Meowth is a small, feline Pokémon with cream-colored fur that turns brown at the tips of its hind paws and tail. Its ovoid head features four prominent whiskers, wide eyes with slit pupils, two pointed teeth in the upper jaw, and a gold koban coin embedded in its forehead. Its ears are black with brown interiors and are flanked with an additional pair of long whiskers. Meowth is a quadruped with the ability to walk on its hind legs; while the games always depict Meowth on two legs, the anime states that Meowth normally walks on all fours. It can freely manipulate its claws, retracting them when it wants to move silently. The tip of its tail curls tightly.
Meowth is attracted to round and shiny objects and has the unique ability to produce coins using Pay Day. Being nocturnal, it is known to wander about city streets at night and pick up anything that sparkles, including loose change. Upon finding a sparkling object, its eyes will glitter and the coin on its forehead will shine brightly. It shares this intrigue with Murkrow, with whom it often fights with for objects and prey. Meowth is a playful but fickle Pokémon with the capacity for human-like intelligence, with at least one member of the species teaching itself how to speak. Meowth tends to live in urban areas.
Meowth was introduced to Alola as a gift to royalty.[1] The luxurious royal lifestyle soon led to Meowth diverging from its origins and becoming the selfish, prideful, and cunning Alolan Meowth. Alolan Meowth will turn hysterical if its coin or pride are besmirched. When the monarchy fell, the rare Alolan Meowth went feral and eventually grew as common in Alola as anywhere else. Alolan Meowth's fur is a light blue-gray color. Instead of brown markings, the tip of its tail, whiskers, digits, and the insides of its ears a whitish-gray. Alolan Meowth's whiskers have a slight curve compared to regular Meowth's straighter whiskers, and it has silvery eyes.
Galarian Meowth has a shaggy, greyish-brown coat resembling a beard, as well as yellow eyes and a toothy grin. Its coin is now black and extremely hard, with the hardest coins being especially valued. The darker the coin is, the more respect it gets from its peers. Galarian Meowth's body has partially turned to iron as a result of many years of living with a race of savage seafarers.
As Gigantamax Meowth, it has become larger and longer in size. The body extends from lower half to the shoulder, while the gold coin gains a symbol. Meowth's eyes change to a glowing gold color. The tail grows long as well, with the end of it tips extending. Three red clouds surround it below the shoulders. The giant coin emits a lot of Gigantamax power that surrounds the area with a golden gleam. Its desire for shiny objects increases to the point where it will cause damage to skyscraper windows and exterior walls for the sake of sharpening its claws.[2]
Meowth is one of the two main Pokémon in the anime, the other being Pikachu. Meowth is a member of Team Rocket, and he is unlike ordinary Meowth in that he can speak human language. His first appearance was in Pokémon Emergency!, which also marked the species' debut.
Meowzie is the main reason behind Meowth's ability to talk and walk on two legs. He fell in love with her when he was still a stray Pokémon on the streets of Hollywood.
An Alolan Meowth appeared in Acting True to Form!. After working with Team Rocket, it later arrived at the Team Rocket HQ after stealing the trio's money to buy an airline ticket to Kanto. At the Team Rocket HQ, it became an assistant to Matori.
Other
A Meowth appeared in The Purr-fect Hero, where it was revealed to have saved Timmy from a Beedrill in a flashback. For most of the episode, Timmy believed Meowth was the same Meowth that had saved him. However, this was proven wrong when the real Meowth appeared to save Timmy again.
A Meowth appeared in Mewtwo Strikes Back, where it was cloned from Team Rocket's Meowth. It was the only cloned Pokémon who didn't join its brethren in battling their progenitors. Unlike Team Rocket's Meowth, this Meowth is incapable of speaking human language, as that trait was learned behavior. Meowth reappeared in Mewtwo Returns.
A gang of Meowth living on the streets of Hollywood appeared in Go West Young Meowth. Team Rocket's Meowth was revealed to be a former member, while his love interest Meowzie currently is one.
Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon. Meowth loves to roam at night to gather coins and other objects that sparkle, but it spends most of the daylight hours sleeping.
Meowth, Alola Form. The Scratch Cat Pokémon. A Dark type. Meowth are not native to the Alola region, but people brought them here. Eventually, their appearance changed to what we now see. They are prideful and cunning.
In Days of Gloom and Glory, an unnamed Meowth based on Meowzie appears. Like the anime, Meowzie finds Meowth's ability to speak human language "creepy". In the manga, however, she has at least one kitten, which she captures in a stolen Poké Ball in order to protect it from an impending flood.
A Meowth appeared as one of Sham's Pokémon, which attacked Green and Silver while they were escaping from Masked Man's compound, as seen in a flashback from The Escape. Sham's Meowth later presumably evolved into one of her three Persian.
Multiple Meowth can be found during the Beach level. These Meowth are prone to accident and injury, as Pidgey is easily provoked to use Gust on them. Snap can also knock Meowth off a rock, making it fall to the ground.
