Gary Oak

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Gary Oak is one of the main characters of the book and the best friend of Ash Ketchum.

## Appearance

### Prologue

Gary wears wears a black leather jacket, a black belt around his waist, khaki cargo pants, and black shoes.

## History

### Prior to Series

Gary is Ash's childhood friend and first rival. He collected 10 of the Kanto Badges and made it into the Top 32 in the Indigo Plateau Conference. He later traveled through the Johto Region and made it into Top 16 of the Silver Conference before losing to Ash. After this defeat, he decided to become a Pokémon Researcher like his grandfather. He became a Fossil researcher an dlater an assistant of Professor Rowan. He participated in an attempt to stop Team Galactic from taking Azelf, but failed. He and Professor Rowan later collected the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs after Team Galactic was defeated. Gary then reveals to be participating the Project Mew in *Advice to Goh!*, but later reveals that he is suspicious of Professor Amaranth when he looks into the main Project Mew computer to reveal a contact of his is named, Yung, a fugitive that Ash and his grandfather have faced before.

## Character

The day he started out on his Pokémon journey, he came off as an arrogant Trainer. His chosen starter Pokémon was Squirtle, which was actually the same Pokémon that Ash 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", 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, Giovanni, to a Pokémon battle for his final (but unnecessary) Badge in *The Battle of the Badge*, where he was brutally defeated by Mewtwo. 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 Poké Ball, 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 Brock and Tracey when they first saw his Eevee. 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 Umbreon and Arcanine.

In *Johto Photo Finish!*, Gary chose to leave his Pokémon with his grandfather with the exception of Blastoise, but over time he recruited some of the 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.

### With Professor Oak

Gary's Krabby was briefly seen again in *Showdown at the Po-ké Corral*, where Gary compared its size to Ash's Krabby's size.
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Gary also used Nidoking during the Indigo Plateau Conference. He battled against Melissa's Golem, but was defeated. This loss meant that Gary was eliminated from the tournament.
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Later Gary used Arcanine in Extreme Pokémon Race. When Team Rocket tried to steal Mrs. and Mr. Shellby's Pokémon Eggs, Gary used Arcanine's Flame Wheel to send them blasting off. After this the race continued, and finally Ash, using his Bayleef, proved victorious.
Gary later used Arcanine in the Silver Conference. He sent it out against Ash's Snorlax, but Snorlax managed to defeat Arcanine with a Hyper Beam.
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It later appeared as a fully evolved Pokémon in *Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl!*, where Gary used it to stop Butch and Cassidy from stealing an Aerodactyl.
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## Achievements

### Badges obtained

#### Kanto Badges

During his journey 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:

* Cascade Badge
* Rainbow Badge
* Two unknown Badges
* Boulder Badge
* Five unknown Badges

### Johto Badges

This listing is of the Badges Gary has obtained in the Johto region:

* At least eight Badges

### Pokémon League

* Indigo Plateau Conference - Top 32
* Silver Conference - Top 16

### Project Mew

* Collect a Moltres feather - 1 Project Mew Token

### Pokémon Competitions

* Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest - N/A
* Extreme Pokémon Race - Runner-up

## Gallery

Gary Oak OS.pngGary in the original seriesGary Oak DP.pngGary in *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*Gary in *Pokémon the Series: Black & White*Ash and Gary.pngGary and Ash
## Trivia

* In the original series, Gary's attire is similar to Blue's during Generations I and II. In his *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire* and *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl* appearances, Gary wears Blue's outfit from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. In his appearance in *Pokémon Journeys: The Series*, Gary wears Blue's outfit from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. 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 Blue in the *Yellow* chapter.
* Gary owns the final evolutionary forms of each of the special Pokémon that can appear on Route 201 via dual-slot mode, swarming, or the Poké Radar (Arcanine, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Dodrio).
* Gary is the only character from Ash's fantasy sequence in *The Dream Continues!* to not be one of his traveling companions.
* Gary is the only character whose game counterpart is a Champion, but hasn't been a Champion at any point in the anime.
* Excluding Ash, Gary is the only character to have participated in more than one on-screen League Conference.