Why hasn't Team Rocket's Meowth evolved? This is a question I have been wondering about - why hasn't Team Rocket's Meowth evolved, or rather (since it's kind of easy to answer that question) will he or can evolve?

The core to that question is that we see Meowth is envious of Giovanni's Persian, and when he imagines himself being petted by Giovanni he isn't imagining himself as Persian but as Meowth, so it kind of brings the question - is Meowth like Ash's Pikachu and doesn't want to evolve? I mean, he sure can imagine himself being petted by Giovanni as Persian, since its evolved form is surely better than Meowth itself, so it's clear why Giovanni would want Persian over Meowth, and Meowth should know that even so he doesn't imagine himself evolving, so that means he can't evolve from some reason?

I have a pretty good theory for an answer but I would be happy for a more sourceable answer if anyone has.
Meowth can't evolve because he can't battle.

As stated on Meowth's Bulbapedia article:


  Meowth normally does not battle unless there are extreme circumstances; his explanation is that his ability to talk and walk upright came at the expense of battling ability.


A good example of this is Pokémon: The First Movie, where Meowth and his clone are two of the only three Pokémon that don't get involved in the final battle (the third being Ash's Pikachu, who refuses to fight back against his clone). Because Meowth never fights, he never earns any experience, and therefore he can never evolve.

I guess Team Rocket could just stuff him full of Rare Candies until he evolves into Persian, but that then raises the question of where they would get all those Rare Candies from, as they're consistently shown to be short on funds.