Meowth appears as a supporting character in the Pikachu short "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure," briefly intersecting with the main plot. Separated from Team Rocket companions Jessie and James, he becomes accidentally embroiled when Togepi rolls into him during a camping trip, sending both tumbling down a deep hole. This descent happens independently of Pikachu and the other Pokémon, though they all land in the same underground area. His background reveals a difficult early life. His earliest memories involve abandonment and hunger as a stray at Camp Pokéhearst. He later joined a street gang of Meowth in Hollywood (Tinseltown) led by a Persian. There, he met a female Meowth named Meowzie, whose preference for humans motivated his transformation. He endured a painful process to learn human speech by eavesdropping on language classes and mastering complex tongue twisters, and taught himself to walk upright. Despite these efforts, Meowzie rejected him as a "freak," leading him to join Team Rocket after learning the word "rocket" from a picture book. This transformation carried significant trade-offs. His focus on human-like traits left him unable to learn the move Pay Day, a standard ability for his species, and developed him into a notably weak battler, having dedicated energy to speech and bipedal movement over combat training. His unique traits distinguish him: he is the only non-Legendary Pokémon capable of human speech without telepathy, and he can read and translate between human and Pokémon languages. Within Team Rocket, Meowth serves as the trio's strategist and interpreter, though his plans often fail. He covets becoming Giovanni's "Top Cat," a position held by a Persian, but his clumsiness led to reassignment with Jessie and James. Despite frequent conflicts and a yearning for recognition, he demonstrates deep loyalty. His complex relationship with Pikachu features Team Rocket's persistent attempts to capture Ash's Pikachu for Giovanni, yet Meowth has acknowledged they could have been friends under different circumstances, with occasional instances of cooperation. Emotionally, Meowth displays vulnerability beneath his boastful exterior. He experienced genuine affection for Meowzie, protected Misty's Togepi egg, and expressed a desire to raise it himself. He tends to keep his painful past private, often reflecting alone on his experiences and sense of alienation. His inability to fit in with other Meowth or humans contributes to his identity as an outcast. In "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure," Meowth's misadventures continue separately from the main rescue mission. After falling down the hole, he encounters hostility from a Gyarados while trapped on a branch. Later, he collides with Pikachu and Elekid, leading to a confrontation where he argues over riding Gyarados before being blasted away by Pikachu's Thunderbolt. The short concludes with him unconscious in a pond, vowing never to go camping again.