Meowth appears as a random trophy. Meowth's trophy in this game is based on the anime ending theme Meowth's Party.
Meowth using Pay Day in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Trophy information
"This... is Meowth's dream. Meowth strides all over the globe, scattering invitations to other Pokémon insisting they come to "Meowth's Party." At this wonderful party, guests are packed in like sardines as Meowth climbs up the stage with its faithful guitar. It strikes a chord, pauses, and then rocks their world!''
Meowth returns as a Poké Ball summon, attacking opponents with Pay Day. However, it instead faces one direction rather than attacking from all sides.
Trophy Information
"A Scratch Cat Pokémon. It's one of the most famous Pokémon and very fond of things that glitter--the gold medallion on its head could be seen as an indicator of this infatuation. There are many Pokémon that resemble cats, but Meowth is the only one that can use Pay Day to receive coins at the end of battle. It evolves into Persian."
Meowth returns as a Poké Ball summon, with its abilities unchanged from Brawl.
Trophy information
NA: "Meowth is a Normal-type, Scratch Cat Pokémon who absolutely loves anything shiny. It's a creature of the night, and it's not unusual to discover a Meowth and a Murkrow fighting over their finds. Meowth's attack Pay Day can deal a ton of damage if an opponent gets caught in it. How purrfect!"
PAL: "Meowth, a Normal-type Pokémon, loves round, shiny things. It runs around at night, hunting for little treasures and trinkets, but often ends up getting into fights with Murkrow about who'll get to keep them. Watch out for Meowth's Pay Day attack. If it catches you from behind, it can be purralysingly pawerful!"
Meowth returns as a Poké Ball summon, retaining the same behavior as before.
Game data
NPC appearances
Pokémon Pinball: A Meowth appears in a bonus stage that is accessible from the Blue Table. The player must hit the Meowth and get it to drop gold coins which must be collected.
Meowth withdraws its sharp claws into its paws to slinkily sneak about without making any incriminating footsteps. For some reason, this Pokémon loves shiny coins that glitter with light.
Meowth withdraws its sharp claws into its paws to slinkily sneak about without making any incriminating footsteps. For some reason, this Pokémon loves shiny coins that glitter with light.
Niue released a one-dollar coin featuring Meowth as part of a commemorative promotion for the Pokémon franchise, with Meowth on one side and the nation's coat of arms on the other.
In Go West, Young Meowth, it was stated that Meowth of Team Rocket had to learn and practice standing on his hind legs like a human, implying that Meowth as a species are not naturally able to stand on their hind legs. However, almost all sprites in the games and the Pokédex in the anime depict it standing on its hind legs, suggesting Meowth has the natural ability to walk on two legs. Tyson's Meowth is also able to walk on two legs, seemingly naturally.
Alolan Meowth has the lowest base Attack of all Dark-type Pokémon.
Meowth is the only known Pokémon to have more than one regional form.
Meowth may be considered a counterpart of Mankey. Both of them are Generation I Pokémon who evolve into their evolved forms at or above level 28. Meowth is exclusive to Pokémon Blue, Silver, and SoulSilver; while Mankey is exclusive to Red, Gold, and HeartGold. Also, in Black 2 and White 2, Yancy will trade the player a Meowth if the player is male, and Curtis will trade Mankey if the player is female. Additionally, both seem to have a similar color scheme.
Meowth seems to be based upon the Japanese legend of the 招き猫 Maneki-neko, also known as the lucky cat or beckoning cat. According to one legend, a cat raised its paw to welcome a lord and saved his life when a lightning bolt hit the spot where he had been standing. Maneki-neko are often used as charms in restaurants and shops to bring customers fortune and good luck. Statues of the cat are usually depicted holding a koban, an ancient coin used in Japan, like the one on Meowth's head. Meowth's color and pattern suggest that it also draws inspiration from Siamese cats. Its Japanese species name also suggests it is based on a Bakeneko.
Based on its appearance and SwordPokédex entry, Galarian Meowth may be based on Norwegian Forest cats, large fluffy cats with beard-like ruffs, with traits of the Vikings that kept the breed's presumed ancestors on their ships.
Name origin
Meowth may be a combination of meow (the sound a cat makes) and wealth, alluding to the Maneki-neko's capacity to bring good fortune. The -th may also be borrowed from Nyarth, as both meow and nyā are onomatopoeia of a cat's cry.
Nyarth may be a combination of ニャー nyā (the sound a cat makes) and the switched sounds of シャム Shamu (Siam, former name of Thailand), becoming ミャス Myasu. Siam relates to a cat breed, the Siamese, which in turn relates to Meowth's evolution, Persian, and the Persian cat breed.
The sound a cat makes. This name is only pronunciation-wise (still written as Meowth), but the English spelling is notable from the first episodes of Diamond & Pearl.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Nugget (5%)
Quick Claw (5%)
Pink Scarf (100%)
Glitter Mail (100%)
Amulet Coin (100%)
Smoke Ball (100%)
Focus Band (5%)
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For other sprites and images, please see Meowth images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
