Gary Oak
| Gary Oak オーキド・シゲル Shigeru Okido | |
| File:Gary Oak.png Gary Oak | |
| Age | 10 (as of debut) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Black |
| Hair color | Auburn*, Mahogany* |
| Hometown | Pallet Town |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | Professor Oak (grandfather), May Oak (sister, EToP only) |
| Trainer class | formerly a Trainer, now a Researcher |
| Game counterpart | Blue |
| Animated debut | Pokémon - I Choose You! |
| English voice actor | Billy Beach |
| Japanese voice actor | Yūko Kobayashi |
Gary Oak (Japanese: オーキド・シゲル Shigeru Okido) was the primary rival of Ash Ketchum, prior to their final battle in the Johto League, and grandson of Professor Oak. His Japanese name is derived from Shigeru Miyamoto.
In the anime
History
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!. Before either of their journeys began, both Gary and Ash found an old Poké Ball 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.
In the original series
The day he started out on his Pokémon journey, he came off as an arrogant Trainer, much like his game counterpart, Blue. 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" (Japanese: "Satoshi-kun"), 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.
Soon he would eat his words when he would challenge the Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, to a Pokémon battle for his final (but not necessary) Badge in The Battle of the Badge. At first he seemed to be winning against Giovanni, knocking out most of his Pokémon (even at a type disadvantage). But then Giovanni sent out Mewtwo against the Trainer and even let Gary use both his Arcanine and Nidoking against him. Mewtwo made quick work of the two Pokémon and Gary experienced his first (known) loss. 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.
Gary eventually returned in A Tent Situation. Much unlike his former self, he congratulated Ash on his victory in the Orange League. Soon Ash challenged him to a battle with his Pikachu as his choice. Gary in turn used his Eevee. Gary managed to defeat Ash and then left on his journey through Johto.
In his few appearances during the Johto season, he seemed to have become the complete opposite of who he was. He became polite and respectful to others, including Ash. In The Ties That Bind and Can't Beat the Heat!, he battled Ash at the Silver Conference. Ash ended up winning the battle when his Charizard defeated Gary's Blastoise.
In Johto Photo Finish, Gary decided that he didn't want to be a Pokémon Trainer anymore, but instead wanted to be a Pokémon researcher like his grandfather.
In the Advanced Generation series
In Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl, Gary worked on Sayda Island with Crystal. There, he revived an Aerodactyl from an Old Amber. At first the Aerodactyl was afraid of him and every other person on the island, but Gary soon gained its trust after he fed it some fruit that Aerodactyl used to eat.
Eventually, he moved to the Sinnoh region where he is currently conducting his research.
In Home Is Where The Start Is!, Gary reunited with Ash and battled him with his Electivire and defeated Ash's Pikachu once more.
In the Diamond & Pearl series
During his time in Sinnoh, Gary became an assistant of Professor Rowan. As before, Gary conducts his research on rare or legendary Pokémon. Now, Gary demonstrated more maturity and more respect for other people, principally with Ash. Upon meeting him, Dawn thought that he was a poet like his grandfather.
In Ill-Will Hunting! he was taking care of a group of Shieldon and protected them from the evil Pokémon Hunter J and her minions, Gary and Ash are forced to join forces to defeat the enemy, even though Ash has been against it. However, thanks to the efforts of the two they save Shieldon from the hands of Pokémon Hunter.
He appeared again in Fighting Fear With Fear! where he helped Ash and Gligar by giving a Razor Fang to Ash which caused Gligar to evolve later. He was in the area after hearing rumors of Azelf.
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 Pokémon Hunter 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 Dialga and Palkia.
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. However, since retiring as a Pokémon Trainer to become a researcher, it isn't known if he continues to catch new Pokémon often.
This listing is for Gary's Pokémon as of The Battle Finale of Legend!.
On hand
 Squirtle → Wartortle → Blastoise |
 Eevee → Umbreon |
 Electivire |
In storage
| Debut | Mystery at the Lighthouse |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Rikako Aikawa |
| English | Rikako Aikawa |
Gary's Krabby was seen for the first time in Mystery at the Lighthouse after Ash had captured his own Krabby and he called for Prof. Oak to see that it was okay as it had been teleported to his laboratory right after the capture. Oak then also showed Ash Gary's Krabby, which was way bigger than Ash's.
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.
None of Krabby's moves are known.
| Debut | The Battle of the Badge |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English | Katsuyuki Konishi |
Gary was first shown to use his Nidoking during his Gym battle against Giovanni. Despite defeating Giovanni's Golem, he lost to the Psychic powers of Mewtwo.
Gary also used Nidoking at the Pokémon League. He battled against Melissa's Golem, but was defeated. This loss meant that Gary was eliminated from the tournament.
Nidoking's known moves are Tackle and Horn Attack.
| Debut | The Battle of the Badge |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Shin'ichirō Miki |
| English | Shin'ichirō Miki |
- Main article: Gary's Arcanine
Gary was first shown to use his Arcanine in his Gym battle against Giovanni. Even though Arcanine managed to defeat Giovanni's Kingler, it was helpless against the Psychic powers of Mewtwo.
Later Gary used Arcanine in Extreme Pokémon Race in the episode Extreme Pokémon!. 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.
Gary's Dodrio was for the first time briefly seen as a Doduo in Showdown at the Po-ké Corral at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
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.
Dodrio's only known move is Drill Peck.
| Debut | A Tent Situation |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English | Katsuyuki Konishi |
Gary's Nidoqueen was seen for the first time in A Tent Situation, where Gary used her to defeat Team Rocket, who were attacking Professor Oak's Laboratory. She was seen again in the Silver Conference, where she easily defeated Ash's Tauros, but was taken out by his Snorlax's Ice Punch.
Nidoqueen's known moves are Mega Punch, Strength, Rock Smash, Hyper Beam and Double Kick.
| Debut | The Ties That Bind |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | |
| English | Eric Stuart |
Gary used his Magmar during his Silver Conference battle against Ash, sending it to battle against Ash's Heracross. It managed to engulf the Single Horn Pokémon in flames from Fire Blast and a point blank Flamethrower, but Heracross proved to be extremely tough as it beat the flames away and managed to beat the Spitfire Pokémon with its powerful Megahorn.
Magmar's known moves are Flamethrower and Fire Blast.
| Debut | Can't Beat the Heat! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English | Eric Stuart |
Gary used his Scizor during his Silver Conference battle against Ash. Its speed was far too much for Ash's powerful Snorlax, delivering multiple Quick Attacks in fast succession, avoiding a Hyper Beam and then striking it in the face with Metal Claw. It also solved the problem Gary's Blastoise was having with Muk, knocking it out with a Swift attack. Ash's final Pokémon, Charizard, managed to stop Scizor in its tracks by blasting it in the face with Flamethrower.
Scizor's known moves are Quick Attack, Metal Claw, Swift and Steel Wing.
| Debut | Can't Beat the Heat! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | |
| English | Eric Stuart |
During his battle against Ash in the Silver Conference, Gary used his Golem to battle against Ash's Charizard. Despite stunning Charizard with Magnitude and being too heavy for Charizard's Seismic Toss, the Megaton Pokémon was knocked out by Charizard's Dragon Rage.
| Debut | The Ties That Bind |
|---|
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. The listed but yet unseen Pokémon were Alakazam, Houndoom, Pinsir, Fearow, Kingdra and Skarmory.
As of Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary has more than 200 Pokémon in his collection including more than one of the same species.
Temporary
| Debut | Illusion Confusion! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Yūji Ueda |
| English | Yūji Ueda |
Gary rented this Hoothoot from Hagatha in the episode Illusion Confusion!, when he was traveling through a forest full of illusion-creating Ghost Pokémon.
Hoothoot's only known move is Foresight.
| Debut | Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Shin'ichirō Miki |
| English | N/A |
Gary took part in a project where this Aerodactyl was resurrected in Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl!. After he had saved it from being stolen by Butch and Cassidy, he left it to Crystal to take care of.
Aerodactyl's known moves are Whirlwind, Hyper Beam and Gust.
| Debut | Ill-Will Hunting! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | |
| English | Billy Beach |
Gary helped Ash and his friends in protecting these four wild Shieldon from being stolen by J and her henchmen in Ill-Will Hunting!.
None of Shieldon's moves are known.
