Giovanni's Persian was first seen in Battle Aboard the St. Anne when Jessie, James and Meowth report to Giovanni. Since then, it has always been seen either at Giovanni's side or in his lap.
Meowth views this Persian as a rival. Persian is the beloved pet of the boss of Team Rocket, and Meowth wants to kick Persian out and take its place as Giovanni's beloved pet, or the "Top Cat", as he calls it. Meowth's hatred of his evolved form was not started by this Persian, but his anger manifests against it more often than against any other Persian.
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
In the games
Giovanni also owns a Persian in one of the Pokémon games, Pokémon Yellow, which is highly based on the anime. He uses it mainly for battle, having been seen in all battles that the player has been challenged to. A Persian also appears in both rounds of Pokémon Stadium.
The backstory of how Giovanni met Persian is revealed in the How I Became a Pokémon Card manga. He rescued it when he was a child.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards featuring Giovanni's Persian in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Giovanni's Persian Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Giovanni's Persian seems intended to parallel other series in which the main villain owns a cat as a pet. For example, in Inspector Gadget, the villain Dr. Claw owns a cat named Mad Cat (it was named Sniffy in the 1999 movie). This trend seems to have started in the James Bond movies, where Ernst Stavro Blofeld is often shown to have a white Persian cat that he strokes in a similar fashion to Giovanni. His face also remains hidden during the first few movies, which Giovanni also parallels in the Indigo League saga until his battle with Gary.