-Meowth (Blue only) - Mid Tier
-Availability: The Scratch Cat Pokemon can be seen in the routes bordering Saffron City, the earliest of which being Routes 5 and 6. Out of all the Pokemon in those routes, approximately one fourth of them are Meowth, their levels ranging from 10 to 16. Meowth tend to evolve when they reach level 28.
-Stats: When looking at Meowth's stats, its Speed is far above the rest, being double any of its other stats, which are in the range of usability offensively, but leaves something to be desired defensively. Its evolution, Persian, follows this trend with all of its stats being noticeably higher than Meowth's, but keeping the theme of blazing speed and its other stats being average.
-Movepool: All Meowth level 12 or higher have Bite, a move with solid base power and the potential to flinch its target, in their arsenal. Meowth are also known for using Pay Day, a move which has the same power as Scratch but has the added effect of getting extra money at the end of battles. However, the sheer amount of trainers in the game means that you won't need it and will find it more of a hindrance than anything else. While Persian does eventually learn Slash, it won't do so until level 53, by which time you should have beaten the game.
Being a Normal-type, Meowth and Persian have a usable TM movepool, though not as impressive as some of its fellow Normal-types. It has access to Bubblebeam and Thunderbolt, the former being useful against the Ground-types in Rock Tunnel and the latter being helpful for the Bird Keepers and Swimmers that become quite common after Pokemon Tower (as well as being ironic). However, both of those TMs are exclusive, so if you're also using (or plan to use) an Electric-type or a (non-Seafoam Islands) Water-type in addition to Meowth, the Scratch Cat most likely won't be able to use either of those moves. Meowth can also learn Water Gun, but it is not recommended as it fails to OHKO anything that's even 4x weak to it. As with several Pokemon, Meowth can be taught Body Slam, but the fact that it has Bite in its arsenal when you get it means Meowth benefits less from it than a teammate such as Ivysaur would.
-Power: Bite allows Meowth to be a reliable, albeit frail, attacker once it catches up, and it's not defenseless before it catches up. Its previously mentioned frailty can be a problem, though. It can't do much in Pokemon Tower, for obvious reasons, but it does quite well in Routes 13 and 14 as well as the water Routes if it is taught Thunderbolt. Overall, Persian doesn't usually disappoint, but at the same time its performance doesn't regularly blow people away.
-Type: Having a Normal typing can be useful in the early-game, as most Pokemon typically have only Normal-type damaging moves in their arsenal at that point in the game. However, Meowth comes a bit late to the party, because by that point in the game the Bubblebeam and Dig TMs are available, and Pokemon who learn STAB my means of leveling up starts to learn those moves at the point Meowth becomes available. After that, Normal STAB becomes less and less useful due to it having absolutely no super effective coverage, despite having impressive neutral coverage. This is where secondary typings would come in handy, but Persian doesn't have one, hampering its potential usefulness.
-Match-ups:
--Lt. Surge: Due to Meowth's frailty, the chance of it taking more than one Thunderbolt is almost null.
--Erika: Persian can beat Victreebel one-on-one, but don't expect it to beat Vileplume afterward.
--Koga: Thanks to Koffing and Weezing being quite sturdy physically, it should come as no surprise that Persian has trouble against Koga if it doesn't have Thunderbolt.
--Sabrina: Persian can take her Alakazam on by itself and come on top in most cases. It also does well against her other Pokemon, but don't expect it to beat her by itself.
--Blaine: Unlike Persian, Blaine's Arcanine has usable bulk and a very threatening (to those who don't resist it, that is) STAB, proving that dogs normally defeat cats in one-on-one fights. Thankfully for Persian, it's faster than Rapidash, meaning that it has less to worry from Fire Spin than a Pokemon like Nidoqueen would.
--Giovanni: There's no way Persian's getting past his Rhydon without Bubblebeam. Dugtrio can be defeated, but it'll take a large chunk of Persian's health in the process, and the Nidos do similarly.
--Lorelei: Without Thunderbolt, Persian can beat Dewgong and Jynx, but nothing else, mainly due to the rest of her team having impressive physical bulk. If Thunderbolt is taken into account, Cloyster can be added to the above list.
--Bruno: Onix can take any of Persian's moves not called Bubblebeam, Hitmonchan can Counter any Normal-type assault from Persian back at it, and Bruno's other Pokemon know Fighting-type moves.
--Agatha: Persian can't do much of anything to her Ghost-types, the most threatening members of her team, but Golbat and Arbok are manageable. Just keep in mind Arbok can Wrap Persian into oblivion if Persian gets paralyzed.
--Lance: Persian might be able to take Gyarados's Hyper Beam or Hydro Pump and fry it with 2 consecutive Thunderbolts (if it has the move), but that's the best Persian can do for this fight.
--Rival: Unlike Sabrina's, the Champion's Alakazam beats Persian more often than the other way around, thanks to its level advantage as well as it actually knowing Psychic. The Champion's Gyarados, just like Lance's, is beaten provided Persian knows Thunderbolt. Everything else on his team that Persian can take down can also be defeated by a number of other Pokemon.
-Additional Comments: Meowth can fend for itself shortly after being caught, but the problem with it (and its evolution) is that outside of its Speed, none of its stats are impressive, despite none of them being truly bad, with the possible exception of Defense (which is a bit mediocre). This causes it to have a consistently average performance. Its movepool can be another problem, as its level-up movepool outside of an early Bite and a too-late Slash is quite scarce. This causes Meowth to be a bit high-maintenance at times, but not necessarily useless if left to its own devices.