Pokemon characters are kind of like a glue. If you’re around them too long, they stick to you, and you can’t get them off. Basically, what I’m trying to say here, is that I’m addicted to Pokemon’s characters. There’s no doubt in my mind that the adorably cute, add-on creatures were created with the deliberate intentions of making the whole world addicted to them.

I especially love the recurring Pokemon characters, that are not always around, but it’s such a treat that rewards the avid Pokemon fan when they show up. I guess the reason that I love the recurring Pokemon anime characters so much, is because of the depth that bring to the series. I mean, I like the main characters, the villains and I even like the professors, but my favorites are the recurring characters that show up every once in a while.

As an example, I have a particular affinity to the family of police officers that are all named Jenny. It’s just a little something that is added to the show, which gives a little insight into the main characters, because we see how they react to these recurring Pokemon characters. The Pokemon character Brock, as an example, can always for some reason tell the Jennys apart, while no one else can. He can even tell the Joys apart. I also like the Joys, because they are all nurses with the same name. I think that it is very clever to make the Pokemon anime like that. There’s just little hidden, hard to know facts, that not many people would know of, unless they watched the show religiously. It helps even further, to addict the world to Pokemon.

As for the previously mentioned Joys with the identical appearances, they always for some reason do their own thing. In the Orange Islands Pokemon anime series, they’re the only ones dressed differently. Rumours suggest that the Joys were named, because the word joi in Japanese means female doctor. Sounds like a pretty safe bet.

The grandfather of the Gary Oak anime Pokemon character, was a Pokemon Professor. He is yet another one of my favorite Pokemon anime recurring characters. He’s in a long time rivalry with the Pokemon anime series main hero, Ash Ketchum, which kind of makes him the antagonist - and everyone likes cheering for the bad guy once in a while. As for Gary Oak, I like him because he is stubborn, brash, and far from humble as he’s an egotistical kind of character. His goal and ambition is to be number one at whatever he sets his sights on. His redeeming character, is his confidence in himself.

Now introducing Richie, who is a friend and ally of Ash Ketchum. They met in the Pokemon anime Indigo Pokémon League tournament. The two of them vowed to become Pokemon masters together, and there have been shows that focus mainly on Richie and his journey to become said champion. He is a good recurring character, as he adds depth to Ash’s personality, giving everyone even more reason to like the hero.

And now, we introduce my hands-down favorite recurring Pokemon character in this anime series - Delia Ketchum. As the mother of Ash Ketchum, she comes across as a kind, gentle, woman that often scolds her son for getting into trouble, and putting himself in danger. I like that the English adaptation of Pokemon anime has a running joke where Delia Ketchum reminds Ash to change his underwear every time they run into each other. I’m not sure however, why this is only in the English adaptation of this anime series, but I’m not complaining, as I laugh every time.

As you can see, the recurring Pokemon characters serve the purpose of adding depth to the other characters around them. This creates the character development, needed to make all of these characters so irresistible.