"I don't think it's lost exactly, just...Wandering and distracted."

Elio explained as you two walked along the beach near his home in hopes of finding his mother's Meowth. She was insisting that the cat Pokémon got lost, but both you and Elio knew it had a good sense of direction.

More likely than not, the Pokémon had just gotten distracted and hadn't decided to come back home yet. But Elio loves his mom and he wants her to feel better about her Meowth's safety.