Tracey Sketchit


 * Tracey redirects here. For the book author, see Tracey West.

Tracey Sketchit (Japanese: ケンジ Kenji) is a Pokémon watcher and a former of  who currently works at Professor Oak's Laboratory as an assistant to. He made his debut appearance in The Lost Lapras.

As Ash's traveling companion
Tracey first appeared in The Lost Lapras when he came upon getting ready to  three other s. He was impressed by the condition of Ash's Pikachu and decided to take notes. He got to know Ash and better after he helped them save an injured. After hearing that Ash and Misty knew, his hero, Tracey decided to invite himself to the group.

Tracey displayed some of his Pokémon watching skills in In the Pink, where he took some time to observe a pink. He was able to watch it and sketch it without it noticing him at all until Ash approached it.

In Tracey Gets Bugged, he expressed that his favorite type of Pokémon was Pokémon, much to Misty's dislike. During their time on Murcott Island, the group came upon an elderly and injured. Tracey ended up building a strong bond with Scyther and was able to defeat. In the end, Tracey decided to add Scyther to his team.

While on their way to Pummelo Stadium, Tracey got to meet one of his idols, Dr. Quackenpoker, a Pokémon watcher who specialized in researching. Tracey picked up a few pointers from the older watcher and got to count how many Magikarp evolved into.

As Professor Oak's assistant
Tracey finally got to meet Professor Oak in person in A Tent Situation. He was incredibly nervous when he turned over his drawings to him, knowing that a watcher's dream was to have their drawings reviewed by Professor Oak. By the next episode, he decides to stay in Pallet Town and become Professor Oak's assistant. Later, he single-handedly saves Ash's Pikachu from being stolen by Team Rocket using Scyther and Marill.

He made brief cameo appearances in both Spell of the Unown: Entei and Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. During the credits of the latter, he is shown discovering Sam's sketchbooks and views the drawing he made of and Pikachu.

During his time at Professor Oak's Laboratory, Tracey hasn't made many appearances. He does various chores around the lab, such as feeding the Pokémon and cleaning. He has befriended many of the Pokémon that reside at the lab, in particular Ash's Bulbasaur. He helps take care of the that Ash leaves at the lab and sometimes has them help him with chores.

Tracey was given a few major roles in some of the Pokémon Chronicles. In Showdown at the Oak Corral, he helps protect the laboratory from Butch and Cassidy. Later in Oaknapped!, he is assisted by Ritchie to help locate Professor Oak after he goes missing after a visit to a television station.

Prior to The Scheme Team, Tracey's Marill produced an. Tracey gave the Egg to Misty, which later hatched into an. In The Right Place and The Right Mime, he tagged teamed with using the parent and child Pokémon to fire a double  attack at Team Rocket.

Tracey has not had any speaking appearances since Home is Where the Start Is!. However, he made a brief cameo in Following A Maiden's Voyage!, and was mentioned by Professor Oak in Crisis from the Underground Up! when Ash called the lab from Nimbasa City. He had a longer cameo in The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!, where he appeared with Professor Oak. Tracey was mentioned by Professor Oak and Ash, and he also physically appeared in a fantasy, in The Dream Continues!.

Movies
Tracey's sole major role in a was in The Power of One, where he traveled to Shamouti Island with Ash and Misty during their journey through the Orange Islands. There, he aided Ash in his quest as the Chosen One.

Though Tracey retired from the main cast following the end of the Orange Islands arc, he continued to appear in cameos in following movies. He first had a brief speaking appearance in Spell of the Unown, where he asked Professor Oak what the were.

Tracey then made two brief appearances in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. He first appeared in a scene that was removed from the dub, during Ash's first video conversation with Professor Oak, while his second appearance was during the end credits, where he discovered Sam's old sketchbook in Oak's lab.

Eventually, Tracey made a cameo appearance in the ending credits of I Choose You!.

Character
In general, Tracey is a gentle person, and has a hard time saying no to anyone, especially to girls. In A Date With Delcatty, he took care of Misty's chores and helped with various tasks around the Cerulean Gym.

Tracey is a lot like in many aspects. He has a broad knowledge about Pokémon and this has helped him and his friends in their many times along the way. Also, similarly to Brock, he seems to have a soft spot for pretty girls, but to a much less extreme degree. He seems to have some standards as he tends to be more drawn towards women who exhibit strength and courage rather than just any pretty girl he sees. Also, he is more self-conscious and doesn't go overboard about them as Brock does, expressing his interest by simply drawing them.

