Mir Yusuf

**Mir Yusuf** is the human Meowth from the specieswapped Pokémon series, Mioo, Dorost Ast!.

He is an upbeat, determined member of Team Rocket who can speak and understand the language of Pokémon. Unlike his many colleagues, he has no human teammates accompanying him and has been paired up with two Pokémon instead; the specieswapped Jessie and James.

His job description is that of a "Pokémon whisperer", for which he's tasked to persuade wild and captured Pokémon into joining the company. Since his job doesn't require him to "steal", human guidance is considered unnecessary.

His ability to speak the language of (then) all 150 Pokémon was what inspired his boss to put the above tactic to the test, hoping it would come with less consequences and more devoted fighters. It appeared successful for a while, until Mir met a young boy named Pete Ashtoo and started to neglect his duties to chase after him.

He made his first appearance in an unfinished comic showing an early concept of the series, uploaded at Facebook on the 5th of July, 2013.

## Backstory

>    Mir Yusuf was born in East Iran and spent most of his youth by himself. His mother was young and his father embarrassed to have a child out of wedlock. After helping her deliver their son in secrecy, he convinced the gullible teenager to abandon him in exchange for the promise to marry her properly. Mir was turned into a mistake that never happened; and discarded in a trash can.
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> A pregnant Persian found him immediately after and accepted him as her kitten, even long after her own offspring reached adulthood.
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> When he was between the age of 2 and 3, she was killed by humans for trying to raid their kitchen for food. While Mir Yusuf can't recall a time he wasn't alone, his Persian mother and Meowth siblings stayed an unconscious memory and his fondness for the animals stems from this experience.
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> *(Click "Expand" to read more)>*
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> As Mir's birth was never registered, he has no official name and called himself "Mir Yusuf" around the age of 7 with the expectation people would tolerate him more if he shed his uncivilized wolf child-reputation, but this did nothing because of the fact the main issue persisted;
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> He was often forced to take shelter on private property, and being haunted by the feeling of hunger made him delusional and mistake random objects for food. Villagers acquainted with him believed he was mentally insane and purposely destructive. As he continuously trespassed and compromised their property, he received no sympathy.
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> When he was a preteen, a feelgood movie at an open field-screening inspired him to make a fresh start in a Hollywood-esque neighbourhood. He did not expect people like him to be unwelcome in high-class communities and quickly met with more disappointment and mistreatment, which pushed him into glorifying the first stranger that showed him kindness. The leader of a notorious street gang saved him from starvation, whereafter Mir decided to join the group for the sake of staying alive. The belief this man cared about him and Mir's subconscious wish to have a parental figure to make proud were big factors as well.
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> He spent most of his teenage years working for him, though did so with regret. He was ordered to do increasingly heinous jobs under the guise of proving his worth and loyalty. Whenever Mir showed faint signs of wanting to leave or presumably retaliate, his boss would try to manipulate him back to his side by acting like a close friend, or just whenever it suited him.
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> The years of mental trickery and emotional abuse left their mark and affected Mir Yusuf's ability to understand his own feelings or recognize what genuine care looks like. His trauma is subtle to the common person and some aspects of his character are completely invisible. His criminal upbringing turned him into a one-man army in disguise, though this "talent" is considered unusable, as it distorts his sense of reality and makes him dangerous.
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> Mir was unhappy, but became unsure about the reason and concluded that the absence of a lover was to blame. He strenuously taught himself the language of Pokémon in order to impress a rich man's daughter, just because her appearance appealed to him and she expressed preferring Pokémon over people. He caught nature documentaries on other people's TV's, bothered pets, examined Iran's wildlife, zoos, and any museum with stored audio clips from historic findings. When he believed to be ready, he met up with her again and expressed his love in 150 languages, but she thought the peasant had turned mad and was uttering nonsense. As she fled from his recital, she lost her signature golden headdress and Mir Yusuf loyally preserved the item in case she'd come back for it. After the realization hit she wouldn't, he kept it as a necklace, and the item functions as a reminder of his personal conclusion to the incident; where he became convinced that power and riches are necessary to win her love and thus become happy. With nothing waiting for him in Iran, he left and crossed several countries, looking for an opportunity.