Badges obtained
During his journey, Gary collected 10 Badges to compete in the Indigo Plateau Conference. Of the ten Badges he obtained in Kanto, he already had five by Primeape Goes Bananas, and showed off the whole set in The Battle of the Badge (though he failed to gain an eleventh Badge in that episode when faced against Mewtwo). Of the eight Badges that Ash won, Gary only has three: A Boulder Badge, a Cascade Badge, and a Rainbow Badge. The other seven are unknown, but aside from the Earth Badge, he didn't get a Thunder Badge, Marsh Badge, Soul Badge, or Volcano Badge.
Gary's achievements in Johto were not stated, other than that he had the minimum of eight Badges to compete in the Silver Conference.
Pokémon League
Gary has competed in the following Pokémon League competitions:
- Indigo League Conference (top 32)
- Silver Conference (top 16)
Pokémon competitions
- Extreme Pokémon Race (Runner-up)
Voice actors
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In the manga
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Gary is one of the recurring characters in the The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. In the manga, Gary is a childhood friend and rival of Ash and frequently appears when Ash does something wrong. He has a sister named May, who has no equivalent in the anime.
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:
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
- Main article: Gary's Arcanine
Arcanine is Gary's main Pokémon. It was usually relied on as a mode of transportation.
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
Gary sent out Rhydon along with his other Pokémon to battle the giant Slowpoke after Arcanine became hypnotized by it. However, it wasn't long before it fell victim to the giant Pokémon.
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
Gary sent out Gyarados along with his other Pokémon to battle the giant Slowpoke after Arcanine became hypnotized by it. However, it wasn't long before it fell victim to the giant Pokémon. Later, Gary sends it out as a way of traveling on water so he can catch it after Team Rocket came by and tried to steal it with their net.
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
Gary sent out Venusaur along with his other Pokémon to battle the giant Slowpoke after Arcanine became hypnotized by it. Similar to Arcanine, it wasn't able to battle the Slowpoke.
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
Pidgeot was sent out along with Gary's other Pokémon to battle the giant Slowpoke. It fell victim to the Slowpoke's laziness.
| Debut | Ash vs. Gary |
|---|
Ash and his rival, Gary, both battled for this giant Slowpoke. Even though Ash was able to catch it, he gave it to Gary instead so he could get a picture of his sister, May. After this, they found out that Slowpoke had evolved into a Slowbro.
Slowpoke's known moves are Disable, Ice Beam, Growl, Surf and Headbutt.
Trivia
- Gary is one of the few characters from the original series who appeared during both dubs of the anime to have his English dub voice remain unchanged, always being voiced by Jimmy Zoppi who was credited as Billy Beach during Gary's appearances after 4Kids Entertainment stopped dubbing the anime.
- In the original series, Gary's attire is similar to Blue's during Generation I. In his Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl appearances, Gary wears Blue's outfit from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, making him the only non-main character to undergo a permanent change of clothing. Interestingly, the cape he adorns in the third opening and in EP115 resembles the one worn by his cross-canon manga counterpart Blue in the Yellow arc. The only attire Gary has yet to be seen wearing is Blue's outfit from HeartGold and SoulSilver.
- Gary owns the final evolutionary forms of Pokémon owned by Ash and each of his friends, excluding Dawn, Iris, Cilan (and Max, who is too young to be a Pokémon Trainer). These are: Blastoise (Squirtle and Wartortle), Kingdra (Horsea), Golem (Geodude) and Scizor (Scyther). Both Ash and Gary have also caught a Krabby, but only Ash's is known to have evolved.
- Gary has three Pokémon in common with Ash's Sinnoh rival, Paul: Electivire, Nidoking and Magmar.
- Gary is the only one of Ash's rivals to appear in a Pokémon movie, aside from the credits, appearing briefly in Mewtwo Strikes Back.
- 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).
- In Pokémon Stickers series 1, a sticker depicting Gary identifies him as "Bailey".
- Gary is currently the only one out of Ash's 3 main rivals to have never battle a Champion.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | オーキド・シゲル Okido Shigeru |
Derived from Shigeru Miyamoto. |
| English | Gary Oak | Possibly taken from Garry Oak, a type of oak tree. 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. 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 (Mandarin) | 小茂 Xiǎo Mào 大木・茂 (full name) |
茂 (luxuriant) is from 茂る shigeru. 大木 (big wood/tree) is from 大木戸 Ōkido. |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 小茂 Síu Mauh | Same as Mandarin name. |
| Indonesian | Shigeru | Same as Japanese. |
Related articles
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
