Meowth (ニャース ) in the original Japanese version) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Meowth first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. In addition, it was one of the Pokémon to get an Alola Form variant. It later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Meowth is voiced by Inuko Inuyama in Japanese, and by Nathan Price (dub episodes 1-32), Maddie Blaustein (dub episodes 33-419), and James Carter Cathcart (dub episodes 420 - current) in English. Known as the Scratch Cat Pokémon, it spends most of the daytime sleeping and prowls the city streets at night. Meowth evolves into Persian. Meowth is among the most recognizable Pokémon, largely because it is a central character in the Pokémon anime series. This particular Meowth, belonging to Team Rocket, the anime's main antagonists, is one of the few Pokémon that have the ability to speak human language. The episode "Go West Young Meowth" shows the character's backstory, in which Meowth attempted to impress a female Meowth called Meowzie (Madonnya (マドンニャ Madonnya) in Japanese version) by teaching himself how to walk on two legs and speak English. In the English version of the franchise, he is given a Brooklyn accent. Meowth has had mixed reception, Game Daily describing him as "adorable" and saying he should have his own game,[citation needed] while GamesRadar described it as "not all that useful" and said that Meowth would not have stood out if it did not have such a large role in the anime.
Meowth was one of 151 different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue.Called "Nyarth" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children. Due to its appearance in the anime series as a speaking character, the species was renamed Meowth, a combination of the words "meow" and "mouth". Meowth has a distinctly feline appearance, resembling a small housecat. It has cream-colored fur, which turns brown at its paws and tail tip. Its oval-shaped head features prominent whiskers, black-and-brown ears, and a koban, a gold, oval coin (also known as a "charm") embedded in its forehead. Meowth are valued for their ability to collect coins using their signature move, "Pay Day", as it is the only Pokémon that learns it. Meowth's coloration, its love of coins, and its charm indicate that Meowth is based on the Japanese Maneki Neko, a cat-shaped figurine that is said to bring good luck and money to its owner. Aspects of Meowth were drawn from a Japanese myth dealing with the true value of money, in which a cat has money on its head but does not realize it.When a Meowth receives enough experience from battles, it evolves into Persian at level 28. Meowth is an urban nocturnal Pokémon, spending most of the daytime sleeping and prowling the city streets at night. They retract their claws back into their paws, which grants them silent movement and protecting them from leaving distinctively incriminating pawprints that alert people to their actions.Meowth loves round objects, as well as shiny, glittering things. The item it adores collecting the most, however, are coins, since they are both round and shiny. Meowth collects the objects at every opportunity and hoards in its nest. Murkrow, a Pokémon similar to the bowerbird, exhibits similar behavior and members of the two species have been known to steal from the collections of the other.