Gary Oak

Gary Oak (Japanese: オーキド・シゲル Shigeru Okido) is a major recurring character in . He is a Pokémon Researcher from Pallet Town and grandson of . He is a childhood friend of Ash Ketchum and his main rival in the original series. In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, he serves as Goh's rival in Project Mew. His Japanese name is derived from Shigeru Miyamoto.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====History====
=====Pre-series=====
Gary has been a neighbor of Ash Ketchum since they were both young. At one time, they seemed to be friends and went to see movies together, as seen in Lights, Camerupt, Action!.
Shortly before beginning their journeys, Gary and Ash found an old while fishing. The two boys began fighting over who would get to keep the Poké Ball but ended up breaking it in half. Since then, they decided to keep the two separate pieces for themselves. It was revealed in The Ties That Bind that they still carried the pieces with them.
==========
Gary debuted in Pokémon - I Choose You!, where he went to Professor Oak's Laboratory along with two other Pokémon Trainers before did. After choosing his first partner Pokémon, he left Pallet Town with his on a sporty red convertible, refusing to tell Ash which Pokémon he had chosen.
Gary made quick progress through his Pokémon journey, much to Ash's annoyance. He breezed through the and Gyms prior to Showdown in Pewter City and The Water Flowers of Cerulean City. It was also revealed in Challenge of the Samurai that Gary had also defeated Samurai in a battle.
Gary made a brief appearance in Here Comes the Squirtle Squad, where he exited a town store, accidentally knocking Ash out in the process. In Mystery at the Lighthouse, revealed to Ash that Gary had already caught 45 , compared to Ash's team of seven. Professor Oak also revealed that Gary's Pokémon included a much larger than the that Ash caught that episode.
In Beauty and the Beach, Gary hopped onstage during the Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest and attempted to insult Ash in front of the gathered crowd.
In Dig Those Diglett!, Gary was one of the Trainers who decided to help out the foreman in getting rid of the affecting construction at Gaiva Dam. Gary attempted to send out a Pokémon to battle the Diglett, but it did not exit the , and a Diglett returned it to him. He tried to send out his other Pokémon, though they also did not leave their Poké Balls and were returned to him by the Diglett. Realizing that his Pokémon did not want to battle the Diglett, he deemed it pointless to stay and left with his cheerleaders in their convertible.
In Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon, Gary went digging for Fossils in Grampa Canyon. As soon as Gary starts, he finds something he thinks is a Fossil. However, when one of the members of the excavation team takes a closer look, he realizes that it is a Pokémon's dung. Later, when an gets out of control, Gary is one of those affected by 's song that puts everyone to sleep. At the end of the day, when Officer Jenny decides to close the archaeological site, Gary is suspicious of the excuse given for the presence of the Fossil Pokémon that were out of control.
In Riddle Me This, Gary was on vacation rather than bothering to challenge the local Cinnabar Gym. When Gary is confronted by Ash, he reveals to his rival that there has been no Gym in Cinnabar Island for several years. Later, Gary finds Ash again while Ash's group was looking for a place to stay, trying to humiliate Ash, Gary offers food in exchange for Ash to do what he asks. Soon after, Jigglypuff appears and thinking it's a show, Gary and the cheerleaders end up falling asleep, which makes the Balloon Pokémon angry.
In The Battle Of The Badge, he revealed that he had already received ten Badges. He then went to the challenge the Gym Leader, . At first, he seemed to be winning, knocking out his and with his and , respectively. However, the tide of the battle turned when Giovanni sent out (disguised in armor). Though Gary was allowed to use both his Pokémon against him, Mewtwo made quick work of Gary's team, and he lost the battle. When Ash and his friends later entered the Gym, they found Gary and his cheerleaders lying unconscious on the floor. Once Ash revived him, Gary warned Ash about that Pokémon's power. He asserted that Giovanni's mysterious Pokémon was not only powerful, but also evil—and that no Trainer would ever beat it. Gary then watched Ash battle , who had appeared as the temporary Gym Leaders and invited Ash to challenge them. During the battle, he tackles to prevent him from using a remote to detonate the platform where Ash stood. He also admits that Ash is a good Trainer after watching his team defeating all the Pokémon that Team Rocket used. Following the battle, Gary flees the collapsing Gym with the others.
In Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary returned to Pallet Town and headed to the lobby of Professor Oak's Laboratory. The grandfather mentioned to both Ash and Gary that they were the top Trainers, noting the other two couldn't compare with their battling skills. Professor Oak then showed Gary's collection of Pokémon to Ash. Although he had seen more Pokémon, Gary had managed to catch a far greater amount. After Team Rocket was defeated, he promised Ash that they would have their battle at the Pokémon League.
In All Fired Up!, Gary met up with Ash in the Pokémon League in Indigo Plateau. He departed the area after claiming he would get Loseritis. The next day, he was seen in the stadium with the other Trainers and Ash. Gary did not stay that long as his opponent, Melissa, defeated his Nidoking using her Golem, which eliminated him from the Pokémon League. Following the loss, he left on another journey.
==========
Gary eventually returned from that journey in A Tent Situation. Much unlike his former self, he congratulated Ash on his victory in the Orange League. Ash challenged him to a battle in the next episode with as his choice. Gary in turn used his . Gary managed to defeat Ash and then left on his journey through Johto.
Ash and his friends encountered Gary on their way to Violet City in Illusion Confusion!. Gary recommended they find themselves a to avoid becoming lost in the particularly disorientating forest before leaving to continue catching more Pokémon.
In Power Play, he battled a Trainer named Alex Davis with his , which had evolved from his Eevee prior. Gary was able to defeat Alex and his . The battle made Ash want to challenge Gary next, but he refused and walked off. Ash sent out his other Pokémon to battle Umbreon, but Gary had already left. From their campsite, Gary and Umbreon noticed a blackout in a town Ash and his friends were in. The two jumped into the rescue of the Power Plant when it was attacked by the Team Rocket trio with their Robo-Mecha . Following the mecha's defeat, Gary worked with Ash and his friends to get the power back on.
In Extreme Pokémon!, he was practicing with Arcanine for the Extreme Pokémon Race. He then entered the race and competed against Ash and his . They were both in the lead, though Ash was able to narrowly win the event.
Gary arrived in in A Claim to Flame! to compete in the Silver Conference. He greeted Ash and exchanged pleasantries, promising to get to the top and defeat him. Gary was able to get past the screening round along with Ash and .
In The Ties That Bind and Can't Beat the Heat!, he battled Ash in an intense Full Battle. In the final round, Ash ended up winning the battle when his defeated Gary's Blastoise, eliminating him from the tournament. Afterwards, Gary continued to support Ash's campaign from the sidelines.
By Johto Photo Finish, Gary decided that he didn't want to be a Pokémon Trainer anymore, but instead a Pokémon researcher like his grandfather. Gary managed to reach Pallet Town a few days before Ash, and as he was preparing to leave for his next venture with just his Blastoise, Ash encountered him in Gotta Catch Ya Later. Gary's fresh start approach inspired Ash's desire to travel to Hoenn.
==========
Gary appeared in a flashback to Ash's childhood in Lights, Camerupt, Action!.
In Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl!, Gary was revealed to be working on Sayda Island as a Fossil researcher with Dora, head of the Sayda Lab. There, he revived an from an Old Amber. At first, the Aerodactyl was afraid of him and every other person on the island. However, Gary gained its trust after he fed it some fruit that Aerodactyl used to eat. Afterwards, Dora announced that Gary could now work full-time at the Sayda Lab.
Eventually, he moved to the Sinnoh region, where he was conducting his research. He sent a postcard to Ash from there in The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing!, which motivated him to not to get himself down after a loss and keep fighting, much like he did during their rivalry.
In Home Is Where The Start Is!, Gary reunited with Ash. He battled him with his and defeated Ash's Pikachu once more.
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During his time in Sinnoh, Gary became an assistant of Professor Rowan. As before, Gary conducts his research on rare Pokémon, including Fossil Pokémon and Legendary Pokémon. Gary demonstrated more maturity and more respect for other people, especially Ash. Upon meeting him, thought that he was a poet like his .
