Persian (Meowth)

Overview

Historically, the popularity of torracat in Alola has limited the desire for any other cat species. Other islands’ experiences with invasive cats have also led the Commonwealth government to restrict feline importation. Pyroar, their most notable failure, is a large predator that only occupies territory and a niche once held by torracat. As such pyroar’s introduction has really only hurt one native species.

Persian is the only other cat to gain any sort of foothold in Alola.

The species was brought by early trading expeditions from Japan, the only place where they are endemic. For a few generations persian were the beloved pets of the Alolan royal family. Then King Ka’eo ascended to the throne. One of his first acts was to give away all of the persian in the royal court. It is believed that he did so out of a long-running spat with a persian during his childhood. In any case, many of the persian found their way into the homes of Japanese immigrants in Malie City or the rising merchants of Hau’oli City. Their owners viewed Persian ownership as a status symbol that set them apart from the torracat of the lower classes.

Ironically, the Alolan persian has had extensive interbreeding with torracat during the last few centuries. This, combined with some breeders actively selecting for darker coats, led to the differences between the Japanese and Alolan persian.

Persian are proud and temperamental, but they can be loyal and affectionate to their trainer. They are also deceptively fast and powerful. Trainers who do not want to pick litten as a starter but would like a feline are encouraged to consider persian.

Physiology

Meowth and persian are both classified as pure dark-types. This is due to the unique properties of their thick fur, which disrupts telepathy of all kinds. A shorn persian has no special psychic resistance. As such there is a push for a dual dark- and normal-typing. Because meowth are born with a coat of fur and never lose it, the Department of Agriculture has previously rejected a typing change.

While mostly quadrupedal, meowth are capable of standing on their hind legs for short periods. Their coat is dark gray with slightly lighter fur at the end of their feet and tip of their tail. Meowth have furry, padded paws on both their arms and legs. They also have a long prehensile tail they can use for balance and grip. Meowth’s most notable feature are their wide, ovular heads. Part of this shape is an exaggeration created by their fur; their actual head is about half as large as it appears. Meowth have long, prominent whiskers. The ears have tufts of fur in them. They also have what appears to be a golden coin growing out of their forehead. This object is actually metallic. It is slowly grown from small quantities of scrap metal that meowth eat. While meowth can live without it, the coin is directly attached to their skull. This makes removal only possible through surgery and almost always inadvisable. It is unknown at this time what purpose the coin serves.

Persian are slender and quadrupedal. Their claws are much longer than a mewoth’s and their ears are rounded rather than pointed. Persian also lose their coin in favor of a small gem. The color of this gem varies but it is usually blue. The gem is bioluminescent and can be used to provide dim silvery light to help persian see on the darkest of nights.

Meowth and persian produce sounds over a range of pitches very similar to humans. Persian screams sound uncannily like a screaming human woman and they make them often to scare away other cats or predators. Roughly one-eighth of the Malie Police Department’s nighttime calls are in response to persian screams.

Persian grow up to 1.3 meters in length including their tail. They typically have a mass around 15 kilograms. The average persian lives for about 12 years in the wild and 18 in captivity. The oldest Alolan persian on record lived to be 31 years old.

Behavior

Meowth tend to stay on the ground when they are not with their mother or sleeping. They hunt at night. Most of meowth’s prey are sick, wounded, or starving rattata, although they will also hunt insect pokémon and abra. Unlike persian, meowth are rather social. Meowth that have left their mothers congregate in groups to sleep, groom and socialize. They hunt on their own.

Persian occupy an entirely different physical space and ecological role in the environment than meowth. While they tend to tolerate banks of meowth, they are fiercely territorial towards other persian. Persian are built for the arboreal life. Their sharp retractable claws and long prehensile tail allow them to move along tree branches and rooftops almost as easily as they move on land. Persian can jump up to four meters vertically or six horizontally. Their light is nearly indistinguishable from moonlight and thus doesn’t trigger panicked reactions from drowsy prey species. Persian primarily hunt small bird pokémon resting for the night. They love eggs and will frequently raid nests. If persian cannot find any birds they are prone to lying in wait on tree branches and then pouncing on any prey that walks beneath them.

