Growlie

Growlie ガーちゃん Gar-chan

Growlie

Debuts in Holy Matrimony! Caught at Kanto Gender Unknown Ability Unknown Current location James's parents' mansion

This Pokémon has not evolved.

Voice actor Japanese English As Growlithe Mitsuru Ogata Adam Blaustein (EP048) Tom Wayland (DP153)

Growlie (Japanese: ガーちゃん Gar-chan) is a Growlithe that was the first Pokémon belonging to James of Team Rocket.

History

Kanto

Growlie in its original appearance in Holy Matrimony!

Before James ran away from home when he was a child, Growlie was his only friend on his parents' estate. The two were inseparable, and Growlie comforted James when he faced problems with his parents and arranged fiancé, Jessiebelle. When the stresses of home became too much, James ran away from home, leaving Growlie behind at the mansion, possibly at his request. Growlie lives in an extravagant doghouse, which was so large that Ash and his friends mistook it for being the family's actual mansion. Misty even commented, to her later embarrassment, that it was the largest mansion she'd ever seen.

Years later, in Holy Matrimony!, James returned to his parents' home after hearing that they had died. However this turned out to be a hoax for them to get him to marry Jessiebelle, and after the deception was revealed, Jessiebelle trapped James in the family's dungeon. Ash, his friends, Jessie and Meowth, let Growlie out of his doghouse and it burst into the dungeon, rescuing its long-lost master. The two were thrilled that they'd been reunited, unfortunately the happy moment had to be cut short when Jessiebelle and her Vileplume located and attacked the two. After defeating the Vileplume and temporarily chasing Jessiebelle off the estate, James once again left home, set on giving up on his inheritance and continuing to live with Jessie and Meowth. He told Growlie to stay behind to watch after his parents. Saddened, Growlie howled as James walked away from the mansion.

Sinnoh

Growlie made its reappearance in The Treasure Is All Mine!, where it accidentally blew Team Rocket's cover when they were infiltrating one of James's family's vacation homes because it was so happy to see James again. Growlie proceeded to help James until he was able to once again evade his ever-pursuing family. Though they rarely see each other anymore, Growlie remains protective and devoted to its master.

Personality and characteristics

Like many of James' Pokemon Growlie has a great relationship with his master. Growlie will sometimes show affection towards James by licking his master in the face. Growlie is extremely loyal to James, and it cares deeply for him. Likewise, James cares deeply for Growlie. Growlie has been shown to be a strong fighter and a useful Pokemon, despite it's extremely few appearances throughout the series.

Moves used

Using Dig	Move First Used In Flamethrower Holy Matrimony Dig The Treasure Is All Mine!
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

Trivia

• Growlie is the first Pokémon owned by a main character to have a nickname. The second is Caserin.
• Growlie is loosely based upon or possibly inspired by the classic character of Petrasche in English author Marie Louise de la Ramée's 1872 novel, A Dog of Flanders, published with her pseudonym Ouida. It is a coming-of-age tale about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog Patrasche, who later freezes to death in a chapel in front of the famous Ruebens painting. In Holy Matrimony!, James even mutters the famous line spoken by Nello as he lies dying in the snow: Farewell this unfortunate world. This is a little more or less surprising as the story is widely read in Japan, and has been adapted into several films and anime.
  • Coincidentally, a commercial for the 1975 anime adaption of the above story was included on some of the early Pokémon VHS releases.
• There were 571 episodes between Growlie's first appearance and its second appearance, which to this date is the longest time between a particular Pokémon owned by a character's first and second physical appearances within the show.

Related articles

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

Team Rocket's Pokémon
Travel with:	Meowth	Rotom Phone
	Jessie			James
On hand:	Wobbuffet	Seviper	Yanmega	Mime Jr.	Carnivine	Yamask
	Woobat	Frillish	Gourgeist	Amoonguss	Inkay	Morpeko
In training:				Cacnea
At home:				Growlie	Chimecho
Released:	Arbok	Dustox	Mimikyu	Weezing	Gyarados	Mareanie
Traded away:	Lickitung			Victreebel
Lived with (all three):	Bewear	Stufful
Worked with (all three):	Delibird	Pelipper
Temporarily owned:	Porygon Zero	Shellder	Magikarp	Second Victreebel	Hoppip
	Mawile
Befriended:	Blissey
Status unknown:	Starmie			Pidgey	Numel
For a list of other Pokémon Team Rocket has commanded, see here and here

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.