Persian (Pokémon)

← #052: Meowth	Pokémon	#054: Psyduck →
This article is about the species. For a specific instance of this species, see Persian (disambiguation).

Persian ペルシアン Persian #053
Art by Ken Sugimori from FireRed and LeafGreen
Type Normal Unknown Unknown Unknown Blue-Striped Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown	Category Classy Cat Pokémon
Abilities Limber or Technician Technician Blue-Striped ----- Unnerve Hidden Ability
Exp. at Lv. 100 1,000,000
Regional Pokédex numbers Kanto #053 Johto #139 Hoenn #242 Sinnoh — Unova Not in any regional Pokédex
Regional Browser numbers Fiore R— Almia R— Oblivia
Height 3'03" Imperial 1.0 m Metric 3'03"/1.0 m Red-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m Blue-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m
Weight 70.5 lbs. Imperial 32.0 kg Metric 70.5 lbs./32.0 kg Red-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg Blue-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg
Dex color Yellow	Catch rate 90 (11.8%)
Body style Blue-Striped	Footprint      Blue-Striped
Gender ratio Gender unknown Unknown 50% male, 50% female
Breeding Field group 21 cycles (5355 minimum steps)
EV yield HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 2 Base Exp.: 148 Battle Exp.: 1481*
External links On Smogon Pokédex: Generation I Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII Generation VIII Generation IX Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Persian (Japanese: ペルシアン Persian) is a Normal-type Pokémon.

It evolves from Meowth starting at level 28.

Biology

Physiology

Persian resembles large, quadruped felines, like mountain lions. Its tail has a distinctive whorl at the end, similar to its pre-evolution, Meowth. Its fur is pale tan with the exception of its black-rimmed ears. Perhaps its most distinctive feature is the red jewel in the center of its forehead. Many Pokémon, particularly those with Psychic abilities such as Espeon, Golduck, and Staryu, have similar jewels; Persian, however, does not demonstrate any affinities to a particular element, so this connection seems to be purely coincidental. Like Meowth and 'real-life' cats, Persian is capable of retracting its claws and bringing them out again when needed.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Its thick whiskers are very sensitive to changes in air movements, enabling it to detect its prey by movement alone. Persian's lithe muscles also enable it to walk without making a sound. Persian has the same scratching abilities as its pre-evolution, but they are notably stronger. Persian can also wield the scarce Power Gem and Switcheroo moves.

Being a fully evolved Pokémon, Persian has access to the moves Giga Impact and Hyper Beam.

Behavior

Persian, although popular for its elegance, is extremely difficult to raise as a pet. Underneath its refined facade is a fierce predator. It will Scratch anyone, including its Trainer, with little or no provocation. One should be wary if Persian raises its tail straight up, as it is a signal that Persian is about to pounce and bite. Persian has been observed ripping its prey apart for no discernible reason. When a Persian is yanked by its whiskers, it becomes temporarily docile. The reason for this is unknown. Persian is known to hold its tail out straight if it is an experienced battler.

Habitat

Persian usually live in towns and cities but can also be found occasionally in forests, particularly in Kanto.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

Persian is a carnivore, hunting prey and tearing it apart with no discernible reason.

In the anime

Persian in the anime

Major appearances

Giovanni's Persian

Giovanni has a Persian that is his primary Pokémon. It first appeared in Battle Aboard the St. Anne. While it is almost always seen at his side, it was only seen battling once. Meowth of Team Rocket seems to be its "rival" as Giovanni's "top cat."

Other

A Persian that was the leader of a pack of street Meowth (which Team Rocket's Meowth was also once part of) appeared in Go West, Young Meowth!

Minor appearances

In The Problem with Paras, Cassandra's grandmother found a Persian sleeping in the backyard. She decided that it, and not Meowth, should be Cassandra's company mascot.

Ash battled a Persian in The Mandrin Island Miss-Match. The Classy Cat Pokémon was taken out by Ash's Squirtle after hitting it with Thunderbolt.

A Persian appeared in Beauty and the Breeder where it participated in a Pokémon beauty contest.

In Saved by the Beldum!, Tyson's Meowth defeated a Persian owned by a girl named Vivica during the preliminaries of the Hoenn League.

In the manga

Green's Persian

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

In Purrrr-sian, Super Nerd Miles is seen using a Persian to attack Yellow. It scratches the walls of buildings to create dissonance to disorient Yellow.

