Tracey Sketchit: he drew Pokémon instead of catching them

He joined Ash's group with a pencil, not a Poké Ball. Tracey Sketchit has a job the series almost never shows: Pokémon Watcher, meaning someone who observes species in their own habitat and records what he sees. The Orange Archipelago is his field of study, and the lab in Pallet Town is where he ends up.

Contents

• Pokémon Watcher: A Job Made of Sketches
• The Orange Archipelago, the Shortest of Journeys
• Three Pokémon Befriended Rather Than Collected
• Lab Assistant: The Dream, Then the Background
• Chronicles: The Series Where Tracey Really Takes Action
• Tracey Sketchit at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Pokémon Watcher: A Job Made of Sketches

A Watcher isn't trying to fill a Pokédex: he goes to see species in their habitat and draws them to understand how they live. Tracey made it his profession long before crossing paths with Ash, and his sketchbook serves as both his working tool and his archive.

This practice gives him a rare eye in the series. One look at a Pokémon is enough for him to tell whether it's healthy or properly trained — a diagnosis the other characters usually only get by battling, healing or consulting a specialist.

The artist has his flaws too, and the series doesn't hide them: Tracey keeps special sketchbooks just for pretty girls, a weakness the story explicitly compares to Brock's. The gag mainly serves as a reminder that the artist never puts his pencil down.

✏️ The sketchbook has its own section: see the Pokémon stationery.

The Orange Archipelago, the Shortest of Journeys

Tracey joins the group during the islands arc, the one covered in our guide to the anime's second season. He already knew the archipelago before this meeting: he's not a beginner being taken along, but a guide who joins a team passing through.

His stint is the shortest of all. Thirty-three episodes: no other companion of Ash's traveled with him for so short a time, which explains why he's often mentioned less than the characters from later seasons.

Another quirk sets him apart from almost everyone else in the group. He doesn't appear in any of the main games, and he was the first companion in that situation — Goh would be the second, much later.

Three Pokémon Befriended Rather Than Collected

His job keeps him in constant contact with wild Pokémon, and what he takes from it is the exact opposite of a catch-'em-all strategy. Tracey tries to bond with the species he comes across, not to collect as many as possible, which keeps his team very small.

When Ash meets him, he's already traveling with a Venonat and a Marill. The third joins along the way: he catches a Scyther that has been hurt, and the only reason for the capture is to help it.

The Marill gives the series an unexpected follow-up. It lays an Egg, which hatches into an Azurill that later continues its journey with another character — a rare handoff in an anime that usually keeps Pokémon with their original Trainer.

Lab Assistant: The Dream, Then the Background

The journey leads to a job. It's thanks to Ash that Tracey meets Professor Oak, whom he already admired: he goes to work for him as an assistant once the archipelago is behind him, and the dream he'd been chasing comes true by the end of the arc.

From the third season on, he steps out of the spotlight. He rarely appears except when Ash comes home to Pallet Town, and not every time: he's missing when Ash returns from Sinnoh, as well as from the school trip the group takes to the town.

His rare appearances are still those of a researcher at work. In the fifth season, he studies the conflicts pitting Hoppip, Skiploom and Jumpluff against Bellossom, with Ash's Bulbasaur backing him up, and he's seen in front of the TV for the opening of the Hoenn League, alongside Delia and the Professor.

Chronicles: The Series Where Tracey Really Takes Action

The spin-off series Pokémon Chronicles gives him an active role again. In it, he defends the lab against Butch and Cassidy, who have come to steal all of its Poké Balls, backed up by Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother — one of the rare moments when the artist finds himself on the front line.

Another episode teams him up with Ritchie: the two of them have to rescue Professor Oak, who has been kidnapped. He then comes back in several episodes of the same series, but in the background. These stories also establish a habit of his own: his regular visits to Misty in Cerulean City.

The movies also give him a low-key presence. He appears in the second and third movies, then at the end of the fourth, busy lending a hand with some tidying up — more a figure in the lab than a character in the plot.

Tracey Sketchit at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Tracey Sketchit in the anime?
  A Pokémon Watcher, meaning a specialist who studies species in their natural habitat and draws them. He travels with Ash during the Orange Archipelago adventure, then becomes Professor Oak's assistant.
• Which Pokémon does Tracey Sketchit have?
  The series gives him Venonat and Marill, which he already has when Ash meets him, then Scyther, which he catches injured so he can care for it. His Marill also laid an Egg, which hatched into an Azurill.
• Why doesn't Tracey appear in the Pokémon games?
  He has never been brought into the main games. He was even the first of Ash's companions in that situation, and he long remained the only one, until Goh joined him there.
• What happens to Tracey after the Orange Archipelago?
  He fulfills his dream by joining Professor Oak's lab as an assistant. From the third season on, he only appears occasionally, mostly when Ash comes back to Pallet Town.
• How long does Tracey travel with Ash?
  Thirty-three episodes, the shortest stint among Ash's companions. That's also why he's mentioned less often than the characters of later seasons.

In short

Tracey Sketchit fills a slot the series has almost never reopened: that of the naturalist, who observes and draws instead of battling. His journey is the shortest of all, his team is limited to three Pokémon bonded through chance encounters, and his career ends right where he was aiming — at a workbench in the Pallet Town lab.