Ash Ketchum
Ash is a kid about the target age of Pokemon fans, who wanders around the courtyside battling Pokemon and winning 'badges' (question: shouldn't he be in school? Or is this a summers and weekends thing?) which are supposed to show how good a Pokemon trainer is. In actuality, he wins most of his badges through stubborness (he fought Gym Leader Sabrina 2 times before he beat her, and it wasn't unusual for Ash to lose, then win a battle with the same person), overconfidence, and the fact he has very strong Pokemon.Ash grew up with his mom (we aren't entirly sure what happened to Mr. Ketchum) in Pallet Town, in the region the Pokemon video games call Kanto. He has had a long-time rivalry with his neighbor Gary Oak.
Ash is rarly seen without Pikachu, his first and strongest Pokemon. He also has several compainions on his journey: Misty, Tracey, and Brock.
Ash's other Pokemon include or have included:
- Butterfree, which Ash returned to the wild after it fell for another Butterfree.
- Pidgeot, which is currently residing in a tree outside Pallet Town.
- Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard, which is currently on a nature preserve, perfecting its skills.
- Squirtle, which has taken up a job as a firefitgher with some of its old friends.
- Bulbasaur
- Primeape, which Ash gave to another trainer.
- Krabby/Kingler
- Muk
- Tauros
- Lapras, which Ash returned to the wild.
- Snorlax
- Heracross
- Chicorita
- Cyndaquil
- Noctowl
- Totodile
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Misty
Misty is another Pokemon trainer, and, for someone who specializes in Water Pokemon, she certainly has a fiery temper. She is very quick to critisize when someone is being an idiot (Ash does this a lot), but she also has a very caring heart. She says her three dislikes are "carrots, peppers, and bugs.", and has a tendancy to like cute Pokemon, like Togepi.Misty grew up with her three older sisters (who seem to have a bullying tendancy) in the Cerulean City Gym. This explains a lot.
Misty originally started following Ash becuase he trashed her bike trying to save Pikachu. Now, we aren't sure why Misty still hangs around, but it is NOT because she has a crush on him (yeah, sure, right).
Misty is always seen with Togepi, who currently thinks Misty is its mother. Misty's other Pokemon include:
- Staryu
- Starmie, who is currently at the Cerulean City Gym.
- Goldeen, who is currently at the Cerulean City Gym.
- Psyduck, a Pokemon with a constant migrane that will only use its psychic powers when its headache gets unbearable.
- Horsea, who is currently at the Cerulean City Gym.
- Poliwag/Poliwhirl
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Brock
Brock is older than Ash and Misty (I'd say high school or college aged), knows an insane amount about the care and feeding of Pokemon (he wants to breed and raise Pokemon as a career), and can actually cook (a good thing when you're camping miles from the nearest restaurant). He does have the tendancy to chase after any female close to his own age, which can get his friends into trouble when he volenteers them to help someone he wants to impress. Brock was left in charge of his x number of brother and sisters (he had a lot. I don't remember how many) when his mom died and his dad left to train Pokemon (yeah, real responsible). Brock was able to join up with Ash and Misty when his dad returned.
For one season of the show, Brock leaves to work with Professor Ivy , a Pokemon researcher in the Orange Islands. He left after undisclosed difficulties (a.k.a. Brock won't tell us, but it has something to do with Professor Ivy. I'll leave you to figure out what happened).
Brock's old job was running the Pewter City Gym, which specializes in Rock Pokemon. However, he has acquired several other Pokemon during his travels:
- Onix
- Geodude
- Zubat
- Vulpix, who was returned to its original trainer.
- Pineco
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Tracey Sketchit
Tracey is a Pokemon watcher, which I guess is a mix between a bird watcher and one of those field researchers that go out into places like Africa. He's also an artist, and carries a skecthpad everywhere he goes. He supplies the group's daily does of obscure Pokemon-related trivia after Brock leaves. Tracey doesn't say much about his past. We assume he's from the Orange Islands (that's where Ash and Misty meet him.). He appears to be about Brock's age, or a bit younger (Team Rocket refers to him as 'one of those kids').
Tracey just happens to idolize Professor Oak, and is a bit awed when Ash says Oak is his neighbor. When the group returns to Pallet Town, Tracey decided to stay on as Oak's research assistant.
Like anyone who is anyone in the Pokemon world, Tracey has several Pokemon:
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Pikachu
Pikachu is Ash's first Pokemon. Its (speculation on Pikachu's gender can take up entire pages. Personally, I think it's a he, but you might disagree) a little electric rodent with a stubborn streak as large as Ash's (witness the first episode, before Ash and Pikachu become friends) and a shock as large as it's stubborn streak. Besides the stubborness, Pikachu is very loyal to Ash, and looks out for others, especially Togepi. Pikachu has a pretty big fear of being in a Poke Ball, which is why you usually see it walking by Ash, or riding on his head. For some reason, Team Rocket has become convinced that Pikachu is their ticket to success (despite their comments on their first appearance: Ash:You're not getting Pikachu!! Jessie:We don't want you're electric rat. We're after rare Pokemon). This is why they spend a large majority of their time, energy, and funding chasing after Ash and Co.
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Togepi
Togepi is a cute little baby Pokemon with a large amount of curiosity and little common sense. Besides wandering off and having Misty and/or Pikachu go look for it, it doesn't do much yet. However, Togepi does know a few powerful moves, like Metronome and possibly Teleport that will manifest when the group is in danger. Togepi's egg was found by Ash and cared for by Brock. The egg was stolen by Team Rocket and, though James wanted to eat it, Meowth cared for it. The egg hatched while Ash and Co. barged in to get the egg back, and Misty rescued it. However, who Togepi's trainer would be was up for grabs. Ash, Misty, Brock and Meowth (all interested parties) agreed on a Pokemon battle. Ash defeated Misty, Meowth defeated Brock, and Ash defeated Meowth. However, Ash's Pokedex then revealed an important fact about Togepi. It imprints (note for non-biologists: this means it thinks the first moving thing it sees is Mommy) on the first thing it sees (a.k.a. Misty). So, Misty keeps Togepi. Yay.