Sird also has a Persian as one of her main team members. While it was probably well-trained and helped Sird obtain her position in Team Rocket, it lost to Lorelei's Slowking, forcing her to pursue other means to win the battle.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga

Green's Meowth evolved into a Persian and devolved back into Meowth.

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga

Giovanni's Persian was seen watching him in Ash vs. Gary as his anger fades away from remembering the giant Slowpoke that Team Rocket scientists created.

In the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga

The backstory of how Giovanni met Persian is revealed that he rescued it when he was a child.

In the TCG

Main article: Persian (TCG)

Game data

NPC appearances

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Persian runs the bank at Pokémon Square.

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Held items

Game		Held Item(s)
HeartGold	SoulSilver	Quick Claw (5%)

Stats

Base stats

Pokéathlon stats

Type effectiveness

Learnset

By leveling up

By TM/HM

Generation V Other generations: I - II - III - IV - VI - VII - VIII - IX
TM		Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP
	TM01	Hone Claws	Dark	Status	0000—	—}}—%	15
	TM05	Roar	Normal	Status	0000—	100}}100%	20
	TM06	Toxic	Poison	Status	0000—	090}}90%	10
	TM10	Hidden Power	Normal	Special	0000—	100}}100%	15
	TM11	Sunny Day	Fire	Status	0000—	—}}—%	5
	TM12	Taunt	Dark	Status	0000—	100}}100%	20
	TM15	Hyper Beam	Normal	Special	150150	090}}90%	5
	TM17	Protect	Normal	Status	0000—	—}}—%	10
	TM18	Rain Dance	Water	Status	0000—	—}}—%	5
	TM21	Frustration	Normal	Physical	0000—	100}}100%	20
	TM24	Thunderbolt	Electric	Special	09595	100}}100%	15
	TM25	Thunder	Electric	Special	120120	070}}70%	10
	TM27	Return	Normal	Physical	0000—	100}}100%	20
	TM28	Dig	Ground	Physical	08080	100}}100%	10
	TM30	Shadow Ball	Ghost	Special	08080	100}}100%	15
	TM32	Double Team	Normal	Status	0000—	—}}—%	15
	TM40	Aerial Ace	Flying	Physical	06060	—}}—%	20
	TM41	Torment	Dark	Status	0000—	100}}100%	15
	TM42	Facade	Normal	Physical	07070	100}}100%	20
	TM44	Rest	Psychic	Status	0000—	—}}—%	10
	TM45	Attract	Normal	Status	0000—	100}}100%	15
	TM46	Thief	Dark	Physical	04040	100}}100%	10
	TM48	Round	Normal	Special	06060	100}}100%	15
	TM49	Echoed Voice	Normal	Special	04040	100}}100%	15
	TM63	Embargo	Dark	Status	0000—	100}}100%	15
	TM65	Shadow Claw	Ghost	Physical	07070	100}}100%	15
	TM66	Payback	Dark	Physical	05050	100}}100%	10
	TM67	Retaliate	Normal	Physical	07070	100}}100%	5
	TM68	Giga Impact	Normal	Physical	150150	090}}90%	5
	TM70	Flash	Normal	Status	0000—	100}}100%	20
	TM77	Psych Up	Normal	Status	0000—	—}}—%	10
	TM83	Work Up	Normal	Status	0000—	—}}—%	30
	TM85	Dream Eater	Psychic	Special	100100	100}}100%	15
	TM87	Swagger	Normal	Status	0000—	090}}90%	15
	TM89	U-turn	Bug	Physical	07070	100}}100%	20
	TM90	Substitute	Normal	Status	0000—	—}}—%	10
	HM01	Cut	Normal	Physical	05050	095}}95%	30
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Persian Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Persian Click on the generation numbers at the top to see TM moves from other generations

By breeding

Generation V Other generations: II - III - IV - VI - VII - VIII - IX
Father	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP
	Amnesia	Psychic	Status	—	—%	20
	Assist	Normal	Status	—	—%	20
	Charm	Normal	Status	—	100%	20
	Flail	Normal	Physical	—	100%	15
	Foul Play	Dark	Physical	95	100%	15
	Hypnosis	Psychic	Status	—	60%	20
	Iron Tail*	Steel	Physical	100	75%	15
	Last Resort	Normal	Physical	140	100%	5
	Odor Sleuth	Normal	Status	—	—%	40
	Punishment	Dark	Physical	—	100%	5
	Snatch	Dark	Status	—	—%	10
	Spite	Ghost	Status	—	100%	10
	Tail Whip	Normal	Status	—	100%	30
Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Persian in Generation V Moves marked with a double dagger (‡) can only be bred from a Pokémon who learned the move in an earlier generation. Moves marked with a superscript game abbreviation can only be bred onto Persian in that game. Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Persian Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Persian Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations

