Pokemon fans remember Meowth as the wily and irreplacable member of Team Rocket, alongside Jesse and James. Meowth was always a part of Team Rocket's schemes and ploys to capture Pikachu. However, unlike Pikachu, Meowth seems to be the only Pokemon that is able to talk. This begs the questions of how and why this is possible.
In episode 72 of Pokemon: Indigo League, Ash Ketchum and the gang were invited to the movie premiere of "Pokemon In Love" in Hollywood. On the flip side of things, Jesse and James of Team Rocket are also attending the premiere - by crashing it without an invitation, of course. While the two are fantasizing about the glamour of Hollywood, Meowth nervously interjects by saying "Hollywood, a place I'd like to forget". We are then taken on a flashback to Meowth as a young Pokemon.
Poor Beginnings
Meowth compares his childhood to that of a cheap chocolate bar: bittersweet. The young Meowth's first memories was being orphaned, hungry, friendless, and homeless; just a baby Pokemon alone in a newspaper-lined basket. One day out of hunger, he tried to climb into a basket of baseballs in the park that belonged to a nearby group of children and their coach, and tried to eat the balls.
As a punishment, the coach bound him with rope and hoisted him up a tree. After crying himself to sleep, the same park was holding a movie night showing a new Hollywood movie called "That Darn Meowth!". In the film, a Pokemon that looked just like Meowth was depicted as eating delicious food such as ice cream and fried chicken. Meowth, still tied up in the tree, watched this in awe and gained a newfound motivation to break free from his binds to "Go west to Hollywood!" and find the scrumptious food he saw on the screen.
Onward to Hollywood!
After hitchiking on a truck that was going to Hollywood, when he got there he tried unsucessfully to steal food from a local restaraunt, which made the chef very angry, chasing him out. Meowth found the Hollywood streets to be cold and unforgiving.
His luck turned around when he stumbled across a pack of Meowths, who managed to give him a fish skeleton to eat, his first meal in a long time. The next day, he and his Meowth brethren stole more food from the restaurant, this is the first time Meowth managed to taste that heavenly fried chicken from the screen in the park on top of other gorging on other delightful foods. However, Meowth was still craving love, and you can't exactly eat that.
Puppy Love
One day, Meowth came upon a beautiful female Meowth named Meowzie outside a Pokéball shop, and he was head-over-heels instantly. Whilst trying to woo her, the shop owner chased him away from her precious pet Meowzie. The owner then presented Meowzie with a diamond-encrusted Pokéball, to which she was practically drooling over.
Before disappearing into her sparkly new Pokéball, Meowzie proceeded to tell Meowth that this human treats her extremely well and gives her diamonds, and that a lowly street Meowth could never provide her with things that a human could. Heartbroken, Meowth decided that the only way to win her over, was to become a human.
The Quest for Love and Humanity
After sitting in on a few dance class, Meowth valliantly tried and succeeded to walk on two legs and speak like humans. He fantasized about even writing poetry for his beloved Meowzie and even stole food with the other Meowths on two legs now, getting faster with each chase. When he made a breakthrough in his speech, he learned the alphabet, the first word he understoof being "rocket", which Meowth attributes to himself joining Team Rocket. Soon, Meowth became fluent in talking like humans.
Armed with his new skills, Meowth paid Meowzie another visit. He confidently arrived on two legs, showed off his new language and even brought her flowers. Unfortunately, Meowzie was still not impressed. She told him that even though he is now bipedal and can talk like humans, he is still a penniless stray Meowth. To Meowzie, Meowth was a freak.
Angry and crushed, Meowth set out to become the richest freak Meowzie ever saw. This was the last time he saw Meowzie and his old clan of Meowths. He found Team Rocket around this time in the hopes that he could use them to become rich and powerful like he so vowed.
Meowth is Reunited with his Past
In the present, Team Rocket arrives in Hollywood. Meowth decides to take a walk around his old stomping grounds, only to find everything delapidated. Jesse and James wondered why he was wandering off all alone. Soon, Meowth's former gang of Meowths found him, asking him to rejoin them with his new humanoid skills so that he can help them out with more ploys, to which he declined. To his surprise, Meowzie is now a part of this group. It turned out that when Meowzie's owner ran out of her money, she left her to fend for herself; something abandonment being something Meowth surely understands.
After proclaiming that he will rescue Meowzie, the pack of Meowths refuse to let them go, only to be found by Team Rocket. Jesse and James saw Meowth being surrounded by the uncouth group of Meowths and followed him out of safety. Astounded, Meowth wonders why they followed him, to which they reply that he's their friend and that they would never let anything happen to him. Gobsmacked by their love for him, Meowth watches Team Rocket help them escape, with the head of the pack Persian in tow. Meowth and Persian attack each other, to which Persian is defeated.
Despite all the effort to rescue her, Meowzie decides to remain with the Persian, as it would not be right to leave the person who took her in during her time of need. Additionally, she still sees Meowth as a freak of a Pokemon after everything. However, Team Rocket still see Meowth as one of their own.