In Ill-Will Hunting!, he was taking care of a group of and protected them from J and her minions. Gary and Ash were forced to join forces to defeat the enemy, even though Ash had been against it. However, thanks to the efforts of the two they managed to save Shieldon from the hands of J.
He appeared again in Fighting Fear With Fear!, where he helped Ash and by giving a Razor Fang to Ash. This caused Gligar to evolve later on. He was in the area after hearing rumors of , whom Ash had seen earlier at Lake Valor.
Gary later appeared in The Needs of the Three! and The Battle Finale of Legend!, working alongside Professor Rowan at Valor Lakefront where he attempted to protect Azelf from J and Team Galactic; however, he was unable to defeat Saturn in battle. He later monitored the changes around Mt. Coronet caused by Cyrus's attempts to summon and . Gary and Professor Rowan later arrived to collect the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs after Ash's group and handled Team Galactic.
It's later revealed that Gary followed Ash's attendance at the Lily of the Valley Conference, in particular, the battle between him and Paul in Battling a Thaw in Relations!.
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Gary later reappeared in a fantasy in The Dream Continues!.
==========
Gary reappeared in Advice to Goh!, using his Blastoise to save Ash and Goh from an that Goh failed to catch. While reuniting with Ash, Gary revealed that he had left Sinnoh to travel the world to research Pokémon. After being introduced to Goh, he let both of them know that he is pursuing the Legendary Pokémon , while Ash told him that he was looking for his lost . They both agreed to help each other with their respective tasks.
After a bit of journeying, they arrived in a valley, where they found both Infernape and Moltres, and proceeded to battle the latter. After an intense match, they managed to damage Moltres enough to force it to retreat, while Gary retrieved a burning feather that it had dropped. Back at Professor Oak's Laboratory, Gary was revealed to be participating in Project Mew, with retrieving a Moltres feather having been his Trial Mission. Gary subsequently left to continue his research.
Gary reappeared in Leaping Toward the Dream!, where he briefly met Ash and Goh as they arrived in Sinnoh for Goh's first Project Mew mission.
In Battling in the Freezing Raid!, Gary was seen at the Seafoam Islands in search of an . On finding Articuno, Gary took part in a Raid Battle with Ash, Goh, and Horace, using , , and , only for Articuno to eventually fly away. Despite this, Gary managed to obtain Tokens for the mission and an extra Token for leading the battle, a short time later, before going his way Gary had a brief conversation with Goh about the posture a Challenger should have.
In Narrowing the Chaser Chase!, Goh was informed that Gary was on another mission led by Quillon. Shortly after the conclusion of the Sea Mauville battle royale, Quillon informed Danika that Gary had successfully completed his mission. In the display of the current Project Mew Challenger placings, Gary was revealed to be the highest-ranked Challenger in Project Mew with a total of 12 tokens.
In Chasing to the Finish!, Gary assisted Goh in the final Trial Mission at the Split-Decision Ruins. After defeating Lyla and Sterling, they teamed up to take on and , with both of them successfully catching one of them and officially becoming Chasers afterwards.
In A Flood of Torrential Gains!, Gary met with the other members of Project Mew in Slateport City to begin the final expedition. During the meeting, Gary talked to Goh about Ash's final battle in the Masters Eight Tournament. In Partners in Time!, he was briefly seen together with the other members of Project Mew during the climax of Ash's battle against Leon.
In The Mew from Here! and In the Palms of our Hands!, Gary and the other members of Project Mew explored Faraway Island in their search for , eventually succeeding in finding it. After this, Project Mew was disbanded.
In This Could be the Start of Something Big!, Gary and Horace were seen being greeted by at the entrance to his Laboratory.
Gary reunited with Ash again in The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!. After rescuing a trapped , Gary congratulated Ash on winning the World Coronation Series. After questioning Ash about what his next step would be from now on, Gary went off on a new journey alongside Umbreon.
