Ritchie: Difference between revisions

Hiroshi redirects here. For the character of the day in Curbing the Crimson Tide, see Hiroshi (Kanto).

Ritchie (also Richie, Japanese: ヒロシ Hiroshi) is a nominally recurring Trainer in the anime.

He is named after Hiroshi Yamauchi, former President of Nintendo. His Japanese name means "far and wide" (溥), while his English name is a diminutive for Richard, which is generally agreed to mean "brave power" in Germanic (from the elements ric "power, rule, ruler" and hard "brave, hardy").

Ritchie is often seen as a clone of Ash Ketchum because all of his Pokémon relate to some of the Pokémon that Ash owns, or owned at one point (Sparky and Pikachu, Zippo and Charizard, Happy and Butterfree, Rose and Swellow, and Cruise and Larvitar).

In the anime

Ritchie first appeared in A Friend In Deed and quickly befriended his fellow Pokémon League competitor, Ash Ketchum. This led to problems in the next episode, Friend or Foe Alike, since the two were matched up to battle against each other. Ritchie won the match, since at the very end Ash's Charizard refused to fight Sparky and took a nap on the battlefield instead. Even though he lost in the next match to Assunta, he made it to the Top 8 position in the league.

Ritchie showed up again in the anime when Ash and co. visited the Whirl Islands, starting in The Mystery is History. He was searching for a mysterious Pokémon that can be found there, which turned out to be a Lugia.

He also appeared in three Pokémon Chronicles episodes; Oaknapped, Celebi and Joy and The Search for the Legend.

Pokémon

This listing is of Ritchie's known Pokémon in the anime:

		Sparky
		Main article: Sparky Sparky is Ritchie's main Pokémon, a Pikachu. It is distinguished from other Pikachu by a scruff of fur on the top of its head.
Debut	A Friend in Deed
Voice actors
Japanese	Satomi Kōrogi
English	Satomi Kōrogi

		Zippo
		Main article: Zippo Zippo is Ritchie's Charmeleon. It first appeared as a Charmander, and evolved by the next time Ash and Ritchie met in the Whirl Islands.
Debut	A Friend in Deed
Voice actors
Japanese	Yūji Ueda
English	Eric Stuart

		Happy
		Happy (Japanese: パピー Papi) is Ritchie's Butterfree. After Ritchie and Ash had foiled Team Rocket's plan to steal the Pokémon of everyone competing in the Pokémon League, the van they were driving was about to go over a cliff. Ash and Ritchie decided to use their Pokémon to help them land safely. Ash used his Pidgeotto, while Ritchie sent out Happy. Thanks to their Pokémon, the two Trainers were able to land safely. Happy also appeared in Friend and Foe Alike during Ash and Ritchie's battle at the Indigo Plateau. It was up against Squirtle. It easily defeated the Template:Type2 by using Sleep Powder, which caused Squirtle to become disqualified. Happy was then defeated by Pikachu using its ThunderShock. Happy was last seen in Friends to the End during Ritchie's battle with Assunta. It was seen battling with her Venomoth. It hasn't been seen or mentioned since that episode. Happy's known moves are Sleep Powder and Whirlwind.
Debut	A Friend in Deed
Voice actors
Japanese	Rikako Aikawa
English	Rikako Aikawa

		Cruise
		Cruise (Japanese: クルーズ) is Ritchie's Pupitar. When it first appeared, Butch and Cassidy were attempting to steal a baby Lugia, but Ash and Ritchie refused to let that happen. To stop them, Ritchie sent out his Pupitar. It was very strong in battle, and it caused the two Team Rocket members to retreat. Ritchie also used Cruise in A Promise is a Promise. Butch and Cassidy were once again trying to prevent the kids from rescuing Silver and its mother. Ritchie called upon Cruise to take care of them and the other Team Rocket Grunts in the area. After it defeated them, Cruise helped Ash and Misty free Silver from its cage by tackling the bars after Ash's Cyndaquil, Totodile and Poliwhirl had weakened them. Cruise's known moves are Take Down and Sandstorm.
Debut	The Mystery is History
Voice actors
Japanese
English	Eric Stuart

		Rose
		Rose (Japanese: ローズ) is Ritchie's Taillow. When Ritchie, Tracey and Officer Jenny were looking for the missing Professor Oak, Ritchie sent out Rose for help. Tracey commented that Ash also has a Taillow, and Ritchie replied that Ash and him tend to catch a lot of the same Pokémon (referring to their Pikachu, Charmeleon, and Butterfree). Rose's known moves are Gust* and Double Team.
Debut	Oaknapped
Voice actors
Japanese	Chinami Nishimura
English	Kayzie Rogers

Ritchie had at least 3 other Pokémon during Indigo League competition. It is uncertain which ones belonged to him. However, the beginning scene in Friends to the End narrowed the situation a bit. Pokémon that could possibly belong to Ritchie presented in this scene include Spearow and Tentacool.

Mentioned

Voice actors

In the games

The only game Ritchie appears in is Pokémon Puzzle League. However, some have speculated that, like Ash, he was based on the hero from Pokémon Red and Blue. In fact, besides differences in color, his outfit closely parallels that of Red's original design.

In the manga

Ritchie is a character in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. His personality is very similar to that of his anime counterpart. However, he has blond hair instead of auburn.

Pokémon

		Chuchino
		Main article: Sparky Sparky was the first revealed Pokémon of Ritchie's where it went up against Gary's Pokémon and defeated them. It is unknown which opponent that Sparky competed. It was also used against Ash's Pikachu.
Debut	Welcome To The Big Leagues

		Charley
		Main article: Zippo Charley was used against Ash's Charizard in the Indigo League. It lost to Ash's Charizard after it was badly beaten. As a result, Ash resigned from the challenge.
Debut	The Indigo Finals

		Happy
		Happy was used against Ash's Squirtle in the Indigo League where it was able to defeat Squirtle after a long fight.
Debut	The Indigo Finals

Trivia

Ritchie's Poké Balls

• Ritchie puts stickers on his Poké Balls to differentiate his Pokémon between others.
• Two versions of his name can be seen in the fandom, Richie and Ritchie. However, Pokémon Puzzle League, as well as Pokémon Chronicles subtitles, spell his name with a "t". Because of this, he is more commonly identified as Ritchie.
  • In Pokémon Zany Cards, he is referred to as Ricky.
• He shares three notable traits with Professor Oak. Both traveled through time with the aid of a Celebi, while both, as of the last known appearance of their Pokémon, have a Charmeleon, and they both share the same English voice actress (when Oak was younger).
• Despite changes in the Pokédex's design, Ritchie continues to use the oldest model as of the last episode it was seen in.
• Much like Shigeru and Satoshi are default names for the rival in Red and Green, respectively (being a default for the player in the opposite version), Hiroshi is a default name for the rival in Blue.
• He is the only rival to nickname his Pokémon.
• Ritchie's outfit features the colors green and yellow, while Ash's clothes are predominantly red and blue.
• The only known Pokémon Ritchie owns that Ash has never officially owned in the past is Pupitar. However, Ash has owned a Larvitar temporarily.

Names

External links

• Hiroshi's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
• Hiroshi's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)

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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.