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> He strolled and illegally hitchhiked his way through many regions, but nobody saw value in his capabilities and Mir couldn't speak English to plead with them. With no food or place to stay, he became skinnier and more unwashed, resulting into even less people showing him generosity.
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> After some time, Mir had snuck onto a boat and arrived in Kanto, where he was given the chance to enjoy another movie through someone else's living room window. When the credits rolled, he was able to speak and understand English, yet Kanto's people showed him no kindness either and believed he was just a thieving bum upon seeing him approach.
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> One day, Mir Yusuf spotted a Team Rocket truck and treated it as a sign, if only because the first Pokémon and English word he understood happened to be "rocket". He climbed the back of the truck, which led him to Team Rocket's headquarters, where he managed to convince one of the entrance keepers to schedule an appointment with her boss.
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> Upon meeting Pezhman Fārsi for the first time, Mir was convinced it was his ex-boss from Iran and feared he'd get punished for abandoning the gang. Pezhman didn't understand his Persian cries, though, and Mir realized he was just a lookalike. He quickly switched to showing off his lingual talents by speaking to his pet Persian, immediately impressing Pezhman.
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> He was given a trial period and Pezhman would often show up to watch him speak, but many of the creatures Team Rocket had acquired were second generation and Mir could not understand them. Pezhman was angered by the lacklustre results, but decided to trust his abilities and extend the trial, though not before helping the mangled Mir restore his health after his lengthy period of starvation.
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> He recovered and succeeded at learning several new languages in time for Pezhman to judge him again, whereafter he was given a steady position in Team Rocket and tasked to convince wild and owned Pokémon into voluntarily joining the shady organization. Mir brought back many devoted fighters, as for Pokémon happy to go through torturous practises with the belief they were benefiting themselves -or for a greater good.
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> Mir was given two Pokémon companions to protect him during his outdoor missions; the bullies that had badmouthed him in the hallways ever since he arrived. Since the three of them are odd in their own way, they quickly became friends.
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> His success came to an end when he crossed paths with a young boy, who had an equally valuable talent. He wished to recruit him for his boss in the hopes of getting his long-awaited promotion, but Pete Ashtoo had already been acquainted with Mir as being a wanted criminal, and refused.
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> From that moment on, Mir tries to kidnap him, but is always outsmarted or a victim of bad luck.
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> The Team Rocket trio once followed Pete and his crew back to Iran for a movie premiere, where Charjessieon and Jamespuff first learned of Mir's home and past. Upon arrival, he got approached by his old gang, who expressed anger for his decision to run off, but were willing to forgive him if he rejoined and used his multilingual talents for their benefit. Mir refused, but then got confronted with the fact they had Marzieh. She expressed her displeasure for having to join a street gang, and her complaints made Mir assume she was being extorted. It led to a stab fight with his ex-boss, but before Mir could take his life, Marzieh stopped him. He understood from her words that she thought to owe him for taking care of her and they were in love. She still found Mir a freak and had no interest in leaving with him to the West.
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> He finally accepted her unchanged feelings, but kept her headdress as part of his Meowth look and his search for success continued.
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## Personality

Mir Yusuf is an indiscouragable worker and eager learner, yet selectively stupid. Even less flattering characteristics are his egocentrism, unapologetically rude behaviour, and the belief he's always in the right or just the smartest person in the room. Among his Pokémon friends, the role of straight man circulates often and it's always someone else who makes fun of the other over their ignorance.

Mir is also defined by his need to feel wanted and cared about, as empathy from others is something he didn't get to enjoy during his childhood. He's quick to fall in love with girls that show him a sliver of kindness or are just physically attractive. The majority of his love interests resembled cat Pokémon, which reflects his interest in the animals.

Despite his self-assured demeanour, he recognizes his many failures in life and keeps track of them mentally, insinuating it's an act to keep himself optimistic. He never lets go of the past, which is why he has an almost unreasonable disdain for Pezhman Fārsi, who's biggest crime is looking like  the man that wronged him, though Mir publicly attributes his hostility to not getting promoted and jealousy over him receiving all of Giovanni's attention.

Even though Team Rocket is a criminal organization that doesn't shy away from weapons and force, Mir Yusuf never felt comfortable disclosing the details of this previous criminal life to his colleagues. He carries heavy baggage from his past that stays mostly -and purposely- unexplored in the series.

He's told his boss the bare minimum, since he demanded it after many repeated conflicts between them. From his story, Pezhman came to understand he used to be a serious-minded and gifted thief, and expressed confusion over his incompetence as his employee. The difference was guessed to lie in having people to depend on and the things exposed to him not being comparable.

Having spent his youth with compassionless criminals left him with childhood trauma, which bred a second personality. This other side of Mir mainly shows its head in life-threatening situations, but is still a rare occurrence, since Mir actively tries to avoid slipping into it.

If failing to do so, his mind experiences a slight reset and he relives his gang life. He can't make out his surroundings or recognize people anymore, and is convinced that everyone is a threat and/or he's hunting down people in Iran. His movements become nimble and on point, he himself target-oriented and seemingly can't feel pain anymore. He loses his ability to speak any language but his native tongue, though speaks little at all.

If dealing with a stronger target, he'd unknowingly kill himself trying to take them down.

Mir regrets his past and taught himself not to depend on this side of him. He keeps himself out of this state by purposely forgetting the life he's lived and dancing around the subject. Dangerous situations are dealt with by embracing his old, cowardice self.

Even so, it's hard to forget his past in the presence of the notorious Pezhman Fārsi, who can inflict crippling fear within him if his face and tone of voice become "recognizable" enough.

After coming back to his senses, Mir Yusuf is unable to recall his mental breakdown happened, unless he "chose" to have one. It's not impossible for him to show off his skills and maintain consciousness, as long there's no continuous provocation and he stops in time.

## Appearance

Mir Yusuf has the appearance of a young adult, but like most of his personal details, his age is unknown. Pete Ashtoo and his friends once shared their guesses, which varied between 15 and 30 years old, while Mir himself has never been able to guess or care.

He has dark skin, dark-blue eyes, drawn out eyebrows, prominent lips, a tooth gap, and long black hair with uneven bangs. It's noticeably short and frizzy at the back and stopped growing properly around that area, caused by the years of hair-pulling by his abusive ex-boss.

When he was given a position in Team Rocket, he cut and bleached his hair to resemble a Meowth's head and tail, originally done so to earn himself a favourable position and early promotion from his cat-loving boss.

While Pezhman criticized his look and believes it not to fit his organization's image, Mir stays convinced he likes it and has grown fond of it himself. He noticed a boost in trust wild Pokémon have for him the more he looks like a Pokémon, which is also his preferred excuse.

Mir wears a black shirt under a sandy-white Team Rocket turtleneck, matching pants, long black gloves, and long brown boots. He has fairly large feet and often trouble finding shoes his size, explaining why these left-over boots don't match the rest of his attire. That he won't settle with brown gloves and a shirt instead is a testament to his undeveloped logical thinking.

Certain pieces he wears are undoubtedly from the women's aisle as well, since Mir is short and too skinny to fit the clothes available in Team Rocket's male wardrobe. More employees with other than average bodytypes had to deal with this issue, like Charjessieon and Jamespuff's owners.

## Notable relationships

### Jessie and James

"Charjessieon" and "Jamespuff" are Mir Yusuf's Pokémon companions.

Though they're rarely seen apart, he's not their trainer and their relationship was forced upon them by Pezhman Fārsi. He gave the expendable creatures the task to protect Mir during his outdoor missions, while Mir was expected to increase their level and fighting spirit.

