Yeah, listen, The Bird Keeper with the Farfetch'd wasn't really a Machiavellan. A Machiavellan is someone who uses any excuse or opportunity to achieve unlimited Power (for instance, Palpatine). Yes, he did steal pokemon, but it wasn't so he could dominate the world. Actually, he only stole pokemon because he didn't think Farfetch'd would be able to handle a battle (he even said it himself, "If he knew that Farfecth'd could battle well, he wouldn't have resorted to stealing pokemon".).
Anyways, it's a good Misty episode. Her Psyduck may have been a bit Deus Ex Machina, but then again, so is most of Ash's wins, and very few people seem to actually complain about Ash's battling style. In case you're wondering why I rambled with this comment, let's just say that far too many people seem to complain about Misty's non TR wins being DEM (IE, Psyduck), and aren't noticing that most of Ash's wins are just as much DEM, if not even worse. Actually, virtually every main character's win has been a DEM of some sort. I think the only one who wasn't a DEM user is Brock, and he rarely battles anyways.