Giovanni's Persian

Giovanni's Persian (Japanese: サカキのペルシアン Sakaki's Persian) is a owned by . It was commonly seen outside of its Poké Ball.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====Pre-series====
Persian was already with Giovanni by the time the Team Rocket trio were in training. It appeared in Training Daze when was introduced to Giovanni due to his ability to talk. Persian was shown jealous of Meowth, though its concerns didn't last long due to Meowth messing up multiple times in front of Giovanni and being assigned to Jessie and James in order to get rid of him.
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Persian debuted in Battle Aboard the St. Anne, when Jessie, James, and Meowth reported to Giovanni. Since then, it has always been seen either at Giovanni's side or in his lap.
In The Battle Of The Badge, the trio presented Misty's Togepi to Giovanni. He scolded the three for bringing him a useless Pokémon before his phone rang, alerting him to an emergency. Persian ran out of the room at this, which opened the door for Togepi to escape.
In Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, was blown up by . Persian and Giovanni survived the explosion and escaped on a helicopter.
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Persian appeared alongside Giovanni in The Fortune Hunters and Dues and Don'ts when he was contacted by Team Rocket members.
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Persian briefly appeared in A Ruin with a View when Giovanni was talking to the Team Rocket trio over the phone. After the call ended, Giovanni was shown petting his Persian.
In Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend, Persian appeared during a video call, sticking out its tongue in order to taunt .
After seeing a 's in the Pacifidlog Town Contest Hall in Mean With Envy, Meowth remembered Giovanni's Persian to taunt him and decided to help Jessie win the Pokémon Contest. During his performance in the Appeals Round, Meowth used to make a sculpture of Giovanni and Persian out of a giant block of ice. He finished his performance by turning the Persian into a Meowth.
In The Scheme Team, Persian was beside Giovanni's side when the trio returned to the to report the results of their operations in the Hoenn region.
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In Two Degrees of Separation!, Persian was briefly shown sitting on Giovanni's lap while he was talking to Jessie, James, and over the videophone.
In Malice In Wonderland!, an illusory version of Persian created by a was part of Meowth's fantasy. The was shown being tossed away by Giovanni, who wanted Meowth to be his new pet.
In The Thief That Keeps on Thieving!, after the trio sent Giovanni a newly , Persian was seen being and petted by its while the computer ran an analysis of Yanma's .
In Memories are Made of Bliss!, Persian was seen lying on Giovanni's office while Matori informed Giovanni that she had contacted the trio and assigned them their new mission.
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In In the Shadow of Zekrom!, Persian was seen 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 . It briefly appeared in Farewell, Unova! Setting Sail for New Adventures! and The Dream Continues!.
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In A Battle of Aerial Mobility!, Persian was seen being petted by Giovanni while Team Rocket contacted him about their arrival in Kalos.
In An Explosive Operation!, Persian watched Giovanni while Team Rocket contacted him about Team Flare.
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In Acting True to Form! and Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!, Persian was being pet by Giovanni.
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Persian appeared in a fantasy in the first Team Rocket Expedition which stands by the evils of love and truth segment.
In This Could be the Start of Something Big!, Persian was being pet by Giovanni.
===Personality and characteristics===
Meowth views this Persian as a rival. Being the beloved pet of the boss of Team Rocket, Meowth wanted nothing more than to kick Persian out and take its place as the "Top Cat". 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. While the rivalry is typically one-sided, Persian was shown to be jealous of Meowth when they first met, though it hasn't shown this trait since learning how incompetent Meowth was.
Persian is the only one of Giovanni's Pokémon that he treats with respect. It is often seen being pet by its Trainer or relaxing in his office, unlike the others, who are kept in cages out of sight. When was blown up, Persian was the only one Gionvanni rescued before escaping.
Although a powerful battler, Giovanni rarely calls upon it for combat. It is also to be very loyal to its Trainer, and has also played some role in Team Rocket operations, such as signaling the disguised Team Rocket Grunts to commence their raid on the St. Anne patrons or joining in on Operation Tempest.
===Moves used===
==In the games==
Giovanni also owns a Persian in and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!. In Yellow, he uses it in all of the battles against him, while in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, it only participates in the first two battles and merely stands on his side during the Gym battle. Persian also appears in both rounds of Pokémon Stadium. Aside from its use in battle, Giovanni's Persian also has a brief appearance in the Viridian Gym as a portrait in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!.
===In the core series===
 	 	Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!	Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
First and second battle(Rocket Hideout/Silph Co.)	Gym battle(Viridian Gym)	First battle(Team Rocket Hideout) 	Second battle(Silph Co.)
 	 	 	
