Pay Day attack. Unfortunately, Meowth used up so much energy just learning how to talk that he simply can't learn Pay Day!
After being treated like a king, given everything his heart desired, Meowth disowned Jessie and James, afraid they'd tell the islanders who he really was. But then, when Meowth was commanded to perform Pay Day, and sent into a battle arena, Jessie and James couldn't turn their back on their old friend. Using spare change and bottlecaps, they faked a Pay Day attack so their buddy wouldn't have to battle any more.
When Meowth discovered they had done this for him, he left the royal treatment of the islanders behind with these words: "You t'ink I'm supposed ta be this great cat. but I'm just a big rat. There's only two people in the whole world who ever really cared about me. We messed up a lot and we used ta fight wit' each other a lot too, but no matter how bad things got we always had each other. I thought I was happy here, without 'em. but now I know that having them was my real happiness!"
Meowth likes to think that he's the brains behind Team Rocket's brilliant schemes, and often uses Fury Swipes on his human companions to get his way. Meowth has been known to drive Team Rocket's vehicles and usually operates the remote-controlled devices used in Pikachu-nabbing schemes.
Being the only Pokemon who can speak "human talk", Meowth provides much of the comic relief in the series, making snappy remarks often at the expense of his teammates and enemies. Team Rocket doesn't always find these comments funny, so Meowth occasionally gets smacked around with mallets and paper fans. Meowth may be smart-mouthed and loud, but he also has a nuturing side. When Team Rocket stole the Togepi egg from the twerps, James (naturally) wanted to eat it. Meowth kept the egg warm and safe, eating with it, giving it a bath, and holding it while he slept.
Of course, the twerps showed up and grabbed the egg back, and Misty was the one holding it when it hatched into the ever-irritating Togepi. As the twerps tried to figure out who should raise it, Meowth stepped forward. "I took care of it more than all of you put together." In an amazing show of bravery, Meowth battled the twerps' Pokemon for Togepi, and he actually defeated Brock's Onix (cleverly using buckets of water to weaken it). Unfortunately, he lost to Pikachu, so the twerps got to keep Togepi after all. (My own theory: the only reason Togepi likes Misty is because she was the only twerp who didn't battle Meowth!) But maybe Meowth was the lucky one. after all, he never had to chase after the runaway baby like Pikachu always had to!
Like his human companions, Meowth LOVES food, and will eat just about anything. Even when Jessie and James complain about how awful their canned dinners taste, Meowth happily munches away on his. Whenever he has the chance to acquire vast sums of money, Meowth invariably imagines himself eating lots and lots of cat food!
Meowth's only known weaknesses are balls of yarn and other round objects. Usually, Jessie and James toss a ball of string to the cat when they want him to be quiet. The Ghost of Maiden's Peak uses a round ball to stop Meowth from attacking. Meowth also became extremely happy when he found the Quagsires' collection of round things they had "borrowed" from the inhabitants of Cherrygrove City.
Meowth's very favorite thing is the full moon. Once, Meowth complimented Jigglypuff by saying that she reminded him of the full moon he loves so much. (Hmm. might there be something going on between these two?) Unfortunately for Meowth, there is another Pokemon who really likes him (or at least the taste of his tail). A rich lady's Snubble seems to be truly taken with Meowth, breaking out of her confining luxury to chase after the cat. This particular Snubble has cost Team Rocket a number of victories, although it is uncertain whether it actually has feelings for Meowth, or just likes the taste of his tail. Meowth is quite the talented Pokemon. Not only can he speak "human talk" and sing, he can also play the guitar. Meowth has three Japanese solo songs: "Nyasu No Uta" (Meowth's Song), "Nyasu no Paati" (Meowth's Party), and "To * Itteru Nya" (He Says So). He also sings on Team Rocket's songs "Rocket-Dan Yo Eien Ni" (Team Rocket Forever) and "Maemuki Rocket-Dan" (Optimistic Team Rocket). He also appears in the Japanese "Pichu" video, along with Pikachu, Marill, Cubone, and Bellossom. The Meowth's Party music video features the famous feline playing a shiny red electric guitar, while all the other Pokemon dance and celebrate. The twerp's electric rat is conspicuously MISSING from this video! In the GC game "Pokemon Channel", the special Pokemon short cartoon features the Pichu Bros. and their friends trying to get to Meowth's Party. As the party approaches, the artistic style changes from drawn animation to stunning 3D. Meowth then entertains an excited crowd of Pokemon as he plays his guitar and sings.
Meowth has been known to sing in English as well, with solo songs "Meowth's Song" (from the episode "Go West, Young Meowth"), "Team Rocket's Song" (from "The Song of Jigglypuff"), and "Meowth's Party" (aired once in English as a special music video). He also sings on Team Rocket's songs "Double Trouble" (from the 2BA Master CD) and "The Best at Being the Worst" (from Pokemon Live). Meowth was selected to be the "second most popular" Pokemon (next to Pikachu) based on the tastes of American viewers. Japanese children supposedly prefer "cute" Pokemon, so in the original comic books, Clefairy is the foil character to Pikachu. However, since Americans prefer "cool" characters, Meowth was selected to be the other starring Pokemon.
While Meowth has had more than his share of difficulties and problems through the years, will he ever achieve success? Will he finally replace the Persian as the Boss's favorite pet again? And will Meowth ever find true love? Only time will tell!
BACK to All About TR |