====Character====
The day he started out on his Pokémon journey, he came off as an arrogant , much like his counterpart, . His chosen first partner Pokémon was , which was actually the same Pokémon that originally wanted to start with. He even had a group of cheerleaders who cheered him on in all his battles and would go so far as crying whenever he lost. He didn't walk on his journeys like most Trainers did; instead, he had his own sporty red convertible with a chauffeur. Gary loved when he got a chance to make fun of Ash by bragging about how far behind Ash was compared to him. He also gave Ash the pet name of "Ashy-boy" (Japanese: ), which occasionally seems to annoy him. His style of training at this point was to capture many Pokémon and to use the strongest, as a stark contrast to Ash, who focused on developing a bond with his Pokémon.
His arrogance continued over time during Ash's journey in Kanto until he challenged the Viridian City Gym Leader, , to a Pokémon battle for his final (but unnecessary) Badge in The Battle of the Badge, where he was brutally defeated by . However, this still didn't change his arrogance. It would take a loss at the Pokémon League way later on against Melissa for him to finally realize that he greatly needed to change himself. Following his loss, Gary would become more polite and respectful of others, no longer showing any of his arrogant and extravagant tendencies from the past. This change in attitude would continue to be apparent throughout his few appearances during the Johto season.
As Ash's first and longest rival, his relationship and rivalry with Ash would prove to play a pivotal role on the latter's outlook as a Trainer. Despite his low opinion of Ash, Gary would make a point to show off his superiority in every way he could during his earlier appearances. The duo's dynamic would see a major change once Gary was abruptly eliminated in the Indigo Plateau Conference, with Gary growing humble and ceasing his arrogance and antagonistic attitude towards Ash, though he would still tease him at times. By the time of the Silver Conference, Ash and Gary would have a more amiable relationship with one another while still maintaining a sense of rivalry. After his defeat against Ash, Gary would graciously accept his defeat and gave him his half of the , symbolizing the end of their rivalry and the renewal of their friendship. Even after ending his rivalry with Ash, Gary would continue to have an impact on Ash and his journey moving forward, continuing to serve as a motivation towards him while at times lending him a helping hand.
====Pokémon====
Since the very start of his own journey, Gary has shown exceptional skill as a Pokémon Trainer, catching and training an astonishing number and variety of strong Pokémon in a short period of time and losing battles very infrequently. Despite the huge amount of Pokémon he owns, Gary takes very good care of them all, as noticed by and when they first saw his . As revealed by himself in Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary often rotated the Pokémon in his party to suit the needs of the battles he would participate in. During his journey in Johto, Gary however was seen training and focusing only on specific members of his team such as and . 
In Johto Photo Finish!, Gary chose to leave his Pokémon with his grandfather with the exception of , but over time he recruited some of his old Pokémon to help with various tasks and research.
As of Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary had captured more than 200 Pokémon from 60 different species. As Gary traveled to other regions like Sinnoh or Galar in his work as a Researcher, he added a few new Pokémon from different regions to his team, such as and . Unlike before, these Pokémon served specific purposes in his Pokémon journey and were no longer random captures.
Gary's current party is made up of Pokémon that he has used in Trial Missions for Project Mew. This listing is for Gary's as of Pokémon Journeys: The Series.
=====In rotation=====
=====Traveling with=====
		
=====In storage=====
======Unseen Pokémon======
Before his battle against Gary in The Ties That Bind, Ash was seen checking Gary's page on the Silver Conference website, where Gary's Pokémon were listed with pictures. Among them, there were several Pokémon that Gary hasn't been seen using.
			
			
=====Temporary=====
====Achievements====
=====Badges obtained=====
======Kanto Badges======
During his through Kanto, Gary collected ten Gym Badges. Of the Badges he received, he already had five by Primeape Goes Bananas, and he showed off the whole set in The Battle of the Badge. This listing is of the Badges Gary has obtained in the Kanto region:
* (prior to The Water Flowers of Cerulean City)
* (prior to Primeape Goes Bananas)
* Two unknown Badges (prior to Primeape Goes Bananas)
* (prior to The Battle of the Badge)
* Five unknown Badges (prior to The Battle of the Badge)
======Johto Badges======
This listing is of the Badges Gary has obtained in the Johto region:
* At least eight Badges (prior to A Claim to Flame!)