===In the ===
Pokémon Stadium	Pokémon Stadium
Round 1 	Round 2
 	
===In other games===
====Pokémon Puzzle League====
Persian was one of 's three Pokémon in .
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Persian is one of the used by , and the only one that has appeared in all of his party pools.
====Pokémon Masters EX====
Giovanni forms a sync pair with Persian in Pokémon Masters EX.
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===Artwork===
Persian and artwork from
==In the manga==
===How I Became a Pokémon Card===
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.
====Moves used====
===The Electric Tale of Pikachu===
Persian was seen watching its owner in Ash vs. Gary as his anger faded away from remembering the that Team Rocket scientists created.
===Movie adaptations===
In , Persian is seen briefly when Giovanni meets Mewtwo for the first time.
==In the TCG==
This listing is of cards featuring Giovanni's Persian in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
* Persian also appears in the cards Giovanni's Scheme (XY-P Promo 277) and Giovanni's Charisma (Pokémon Card 151 207).
===Merchandise===
====Team Rocket Gift Pack====
The second gift pack, the Team Rocket Gift Pack (Japanese: ロケット団 ギフトパック), was released on December 19, 1997 and includes a number of Team Rocket themed items, with its released earlier on November 21, 1997. Like the first Gift Pack, the Rocket Gang Gift Pack includes two copies of a deck to allow two players to immediately jump into play. This deck, the Team Rocket Starter Deck, is an original creation found only in the pack. Also packaged is a set of damage counters, two Poison markers, two coins, two Team Rocket badges, a play mat, and a poster.
Product images:
====Gym Challenge Theme Decks====
The expansion released the latter half of the Gym Leader themed Theme Decks on October 16, 2000. Featuring Sabrina, Koga, Blaine, and Giovanni, the four decks named after these Gym Leaders featured the , , and for the first three, and the Grass and s for . Each deck featured the standard rulebook, damage counters, and card list, while this time featuring an exclusive coin. 
Product images:
====20th Anniversary Festa merchandise====
A large-scale event celebrating 20 years of the Pokémon Trading Card Game in Japan was held at Toki Messe, Niigata on October 10, 2016 and at the Nagoya Trade & Industry Center, Nagoya on October 23, 2016. Pop-up stores were present at both venues offering the latest products and exclusive 20th Anniversary merchandise, among which included premuim sleeves featuring booster pack artwork from the three expansions following the initial : , , and . Each pack contained 64 sleeves:
:Team Rocket Premium Gloss Sleeves (Japanese: デッキシールドプレミアム・グロス 拡張パック第4弾 ロケット団 Deck Shield: Premium•Gloss 4th Expansion Pack: Rocket Gang)
All attendees were given a special promotional card. Attendees could also earn Play Points by participating in one or more corner events held at each venue and redeem them for prizes. Eligible corner events included the 20th Anniversary Battle, the Classic Battle, the Shōwa VS Heisei Battle, the Sylveon Girls Battle, the Shiftry Masters Battle, and the 3 on 3 Battle. At 2 Play Points, players could earn 1 of 8 promotional cards featuring the Kanto Gym Leaders at random. 4 Play Points could be redeemed for a promotional card and 6 Play Points could be redeemed for a promotional card. 12 Play Points gave players the choice to redeem either a or promotional card, both of which feature Mitsuhiro Arita's signature. Other prizes could be earned in the corner events as well: winning teams in the Shōwa VS Heisei Battle were awarded a Mirror Holofoil promotional card; players competing in the 20th Anniversary Battle who achieved 3 consecutive wins at the 'Premier Stage' were awarded 1 of 9 Original Era-inspired Holofoil Basic s at random; the top 3 players of the Sylveon Girls Battle and Shiftry Masters Battle were each awarded acrylic trophies; and the top 3 players in each age category of the 20th Anniversary Battle were awarded promotional cards.
Product images: 
====SV2a accessories====
The release of on June 16, 2023 also saw numerous TCG accessories become available to purchase, many of which featured characters and Pokémon that debuted in the first generation games.
Giovanni's Orders merchandise: These items feature a kantaro illustrationカンタロ on Twitter (archived copy) of Team Rocket boss Giovanni and his team from , which comprises , , , , and . These items could only be purchased from Pokémon Centers and the Pokémon Center Online.
*Giovanni's Deck Case (Japanese: デッキケース サカキの指令 Deck Case: Sakaki's Order)
*Giovanni's Orders Sleeves (Japanese: デッキシールド サカキの指令 Deck Shield: Sakaki's Order)
Product images:
==Trivia==
* Giovanni's Persian seems intended to parallel other series in which the main villain owns a cat as a pet.
* Due to the focus on Pokémon native to the Unova region, Persian is the only pre-Generation V Pokémon not part of the main cast to appear in Pokémon the Series: Black & White physically until Roxie's in Rocking the Virbank Gym! Part 1, due to its cameo in In The Shadow of Zekrom!.
* Despite having appeared intermittently 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 was shown in .
* In , the Team Rocket trio's secret base in Vermilion City contains a wall poster of Giovanni with Persian torn off, referencing Meowth's rivalry with it.
* Persian is the only Pokémon that neither belongs to a main character or is a main character itself to appear in every series of Pokémon the Series.
==References==
==Related articles==
Category:Giovanni's Pokémon
Category:Red, Blue and Yellow characters
Category:Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! characters
Category:Stadium characters
Category:Pokémon GO characters
Category:Electric Tale of Pikachu characters
Category:How I Became a Pokémon Card characters
Category:Shadow Pokémon
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ja:サカキのペルシアン