Gary Oak
| Gary Oak オーキド・シゲル Shigeru Okido | |
 Gary in the Best Wishes series | |
| Age | 10 (as of debut) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Black*, Dark Viridian* |
| Hair color | Auburn*, Mahogany* |
| Hometown | Pallet Town |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | Professor Oak (grandfather), May Oak (sister, EToP only) Samson Oak (grandfather's cousin) |
| Trainer class | Researcher; formerly a Trainer |
| Game counterpart | Blue |
| Anime debut | Pokémon - I Choose You! |
| English voice actor | Billy Beach |
| Japanese voice actor | Yūko Kobayashi |
| Manga counterpart(s) | Blue, Green |
Gary Oak (Japanese: オーキド・シゲル Shigeru Okido) is a recurring character in the Pokémon anime. He is a Pokémon Researcher from Pallet Town and grandson of Professor Oak. He is a childhood friend and former rival of Ash Ketchum. His Japanese name is derived from Shigeru Miyamoto.
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 after the both of them started on their journeys, 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.
Original series
Kanto
Gary made his debut appearance in Pokémon - I Choose You!, where he went to Professor Oak's Laboratory along with two other Pokémon Trainers before Ash did. After choosing his starter Pokémon, he left Pallet Town with his cheerleaders on a sporty red convertible. Gary is referenced again in the episode Clefairy and the Moon Stone, however it is said that he had a battle with the Samurai in Challenge of the Samurai and the next episode was one of the trainers who beat the Sensational Sisters.
Gary make another appearance in Here Comes the Squirtle Squad and Beauty and the Beach. In the first, he is seen through a town as Ash search for help and the next Gary is seen to be taking part in the beauty contest with their cheerleaders.
As Ash kept in touch with Professor Oak, he has informed Ash about Gary being ahead of him with the amount of Pokémon he caught and Badges he received.
In Dig Those Diglett!, Gary was one of the Trainers who decided to help out the foreman in getting rid of the Diglett. Gary attempted to send out a Pokémon but the Pokémon did not exit the Poké Ball, thus having the Diglett return it to him. As he tried other Pokémon, they did not come out of their Poké Balls too and the Diglett returned them to him. Since his Pokémon did not want to battle the Diglett, he deemed it pointless to stay and left with his cheerleaders in the convertible.
In Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon, Gary went digging for Fossils in Grampa Canyon.
Gary appeared in the episode Riddle Me This.
Prior to the events of The Battle of the Badge, he had received ten Badges. He went to the Viridian Gym and took on the Gym Leader, Giovanni. At first he seemed to be winning against Giovanni, knocking out his Golem and Kingler with Nidoking and Arcanine, respectively. But then Giovanni sent out Mewtwo against the Trainer and even let Gary use both his Pokémon against him. Mewtwo made quick work of the two Pokémon and Gary ended up losing.
When Ash and his friends went inside the Gym, they found Gary lying down, suffering from the defeat of Giovanni and Mewtwo. Gary explained to Ash about the Mewtwo that is evil even though Ash denied the fact. Afterwards, Gary watched Ash's battle with Team Rocket. Following the battle, the Gym started to collapse and Gary and the others were able to flee the building.
In Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary returned to Pallet Town and headed to the lobby of Professor Oak's Laboratory. Professor Oak mentioned to both Ash and Gary that they were the top Trainers in contrast to the other two who left the same time as them as they couldn't compare with their battling skills. Professor Oak showed Ash Gary's collection of Pokémon. Although Ash had seen more Pokemon, 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. He did not stay that long as his opponent, Melissa, defeated Gary's Nidoking using her Golem, which eliminated him from the Pokémon League. Following the loss, he left on another journey.
Orange Islands
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 his Pikachu as his choice. Gary in turn used his Eevee. Gary managed to defeat Ash and then left on his journey through Johto.
Johto
Gary appeared in Illusion Confusion!.
In Power Play, he battled a Trainer named Alex Davis with his Umbreon, which had evolved from Eevee prior to events of this episode. Gary was able to defeat Alex and his Alakazam. The battle made Ash want to challenge Gary next, but Gary refused and walked off. Ash sent out his other Pokémon to battle Gary's Umbreon instead of Pikachu but he already left. At the campsite, Gary and Umbreon noticed a blackout in a town Ash and his friends were in. Gary and Umbreon jumped into the rescue of the Power Plant when the Robo-Mecha Wobbuffet was attacking it. 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 Bayleef. They were both in the lead but Ash was able to narrowly win the race.
