Gary's cheerleaders

Gary's cheerleaders during the Silver Conference.

Gary's cheerleaders (Japanese: シゲル応援ギャル Shigeru's cheering gals) were a group of girls that followed Gary around during his Pokémon journey. Their main purpose was to cheer Gary on, much like real-life cheerleaders at sporting events.

They made their debut in the first episode, where they were seen outside Professor Oak's Laboratory cheering for Gary as he received his starter. Their motto is:

"Gary, Gary, he's our man. If he can't do it, no one can! Go...Gary!".

His cheerleaders support Gary very much, and they are deeply hurt whenever he loses one of his battles, even crying as seen in The Battle of the Badge and The Fourth Round Rumble. The one time they cheered for another person was for Ash in The Battle of the Badge. After Gary lost to Giovanni, Ash challenged the Gym next, which had been left in the care of Jessie and James immediately beforehand. Despite their cheating, Ash won, with the cheerleaders cheering:

"He's our winner, he's our Ash! Let's all have a victory bash! He's our winner, he's our man! No one wins like Ketchum can!".

The cheerleaders were then absent for most of the Johto League. They finally reappeared in The Ties that Bind to cheer Gary on during his Full Battle against Ash during the Silver Conference. Unlike the previous battles, they did not start crying when Gary lost to Ash. The cheerleaders haven't been seen since, when Gary decided to become a Pokémon Researcher like his grandfather.

They also had appearances in Beauty and the Beach, Dig Those Diglett!, Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon, and Riddle Me This.

Voice actresses

Language Voice actor Japanese 大谷育江 Ikue Ohtani 飯塚雅弓 Mayumi Iizuka English Veronica Taylor Rachael Lillis Finnish Elise Langenoja Jenni Sivonen Minna Tasanto

Trivia

• In Beauty and the Beach, one of the cheerleaders wore a bathing suit very similar to the one May wore in The Lotad Lowdown.
• In the Japanese version, they are referred to as his girlfriends.
• In Pocket Monsters: The Animation, Gary's girlfriends are explained to be the staff responsible for the Pallet Town mayor's various elections, as Gary Oak is the mayor's son.

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.