Purrloin are natural thieves, but their reputation is as widespread as their crimes, so honest trainers have quickly grown wise to their pokemon's tricks. After every battle in which they are used, they typically request their opponents verify the possession of all their items, and will periodically check their Purrloin's fur and pokeball before leaving any city, so that stolen items (of which there are typially many) can be safely returned to the proper authorities. But many Purrloin resent this treatment almost as much as they resent losing their ill-gotten items, and it is not rare for these pokemon to sneak away in the depths of night.

Some of these Purrloin become strays, for these purple and silent pokemon are as adept at supporting themselves through petty crime as any common burglar. Others, especially those whose trainers never traveled far, simply return to the wilderness. But there are some among the Purrloin who have grown attached to human companionship, and seek out less scrupulous trainers, often in the service of organized crime.

Team Plasma was accused of many Purrloin abductions in their day, and these were often imagined as phase one in their efforts to liberate all trained pokemon – especially among those ignorant of history, for prior, far less ideologically motivated criminal gangs in Unova had been accused of the exact same thing! Although it is certainly true that Purrloin once owned by trainers were later found in possession of Team Plasma, most of these cases were defections; there is only one recorded case of a Purrloin being taken from its trainer without its consent.