So...Richie, Casey and Sakura, what happened to them?

[Cybersai]

I have another question. Back in the early days of the anime recurring characters like Richie, Casey, Todd, Sakura etc. were considered semi-important characters in Pokemon.

Do you still consider these characters important, or are they minor characters in the long run?

One thing that's apparent is that now with every new saga we get brand new characters and new rivals, thus making some of the old recurring characters seeming less important to the series overall.

So are these characters still meant to be a big deal? Or do you consider them only barely above the importance of filler characters?

 

[Greysky]

Casey must appear again, since she will need an Electabuzz sometime. And then she can vanish and never return.

Sakura may show up again if Chronicles continues.

I'm 50/50 on Richie. He's a rival, but nothing compared to Gary and Paul. Maybe he'll appear again, once, but that's all.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

They are just minor characters.

*Ritchie has been in what, six episodes (not counting HoSo)? He's only considered important because he was the first person to defeat Ash in a League with similar Pokemon. As people may recall, his role was filled later on by Harrison, Tyson, and Morrison. It's worth noting that the latter two have had a similar amount of episodes as Ritchie.

*Sakura was only in two I believe, as was Casey (again, not including HoSo). Heck, if we're considering Sakura and Casey, why not bring up Duplica, who was also in two episodes.

Delia is generally considered a minor character, and yet she's been in more episodes than Ritchie. What makes a character minor or major?

 

[Cybersai]

Yeah, I'd consider them a step above filler characters but not above the more important recurring characters like Delia, Oak, etc.

It seems to me that these characters only existed to have at least one more recurring character aside from Gary. If you think about it, Gary really was the only rival for the entire first 5 seasons of the anime. They sorta tried to build up Richie and Casey as secondary rivals but neither of them really amounted to much in the anime in terms of popularity or anything.

I can see why the writers have tried to sever all ties with some of these older characters, there's just no way I can see them fitting into the D/P series.

 

[Habunake]

It's odd, but I think I like most of the sadly one-shot filler characters then the annoying ones like Duplica, Todd, Casey, and Richie who all SUCK! I do like reoccuring characters such as Sinnoh News Crew and Oscar, but the others not so much

Now, give me more Frank! More Professor Senzou! Give me SULLIVAN AND SIGOURNEY!

 

[The Big Al]

The Gutsman clone's name is Frank?

 

[Trevenant]

Ash had alot of 'rivals' back in the hayday of Kanto. AJ, Joe, Giselle, Samurai, Gary, the other two from Pallet, Ritchie, etcetera. The list goes on. Truthfully, all of them, including Richie, Casey, and Sakura, have probably found some other avenue to express their love for Pokemon in. If you think about it, the number of trainers who continue on to become 'expert' trainers has to be woefully small. If Gary Oak, who really was a fairly good trainer, has decided to pursue Pokemon Research, I seriously doubt any of the other 'rivals' from Kanto and Johto are still intensely trying to win a League Competition and become a 'Pokemon Master' in the way Ash is.

And to be quite honest, I'd much rather prefer to see Tyson and Morrison again over those three. Morrison and Ash had a very nice friendship going on. 'Twas funny.

 

[Habunake]

Dude! I LOVED Morrison, favorite rival ever. Tyson was also pretty cool due to his design and his badass Meowth + team.

I don't see why people consider A.J., Joe, Giselle, or Samurai as Rivals in the same vein as Gary, Paul and Morrison. I mean, they each got one appearance! How is that different then all the other one-shot trainers Ash has battled?

The Gutsman clone's name is Frank?

He was just "construction worker" but I hope it catches on. This dude rocked.

 

[Trevenant]

Badass Meowth and Swordsmen!wannabe for the epic win.

Well, I don't really consider them the same. But alot of my friends do, for some odd reason. We just happened to have alot of 'battles' between Ash and CotD's back in Kanto/Johto. People really wanted to see those 'rivals' meet up with him in the leagues, which never really happened.

That sort of faded during Hoenn and Shinnoh with the focus being simply helping the CotD's rather than battling them/competing is some odd competition, ala Pokemon Grand Prix. Though there still are a few competitions, we see dramatically less of them and generally less random battling. Since Ash doesn't battle with many on-screen, save for his 'real' rivals, Team Rocket, and Gym Leaders, we don't have nearly the number of supposed 'rivals'.

 

[Habunake]

That Atsuo guy in the Probopass episode seems like the type if introduced in Kanto people would probably label him as a "rival".

And I'm sure Johto and Hoenn had a fair share of "rivals". Early Hoenn had Nicolai, who sadly never returned, and that Muscle Island dude.

 

[Maikeru]

What I find funny is that ash had made LOTS of promises to see them all again like AJ but we haven't seen him since he first appeared.

 

[Maikeru]

What I find funny is that ash had made LOTS of promises to see them all again like AJ but we haven't seen him since he first appeared.

 

[Trainer Rachel]

Is Richie really disliked that much? I love Richie ;_;

 

[Duckgon Z]

Is Richie really disliked that much? I love Richie ;_;

Richie's the kind of guy who, if someone didn't like him, would take him for a walk in the park and ask him why.

 

[Trevenant]

That Atsuo guy in the Probopass episode seems like the type if introduced in Kanto people would probably label him as a "rival".

And I'm sure Johto and Hoenn had a fair share of "rivals". Early Hoenn had Nicolai, who sadly never returned, and that Muscle Island dude.

Yeah, Johto had plenty of them. Hoenn, unless I'm mistaken, seemed to have less of them to me. Actually, Hoenn probably had less because of May's Rivals of the Day during her Contests. Though really, there were more than a few of them that I liked. Specifically Timmy, the masked Coordinator, and Jeremy, the 'weekend warrior'. Sinnoh seems to be more focused on constant coordinators, but who can really tell this early into the series?

Also, yes, he's generally disliked. Most people see him as a 'perfect' version of Ash with little characterization and personality. It's supported by the simple fact that Richie uses largely the same Pokes that Ash did.

 

[Habunake]

Jeremy, the 'weekend warrior'

Salaryman,
Salaryman,
Does whatever a Salary can.
Salaryman.

 

[Trevenant]

Damn strait. I thought he was kind of cool, anyway. It was nice seeing an adult in an actual combative role.

 

[Cybersai]

I remember Richie being hated for looking like Ash, using the same Pokemon as him, and being a dues ex Mary sue.

There's also the fact that some of us are dying to see Ash get a rematch against him and beat him. Charizard is what caused Ash to lose to Richie, imagine what would happen if Ash pulled Charizard out on Richie currently?

Unless Richie has been training some super-strong Pokemon that we don't know about, Ash would mop the floor with him.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

I don't know about that Scott...

Ash's Swellow finally destroyed the weak image of bird pokemon. I wouldn't mind seeing Ritchie's Swellow in a proper battle.

If Ritchie's Pupitar evolved, it would cause a world of hurt, even if it battled Charizard or Sceptile. I wonder where Zippo is now (although I bet it would easily lose to Ash's Charizard given the training circumstances).

 

[Trevenant]

Ootsubame versus Mukkuhawk could really be an interesting battle, once Mukkubird evolves. It'd all really depend on how intensely Richie's been training. Even assuming he has a Bangiras, that doesn't really mean anything, unless he's kept up with Ash's pace. Not to say he can't, it's just we haven't seen enough of him to gauge how well he's grown.