=====Pokémon League=====
Gary has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:
* Indigo Plateau Conference - Top 32 (The Fourth Round Rumble)
* Silver Conference - Top 16 (Can't Beat the Heat!)
=====Project Mew=====
Gary has completed the following Trial Missions:
* Collect a feather - 1 Project Mew Token (Advice to Goh!)
* Raid Battle against - 4 Project Mew Tokens (Battling in the Freezing Raid!)
* Unknown Trial Mission(s) - 7 Project Mew Tokens (prior to Narrowing the Chaser Chase!)
* Catch and - 3 Project Mew Tokens (Chasing to the Finish!)
=====Pokémon competitions=====
Gary has competed in the following :
* Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest - N/A (Beauty and The Beach)
* Extreme Pokémon Race - Runner-up (Extreme Pokémon!)
====Voice actors====
====Artwork====
 	 	
Official artwork from the	Artwork from 	Artwork from https://twitter.com/iid_animedia/status/1391600469072486404
 	 	
Artwork from 	Official artwork from thePASH Magazinehttps://twitter.com/magazine_pash/status/1400384512392110083	Artwork from"" https://twitter.com/anipoke_PR/status/1599282350348963841
===I Choose You!===
Gary appeared in a brief, non-speaking flashback in I Choose You!, which is set in a separate continuity from . In the flashback, he was seen choosing as his first partner Pokémon, much to the dismay of Ash.
====Pokémon====
===Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution===
Gary appeared in a cameo in Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, a remake of Mewtwo Strikes Back. Like in the original movie, he was seen losing his Gym battle against from The Battle of the Badge.
====Pokémon====
==In the core series games==
Gary Oak is based on , his counterpart from the games. Additionally, "Gary" is one of the suggested names for Blue in the games , , and FireRed, and for the player character in the games (international), FireRed, and LeafGreen.
==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Puzzle League===
In Pokémon Puzzle League, Gary is one of the characters available in the 2P Stadium mode. He also appears as a hidden boss, where he uses evolved versions of his playable Pokémon.
====Pokémon====
;As a playable character
		
;As a hidden boss
		
===Pokémon Zany Cards===
Gary is one of the opponents in Pokémon Zany Cards.
==In the manga==
===Ash & Pikachu===
Gary appeared in One Half Of A Poké Ball, where he faced off against Ash during the Silver Conference.
====Pokémon====
	♀	
	 	♂
====Pokémon competitions====
Gary has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:
* Silver Conference - N/A (One Half Of A Poké Ball)
===The Electric Tale of Pikachu===
Gary is a recurring character in The Electric Tale of Pikachu. In the , Gary is a childhood friend and rival of and frequently appears when Ash does something wrong. He has a sister named May, who has no equivalent in .
Gary is still condescending and arrogant to Ash, as he is during , at the start. However, he comes to respect Ash a lot quicker and earlier in The Electric Tale of Pikachu, where he is respectful to him during the Indigo League.
At the Pokémon League, he is defeated by Ritchie, but confronts Ash at the end of the series. In the epilogue, he and Ash are shown traveling together on their journey.
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Gary's known Pokémon in the manga:
====Pokémon competitions====
Gary has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:
* Indigo Plateau Conference - Top 32 (Welcome to the Big Leagues)
===Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution===
Gary appeared in . Like in the movie, he lost his Gym battle against .
====Pokémon====
	
===Pokémon Journeys===
Gary appeared in Advice to Goh!.
====Pokémon====
		
===Pokémon Newspaper Strip===
Gary is a recurring character in the Pokémon Newspaper Strip. He debuted in , showing off his to his cheerleaders. Ash's Metapod deflected Rapidash's fire move, defeating Rapidash. In , Gary's battled Brock's Vulpix at school, but their match was interrupted once a teacher told everyone to return their Pokémon to their Poké Balls. In , Gary challenged to a battle, with Gary's Charizard going up against Ash's Pikachu. Ash was confident he would win, but he was ultimately unable to battle when he became trapped under his .
====Pokémon====
==Trivia==
* Gary is one of the few characters from the original series, who appeared during both the 4Kids dub and the Pokémon USA dub of , to have his English voice remain unchanged; he is always voiced by Carter Cathcart.
