Gary's Blastoise

**Gary's Blastoise** (Japanese: **シゲルのカメックス** *Shigeru's Kamex*) was the first Pokémon that Gary Oak obtained at the beginning of his travels in Kanto, given to him by Professor Oak.

## Main series

### History

##### Kanto

Gary received Squirtle in *Pokémon - I Choose You!* as a starter Pokémon from Professor Oak. He did not tell Ash which of the three starter Pokémon he chose, but bragged that it was the best one.

In *Challenge of the Samurai*, Squirtle appeared in a flashback, though the episode did not reveal which of the three Trainers who left before Ash owned it. Samurai remembered Gary and the others fondly as they had fought spectacular battles, with Gary's Squirtle defeating his Metapod.

##### Johto

Finally, in *The Ties That Bind*, the fully evolved Blastoise was revealed to Ash when Gary sent it out to battle Heracross. In Gary's Full Battle against Ash in *Can't Beat the Heat!*, its Hydro Pump managed to blast through the rocky terrain and defeat Ash's Heracross in a single hit. It then stalemated his Muk, completely nullifying Muk's Sludge Bomb with its Rapid Spin, but unable to gain much purchase with its Skull Bash. After Muk smothered Blastoise with its body, Blastoise used Hydro Pump to blast Muk off and injure it. Ash pulled Muk for the type-advantaged Bayleef, but Blastoise overcame her as well, deflecting Razor Leaf with Rapid Spin, then using its Bite attack on her leaf and knocking her out by throwing her aside.

 File:Ash Charizard Gary Blastoise.png
It was recalled until the final bout when it fought against Charizard, who had overcome Scizor and Golem just as Blastoise had defeated Heracross and Bayleef. With a type advantage and having had a break between battles, Blastoise was quickly on the front foot, deflecting Flamethrower with Rapid Spin and hitting with Hydro Pump and Skull Bash. It neutralized Charizard's aerial advantage by using Hydro Pump to keep him at bay, giving Charizard no opening.

Charizard and Ash thought outside the box and melted all of the rocks with powerful Flamethrower attacks. Immobilized, Blastoise had no choice but to cool the field down with Hydro Pump, but Charizard took advantage of the resulting steam to get in close to Blastoise. Even then, Blastoise proved a worthy opponent; while unable to aim its water cannons, it was still able to dodge a Dragon Rage attack with Withdraw. Charizard lifted Blastoise into the air, holding on despite Blastoise biting hard on his arm, and executed a Seismic Toss. Both Pokémon stared each other down, but Blastoise gave out and fainted.

In *Johto Photo Finish!*, Gary decided to become a Pokémon Researcher and the only Pokémon he would take on his new journey was Blastoise. After using Blastoise to free Pikachu from Team Rocket, he departed home for Pallet and then set off for future endeavors. His choice inspired Ash to begin his journey in Hoenn with only his first Pokémon, Pikachu.

#### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Gary and Blastoise later appeared in *Ill-Will Hunting!*, where they helped Ash, Brock, and Dawn in protecting the Shieldon from J and her evil minions. It first used Water Gun to stop J's henchmen's vehicle, which Pikachu disabled with Thunderbolt while on the soaking machine. However, it was knocked on its back by a Golbat's Wing Attack}}, and Gary recalled it after Umbreon disturbed some Beedrill that drove Golbat and the henchmen away. Gary used Blastoise again in a battle against J's Salamence and Drapion along with Ash's Pikachu. The battle ended without a result after J captured one of the Shieldon that her client had requested.

#### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Blastoise appeared in a flashback in *The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!*.

#### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

 File:Gary Blastoise and Goh Cinderace.png
Blastoise reappeared in *Advice to Goh!*, where it was used to save Ash and Goh from an Onix that Goh failed to catch. It was later sent out to battle a wild Moltres. Despite the type advantage, Blastoise was eventually defeated.

In *Chasing to the Finish!*, Gary used Blastoise during his Project Mew Trial Mission at Split-Decision Ruins, where it teamed up with Goh's Cinderace to battle Lyla's Sandaconda and Sterling's Runerigus. After they were defeated, the two Pokémon teamed up to fight Regieleki and Regidrago, weakening them and allowing Gary to catch the Regidrago.

In *In the Palms of our Hands!*, Blastoise was the first Pokémon used by Gary in the battle against Mew alongside Goh's Cinderace, Danika's Azumarill, Quillon's Weavile, and Horace's Gardevoir. Despite doing their best, the Pokémon were defeated, forcing Gary to recall Blastoise.

## Personality and characteristics

 File:Gary and Blastoise.png
Not much is known about the personality of Gary's Blastoise, however it was described in *The Ties that Bind!* by Gary that it was his best, showing that it was one of his favourite Pokémon, if not his favourite. It was mentioned in the same episode by Professor Oak to be his most powerful. This was shown in *Can't Beat the Heat!*, when it defeated Heracross with one move despite Heracross using rocks as a shield as well as it easily beating Bayleef and being a good match for Charizard. Its Rapid Spin can deflect powerful attacks, even super-effective ones such as Razor Leaf.

Blastoise appears to have a team spirit, briefly nodding to Cinderace after they manage to fulfill a Project Mew mission.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

* Withdraw was only used in the original Japanese version of *Can't Beat the Heat!*

## I Choose You!

 File:Gary Oak Squirtle.png
Blastoise made a brief appearance as a Squirtle in a flashback in *I Choose You!*, which is set in a timeline separate from the main series. Like in the main series, Squirtle was chosen by Gary to be his starter Pokémon.

## Trivia

* Ash originally wanted Squirtle as his starter Pokémon, while Gary was the one who took it. Coincidentally, this is similar to Pokémon Yellow where the rival character takes the starter Pokémon of the main character. However, in that case it was the rival taking the starter Eevee by force rather than Gary showing up earlier for Squirtle.
* Unlike in the games, instead of the rival (Gary/Blue) having the starter Pokémon with the type advantage, Ash's Pikachu has the type advantage.
	+ However, Ash uses his Charizard against Blastoise during his battle with Gary in the Silver Conference, mirroring the type advantage seen in the games.
* In the English dub, Misty seemed to be aware that Gary's starter Pokémon was Squirtle, as when Blastoise is shown for the first time, Misty says, "Brock, could that be...?", to which Brock replies, "The same Squirtle that Gary originally received from Professor Oak? Yeah, that's the one." This exchange did not occur in the original Japanese version of the episode.