Despite everyone doing a horrible job and the arguing amongst them, a genuine friendship blossomed.

His relationship with his teammates is special in the sense he treats them like human beings and spends his already meagre wage on getting them (beauty) items, since they don't get paid by Fārsi and their owners don't care to answer to their wishes. Mir is theatrical and also cares for aesthetics, which gave the three something to bond over.

Jamespuff was able to style and dye his hair thanks to Mir, while Charjessieon was given mascara and a self-made Team Rocket outfit. Before meeting Mir, they looked like a mostly regular Jigglypuff and Charmeleon.

Because Mir either flees or draws weapons, he qualifies as a low-level trainer and wasn't able to properly command his teammates in battle for a long time. They two rarely perform a move, unless their original trainer(s) tags along. Though Mir regularly meets up with these men, their relationship is minimalistic and he tends to address Charjessieon and Jamespuff whenever there's a problem.

Further in time, their trainers leave the country and Mir is asked to take care of them fulltime, even though Charjessieon had already acquired a new owner. Their friendship has developed enough that they show him more obedience when given battle commands.

Mir knows them as "Jessie" and "James", who're called "Charmeleon" and "Jigglypuff" by everyone else, since most other Pokémon don't care for names and human characters can't understand them when being informed.

### Pete Ashtoo

Pete Ashtoo is a young and talented trainer Mir Yusuf wishes to recruit for Team Rocket. He treats him as the key to his success, despite his boss having expressed not to be interested in hiring children and Pete being the reason Mir owes him millions in damages.

Hoping it would earn him his long-awaited promotion, Mir planned to recruit him; an offer Pete rejected with violence. He then concluded it'd be easier to kidnap the 7-year-old, but still booked no success and his blind obsession with Pete turned him and his team into a joke.

Pete sees and treats Mir Yusuf as a child predator of some sorts, though gets genuine enjoyment out of "battling" him and isn't that worried about being in danger when in his presence.

Mir has stated that they could've been friends if they had both been children and met at an earlier point in time.

### Mr. Giovanni

"Mr. Giovanni" is Pezhman Fārsi's pet Persian, who Mir Yusuf adores debatably more than he does. One of his life goals is to pet him, and hopefully keep him as a pet one day, but Giovanni treats him like a bother and does not allow any kind of physical contact. His angry comments are always ignored by Mir, and even after a harsh insult, it only takes a few seconds for the excessive "cooing" to repeat itself.

Because Mir Yusuf's talents make him important, Giovanni keeps his claws to himself and Mir has never fallen victim of the typical lashing out a Persian does to unwelcome people, which makes Mir only further believe there's a friendship growing between the two.

When Mir goes on about why he and his team should capture a certain Pokémon, the reason always revolves around Giovanni instead of his actual boss.

### Pezhman Fārsi

Pezhman Fārsi is Mir Yusuf's boss. They meet often, rarely for good reasons.

He was first to value his linguistic talents and allow him to prove himself, even after Mir botched his first impression and gave a weak performance during his trial period.

Mir realizes to owe him alot and isn't making things better by eating away at Team Rocket's budget with his futile attempts at capturing Pete Ashtoo, but is steered by his disdain and sometimes jealousy for Pezhman, therefore refuses to listen to his advice and commands. Since he's a physical clone of his ruthless ex-boss from Iran, he can't muster respect for him and makes him the target of insults and jokes; usually calling him names criticizing his intellect (*for example: "Slowpoke-brained mad man"*).

Since Pezhman is tolerant towards Mir's shenanigans, relatively speaking, he's given little reason to stop the therapeutic bad-mouthing and disobedience.

Despite all this, Pezhman is the only human adult Mir trusts to approach with certain matters. After going through a traumatic event together and talking about their relationship, Mir became more willing to see him as an ally, though still enjoys subjecting him to his old antics. He tends to feel slighted whenever Pezhman does the same, though, as evidenced when Mir's lookalike enters the picture and immediately receives a level of appreciation Mir feels still to be fighting for.

