Pokemon Scarlet and Violet introduced a plethora of new critters for players to catch and use in battle, and while a good part of them don't come from a rich lore background, others do. A great example of this comes from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Gholdengo, Gimmighoul's evolution. This Pokemon can only be obtained when players get a total of 999 Gimmighoul Coins, one of the Pokemon materials that critters drop when they're defeated in battle or through the Let's Go auto-battle feature. However, Gimmighoul is an interesting case in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet because it can't be defeated in auto-battles, and it only spawns in various fixed locations on the map, sometimes appearing in specific places in its Roaming Form, others appearing as a locked red and gold chest.
Both forms of Gimmighoul award Gimmighoul Coins, with the Roaring Form giving players a random number of coins and then disappearing, and the Chest Form only providing coins when defeated in battle or caught. Because Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Gimmighoul has creepy lore surrounding how it manipulates and mind-controls both Pokemon and humans to collect coins for it, and because Gholdengo's signature move is all about making coins rain, there's a parallel to be drawn with Meowth.
Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Were Perfect For a New Meowth Regional Form
Meowth is a Gen 1 Pokemon that got a lot of love over the years, possibly also due to its iconic appearance in the Pokemon anime as a Team Rocket member. This critter received its first regional form in Gen 7, then another in Gen 8, alongside a Gigantamax form exclusive to the base evolutionary stage, all of which is quite uncommon in general, even though there are notable exceptions with the likes of Charizard, for example. And yet, a Pokemon Scarlet and Violet regional form of Meowth would have made the most sense out of them all, possibly as a Ghost-type critter.
Meowth's signature move is called Pay Day, and it pretty much does what it says on the tin, which is to award coins at the end of a battle that in turn provide players with extra Pokedollars. The cat-like creature even has a golden coin on its head, which is also present on Alolan Meowth and Galarian Meowth as well, albeit with the latter it becomes black. Thus, Meowth's intrinsic connection to gold and coins would have made it the perfect candidate for a complimentary regional form to go with Gimmighoul's background in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
A Paldean Meowth could have maybe been forced by Gimmighoul to gather coins for it, and it would have made for a great thematic addition to the Pokedex, as well as an interesting creature to have on the battlefield, potentially. In fact, there is a unique interaction between two Pokemon in Gen 9 in the form of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Tatsugiri and Dondozo, with the latter "eating" the former in double battles and gaining a so-called "omniboost," which consists of two extra stages in each stat. Similarly, a hypothetical Paldean Meowth could have had an interaction with Gimmighoul or Gholdengo.
Gholdengo is currently one of the top 5 Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet also thanks to its signature move, Make it Rain, which has a 120 base power with the sole side effect of dropping the user's Special Attack stat by one stage. A Paldean Meowth could have made sense to introduce as a double battle partner for Gholdengo, maybe avoiding the downside of Make it Rain because it collects all the coins scattered by the move. Overall, the possibilities were endless in this case, and linking these two evolutionary lines through a regional form would have been the best use for yet another version of Meowth.
PokemonScarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
