Professor Elm gave Jou a Feraligatr when it was a Totodile. Since then, the two became good friends and were willing to work with each other. Totodile's first battle was against Falkner's Pidgey. Pidgey started things off with Sand-Attack which rendered most of Totodile's attacks useless, especially Scratch. As a result, Pidgey ended up getting the upper hand. Jou gave it some support after noticing that it had trouble handling its opponent. With the support that Totodile was given, Totodile tried to use Scratch again and it made contact with Pidgey, defeating it.
Totodile battles a wild Bellsprout for training where it defeats Bellsprout with Water Gun despite the type-disadvantage. After the battle, it took on Tsubaki's Chikorita. Things got rough for Totodile when Chikorita started with Tackle. Chikorita even dodged Water Gun which left Totodile vulnerable to Chikorita. Chikorita finishes off Totodile with Razor Leaf but Jou protects Totodile from the attack. Totodile gets back up, much to Tsubaki's and Chikorita's surprise. After a long and tough battle, Totodile managed to defeat Chikorita with a powerful Bite.
When Kurt was in trouble, Jou and Totodile come to his rescue after they witness the Slowpoke being mistreated by Team Rocket who want their tails for profit.
Totodile came to Jou's rescue when a Red Gyarados was about to attack him and Lance. Rigorous then participated in a Double Battle where it allied with Lance's Dragonite against Ariana and Petrel. During the battle, the Red Gyarados comes by and acts friendly toward Totodile, bonding a friendship between the two and Jou.
Totodile evolved into a Croconaw and again into a Feraligatr sometime before Professor Elm got a phone call. When Jou was at Mt. Silver, Feraligatr was sent out to battle multiple Golbat, a Sneasel and an Ursaring. Feraligatr was last seen where it was about to battle Red's Pikachu.
