BW043

Meowth's Scrafty Tactics! (Japanese: ニャゴシエーター・ニャース！ズルズキン説得作戦！！ Nyagotiator ! Persuasion Tactics!!) is the 43rd episode of the, and the 700th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on August 18, 2011 and in the United States on November 26, 2011.

Blurb
On their way to Nimbasa City, Ash and the gang are surprised to come across Meowth, who has been injured. They learn that Meowth has been fired from Team Rocket, so our heroes decide it would be best for Meowth to join them...as long as he behaves!

Soon after, Axew is lured away and captured by an angry Scrafty. With Meowth translating, Scrafty warns our heroes that if they don’t help it in battle, they’ll never see Axew again! Ash hatches a plan: Meowth and Scraggy will distract Scrafty with negotiations while he frees Axew with the help of Pikachu and Snivy.

When Scrafty discovers the deceit, it immediately challenges Ash to a battle. Ash and Tepig quickly get the upper hand...and Scrafty bursts into tears! With Meowth’s help, Scrafty explains that its den was stolen by a Mandibuzz. Upon further investigation, the gang discovers that the Mandibuzz was kicked out of its own nest after having a fight with a friend.

Meowth agrees to go with the ousted Mandibuzz and ask its friend for forgiveness so it can move back in, and Meowth’s expert negotiating skills seal the deal! The two Mandibuzz are friends again, Scrafty has its den back, and our heroes continue on their way to Nimbasa City—now with Meowth as part of the gang!

Plot
On their way to Nimbasa City, is seen taking a break for lunch. While and  are playing, they find an unconscious  in the bushes. Upon telling everyone, quickly inspects Meowth's condition. Cilan and give him medicine, and soon after, Meowth regains consciousness. After being startled by the gang, Iris asks Meowth what is doing here. However, Meowth tells them that he is no longer a part of Team Rocket.

When asks him what happened, Meowth tries to run away, claiming that nothing happened, but he is not able to run in his condition, and almost collapses. He tells the story of how he was entrusted to carry out an operation, but was unsuccessful. As a result, he was taken back to headquarters to hear what the consequences were. When leaving headquarters, he imagined Jessie and James leaving him, so he kept walking.

Upon hearing the story, Cilan suggests to the others that they should let Meowth travel with them, but Ash and Iris don't think that it's a good idea. Cilan then reminds them that he is the only Meowth in Unova, and that he will be lonely. Meowth initially refuses, but Iris says that he will faint again if they leave him. Ash tells Meowth that he can travel with them on the condition that he doesn't do anything bad. Meowth agrees to these terms as he has no reason to do anything bad, seeing as he's no longer a part of Team Rocket.

As they start walking, Meowth flatters the gang on their qualities; commenting on Cilan's soup, calling Iris a princess, and even calling Ash a good Trainer. As they walk, Axew becomes interested in a shiny object placed on the road, but when Axew tries to grab it, he is kidnapped by a. The gang follows Scrafty to its hut, but Meowth tries to stop them, explaining that they mustn't get any closer to Scrafty's hut because he could hurt Axew. Ash ignores Meowth and runs towards the hut, but Meowth stops him again, telling him that Scrafty is serious and that they shouldn't anger him. Pikachu agrees with Meowth, and Cilan suggests that they wait there until it things calm down. Inside the hut, Axew tries to use, blowing a hole through the wall, but Scrafty manages to evade it.

Meowth tells the others that he will take it from there, claiming that he is a negotiator. Meowth slowly walks to Scrafty's hut, calling for it to come outside. He asks Scrafty why he is doing this, and Scrafty tells him it will release Axew if it gets a Pokémon to help it in a fight. While Meowth negotiates with Scrafty, Ash makes his way around the hut as Scrafty shows Meowth that Axew is in one piece—but is tied up. Higher up, Ash notices that there is a window on the side, later suggesting that there is a way to release Axew. He tells Meowth to talk with Scrafty, but Meowth explains that Scrafty is an evolved form of, and that it will be good idea to take Scraggy with him to distract Scrafty. Ash complies and lets Scraggy go with Meowth, and takes with him. As Snivy is released from her Poké Ball, she attacks Meowth, only for Ash to tell her that Meowth is now their friend.

