Trip

**Trip** is a Pokémon Trainer from the Unova region. He is Ash's first and main *Best Wishes* series rival.

## History

As a young child, Trip became inspired to be a Pokémon Trainer after watching Alder battle. He later met the Champion, who would let him pet and feed the Bouffalant Alder was battling with. This experience inspired him to work hard and train to become a Champion. As such, Trip idolizes Alder and has great respect for him.

Trip was introduced in *In The Shadow of Zekrom!* as a beginning Trainer ready to choose his first Pokémon. After meeting withProfessor Juniper, he chose Snivy as his new partner. Shortly after obtaining it, he challenged Ash Ketchum to a Pokémon battle. He had much interest in battling Pikachu, a species that is foreign in his region. Because Pikachu could not use anyElectric-type moves at the time, it was easily defeated by the Snivy.

Trip appeared again at a Battle Club in *A Rival Battle for Club Champ!*, where he and Ash had a 5-on-5 battle, although Trip initially offered to have a Full Battle with Ash. His Tranquill defeated Ash's Oshawott and Tepig in just two hits with its Super Luck-boosted Aerial Ace, but lost to Ash's Pikachu. Pikachu was defeated by Servine again. Ash's Snivy defeated Trip's Servine by using Attract. Trip's Frillish later defeated Pidove and Snivy, causing Ash to lose the battle. Afterwards, Trip called Pikachu and Snivy "okay", but called the rest of Ash's team a joke.

Trip reappeared in *A Venipede Stampede!*, where he was training in Castelia City when a swarm of Venipede suddenly attacked. He used his Lampent to try to fight them off, but Ash yelled at him for doing so, saying that he was only making things worse. Trip insulted him, but was interrupted by Burgh, who agreed with Ash. Later, Trip went after the leader of the Venipede swarm and ordered Lampent to hit it with Shadow Ball, but Ash blocked the attack. Again, Burgh told Trip that he was going about it the wrong way, resulting in Trip stopping. Trip then used Tranquill to help coax out the remaining Venipede and lead them safely out of the city.

Trip's next appearance was in *Ash and Trip's Third Battle!* where, along with his Vanillite and Timburr, he battled Ash and his Oshawott. During their battle Trip revealed to Ash the reason behind Oshawott's inability to use Aqua Jet and even tells him about the Unova League Champion Alder. Their battle ended in a tie after Servine defeated Snivy, Vanillite tied with Tepig and Oshawott defeated Timburr.

Trip appeared again in *Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!*, where he participated in a tournament held by Nimbasa Town's Don George. He was chosen to battle against Cilan in the first match up. In the next episode, he used his Gurdurr to battle against Cilan's Dwebble. During the battle Trip put Gurdurr's physical strength along with its girder to great use, giving him an early lead in the battle. Despite putting up a good fight, however, Gurdurr was defeated and Trip was knocked out of the competition. After his Pokémon healed at the Pokémon Center that night, he left Nimbasa Town believing that there was no point to staying there any longer.

Trip and Ash

Trip reappeared in *Ash Versus the Champion!*, where he revealed he had already obtained five Badges. During that time, he also got to reunite with Alder, who couldn't remember him. Seeing how much Alder loafed about while battling Ash, Trip's opinion of him slightly changed. He vowed not only to defeat him but also promised to follow the path he believed in before angrily departing.

Trip reappeared in *The Clubsplosion Begins!*, where he registered himself to compete in the Clubsplosion. He planned to compete with his newly-evolved Conkeldurr and his opponent in the first round was revealed to beBianca, who he considered to be just practice. He then battled her and her Emboar in *Search for the Clubultimate!*. Though he and Conkeldurr put up a strong fight, he lost to her in the next episode. Like he did after his loss in the Club Battle, he left Ambiga Town that night rather than staying and watching the rest of the tournament.

