A nice episode though pretty much filler except for the Team Rocket bits (and even then not that much). Ash & co. are walking through a forest when they run into a Purrloin who is being chased by a flock of Tranquill who we saw Purrloin steal from. Ash & co., not knowing this, help Purrloin as both Meowth and Oshawott fall in love with Purrloin who spots there is fruit in Ash's backpack it wants. Purrloin then starts to come up with a scheme in order to steal the food and get away. What is Purrloin's scheme? Will Meowth and Oshawott realize Purrloin is using them before it's too late? What is Team Rocket planning in Anville Town? And what happened to Cilan to cause him to be scared of Purrloins? Well Cilan won't tell us but the rest of the answers might get answered below:

Feline Femme Fatale:
We start this episode with a Purrloin in a tree who spots a Tranquill giving its mate in their nest some berries and after munching on one they both fly off. Purrloin climbs into the nest to eat the rest of the berries they left but gets caught by one of the Tranquills so it sends out its claws ready to fight. Tranquill sends out a call which Purrloin think means it won however it's soon confronted by a whole flock of Tranquills and runs away with the flock behind it but manages to escape by running deeper into the forest.

Skip over opener and title, we get back to Ash & co. and Meowth says the change of scenery warms his heart with Cilan says Meowth knows how to sweet talk which Meowth responds with liking to seeing the "glass half full" and Iris says she doesn't think that's what Cilan meant. Meowth says he consider travelling with "you twerps" a privilege and a honor though Pikachu still isn't that trustful of Meowth (a mouse not trusting of a cat? What a shock (get it?)! Also Meowth could stop call Ash & co. "twerps" considering he's travelling with them now). Ash says he understands Pikachu's caution but asks for Pikachu to give Meowth a chance which gets Meowth tearful saying their so kind and how could he ever thank them. Cilan says Meowth does sound sorry for all he had done to them while with Team Rocket and Iris adds in that Meowth might have turned over a new leaf.

Meowth thanks them but gets rammed into by Purrloin and upon seeing it Meowth falls in love (you'd think after his last love venture with a Glameow he would be more careful, especially since Purrloin is a Dark-type). Cilan seems to recognize this fact being a bit frightened by it (that or it's his fright of superstitious things) and after checking it with his Pokedex Ash notices Cilan's reaction who says he had a run in with a Purrloin once and ended horribly though didn't go into specifics as "living it once was bad enough" (maybe this is why in the games they have Lillipups ). Meowth asks Purrloin what's wrong and you can tell Purrloin pretty much knows it has Meowth like putty in its han... err... paw and tells Meowth its story. Ash & co. ask what Purrloin said and Meowth says Purrloin needs their help though Cilan says to take Purrloin's sweetness with a grain of salt which Meowth completely ignores and offers his help.

Just then the flock of Tranquill comes flying over and start using a group Gust which Ash sends Oshawott to stop and, after almost flying away in the Gust, uses Water Gun to soak the Tranquill and has Pikachu use Thunderbolt to chase them away (you know Tranquill were already weak to Electric-type attacks, no need to get them wet first). Ash & co. wonder what angered the Tranquill as Purrloin tries sneaking away however Meowth stops it saying it doesn't matter as long as Purrloin is safe before falling down to being hit in a face with a log in the Gust though gets back up after Purrloin compliments him (I guess, I don't really know, I don't speak Purrloin). Oshawott says hello to Purrloin who turns around to it and Oshawott too falls in love with Purrloin (and before you say anything, both Oshawott and Purrloin are in the Field Egg Group so this pair is possible in the games) to the disappointment of Cilan and the anger of Meowth who says he'll protect Purrloin but Ash stops them before a fight breaks out.