* Gary is one of the few characters to have a surname in the Japanese version of the . 
** Furthermore, Gary is the only rival in the animated series to have a surname.
* In the original series, Gary's attire is similar to 's during Generations I and . In his and appearances, Gary wears Blue's outfit from . In his appearance in , Gary wears Blue's outfit from . Interestingly, the cape he adorns in OK!, its equivalent Pokémon Johto, and in A Tent Situation, resembles the one worn by his cross-canon manga counterpart in the .
* Gary owns the final evolutionary forms of each of the special Pokémon that can appear on via dual-slot mode, swarming, or the Poké Radar (, , , and ).
* In , a sticker depicting Gary identified him as "Bailey". The same error occurred in the dub of Challenge of the Samurai. The occurrence of the same error in two apparently unrelated sources might indicate an early-planned name, much like how Ash was initially known as "Casey".
* Although Ash's flashback in Lights, Camerupt, Action! seems to suggest that Gary and Ash were childhood friends, this is contradicted by Gary's conversation with Ash in Pokémon - I Choose You!, when they first started off on their Pokémon journeys; it indicated that was the first time they met.
** This is further contradicted in The Ties that Bind, where Ash and Gary interacted with each other mere days before they set out on their journeys, with the two already knowing each other for sometime beforehand based on their exchange.
*** It is to be noted that Gary's exchange with Ash in Pokémon - I Choose You! was a mistranslation. In the Japanese version of the episode, Gary instead makes comments to Ash that indicate he knew him beforehand, such as 「」("Hey, that's my line! Huh? Well if it isn't Satoshi! Yeah, I remember you. It's Mr. Sa~toshi himself! So you got a late start, Lil' Satoshi?") and 「」("That's 'no, sir' to you. Don't forget the 'sir' at the end there. But it looks like you're already running late. Ugh, to think my rival's getting off to such a pitiful start").
* Gary is the only character from Ash's fantasy sequence in The Dream Continues! to not be one of his traveling companions at the time.
* Gary is the only character whose game counterpart is a , but hasn't been a Champion at any point in the animated series.
* Excluding Ash, Gary is the only character to have participated in more than one on-screen .
* Excluding , who doesn't own any first partner Pokémon, Gary is the only one of Ash's main rivals to not own his debut generation's Grass-type first partner Pokémon.
* Gary's is the only Pokémon in Pokémon the Series to have used the move .
* According to Pocket Monsters: The Animation, aside from his being 's grandson, he is also the grandnephew of Pallet Town's mayor. It also explains that his girlfriends are the mayor's electoral staff.
* Gary is the first rival to capture a Legendary Pokémon on-screen, his .
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	オーキド・シゲルOkido Shigeru 	Derived from Shigeru Miyamoto.
English, Italian 	Gary Oak 	Possibly taken from , a type of oak tree. Also, Gary is a default name for in . Also possibly derived from Shigeru.
French 	Régis Chen 	Chen is an Asian name that looks like the word "chêne" (oak).
German 	Gary Eich 	Direct translation, as Eiche means Oak.
Brazilian Portuguese	Gary Carvalho 	Carvalho means Oak; Carvalho is also an actual surname.
Korean 	오바람 O Baram 	오 O is from the first syllable in "Okido", while his first name, Baram is native Korean for "wind".
Chinese () 	小茂 Xiǎo Mào (full name) 	茂 (luxuriant) is from 茂る shigeru.大木 (big wood/tree) is from 大木戸 Ōkido.
Chinese () 	小茂 Síu Mauh 	Same as Mandarin name.
Indonesian 	Shigeru 	Same as Japanese name.
Russian 	Гэри Оук Geri Ouk 	Transliteration of the English name.
==References==
==Related articles==
* 
* Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Category:Animation characters
Category:Manga characters
Category:Ash & Pikachu characters
Category:Electric Tale of Pikachu characters
Category:Scientists
Category:Trainers with Legendary Pokémon
Category:Characters named after real people
Category:Pokémon Newspaper Strip characters
de:Gary Eich
es:Gary Oak
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zh:小茂（動畫）