Ritchie

Ritchie (also Richie, Japanese: ヒロシ Hiroshi) is a nominally recurring Pokémon trainer in the anime. His Japanese voice actress is 高山みなみ Minami Takayama, his English voice actress is Tara Jayne, his Brazilian Portuguese voice actors are Alex Wendel (Indigo League), Francisco Freitas (Whirl Islands) and Thiago Longo (Pokémon Chronicles) and his Latin-American voice actress is Mayra Arellano.

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, all of his Pokémon being related to Pokémon Ash owns, or owned at one point (Sparky and Ash's Pikachu, Zippo and Ash's Charizard, Happy and Ash's Butterfree, Rose and Ash's Swellow, and Cruise and Ash's Larvitar).

Many believe that episodes with him demonstrate what the show would be like if Ash was smarter. Ritchie lacks popularity in the Pokémon fandom.

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 what it considered a weaker opponent 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 friends visited the Whirl Islands, starting in The Mystery is History He was searching for a mysterious Pokémon 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. The second of these makes him one of at least two notable characters to travel backwards through time with the aid of Celebi, the other character being Sammy Oak.

Pokémon

On hand

File:Sparky Sprite.png Pikachu	→ Charmander → Charmeleon
Butterfree	Pupitar	Taillow

Ritchie had at least 3 other Pokémon during Indigo League competition. It's uncertain which ones belonged to him. However, the beginning scene in Friends to the End narrowed the situation a bit. Possible Ritchie's Pokémon presented in this scene include Spearow and Tentacool. One of them belongs to Ritchie.

Mentioned

Eevee

Ritchie consults Professor Oak for advice on evolving his Eevee in the Pokémon Chronicles episode Oaknapped. This was only mentioned in the dub.

In the games

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

In the manga

Ritchie was one of the characters 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. This might be because Gary also has the same hair color.

Pokémon

File:Sparky Sprite.png Chuchino

Charley

Happy

Trivia

• He marks his Poké Balls with stars on top so he can tell them apart from those of other Trainers. This was useful when Jessie, James, and Meowth stole a bunch of Poké Balls, including his.
• 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". Due to that, he is identified as Ritchie in this article.
• During the Kanto League in the anime, Gary Oak is defeated by Melissa. However, in the manga, it is shown to be Ritchie who defeated him.
• In the Pokémon anime, Zippo has not been shown to have become a Charizard.
• Ritchie may be based on the in-game character Red.
• 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).
• Ritchie mentioned, (in the dub only), that he came from "Frodomar City". It is unknown if he is really from there or if he was just lying to try not to distort things in the past.

External links

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

Ritchie's Pokémon
On hand:	Zippo	Sparky	Happy	Cruise	Rose
Status unknown:	Spearow	Tentacool
Borrowed:	Ponyta