They move to a river bank where Meowth translate that Purrloin was eating some berries which the Tranquills thought it stole from them though Cilan isn't fooled saying Purrloin steal without thinking twice and lie about it. Ash asks Purrloin if it stole the berries which Oshawott responds by Water Gunning Cilan and Ash in the face which causes Ash to drop his backpack which were full of nothing but fruit (what, the backpack's hammerspace couldn't store them?) which grabs Purrloin's attention but Oshawott steps in front of it apologizing. Cilan notes Purrloin unfortunately has two advocates but is joined by the third in Iris who thinks Purrloin is cute all the while Cilan is the only one who remembers what the Pokedex (and personal experience) told them (meanwhile Ash looks like he has no clue what's going on. I think this is the first season Ash has played the straight man, that used to be Brock's role but he's gone and replaced with someone on the extreme other side of the female companion). Ash tries getting Cilan to tell what happened though he still refuses while Iris says she'll fix the problem by catching Purrloin (how does that fix the problem? Catching Emolga didn't prevent its apple tricking behavior) with Ash asking why does she want to catch Purrloin and she says to raise it to be a cute and good Pokemon. Iris says because she's going to be a Dragon Master she knows she can raise it right (psst, Iris, Purrloin isn't a Dragon-type) and throws the Pokeball but Meowth jumps in the way and gets beamed into the Pokeball and after a few shakes and no movement Meowth pops out saying that was too close for comfort (even if you did get captured Meowth they would have released you, all of you made an agreement). Meowth tells them their not going to catch Purrloin and then asks Purrloin to go out with him presenting a bouquet but gets pushed aside by Oshawott who grabs the bouquet and too asks Purrloin out and the two start to fight. Purrloin grabs the bouquet and winks at them causing both Meowth and Oshawott to faint by love as Cilan says their in love bad and it's not a good thing while Iris says she's re-thinking the cute thing. Purrloin starts walking away as Ash & co. watch and start talking about how Meowth and Oshawott won't like it but we see Purrloin is hiding behind a rock nearby and has its eye on Ash's backpack.

Over to Anville Town, James says he's worried about Meowth being their doing what he used to do but Jessie tells him "that was then and this is now" and whatever they plan on doing will be done tonight (so it looks like Meowth was fired, I wonder what will happen the next time Ash & co. encounter Team Rocket?).

The Purr-fect Scheme:
Back to the story, Purrloin comes running back up to Ash & co. and Meowth translate that Purrloin has a friend that's trapped in a cave and Meowth says he'll rescue its friend but so does Oshawott and both get into an argument. Ash says they'll all go and help but Cilan says he isn't going as he can't believe Purrloin so he'll wait for them at the river bank and so everyone but Cilan takes off. Skip over "Who's That Pokemon" (this one was tricky but here's a hint: it attracts Meowths and Oshawotts), we see Ash & co. (- Cilan, + Purrloin) climbing a cliff with Purrloin and Iris having no difficulty but everyone else does and Ash asks Purrloin how much further do they have to go. Meowth translates that it won't be much longer and Ash should probably leave his heavy backpack behind but Ash says he'll be fine and they continue climbing much to Purrloin's annoyance.

Back to Cilan, he's shivering to the memory of his last encounter with a Purrloin and hopes everyone will be alright when a girl with a broken arm walks up to him and asks if he's seen Purrloin which Cilan says he has.

Back to the foolish squad, their running through an abandoned mine until reaching a small hole that Purrloin, Meowth, Oshawott, and Pikachu easily got through but Ash having problems crawling through. Seeing its chance, Purrloin tells Meowth it should carry Ash's backpack as the path get narrower and Ash hands over his backpack, all according to Purrloin's plan. They walk deeper into the mine and tells them their friend is stuck behind a rock in a quarry but should leave Ash's backpack so they can maneuver more easily and they all (- Purrloin) jump down the scaffolding which starts creaking and Iris says must be old. Meowth notices Purrloin isn't with them only to find it with Ash's backpack telling them it has their food so it's done with them.

Ash: You've been lying to us this whole time.
Comment: WHAT! You mean the DEVIOUS Pokemon which the Pokedex CLEARLY tells you STEALS AND LIES has lied to you to steal your backpack!