Pezhman's promise to be available in times of need is greatly valued by him, moreso than both parties realize. As it's always followed up on, it kindles his obsessive side -normally reserved for love interests- and Mir wants the assurance that Pezhman's moments of generosity towards him are exclusive; and he's "special". Meanwhile, Pezhman made the decision to try and put more emotional distance between them as means of self-preservation, resulting into a slight inconsistency in the amount of attention he gives him and the way Mir is addressed, which Mir picks up on. He doesn't believe Pezhman harbours many positive feelings for him, despite the love confession that helped soften his opinion on him in the first place.

Mir Yusuf's messy self-image problems and Pezhman's friendliness to female clients make it difficult for him to decipher the moments of care he enjoys from his boss, and as such, he'll just as easily wave them off as being mistargeted.

## Trivia

* Mir Yusuf has no surname and is only known as "Mir Yusuf", though it's often shortened to "Mir" by others;
	+ Pezhman Fārsi is the only character who consistently addresses him with his full name.
	+ The passport granted by his boss treats "Yusuf" as his last name and argues he's 21 years old, as to ensure he has full legal freedom;
	+ Since he watched the 1982 movie Annie (or an interpretation) as a child and Mioo, Dorost Ast! is assumed to play in the same time period as when the original Pokémon anime made its start (1997), Mir can't be older than his early 20s.
* It's probable Mir Yusuf's adoptive Meowth family helped him develop his talent of deciphering and speaking the language of Pokémon, not unlike the characters Tommy and Koko from the original Pokémon series.
* Mir Yusuf has been criticized by characters for his "grating" and "annoying" voice more than once;
	+ His voice is that of the late Maddie Blaustein, Meowth's second voice actor.
* Mir Yusuf learned English shortly after crossing Kanto's border by watching a single movie, and his American dialect is copied from the character that starred in it;
	+ After having mastered the language of Pokémon, it's become easier for Mir to learn languages, which is his strongest talent;
	+ Still, he cannot teach himself without mimicking his example's sound and/or dialect, which is why he speaks a Pokémon's language in the original voice of that Pokémon, and has a Brooklyn accent when speaking English.
	+ Further in time, he also manages to flawlessly imitate people, and later, combine voices and accents.
* Mir Yusuf's understanding of the Pokémon language comes with the ability to hear their "real voice", making Charjessieon and Jamespuff sound like Jessie and James to him.
* Mir Yusuf doesn't always talk to Charjessieon and Jamespuff in their own language, as they are owned Pokémon with a fair understanding of the human language.
* Mir Yusuf has never caught a Pokémon and isn't interested in owning one, since the company provides him with weapons and tools, giving him little reason to use the creatures.
* Mir Yusuf's main weapon is a set of six daggers he now and then sticks between his fingers as to mimic the scratch attack of a Meowth;
	+ Mir is skilled with small blades, but keeps weighing down his hands for the sake of looking cool, making him not fast enough to land a hit in most cases.
* Mir Yusuf tends to call Pete Ashtoo "the kid with the golden touch" or "Kid Midas".
* Mir Yusuf never remembers what species Nidorash is and keeps mistaking him for a Rattata.
* People, mainly Pezhman Fārsi, always respond to Mir Yusuf's mention of his teammates with *"Who's Jessie and James?"*, because of their unfamiliarity with the names and lack of interest in remembering.
* Mir Yusuf loves soap operas.
* Mir Yusuf can't swim.
* Mir Yusuf has a fascination with the moon.
* Mir Yusuf is good with machinery.
* Mir Yusuf is a good cook.
* Mir Yusuf has high metabolism;
	+ Because he's starved most of his life, his hunger never really disappears.
* As he has lived his entire life in a hot country, Mir Yusuf doesn't take cold weather very well.

## See also

* Mioo, Dorost Ast!
* That Darn Miaw