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Team Rocket
If you look up 'incompetent' in the dictionary, these guys would have a full-page picture. Sorry, but while humorous Team Rocket is, skilled at crime it is not.
Jessie
Jessie is the aggressive 'beauty' (her words, not mine) of Team Rocket. She also is rather vain and has a temper the size of her ego. Jessie came from a lower class background. My guess is they saved up to send her to Pokemon Tech., a prestigeous boarding school, then she managed to blow the entry exams. This also be where she met James, who likewise totally bombed the test. She may have not joined Team Rocket until later, as she did try to become a Pokemon Nurse sometime as a teenager.
Jessie has two Pokemon. Her Arbok was a gift to her at some previous point, but she caught a Lickitung when it ate Team Rocket's food. Later her Lickitung was accidentally swapped for a Wobbuffet, a Pokemon who can only react to others' attacks.
James
James isn't too bright, but he also tends to be a bit nicer than Jessie (not necessarily a good thing when one is in a life of crime). Unlike Jessie, though, James had a privileged upbringing. However, his combined failure to get in a good school and his parents pressuring for him to become bethrothed to the rich neighbor girl (who was about as pleasant as a slug crawling on your face when you wake up while camping.) led him to pursue a carefree life as a petty criminal.
James has three Pokemon. He has a Growlithe who watches over his parents, a Weezing who was another gift Pokemon, and a Victreebel who thinks a good idea for a snack is James's head.
Meowth
Meowth is the brains of Team Rocket, which isn't necessarily a compliment, considering their success rate. Meowth is a rarity among Pokemon; he speaks human language, as well as Pokemon-ese. He did it to impress a girl (guys can be idiots that way. Well, so can girls to impress a guy) but she was not impressed (she called him a freak), leaving Meowth lonely and causing him to seek out a place where his talents would be useful: Team Rocket.
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Professor Oak
A world-renowned Pokemon researcher, Professor Samuel Oak has a large laboratory and various open lands on his property in Pallet Town to to study Pokemon. He also serves as the person who gets young Pokemon trainers started by giving them their first Pokemon. Part of a plot running though Pokemon's second and third seasons involves a mysterious ancient artifact called a "GS Ball". Professor Oak asks Ash to pick up this artifact from his collegue in the Orange Islands, Professor Ivy, then gets Ash to show it to all of these experts living in Johto to figure out what it is. It's nice to have neighbors
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Mrs. Ketchum
Mrs. Delia Ketchum is a bit of a space cadet, I think. She's nice, tends to worry about Ash when he's away (well, duh. Ash isn't that old. I'd worry too about someone traveling alone at 10), and, for some reason, has the interesting belief that as long as Ash has clean underwear, everything will be okay. Smile and nod. top
Gary Oak
Gary is an obnoxious and arrogant little punk at the beginning of the series. Well, he's toned it down a bit, especially since Ash has done better than him several times. He constantly boasts about being ahead of Ash and of having more Pokemon. He also happens to be Professor Oak's grandson. Gary has over 100 Pokemon. However, we have seen the following:
- Nidoqueen
- Arcanine
- Kingler
- Eevee
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Professor Ivy
Professor Felicia Ivy is a Pokemon researcher living in the Orange Islands (Valencia Island, to be specific). She lives with her three assitants (Hope, Faith and Charity, I heard somewhere) and studies the effects of enviroment on Pokemon. Unfortunatly, none of them can keep house or cook anything more complex than macaroni and cheese. Enter Brock. When Ash Ketchum comes to pick up the GS Ball, Brock realizes he can learn a lot from Professor Ivy, and can help with the housework, and decides to stay. However, he does leave for undisclosed reasons later in the series.
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Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff is a cute little prima donna Pokemon. It has a gift for song that it wants to share with the world, and be applauded for, but its song has a hypnotic quality. No one can listen to it without falling asleep. This angers our little prima donna and it takes it out on the sleepers with its Magic Marker. top
Snubbull
Snubbull is a runaway Pokemon with a desire to experience life at its fullest and most unfiltered. It also seems to think Meowth's tail is edible. top
Officer Jenny
Officer Jenny, or rather the Officer Jennys, are a family of police officers that all look alike and share the same name (must be awful at their family reunions). This family has gone back at least a century. An Officer Jenny's Pokemon of choice is a Growlithe, though one uses a Spinarak, as a family (or at least a branch of it) tradition.top
Nurse Joy
She's not just a woman, she's a Pokemon Center institution. The Joys are another family that all look alike, share the same name, and choose the same profession. They are Pokemon Center Nurses, though one is seen inspecting potential Pokemon Gyms, and another works as a nurse-at-large on the isolated Orange Islands. Their Pokemon of choice is Chansey, though Blissies are sometimes seen.top
Butch and Cassidy:The other Team Rocket
Butch and Cassidy are in Team Rocket, just like Jessie and James. In a sense, they're Jessie and James's rivals: they both try to steal Pokemon and always cross words when they meet. Butch and Cassidy seem a little more strategic than Jessie and James. Their plots have included: using a Hypno to turn Pokemon against their trainers, and several Pokemon Day Care schemes. Giovanni, Team Rocket's mysterious leader, actually seems to like them. Butch and Cassidy's Pokemon include:top