Purrloin starts to leave as Meowth tries climbing after it however the scaffolding breaks and Ash & co. falls into the quarry which seems to have gotten Purrloin's attention. We see Ash, Pikachu, Meowth, Iris, and Oshawott are okay and Purrloin puts Ash's backpack down to go look what happened when Cilan and the broken arm girl arrive. The girl tells Purrloin it's her, Misha, but as she gets closer Purrloin pulls out its claws and Meowth translates Purrloin's question of why Misha abandoned it (according to it's track record, "being a jerk" is a viable answer). Misha tells Purrloin she never abandoned it as we get a flashback of Misha telling Purrloin to stay at their house and will be back soon however days went by with Misha not having returned and Purrloin started running out of food. Purrloin says it waited for days and doesn't know how it feels to be abandoned (being she's living alone I wouldn't jump to conclusions, I mean if she was a trainer then why does she have a house in the middle of the forest?) but Misha tells it when she was doing errands she got into a horrible accident and by the time she got home Purrloin was gone (you never thought to tell anyone you had a Purrloin waiting for you at home? What, you don't have any friends or don't trust Officer Jenny?). Cilan says Misha had heard their was a Purrloin causing problems around here and has been looking ever since, however Purrloin doesn't believe her as we get a shot of Meowth sinking into the floor of the quarry. Misha asks Purrloin to believe her as Ash tells Purrloin that Misha came out all this way to look for Purrloin with Iris adding that Purrloin should think it over.

Misha apologizes for leaving Purrloin alone but soon Meowth realizes he's sinking and soon Ash, Iris, Pikachu, and Oshawott also get stuck (why are they sinking?) and Cilan runs down a conveyor belt and throws a rope down to them. Misha helps Cilan try to pull everyone out but the conveyor belt their on breaks and they fall into the... sinking gravel... too. Purrloin runs to help but Misha tells it to stay as it can't pull them all out on its own (yeah, too bad no one else have Pokemon that can help, I mean a Grass-type with Vine Whip and a strong Ground/Steel-type to pull would be so helpful...). Purrloin remembers Misha playing and taking care of it and runs out of the mine leaving Ash's backpack behind as if the audience wasn't going to believe it wasn't going to search for help.

Ash FINALLY remembers he does indeed have more Pokemon then Pikachu and Oshawott and sends out Snivy to pull the rope (hey, Iris, did you also get you hint? Also no one else be afraid to send out your other Pokemon to help pull you up from being eaten by the Earth) but Oshawott and Meowth start sinking in. After a shot of Purrloin running out the mine, Ash too starts to sink and... oh wow, I can't believe it, Iris actually does send her Excadrill out to help pull along with Cilan sending out Pansage however it looks to be doing no good (you all do know you have more then one Pokemon, right?). When it does look their finally pulling them out the rope breaks and everyone sinks into the Earth and suffocates to death, the end (wow, didn't think Pokemon would end on such a tragic note)... okay, okay, the Tranquill flock comes flying in and lifts everyone from the gravel.

Iris asked how they knew and we see that Purrloin brought them (which now makes the question "why did the Tranquill swarm help Purrloin?") and everyone thanks the Tranquill and Purrloin for helping them. Outside by the river bank, it's explained that Purrloin talked the Tranquill to help it and we get a flashback of Purrloin doing so while be attacked by Gust (which explains the bruises it has). Misha thanks Purrloin and Meowth translate that though Purrloin felt abandoned it didn't want to leave all of them back their and Ash & co. wish the best to Misha and Purrloin. Meowth says it was his pleasure to help (I'm surprised Misha isn't surprised she's talking to a talking Meowth, I guess they covered all that between the scenes) and asks for Purrloin to go out on a date with him with Oshawott doing the same. We see Purrloin looking between the two, the music swells up, who will Purrloin pick?... and then the music stops, we look up to Misha, and she tells them that Purrloin is a MALE (you'd think out all the characters that Meowth would be able to tell the difference between a male and female cat).

And after a joke from Cilan with Meowth and Oshawott blushing in embarrassment the narrator ends Ash & co.'s story for this episode. However that doesn't mean the episode is over just yet, as we see Jessie and James flagging down a Team Rocket helicopter where we do end our episode.