Giovanni's Persian

Giovanni's Persian (Japanese: サカキのペルシアン Sakaki's Persian) is a pet owned by Giovanni.

History
Giovanni's Persian was first seen in Battle Aboard the St. Anne when Jessie, James and report to Giovanni. Since then, it has always been seen either at Giovanni's side or in his lap.

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.

Persian made a cameo appearance in In the Shadow of Zekrom!, being petted by Giovanni. It later appeared at the end of Unrest at the Nursery! with its Trainer and Matori. In the next episode, Persian was sent into battle against Ash's Pikachu and proved itself to be extremely powerful, taking an, then swiftly knocking Pikachu out with.

In the games
Giovanni also owns a in one of the Pokémon games,, which is highly based on the. He uses it mainly for battle, having been seen in all battles that the player has been challenged to. A Persian also appears in both rounds of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Persian was seen watching its owner in The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga's chapter Ash vs. Gary as his anger fades away from remembering the  that Team Rocket scientists created.



In the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga
The backstory of how Giovanni met Persian is revealed in the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga. He rescued it when he was a child.

In the TCG
This listing is of cards featuring Giovanni's Persian in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Trivia

 * Giovanni's Persian seems intended to parallel other series in which the main villain owns a cat as a pet. For example, in, the villain owns a cat named Mad Cat (it was named Sniffy in the ). This trend seems to have started in the  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 the Indigo League saga until his battle with.
 * Persian is the first pre-Generation V Pokémon not part of the main cast to appear in the in the flesh, having a cameo in In The Shadow of Zekrom.
 * Despite having appeared every once in a while since Battle Aboard the St. Anne, Persian wasn't shown using any moves until Meloetta and the Undersea Temple!, 738 episodes later.
 * This was also the first time when Persian's Poké Ball was ever shown in the anime.