Meowth's Missing Evolution Piques Attention Online

Meowth has made a name for himself in the Pokemon franchise, mostly as the "mascot" for Team Rocket, consistently tagging along with Jesse and James in their attempts to steal Pokemon from Ash Ketchum and anyone they may happen to run into. This particular antagonist also has the unique ability to speak English, teaching itself how to communicate with humanity in order to gain the heart of a lost love, but it was ultimately to no avail. While Meowth has the ability to evolve, a long lost Pokemon has shared with fans that the feline pocket monster has an earlier form.

Twitter User Dr. LavaYT shared the artwork and details behind Meowth's original form, Konya, piquing fan curiosity regarding this lost form for the sarcastic mascot of Team Rocket (Art by @RacieBeep):

Lost Pokemon of the Day: Kōnya (baby Meowth)

First revealed when the G&S Spaceworld '97 demo leaked in 2018, Kōnya was a Normal-type Pokemon originally meant to evolve into Meowth at level 14.

(Photo descriptions & more info continued in thread below) (1/4) pic.twitter.com/gUkDbwgNi6

— Dr. Lava, PokeTuber (@DrLavaYT) August 3, 2019

Konya, as seen here, is clearly something of a "baby form" for Meowth, who would evolve into the feline that we've all come to know and love to hate at around level 14 in the game. Though the tiny creature was meant to appear in the series, it was cut in both the first and second generations of Pokemon and still has yet to appear in the franchise whether it be in game form or in the anime. Honestly, this isn't to say that we'll never see Konya make an appearance as video games and anime episodes continue to come fast and furious from the Pokemon franchise.

Meowth originally appeared as a first generation Pokemon, one of the 150 or so pocket monsters that fans could catch in the original Pokemon: Red and Pokemon: Blue video games on the Gameboy, and then appearing in the subsequent, numerous games within the franchise. The trickster-mon was also inspired by the Japanese good luck charm, "Maneki-Neko", which was associated with coins to boot, leading even more credence to the Pokemon taking aspects of its appearance and character from this trademark.

Meowth continues tagging along with Team Rocket to this day, the third wheel to Jesse and James in the latest iteration of the anime series, Pokemon: Sword and Shield. While the pair of "Rockets" are currently in the Alola League Tournament, its yet to be seen whether they'll rely on Meowth to help them fight off competitors directly during the fights themselves.

What do you think of Konya? Do you see this long lost Pokemon appearing at some point in the future of the franchise? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Team Rocket!