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| Season | Pokémon: Black & White (Season 14) · Meowth’s defection & the Battle Subway arc (BW043–BW048) |
| Episode | Season 14, episode 43 · English episode 696 · Japanese episode 701 · Bulbapedia code BW043 |
| English title | Meowth’s Scrafty Tactics! |
| Japanese title | ニャゴシエーター・ニャース！ズルズキン説得作戦！！ Nyagoshiētā Nyāsu! Zuruzukin Settoku Sakusen!! — “Nyagotiator Nyarth! Zuruzukin Persuasion Tactics!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 18 August 2011 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 November 2011 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Pokémon Ieru kana? BW (Can You Name All the Pokémon? BW) – Takeshi Tsuruno |
| English opening | Black and White – Erin Bowman & Joe Philips |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Scrafty (US) |
| Previous episode | Club Battle Finale: A Hero’s Outcome! (BW042) |
| Next episode | Purrloin: Sweet or Sneaky? (BW044) |
Plot episodeMeowth joins the heroesScraggy learns High Jump Kick
Meowth’s Scrafty Tactics! is the 43rd episode of Pokémon: Black & White, the fourteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 696th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 701, Bulbapedia code BW043). It first aired in Japan on 18 August 2011 and in the United States on 26 November 2011. It falls within the season’s Meowth’s defection & the Battle Subway stretch (EP43–EP48).
Synopsis
Meowth turns up claiming that Team Rocket have fired him and joins Ash’s group, using his talent for negotiation to settle a dispute with a kidnapping Scrafty. Cilan treats the unconscious Meowth, who says Giovanni dismissed him and Jessie and James abandoned him, and although Iris is suspicious, Ash lets him come along if he behaves.
A Scrafty seizes Axew and demands a battle for its return. While Meowth talks it into teaching Scraggy High Jump Kick, Snivy lifts Axew out through a window with Vine Whip. Exposed, Scrafty challenges Ash, crashes during a High Jump Kick and loses to Tepig’s Flame Charge, then tearfully explains that a Mandibuzz stole its nest.
At the nest Mandibuzz beats Scrafty with Shadow Ball, but Scraggy dodges Pluck and wins with High Jump Kick. Meowth learns that Mandibuzz was expelled from her flock for eating its food and brokers a peace offering. Iris tries to catch Meowth and fails, while Jessie and James reach Anville Town to report to Dr. Zager.
Major Events
- Meowth joins the heroes. Meowth claims to have been fired and becomes a “Nyagotiator”
- A Scrafty teaches Scraggy High Jump Kick
- Mandibuzz
- Iris fails to catch Meowth, who enters a Poké Ball for the first time
- Jessie and James reach Anville Town
- TV debuts of Scrafty and Mandibuzz
Pokémon making their anime debut
Scrafty#0560 · BW043
Mandibuzz#0630 · BW043
Trivia
- The English title plays on “crafty tactics”, for a negotiating Meowth and a scheming Scrafty.
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Unova storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Undercover Meowth calls the heroes “twerps” (the Japanese avoids names to keep his cover)
- The Latin American Spanish dub jokes about “the ones from Digimon”
Part of our Pokémon: Black & White guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.