Gary arrived in Silver Town in A Claim to Flame! to compete in the Pokémon League. He greeted Ash and exchanged pleasantries, promising to get to the top and defeat Ash. Gary was able to get past the screening round along with Ash and Harrison.
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. With this, the two became friends again.
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.
Advanced Generation series
Chronicles
In Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl!, Gary worked on Sayda Island with Dora. 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.
Kanto Battle Frontier
Eventually, he moved to the Sinnoh region where he is currently conducting his research. He sent a postcard to Ash from there in The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing!, which motivated Ash 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 and battled him with his Electivire and defeated Ash's Pikachu once more.
Diamond & Pearl series
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 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 were forced to join forces to defeat the enemy, even though Ash has 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 Gligar by giving a Razor Fang to Ash which caused Gligar to evolve later. He was in the area after hearing rumors of Azelf, 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 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.
Best Wishes series
Gary later reappeared in a flashback in The Dream Continues!.
I Choose You!
Gary made a brief, non-speaking appearance in this movie, which is based in a continuity different from the main anime. He obtained his starter Pokémon, the Squirtle that Ash intended to pick, from his grandfather off-screen.
Character
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.
His arrogance continued overtime during Ash’s journey in Kanto until he challenged the Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, to a Pokémon battle for his final (but not necessary) 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.
In his few appearances during the Johto season, he seemed to have grown more polite and respectful to others, including Ash.
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
| の | This article is missing information on this character's English voice actor and Japanese voice actor. You can help by adding this information. |
| 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.
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.
 Pinsir |
Houndoom |
Fearow |
Alakazam |
 Skarmory |
Kingdra |
As of Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, Gary has captured more than 200, thus capturing 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.
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:
- Boulder Badge (prior to The Battle of the Badge)
- Cascade Badge (prior to The Water Flowers of Cerulean City)
- Rainbow Badge (prior to Primeape Goes Bananas)
- Two unknown Badges (prior to Primeape Goes Bananas)
- 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!)
Pokémon competitions
Gary has competed in the following Pokémon competitions:
- Extreme Pokémon Race - Runner-up (Extreme Pokémon!)
Voice actors
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the manga
In the Ash & Pikachu manga
Gary appeared in One Half Of A Poké Ball of the Ash & Pikachu manga, facing Ash in the Silver Conference.
Pokémon
 Blastoise |
 Nidoqueen ♀ |
 Magmar |
Arcanine |
Scizor |
Nidoking ♂ |
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.
None of Rhydon's moves are known.
| 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.
None of Gyarados's moves are known.
| 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.
None of Venusaur's moves are known.
| 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.
None of Pidgeot's moves are known.
| 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 Generations I and II. In his Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl appearances, Gary wears Blue's outfit from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. 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. Gary has yet to be seen wearing Blue's outfits from HeartGold and SoulSilver and Sun and Moon.
- 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 three main rivals to have never battled a Champion.
- 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 Pokemon - I Choose You! when they first started off on their Pokémon journey, which indicated that that was the first time the both of them met.
- In Pocket Monsters: The Animation, it is revealed that, aside from his being Professor Oak's grandson, he is also the grandnephew of Pallet Town's mayor. It also explains that his girlfriends are the mayor's electoral staff.
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, Gary is a default name for Blue in Pokémon Red and Blue. 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. |
| Russian | Гэри Оук Geri Ouk | Transliteration of the English name. |
Related articles
| Gary's Pokémon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In rotation: | ||||||
| Traveling with: | ||||||
| In storage: | ||||||
| Temporary: | ||||||
| Electric Tale only: | ||||||
| Newspaper Strip only: | ||||||
| Trainers in League Conferences | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
- Characters
- Characters with confirmed ages
- Male characters
- Articles needing more information
- Characters with an unknown English voice actor
- Characters with an unknown Japanese voice actor
- Articles with section stubs
- League Conference participants
- Anime characters
- Manga characters
- Ash and Pikachu characters
- Electric Tale of Pikachu characters
- Scientists
- Characters named after real people