Persian are often described as cruel. It is true that persian are prone to breaking the wings of their prey before killing and consuming them. However, this is often to provide their babies practice in killing without subjecting them to actual danger. When female persian do this while they are not nursing or pregnant it is usually a sign that they are in heat and would like to mate. Males are considerably less likely to prolong killings than females are.

Meowth and persian are among the most playful of feline pokémon. In the wild they will approach and explore any changes in their territory. They will occasionally dissect unfamiliar species, but only after killing them. Persian are prone to digging through unsecured garbage cans to find new playthings. Meowth do this as well, but their purpose is mostly to find metal.

Husbandry

Meowth are curious, social, and nocturnal. These traits make them somewhat more difficult to care for than litten, eevee, and most canine pokémon.

A stationary trainer can provide a meowth with many toys or periodically rearrange their environment. Meowth should be played with around dusk and dawn. At night they should be given access to their trainer’s bed. They will disturb their trainer’s sleep on most nights, but if physically separated from their trainer they are liable to scream like a murder victim until they are given attention. Meowth should not be put into their pokéball at night if the environment is safe for them to explore; containing them for too many nights in a row will lead to the pokémon becoming very irritated when released.

Most successful meowth trainers have at least one other social nocturnal pokémon on their team. This pokémon can keep the meowth company at night and generally keep the cat away from their trainer. A powerful nocturnal pokémon can also supervise a meowth during journeys as they explore their environment. It should be noted that persian will not usually be willing to supervise a meowth and will almost never tolerate another persian (see Breeding).

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Meowth can be fed eggs, fish, and most types of meat. Some meowth have a preference as to whether their food should be cooked or raw but they will usually tolerate it either way. Their diet should be shifted periodically to prevent them from getting bored. Metal supplements should be purchased from specialty pokémon stores and fed as directed. Meowth require only very small amounts of metal in their diets and trainers trying to play it by ear will usually give their meowth far too much. This can lead to metal poisoning (see Illness). Both persian and meowth should be fed roughly 4% of their body weight per day.

Persian are nearly as playful as meowth but they express it differently. Traveling trainers should try and camp near trees and allow their persian to explore at night. This is banned in some protected areas or near vulnerable bird populations. Check with local Pokémon Centers as to where persian can be left unsupervised.

Stationary trainers should provide their persian with many perches and walkways positioned so that the persian can move from one to another without touching the ground. They will usually drag their toys up onto a perch to play with. Persian have a habit of viewing anything shiny or unfamiliar as a toy. This can lead to all of their trainer’s keys and jewelry being hidden on top of cabinets or on high shelves.

The bulk of a persian’s diet should be made up of eggs and poultry. Other meats should be provided from time to time. Persian generally will not eat generic cat mixes and will need to be fed raw or cooked meat.

Persian will generally want to be in the same space as their trainer around dusk and dawn. Sometimes they will approach their trainer to be pet. They will generally hiss or scream at any other humans who try to touch them. At night persian will alternate between exploring their perches and lying down near their trainer.

Illness

The most common illness among captive meowth is metal poisoning. If a meowth is exposed to too much metal it may vomit, run a fever, become lethargic or, in extreme cases, die. If your meowth exhibits any of these symptoms or an abrupt change in behaviors cut metal out of their diet for a week. If the symptoms persist consult a veterinarian.

Metal deficiency is possible but rare in captive meowth. A metal-deficient meowth will begin to ignore orders, rummage through garbage or attempt to eat jewelry or electronics. The solution to this problem is to gradually increase the amount of metal in the meowth’s diet until the symptoms stop. It should be noted that meowth naturally hoard and are fascinated by shiny objects. It is only when they begin to bite into metallic objects outside of their food bowl that action should be taken.

Evolution

Meowth gradually evolve into persian. They become lethargic for a time and seek out easy kills, including garbage left out by humans. Over the course of one to two months their spine extends and they stop standing bipedally. Towards the end of this process the meowth’s coin will fall off and reveal a gem underneath it.

In the wild this process occurs earlier and faster if the meowth is integrated into a bank of other meowth. The evolving pokémon’s comrades will provide protection and food during this critical period. Captive meowth also experience a faster, earlier, and smoother evolution if they have a great deal of trust in their trainer or teammates.

Battle

The Alolan persian is the least powerful of the three subspecies. Snow persian are very fast and perrserker are bulky enough to tank most neutral hits. The Alolan persian is not quite fast enough to carve out a quickstall or hyper offense niche and not quite bulky enough to function on slower stall or bulky offense teams. They are also hindered by their hunting strategy – ambush from above – being near impossible to replicate in an arena.

Persian also don’t have a particularly deep utility movepool. While their coats is good for defense, persian’s bones are much more fragile. Persian’s elemental reserves and physical strength are adequate on casual circuits but nothing special in competitive leagues. To make things worse, absol does many of the same things with a sharper blade, better movepool, and precognition to make up for their slightly lower speed.

On the island challenge persian’s weaknesses are mitigated by the lower power level. They are quite fast, have sharp claws, and their fur can blunt the impact of most attacks. Persian function best with the help of a few utility moves for dodging blows. Good moves include parting shot, protect and double team. Persian should be instructed to use trees and any other obstacles on the battlefield to maneuver around opponents.

Meowth are brutal scrappers, even if their claws aren’t as long or sharp as those of a persian. Trainers should always put their meowth on the attack, getting into the opponent’s face and never letting up for even one second.

Acquisition

The DNR attempts to limit the spread of persian beyond the city limits of Malie and Hau’oli. Persian and meowth captured outside of these areas may carry a bounty if the trainer chooses to trade the pokémon in. This policy leads to a large number of persian and meowth in shelters available for purchase.

Meowth may be adopted, purchased or captured with a Class I license. Persian can be adopted or purchased with a Class II license, captured with a Class II license inside city limits and captured with a Class I license outside of city limits.

Trainers who want to capture a meowth are advised to stay motionless in a public park at night. Ideally a predatory pokémon with night vision should assist. It is legal to bait meowth within city limits. Raw fish and eggs generally work best. Because meowth hunt alone it is likely that only one will show up. If a larger group arrives, proceed with caution.

Persian are more difficult to spot or capture. They tend to move above human’s heads, a problem compounded by their coat serving as good camouflage at night. Persian baiting is legal but generally unsuccessful. Any attacks strong enough to shake a persian out of a park tree is also likely to damage the tree itself. It is generally easier to look for persian in the daytime while they are resting. It is still very difficult to spot them, but they will usually be too lethargic to immediately put up a fight.

Breeding

Wild persian are territorial and are only social during breeding season in the winter. Persian have a roughly eight week pregnancy. They typically give birth to twins although triplets are not uncommon. Mothers will stay with their children for roughly three months before they start to behave aggressively towards their young to get them to leave.

Persian are not territorial towards meowth banks. They are known to keep a watchful eye over the meowth in their territory and intervene to stop predators or, in some cases, prevent starvation.

Captive persian should not be kept with other persian or the adults of any other cat species. Foxes are occasionally but not always accepted. Trainers wishing to breed their female persian should arrange for a male to join the team during breeding season. The pair should be separated once pregnancy is confirmed or the female begins to become aggressive towards the male. It is important to give away the meowth when their mother begins to reject them. There is some evidence that persian prefer to have occasional contact with their children until they evolve.

Subspecies

Alolan persian sometimes have varying coat patterns depending upon their parentage. Torracat-persian hybrids, the most common in Alola, tend to have dark stripes faintly visible in the coat. Umbreon-persian hybrids tend to have spots. Pyroar-persian hybrids occasionally have a small mane.

Two other subspecies are recognized. The snow persian has a wide range stretching from the Urals to the Pacific and from the taiga to the Himalayas. They are also found on Japan. The snow persian has a mottled tan coat in the summer and a white coat in the winter. This lets them blend in to cliff faces and wait for something to pass below or for another cliff climber to get close enough to ambush. They are also fast enough to rush down most prey on flat ground and strong enough to then drag the prey into a tree or up the cliff face, away from larger predators.

The Norse meowth has a much higher tolerance for metal than the other two subspecies. This allows it to consume enough metal that its nails, teeth, and even much of its hair becomes metallic. Attempting to strike a Norse meowth can feel like punching a wall of needles. To obtain enough metal they have been known to sneak into human settlements and steal whatever they can. Their evolution, perrserker, are prone to forming war parties and more brazenly taking their prizes. Unusually, both the Norse meowth and perrserker are primarily bipedal.