There have been rare incidents where Tracey was seen losing his temper. In The Lost Lapras, Misty comments that she doesn't know how famous Professor Oak is and Tracey barks back at her, saying that Professor Oak is the most respected researcher on the entire. Another time this happened was in Journey to the Starting Line!, when a boy named said that he wouldn't want to have the annoyance of raising a Pokémon himself. Angered, Tracey yelled at him saying that training Pokémon was the most important part of being a Pokémon Trainer. He also lost his temper in A Tent Situation, desperate to go see Professor Oak, where he yelled at Ash, Misty, and Brock for babbling, and again in Showdown at the Oak Corral, when the Magikarp salesman tried to sell him a Magikarp.

Tracey's Pokémon watching usually involves him observing a Pokémon and sketching it. He has special binoculars that allow him to take measurements of a Pokémon that is far away. Tracey also has unnaturally good eyesight, as seen in The Joy of Pokémon, where he was able to tell that the person paddling past them at a high speed was Nurse Joy. He was also able to tell that her arms were wider than other Nurse Joys after seeing her for only a split second.

Tracey has some tricks of the trade when it comes to Pokémon watching. To avoid being detected by the Pokémon he is observing, he always makes sure that he approaches it from downwind to avoid his scent being picked up by his subject. He also changes his breathing rhythm to match the Pokémon's so that he will not be heard.

He also has the unique ability to know what move a Pokémon is going to use just by the way it moves about. This was seen when he knew James's was going to use  while battling with his Scyther in Tracey Gets Bugged.

Like Tracey admires Professor Oak, Max seems to have an admiration for him. He complimented Tracey on his artwork and told him how lucky he was to be working with Professor Oak, and even wished that he could draw Pokémon one day.

Pokémon
Tracey does not appear to his  for, however, they are still important in his fieldwork. At times when he has trouble in finding a certain Pokémon, he calls on the help of. His Venonat has radar-like eyes that can track a Pokémon from the farthest of distances and even locate hidden Pokémon. In times where a Pokémon can't be seen, he uses his Marill who has excellent hearing and is able to detect faint sounds. His Scyther is his only Pokémon used solely for battling.

In the movie adaptations
Tracey appears in where he fulfilled the same role as he did in the movie.

Trivia

 * Tracey has spent the least amount of episodes traveling with Ash out of all his, accompanying him only through the 33 episodes of the Orange Islands arc (EP084-EP116).
 * Despite this, Tracey has appeared in more Japanese opening sequences after his retirement from the main cast than any of Ash's other friends with a total of 10. He is featured in 11 overall, which places him just behind Brock, who is featured in 12.
 * Tracey is Ash's only friend with an officially revealed last name.
 * Tracey is the only main character whose Pokémon have produced an Egg.
 * In the Japanese version of the anime, Tracey's sketchbook has a Poké Ball symbol on the bottom right-hand corner and some writing in the top left-hand corner. This is painted out in the dub.
 * Tracey is the only main male protagonist who has not had any relatives revealed.
 * Tracey is Ash's only friend who owns Pokémon that has not battled against Ash.
 * Tracey is Ash's only traveling companion who is not based on any game character.
 * In the dub, Tracey speaks in a Stockholm accent and adds  at the end of a lot of sentences in the first few episodes. This fades out over time.

Interview with Hidaka about Tracey's creation
There had been some debate between members of the fanbase in regards to why Tracey was created, as well as why he replaced Brock, and vice versa. In an interview with former Pokémon anime director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka, he stated his own reason why Tracey was created and why he replaced Brock. He (or rather, his translator) revealed that the true reason they replaced Brock is because, once they realized Pokémon was going to go global, there was a chance that Americans, if not anyone else outside of Japan, would view Brock as a racist stereotype because of his eyes (even though there wasn't an actual complaint yet). So they created a "tall, white, Anglo-looking character to replace him, just to be on the safe side". They later replaced him with Brock again once they realized that no one really cared as to what Brock looks like, and actually enjoyed his character. This also may explain why Tracey was never included in The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga.

However, this was only stated by Hidaka and not by any other staff member.

Related articles

 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives