Meowth speaks human language as a member of Team Rocket in the Pokémon TV series. He travels with Jessie and James and serves as the trio's translator, planner, and comic commentator.
The anime explains that Meowth taught himself to speak after falling in love with a female Meowth named Meowzie. He tried to impress her by learning human speech and walking on two legs, but she rejected him because she considered him strange. This origin story distinguishes the anime character from ordinary Meowth.
Meowth also translates the speech of other Pokémon for the audience and for his human teammates. Persian is the Pokémon associated with Team Rocket boss Giovanni, which sometimes causes confusion. Meowth's ability to speak is unusual within the series, where most Pokémon communicate through their species names or other sounds.