Pokémon Master: 15 Shocking Things You Didn’t Know About Gary From Pokémon
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There is a lot more to Gary Oak that most Pokémon fans know. Are you ready to face a REAL Pokémon master.
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When it comes to Pokémon, there are many things that really helped to make the series stand out. One of those fine additions to its popular roster of characters is Gary Oak. Without Gary Oak there is no drive for Ash to be the best Pokémon trainer of all time, there’s no rival that seems to undermine him at every turn and make otherwise simple tasks more difficult. I know for a fact that I always wanted to name him my rival in the Pokémon games and I wanted to beat him and I wanted badly during the television series for Ash to prove that Gary was wrong about him.
The character of Gary helped to keep the series going, and It helped to give kids like me a reason to try to beat him at every turn. After all, none of us that played the video games wanted to end up like Ash did many times throughout the series, we all wanted to beat our rival and come out on top. Even though it is likely that you know a lot about Gary Oak through the television show, there are certainly a handful of things you never knew about the legendary rival (thanks to hidden info in the games and comics). In the end, you’ll find that perhaps Gary’s overconfidence and resentment are the result of a few secrets that are not readily known at the beginning of the series.
15 The Secret Behind His Parents
From the very start, you are told that Gary is Ash’s ultimate rival, and that he is already ahead of him in terms of the amount of Pokémon he’s caught and a number of badges he’s earned. What you might not know though is that no one has any idea what happened to Gary’s parents.
All you know throughout the series is that Gary has a sister whose name is Daisy and that his grandfather is Professor Oak. Strangely enough, neither person mentions the fate of the parents and you’re left to imagine that they either died or left him and Daisy to be raised by their grandfather. It puts a whole new perspective on why Gary acts the way he does.
14 He’s In Pokémon Black And White 2!?
I will be the first to admit that I wasn’t really a fan of the Nintendo DS line of Pokémon games. After all, I grew up on the Gameboy versions and by comparison, I just felt that there was too much of a change between them. None the less I was surprised to learn that you can actually get to face Gary (as you did in the previous Pokémon games).
So how do you do this? First, you have to complete fifteen other tournaments including those at Kanto, Johto, Unova and Hoenn as well as Sinnoh. Once that’s done you have to beat the World Tournament ten times total. After doing this you will be able to unlock something called the Champions Tournament which includes trainers who have beaten the Pokémon League in each of their respective regions including Gary (AKA Blue).
13 He STOPPED Being A Pokémon Trainer
It’s hard being a Pokémon trainer and there are a lot of people in the Pokémon universe that wanted both Gary and Ash to fail in their quest to be world class Pokémon trainers. It is perhaps for this very reason that Gary Oak decided to hang it up and stop his pursuit as a Pokémon trainer.
So, what made Gary decide to finally call it quits? Well, his deep-rooted rival Ash of course! During the Silver Conference Ash defeated Gary by beating his Blastoise with his Charizard despite Gary having the type advantage in the fight. It is after this fight in the episode titled ‘Johto Photo Finish’ where Ash is visited by Gary who tells him that he wishes to call it quits as a Pokémon trainer and instead go in the footsteps of his grandfather Professor Oak and become a Pokémon researcher.
12 We Know His Father — It’s Not Who You Think
Not a whole lot is known about Gary and his origins apart from the fact that Daisy is his sister and Professor Oak are his grandfather. You know that he wishes to be a Pokémon trainer and perhaps the best in the world like Ash, but like Ash, you have no idea who his father is. Even worse for Gary though is that there is no indication who his mother is either.
While all this spells gloom and doom for Gary and explains a good deal about why Gary wishes to outshine Ash at every turn to impress his grandfather it begs the questions who the rest of his family members are. Lucky for us in ‘Pocket Monsters: The Animation’ it is revealed that Gary is actually the grandnephew of the Mayor of Pallet Town. This helps to explain why Gary is always seen with the cheerleaders in the series who are also a part of the Mayor’s electoral staff.
11 His Biggest Failure…
I’m sure you remember all the times Professor Oak and others told Ash how much better Gary was as a Pokémon trainer at the start of the series and throughout. I’m sure you also remember all the times that Ash ran into Gary and all the times that they would battle throughout the series, but did you know that Gary never made it to the finals in any league?
It seems strange to think about, but the sad fact is that Ash’s arch-rival just isn’t that good at winning Pokémon leagues. You would think that a guy who got ten badges in Kanto region would be good at what he does, but that just isn’t the case. In the Indigo Plateau Conference in Kanto he only made it into the top thirty-two, but in the Johto League, he did make it to the top sixteen of competitors in the silver conference.
