Giovanni's Persian

Giovanni's Persian サカキのペルシアン Sakaki's Persian

Giovanni and Persian

Debuts in Battle Aboard the St. Anne Caught at Unknown Gender Unknown Ability Unknown Current location With Giovanni

This Pokémon has not evolved.

Voice actor Japanese English As Persian Rica Matsumoto

Giovanni's Persian (Japanese: サカキのペルシアン Sakaki's Persian) is a Pokémon pet owned by Giovanni. Its voice actress in both Japanese and English is 松本梨香 Rica Matsumoto.

In the anime

Giovanni's Persian was first seen in Battle Aboard the St. Anne when Jessie, James and Meowth report to Giovanni. Since then, it has always been seen either at Giovanni's side or in his lap. It has never been used by Giovanni in a Pokémon battle, and so its fighting ability and any moves it may know remain unknown.

Meowth views this Persian as a rival. Persian is the beloved pet of the boss of Team Rocket, and Meowth wants to kick Persian out and take its place as Giovanni's beloved pet, or the "Top Cat", as he calls it. Meowth's hatred of his evolved form was not started by this Persian, but his anger manifests against it more often than against any other Persian.

In the games

Giovanni also owns a Persian in the one of the Pokémon games, Pokémon Yellow. He uses it mainly for battle, having been seen in all battles that the player has been challenged to, getting stronger every time. A Persian also appears in both rounds of Pokémon Stadium.

Pokémon Yellow

First Battle (Rocket Hideout)

Persian Lv.29	Normal
Moves
Scratch	Normal
Growl	Normal
Bite	Normal
Pay Day	Normal

Second battle (Silph Co.)

Persian Lv.35	Normal
Moves
Scratch	Normal
Growl	Normal
Bite	Normal
Pay Day	Normal

Gym battle (Viridian Gym)

Persian Lv.53	Normal
Moves
Screech	Normal
Slash	Normal
Fury Swipes	Normal
Double Team	Normal

Pokémon Stadium

Round 1

Persian Lv.50	Normal
Moves
Toxic	Poison
Slash	Normal
Thunderbolt	Electric
BubbleBeam	Water

Round 2

Persian Lv.50	Normal
Moves
Screech	Normal
Slash	Normal
Thunderbolt	Electric
BubbleBeam	Water

In the TCG

Persian was featured in the TCG as one of Giovanni's Pokémon. The following is a list of cards named Giovanni's Persian.

Name	Type	Level	Rarity	Set	Set no.
Giovanni's Persian		23	H	Gym Challenge	8/132

Trivia

• Giovanni's Persian seems intended to parallel other series in which the main villain owns a cat as a pet. For example, in Inspector Gadget, the villain Dr. Claw owns a cat named Mad Cat (it was named Sniffy in the 1999 movie). This trend seems to have started in the James Bond movies, where Ernst Stavro Blofeld is often shown to have a white persian cat that he strokes in a similar fashion to Giovanni. His face also remains hidden during the first few movies, which Giovanni also parallels in Season 1 until his battle with Gary.
• Giovanni's Persian is presumably a shiny Persian, judging by the fact the inside of it’s ears are not tan, but pink. This may explain why he values it so highly. This idea is furthered when a Persian under the ownership of Vivica is shown with tan ears instead of Giovanni's Persian's pink.

Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Persian.