Pokemon Anime is Bringing Back Ash’s Old Rival Gary Oak
Ash’s former rival and fierce competitor, Gary Oak, will be returning in the Pokemon anime for the first time in over a decade.
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Beginning all the way back in 1996, Pokemon remains one of the biggest video game properties in the world, spawning an exceptionally popular card game, tons of merch, and a whole host of sequels spanning from the Game Boy to the Nintendo Switch. Of course, it also led to a hugely popular anime that is still going to this day, documenting the adventures of Ash Ketchum, his Pikachu, and an assortment of companions.
The latest iteration of the anime, Pokemon Journeys, sees Ash and his friend Goh traveling across many of the franchise’s most iconic regions in search of new challenges to conquer and trainers to face. It seems one of these trainers will be a familiar face to fans of the series, with the anime’s new opening sequence revealing that Ash’s iconic former-rival, Gary Oak, will be making a return during the new arc.
For those who don’t know Gary, the character was an essential part of Ash’s origin story as well as a core opponent for players during the Generation I Pokemon games and in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. In the anime, he stands as Ash’s main rival for the first few seasons following the two beginning their Pokemon journeys at the same time. His grandfather is Professor Oak, one of the most iconic figures in the games’ universe and the man who gives Ash his Pikachu. The last time Gary cropped up in the show was Pokemon The Series: Diamond and Pearl, with that version of the popular anime ending in 2010.
Formally announcing the return of the character in the series, the official Pokemon anime Twitter account revealed that Gary would indeed feature, even teasing that he might fill the slot of a rival once again. With Ash now a Pokemon League Champion and Gary likely having amassed some experience of his own in the time the two have been apart, it could be interesting to see another battle between the pair to harken back to their long-running rivalry. Nonetheless, it’ll be intriguing to see how the character it utilized during his appearance in Pokemon Journeys.
It seems now is the best time for the character to return to screens considering the recent surge in popularity of Pokemon cards, with the recent trend seeing popular celebrities purchase limited edition packs and collect rare cards. Seeing as Pokemon Journeys looks to be going back to perhaps the most notorious of Ash’s rivalries, it’s sure to find an audience with nostalgic fans of the franchise.
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