Barry is one of
Ash Ketchum's rivals that he met in the Sinnoh region.
Barry bumped into
Ash Ketchum when he was chasing after Gible in a town near Daybreak Town. It was then revealed that he had already won six badges and had also gotten a priority ticket in order to challenge
Fantina. He had gotten a bike too, in order to be able to travel from town to town faster, but
Ash's Gible (who was still a wild Gible at the time) ate it while he was talking with
Ash Ketchum. Then, furious that he lost his bike,
Barry called upon his Empoleon to battle it so that he would be able to catch Gible in the end. A powerful Hydro Cannon attack coming from
Barry's Empoleon, though, sent it flying, thus ruining
Barry's attempt at a capture.
Barry later appeared and challenged
Ash Ketchum to a battle, after seeing that he had managed to catch Gible before him.
Barry chose his Empoleon and
Ash Ketchum chose his newly-caught Gible. Due to
Barry's Empoleon being overall stronger than his opponent and Gible's disobedience towards
Ash Ketchum during the fight,
Barry managed to score a win over
Ash Ketchum.
Ash Ketchum and his friends encountered
Barry again on their way to Sunyshore City.
Barry informed
Ash Ketchum that he had already gathered eight badges and, thus was eligible to take part in the Sinnoh League. At the town's Pokémon Center,
Barry met
Paul for the first time and he challenged him to a battle.
Paul refused to battle him, saying that he was in the middle of adjusting his team for the upcoming Sinnoh League, and a battle would distort their condition. He told
Barry that he should challenge
Ash Ketchum to a battle instead. Even though he didn't consider the idea at first, as he didn't deem
Ash Ketchum to be on the same level with him due to having only seven badges, he decided to challenge him to a battle after hearing his explanation concerning what had happened between him and
Paul, and seeing how determined he was to win the next battle against him.
The first Pokémon
Barry chose for his three-on-three battle against
Ash Ketchum was his Empoleon, while
Ash Ketchum chose his Monferno. During the battle,
Ash's Monferno was hit by a powerful Hydro Cannon attack and blasted off into the nearby forest. As
Ash Ketchum was calling out to it, Team Rocket suddenly appeared and managed to trap
Ash Ketchum and the others, as well as capture
Ash's Pikachu,
Dawn's Piplup and
Barry's Empoleon shortly afterwards. In the end, with the help of
Paul's Electabuzz, who aided in stopping Team Rocket's destroyed mecha from collapsing and injuring the captured Pokémon, and
Ash's Infernape, who had just evolved unexpectedly from his Monferno,
Barry was reunited with his Empoleon.