By tutoring

By a prior evolution

Generation V Other generations: I - II - III - IV - VI - VII - VIII - IX
Stage	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP
	Pay Day	Normal	Physical	40	100%	20
‡	Secret Power	Normal	Physical	70	100%	20
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Persian Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Persian Click on the generation numbers at the top to see moves from other generations

Side game data

Pokémon Pinball    Acquisition: Evolve		Pokémon Pinball RS  N/A  Not available		Pokémon Trozei!    Rarity: Rare
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team Body size: 1 Recruit rate: Evolve Friend Area: Energetic Forest Phrases 51%-100% HP If my tail's up, it means I'm furious! 26%-50% HP My HP is down to half... I must be cautious... 1%-25% HP That's it... I haven't the energy to raise my tail... Level up Good! Leveled up! I must try harder! Partner phrases 51%-100% HP <name>, my HP is between 51% and 100%. 26%-50% HP <name>, my HP is between 26% and 50%. 1%-25% HP <name>, my HP is between 1% and 25%. Level up Good! Leveled up! I must try harder!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky Body size: 1 Recruit rate: -12% IQ group: G
Pokémon Ranger Group:  Normal  Poké Assist: None Field move: None Loops: 0 Min. exp.: 0 Max. exp.: 0 Browser entry   This Pokémon does not have a browser entry.
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia Group:  Normal  Poké Assist: None Field move: None Browser entry   This Pokémon does not have a browser entry.
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs Group: Poké Assist: Field move:  Normal  None Past ( Normal ) None Past (Electrify ×1) Browser entry   This Pokémon does not have a browser entry.
Pokémon Rumble Attack ●● Defense ●● Speed ●●●● Attack Not Available Defense Speed			Pokémon Rumble Blast Attack ●● Defense ●● Speed ●●●● Attack Not Available Defense Speed Attack Not Available Defense Speed Attack Not Available Defense Speed
PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure PokéPark Pad entry: This Pokémon has no PokéPark Pad entry.
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond Strong: {{{Park2strong}}} Weak: {{{Park2weak}}} PokéPark Pad entry: This Pokémon has no PokéPark Pad entry.
Pokémon Conquest HP: ★★★ Move: Slash Attack: ★★ Ability 1: Mountaineer Defense: ★★ Ability 2: Limber Speed: ★★★★★ Ability 3: High Rise Evolves from Meowth when Speed reaches 96 Range: 3 Perfect Links: Tsunehisa

Evolution

Unevolved Meowth  Normal

Level 28 →

First evolution Persian  Normal

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow		Red (Ja)	Green	Back
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal				Back
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald		FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum		HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back
V	Black	White	Black 2	White 2			Back

For other sprites and images, please see Persian images on Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

• In Generations I-III, Persian learned Pay Day by leveling up like its pre-evolution Meowth, but in Generations IV and after it does not, meaning that a Meowth must learn Pay Day before it evolves in order to know the move as a Persian.
• Persian's Crystal still sprite is different from that of Gold and Silver, making it one of few Pokémon to have three distinctly different sprites in Generation II.
• With the exception of Power Gem, all of Persian's level-up moves are Normal-type or Dark-type.

Origin

Its appearance is arguably more similar to Siamese cats than Persian cats, and its species in Japanese is シャムネコ or "shamuneko" meaning "Siamese Cat". It is also similar to big cats such as Pumas. The gem on its head makes it resemble a Carbuncle, a Latin-American mythological beast which had a jewel on its forehead.

Name origin

Persian refers to Persian cats. It could also be related to purr, one sound a cat could make.

In other languages

Language Title Meaning Japanese ペルシアン Persian From Persian cats French Persian Same as English name Spanish Persian Same as English name German Snobilikat From Snob, nobilis, and Katze Italian Persian Same as English name Korean 페르시온 Pereushion Transliteration of Japanese name Mandarin Chinese 貓老大 / 猫老大 Māolǎodà 貓 means cat, while 老大 can also refer to boss Cantonese Chinese 高竇貓 Gōudaumāau Literally "Conceited cat"

More languages Brazilian Portuguese Persa "Persian"

Related articles

• Giovanni's Persian

External links

Notes

← #052: Meowth

Pokémon

#054: Psyduck →

This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.