Stitch is jealous of an experiment that can locate missing persons and things, but when Hämsterviel escapes prison, the experiment helps track him down.
Lilo has found X-158note and taken him home. After Nani misplaces her keys, 158 is immediately able to find them. Stitch is jealous of 158's finding skills and tries to "find" something himself, wrecking the living room couch in the process. Hämsterviel escapes from prison and hijacks a ship in order to escape to Earth. Gantu is making repairs to his ship when Hämsterviel calls, informing him that he will be staying on Earth for the time being. Gantu says that he is too busy with repairs to host him, but Hämsterviel angrily demotes him to Reuben's assistant until further notice.
Lilo takes 158 (now "Finder") to show and tell. Finder is able to find the students' missing items, impressing everyone and upstaging Mertle (who had brought some silly old doll). Lilo comes home and brags about showing up her rival, but Nani scolds her for gloating. Stitch is also somewhat jealous of Finder because of all the time Lilo has been spending with the new experiment.
As Nani goes out on a date, Jumba and Pleakley finish a call with the Grand Councilwoman, who informs them that Hämsterviel has escaped. The whole gang suspects that he might be hiding out on Earth and set out to find him. Stitch competes with Finder to find him first in order to prove he is better. This comes to a head when the two point in opposite directions, and Lilo, Jumba, and Pleakley decide to follow Finder's lead instead of Stitch's.
Hämsterviel crash lands on Earth and narrowly escapes being found by Finder. However, Mertle is nearby looking for a pet that can perform tricks in order to upstage Lilo at the next show and tell. After finding a talking gerbil, she stuffs Hämsterviel into a cage and takes him home. Finder tracks Hämsterviel to Mertle's house, but they all conclude that Finder must have made some sort of mistake.
Jumba tells the Grand Councilwoman that Finder could not track down Hämsterviel, so she is forced to take more drastic measures. She calls Gantu and offers him a deal — if he betrays Hämsterviel and turns him in to the authorities, he'll get his old job as Captain of the Galactic Armada back. He storms Mertle's house as Lilo and the rest of the gang follow his ship. Not only did Gantu take Hämsterviel, he took Mertle too! Jumba reveals that Finder can fly, so Stitch and Finder set aside their differences and fly onto Gantu's ship. Stitch rips out some hull panels, causing Gantu's ship to crash.
Fortunately, the Grand Councilwoman arrives to take Hämsterviel and offers Gantu his job back. When she finds out that he had also unwittingly captured Mertle as collateral damage, her offer is rescinded. The Grand Councilwoman congratulates Stitch on his capture, but having learned his lesson, he lets Finder take the credit as he was the one who tracked Hämsterviel down. Mertle is sad that her talking gerbil is being taken away, so Lilo secretly asks the Grand Councilwoman for a favor. Mertle does end up showing Hämsterviel off in show and tell briefly before he is taken back to prison. It's nice to let someone else have the limelight sometimes. Finder's one true place is manning a Lost and Found on the beach, searching for people's forgotten treasures.
Experiments who appeared or were mentioned in this episode:
- Finder (X-158): This episode's Monster of the Week; a red aardvark/shrew-like experiment who is designed to sniff and find anything and anyone upon request; if he succeeds in doing so, he honks. He can also fly by spinning his ears to ensure optimal tracking potential. He is misnumbered 458 in this episode.
- Yin (X-501): Joins Stitch's poker game at the Pelekai residence.
- Yang (X-502): Joins Stitch's poker game at the Pelekai residence. He wins the pot in the game, which is cookies.
- Richter (X-513): Joins Stitch's poker game at the Pelekai residence.
- Cannonball (X-520): Joins Stitch's poker game at the Pelekai residence.
- Reuben (X-625)
Tropes featured in this episode include:
- An Aesop: Everybody is good at something, but nobody is best at everything.
- The Bus Came Back: The Grand Councilwoman returns since her last appearance in Stitch! The Movie. This is the only episode of the entire show where she appears; she would not appear in the main canon again until Leroy & Stitch.
- Canines Gambling in a Card Game: Well, alien genetic experiments, but Stitch (who was adopted by Lilo as a "dog") plays a game of poker with his experiment "cousins" with cookies in place of poker chips.
- History Repeats: Gantu loses his opportunity to get his old job back because he captured a human girl (Mertle) in the process, much like with how he was forcibly retired as Captain of the Galactic Armada when he caught Lilo in the first film.
- Series Continuity Error: Finder is numbered 458 in this episode. He is actually Experiment 158, as shown on the Experiment Tracker mini-poster included with Stitch! The Movie and reaffirmed by a "Wanted!" Poster in the second season episode "Skip" and on the experiments list in the credits of Leroy & Stitch. (Sadly, he would have been the only 4-Series experiment featured in the show if he maintained 458 as his number.)
- Heli-Critter: Finder can use his ears to fly like a helicopter in order to help others find things.
- Special Guest: Zoe Caldwell as the Grand Councilwoman.