He appeared again in *Jostling for the Junior Cup!* in order to participate in the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. His goal was to win and get the chance to battle Alder. His first round battle was with Burgundy. Using his Serperior, which had evolved from Servine, he was able to defeat her quickly and advance to the second round. In *Battling Authority Once Again!*, Trip advanced to the semi-finals, where he once again battled Cilan. This time however, he and Serperior managed to defeat Cilan's Crustle with a Frenzy Plant, qualifying them for the final match against Ash. In *Ash, Iris and Trip: Then There Were Three!*, Trip battled Ash in the finals, using his Serperior against Ash's Pignite. Despite the type advantage and Ash's strategy to boost his own speed with Flame Charge, Serperior maintain the speed advantage. This allowed it to make quick work of Pignite, swiftly defeating it with a powerful Frenzy Plant, winning Trip the tournament in the process. In *Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!*, Trip battled Alder and his Bouffalant with his Serperior in the prize match, but despite his strategy to attack Bouffalant's weak spot, they were defeated. After the battle, he is given a speech by Alder about deciding his own path with his Pokémon, and promised to battle him again when the time came.

He reappeared in *Curtain Up, Unova League!* and *Mission: Defeat Your Rival!*. He had traveled to Vertress City to compete in the Vertress Conference and met up with Ash and Ash's other rivals in Unova. During the match-up process, it was revealed he would battle Ash in the first round of the competition. However, here, he was not arrogant as in past meetings. Trip used his Serperior against Ash's Pikachu, but Pikachu managed to defeat Serperior, eliminating Trip from the Conference. After the battle, the two end their rivalry and they became friends. Following this, Trip then leaves the Vertress Conference to continue his journey.

He appeared briefly in *A Unova League Evolution!* in Ash's flashback about his travel in Unova.

Trip makes cameo appearances in the ending *Let's Join Hands* and in the credits of *Genesect and the Legend Awakened*.

## Character

Trip has a teal-colored digital camera, with which he takes photos for illustrating his journey. He also has anXtransceiver so that he can keep in touch with Battle Clubs. Overall, he is a well-reserved individual who tends to keep his feelings to himself. He expressed his emotions much like Ash does now when he was younger. His strategy is all about planning ahead and completing the basics of Pokémon training. Compared to the other rivals of the Unova region, Trip is rather distant and prefers not to interact with them outside of battle.

Trip tends to think very little of the Kanto region—which he refers to as "the boonies"—and anyone from there. He thinks of Ash as a hillbilly who needs to go back to the basics of Pokémon training. However, he will help him out once in a while, as seen when he informed Ash that Oshawott's Aqua Jet was uncontrollable because Oshawott had his eyes closed.

Despite having just started out as a Trainer, Trip already implements many strategies in his battling. He has defeated Ash in all but two of their battles (the former which they tied, and the latter in which Ash won), despite Ash being a much more experienced Trainer. However, he is less forgiving than Ash and takes losses harder. An instance of this is, when he lost to Cilan, he took a photo of Cilan and Dwebble. When Cilan asked him why he was doing that, Trip replied that he was recording this moment so that he would remember his frustration. Trip also actively insults and is at most as mature as Ash, as shown when he elbowed Ash (and Ash did the same) for the attention of Champion Alder.

As a result of meeting Alder as a child and the promise he was given by him, Trip viewed strength as the most important thing to accomplishing his goals. As such, he deemed any activities that wouldn't increase his strength as unnecessary as seen when he left after his losses in the Club Battle and the Clubsplosion, also when he refused to battle Ash on multiple occasions. After his reunion with Alder and his disappointment at Alder's aloofness, Trip began to seek out his own path to beating Alder and becoming champion. During the Junior Cup, Trip had shown a heightened amount of confidence in his own abilities to the point of arrogance, believing he could defeat both Alder and Cynthia. However, after losing to Alder, he began to realize the error in his views, and as such, he had a change in his attitude. This can be seen in *Curtain Up, Unova League!*, when he greets Ash and his friends with a more friendly approach than before, with his change in attitude being noticed by the other characters such as Cilan and Iris. Along with his newer persona, he showed a genuine interest in battling Ash, and along with that ceased his past tendencies of mocking him. Despite his change in attitude, he still maintains his distance and prefers not to interact with the other rivals.

## Pokemon

* Serperior
* Conkeldurr
* Frillish
* Vanillite
* Tranquil
* Lambent