Meanwhile, Jessie and James are in the Nimbasa City underground, completing another one of their operations.

Meowth and Scraggy go to Scrafty while Ash goes around the hut again. As Scraggy and Scrafty show which moves they can use, Meowth suggests that Scrafty should teach Scraggy some good moves in an attempt to distract it. Scrafty accepts, and shows Scraggy how to use. Scraggy tries to use the move, distracting Scrafty and allowing Meowth to signal to Ash that he can release Axew. Ash tells Snivy to use and carry Axew out of the window. As Meowth pretends to alert that Axew is missing, he and Scraggy leave so Pikachu can use on Scrafty and return to the others.

Upon returning Axew, Meowth says that Scraggy is worried about Scrafty, but Scrafty returns and challenges the gang. Ash accepts and chooses Tepig to battle, who easily wins the fight. Meowth and Cilan investigate why Scrafty is doing these things. After refusing to speak, Scrafty admits that its nest was taken away, and it needs help to get it back, and that everyone he has asked has refused to help—resulting in it kidnapping Pokémon. After hearing the story, Ash and his friends agree to help Scrafty.

Scrafty leads them to his nest, showing them that a had taken it. Scrafty tries to attack Mandibuzz, but is easily defeated by her. Scraggy decides to try to defend his "older brother". Mandibuzz uses and dives into Scraggy, but Scraggy manages to dodge the attack. Mandibuzz hits the head in the ground and gets stuck on the rocks. As Mandibuzz tries to get free, Scrafty commands Scraggy to use Hi Jump Kick, which successfully hits and defeats Mandibuzz. Upon defeating Mandibuzz, she starts crying, explaining that she was kicked out of her flock because she ate all of the food, forcing her to take Scrafty's nest. After hearing this, Meowth suggests that they pick up some food and give it to Mandibuzz's flock. After seeing it as a peace-offering, Mandibuzz is welcomed back to her flock.

As the trio continue their journey, Iris compliments Meowth's negotiation skills, to which everybody agrees. Suddenly, Iris decides to capture Meowth and throws a Poké Ball at him. The catch is unsuccessful as Meowth yells at her, claiming that he belongs to no-one. He agrees to continue traveling with the group, as long as they don't try to catch him.

Finally, Jessie and James are seen at night in Anville Town's train yard, planning to report their progress to Dr. Zager.

Major events

 * Ash's Scraggy learns.
 * begins to travel with and, claiming to have been fired from Team Rocket.
 * attempts to capture Meowth, but is unsuccessful.
 * Jessie and James arrive in Anville Town and begin their plans to sabotage the Nimbasa Subway system.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Subway patrons
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Subway patrons

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:


 * (debut)
 * (×2)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (debut)
 * (×2)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (×2)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster:
 * All of the transitions in this episode, not including the theme song, used a head.
 * This episode is the only one in the to feature  in one of 's fantasies.

Errors

 * When is checking its pants to see if  is alright, Axew's eyelid is colored white when he is about to use  on Scrafty.
 * When tells  to wait before Meowth will go to save Axew while Scrafty is teaching  a new move, the stripe on Snivy's neck turns green for a split-second.
 * During several scenes throughout the episode, Scraggy's pupils change designs sometimes.
 * When the first explains her problem to Meowth, he replies, "If you went an ate your buddy's food without his permission, you did a bad thing." The "buddy" turns out to be another Mandibuzz, which is a female-only species.

Dub edits

 * In the English dub, Meowth makes a reference to when he says "Sure, Sherlock!" as  asks Meowth to let him interrogate Scrafty. Cilan's outfit during the scene could also be influenced by the popular image of Sherlock Holmes.
 * In the n dub, when Meowth is trying to distract Scrafty, instead of saying "Scrafty! Watch out, look at that!!", he points and says "".
 * A similar reference in which a Pokémon character looks down to the Digimon franchise happened in DP045.

In other languages
Mauzi als Retter in der Not! EP705 BW043 BW043 BW編第43話 精灵宝可梦 超级愿望 第43集