Ritchie first crossed paths with Ash at the Pokémon League in "A Friend In Deed," and the two quickly became rivals. Their friendship was put to the test almost immediately when they drew each other in the tournament bracket. Ritchie took the win—partly because Ash's Charizard decided to nap instead of battling Ritchie's Sparky. Despite losing his next match to Assunta, Ritchie still managed to place in the Top 8.
He popped up again when Ash visited the Whirl Islands, where he was hunting for a rare Pokémon that turned out to be Lugia. Ritchie also appeared in a handful of Pokémon Chronicles episodes, including "Oaknapped," "Celebi and Joy," and "The Search for the Legend."
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
