On the Origin of Species: Meowth: Investigating the inspirations behind Pokémon

[Joshawott]

I was aware of those awesome cat statues, but I didn't know Meowth was based off one. I know TR tried to sell one based on Meowth in a recent episode, and I thought that was just TR trying to sell something related to them. Didn't know it was so important in Meowth's origin.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

i have seen the meneki neko several times, but ive never put it and Meowth togteher. Ive never actually read the whole story before and i think its cool, i really love learning about this kinda stuff. I knew the coin on meowth's head had to symbolize wealth in some way. Id really love to buy one of those statues for myself. i aloso now know what the nickname of my Meowth is gonna be, Meneki, who knows maybe if i keep it with me i'll be lucky.

 

[GodofPH]

Another great column. I never knew Meowth had such deep origins. I simply thought Meowth was based on the simple idea of cats and their love of shiny things. That certainly explains why Meowth has the same hand raise pose in almost all of its official art.

 

[011284mm]

Firstly, a great artical once again. I had never heard the story before about the Japanise temple, very interesting and a refreshing thought after all the demanding cats I have known.
Secondly, reading the artical made me feel sorry for all those poor Meowth I have caught to fill in the Pokédex and then forgotten about after they evolve into Persian. Maybe I should go back and spend a little time using them. Who knows I might get lucky with money myself!

 

[V Faction]

I was never a huge fan of Meowth as a Pokemon. However, I still enjoyed that article.

I'm curious if version exclusives played any part in how Meowth's availability unfolded. When I first started playing, I opted to get the Red version, so I never ran into Meowth as a catchable Pokemon. Because of that, I feel like he never really stuck on me in the long run like some other Pokemon did. I wonder if there was any reason behind using it as one of the version exclusive Pokemon.

I especially recall Pay Day and how so many Pokemon could learn it. The move genuinely felt like a non-descript attack, open to any Pokemon that saw fit to learn it. And these days it has been handed down to Meowth alone. Seems a little cheap =P

 

[PDL]

I especially recall Pay Day and how so many Pokemon could learn it. The move genuinely felt like a non-descript attack, open to any Pokemon that saw fit to learn it. And these days it has been handed down to Meowth alone. Seems a little cheap =P

Pay Day had it's relevancy back in the Days of RBY. Without many real trainer rematchs and items being pretty much limited to what can be found in dungeons/the overworld. The only real way to earn more money after the main game ended was to either battle and rebattle the elite 4, cheat by duplicating Nuggets, or use a Pokémon with Pay Day.

But now that there is a mutlitude of ways to earn money easily in the games, the move lost it's only real use. Espcially since the move didn't really generate that much compared to other more lucartive options.

 

[V Faction]

It's easy enough to fix that. Have Pay Day generate Game Center coins instead of Pokedollars.

But like I said, Meowth is the sole proprietor of the move, so it is a move in novelty only. They could fix that by reinstating it as a Tutored attack, but they won't.

 

[Miar]

"An' dat's why I'm cream a'da Pokey-crop!"

I love Meowth's ability to make money in the games (Pay Day and Pickup), plus the show's Meowth used to be entertaining until TR started rhyming every other line they ever say (as in now).

I've seen the maneki-neko. It's an Animal Crossing decoration. It fits Meowth just right, being the money-maker in older games when trainers only fought once.

 

[Morru]

mawr!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously, these articles are great!
my grandmother has alot of those figurines^^
can't wait for porygon:bounce:

 

[Faye Scarlet]

D8 I has lucky cats, 4 of them, in my Animal Crossing mansion! I had no idea Meowth was a lucky cat, too! How cool!

plus the show's Meowth used to be entertaining until TR started rhyming every other line they ever say (as in now).

Last I checked, "double/trouble", "devastation/nation", "love/above", and "light/fight/right" all rhymed. TR always rhymed, even back when.

 

[Gama]

The very last line of that article literally made me laugh out loud.

 

[Joshawott]

Last I checked, "double/trouble", "devastation/nation", "love/above", and "light/fight/right" all rhymed. TR always rhymed, even back when.

Thing is, now TPCi use Internal Rhyming. Too much rhyme is annoying.

 

[Mijumaru]

Thing is, now TPCi use Internal Rhyming. Too much rhyme is annoying.

I used to love it when they rhymed, and now, as you said, it is annoying.

 

[Dogasu]

You guys really didn't know what Nyasu was based on? I had assumed this was common knowledge by now.

Anyway, great article, as always.

 

[Mijumaru]

You guys really didn't know what Nyasu was based on? I had assumed this was common knowledge by now.

Anyway, great article, as always.

Well, yeah, I remember reading one of your comparisons and it had a picture of the maneki neko. When I went to San Francisco the other day, I went to this Japanese treat shop and they had little snack buckets with the maneki neko on it.

 

[GroundMaster]

Finally, a Japanese story that I'm actually familiar with. It was interesting to know that one ryo is worth a thousand dollars in today's money, or that a koban was worth one ryo.

Another great article, keep up the good work.

 

[Bug Catcher Wade]

I wonder why they put the coin on his forehead instead of around his neck.

 

[Somari]

You guys really didn't know what Nyasu was based on? I had assumed this was common knowledge by now.

I find it more odd that this is Bulbagarden Forums, which is connected to Bulbapedia. You would expect that more people would have looked at the Meowth article.

But yea this, and mostly all other OTOOS articles, are common knowledge.

 

[Bikini Miltank]

I think that the fandom is pretty diverse in that respect, though. There are plenty of people with an indepth knowledge of Pokemon's nod to mythology (either acquired via the fandom, or through a general knowledge of Japanese culture as a whole). But there are also those who aren't aware of such things... mostly because, I suppose, they've never thought about Pokemon in that way.

Often when I'm writing an article, there'll be a voice in the back of my head saying "Everybody knows this already, you're wasting your time". I'm kind of dreading the Vulpix article for this reason. But even when I'm talking about some of the more well-known origins, I try to include things that people are perhaps less likely to know about (in this case, I knew of the maneki neko and its significance, but I only recently read up on the various stories that have sprung up around it). The hyena article was pretty much all that: "We know they're based on hyenas... but here's some stuff you might not know about hyenas." Some people liked that, and some people thought it was a waste of time, but I suppose different people get different things out of these columns.

 

[Joshawott]

I think that the fandom is pretty diverse in that respect, though. There are plenty of people with an indepth knowledge of Pokemon's nod to mythology (either acquired via the fandom, or through a general knowledge of Japanese culture as a whole). But there are also those who aren't aware of such things... mostly because, I suppose, they've never thought about Pokemon in that way.

Often when I'm writing an article, there'll be a voice in the back of my head saying "Everybody knows this already, you're wasting your time". I'm kind of dreading the Vulpix article for this reason. But even when I'm talking about some of the more well-known origins, I try to include things that people are perhaps less likely to know about (in this case, I knew of the maneki neko and its significance, but I only recently read up on the various stories that have sprung up around it). The hyena article was pretty much all that: "We know they're based on hyenas... but here's some stuff you might not know about hyenas." Some people liked that, and some people thought it was a waste of time, but I suppose different people get different things out of these columns.

Vulpix article...as long as you mention that it doesn't like being anthropised and made to have sex with humans on dodgy image boards xD

Seriously though, even if I know of something, I like reading the articles, because they add depth to what I do know.

Also, Mantine and Remoraid?