10 His Relationship With Ash Is Complex
When you think about it, this one isn’t that far-fetched given that some of the greatest rivals in history either are friends or were friends at one time, but this is something that isn’t discovered until much later in the series. In fact, it is interesting to note that both Gary and Ash were neighbors and actually went out and saw movies together as seen in the episode ‘Lights, Camerupt, Action!’.
So, you may be wondering if they were friends at one time why all the rivalry in the first place? Well, in the Pokémon episode entitled ‘The Ties That Bind’ we learn that they were both fishing on their journey when they jointly snagged a Poké ball. The ensuing fight over it caused the ball to break in half and they each kept a half as a reminder of what happened.
9 The Gas Guzzler Stories
When you think of Pokémon now you are probably a little taken aback by the fact that so many Pokémon trainers, scratch that, so many people in the Pokémon universe don’t use cars. It seems strange that such an advanced civilization wouldn’t use some form of transportation and instead decided to walk everywhere.
Well, they all seem to walk everywhere with the exception of Gary Oak who instead uses his Red Convertible to get around. He loads up his famous cheering squad into his vehicle and despite being all of ten years old decides to drive around and show off how cool he is to Ash and the world without even being of age to drive a car yet. In a way, Gary was portrayed as the type of kid that could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
8 He Is The Only Character To Be A Gym Leader, Rival, And A Champion
As bad as Gary may be at winning Pokémon tournaments, he has a lot of things going for him that show that he is a worthy character of mention. There are a lot of different people within the Pokémon universe, so it is a bit surprising to learn that Gary is the only one out of all of them to be a true rival to Ash throughout the series, as well as being a champion, and a Gym Leader to boot.
In the original Red and Blue Pokémon games, he’s your rival in Pallet town and he secures eight Kanto badges, he also beats the Elite Four shortly before you are able to do so. As a result, he is the first one to become the new League Champion. In the later games, Silver and Gold, Gary has taken over the Viridian City Gym from Giovanni after defeating him and Team Rocket.
7 His Cathphrase Has Strange Origins
Pokémon had a lot of weird and interesting parts to it, and nothing was perhaps as strange as Gary’s timely phrase in both the shows and in the games of “Smell Ya Later,” but did you know that this wasn’t the exact translation from Japanese to English of what Gary was actually saying?
In the Japanese versions of the games and in the show Gary would actually say the line loosely translated as “Welp, be seein’ ya!” and not the line “Smell ya later!” as we are all accustomed to remember seeing as kids. The term “Welp, be seein’ ya!” was a popular teenage saying at the time in Japan and that’s why it was placed into the game to start with. The creators of the game didn’t have an easy way to translate it to English the right way and so they choose to use the phrase “Smell ya Later!” as it’s replacement throughout the series.
6 The Strange Reason He’s Your Rival in The Gameboy Version
While there are many plausible reasons why Gary (AKA Blue) is Ash’s rival in the series, there is one, in particular, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Being the kid that I was, and not really reading the manual at the time, I never noticed that in Pokémon Red and Blue, the reason listed for Gary being your rival is the fact that he is quote “the same height and the same age as you.”
This may seem like a really dumb reason for someone to be your rival on the surface, until you put it into the context of the age of the characters and how kids normally act at that age. Usually when you are the same age as someone, as a kid, you always try to outdo them and show them that you are better then they are at whatever they are doing.
5 A Picture Of His Sister For A …
Pokémon is a popular series not just in Japan, but around the world. As a result of such popularity, it is not surprising that you get incidents were writers create strange stories that may not have happened in the original show, but are interesting none the less. This is completely apparent in the manga series, ‘The Electric Tale of Pikachu.”
In the nineteenth chapter of the manga, Ash and Gary run into a Slowpoke that has been captured by Team Rocket. Gary and Ash decide to team up together to beat Team Rocket and free the Slowpoke, but Ash is able to capture it inside a Poke ball before Gary. As a result of this, and in an effort to gain the Slowpoke, Gary trades a picture of his sister Daisy to Ash for it. Ash accepts the offer in part because he assumes that it’s a dirty picture of Daisy when in fact it is just her eating food.
4 It Is Hinted That His Raticate Actually Died
You’re told over and over that Pokémon can be healed and brought back to life in both the games and the show, but there is one instance that seems to contradict that point and put the Pokémon universe in much less “happy-go-luck” frame of view. This particular instance involves your confrontation with Gary in the Original Red and Blue versions of the game and the fate of his Raticate.
When you get to the midway point of the game you will bump into Gary on the ship called the SS Anne. As is often the case, Gary wants to battle and so you battle him and defeat his level sixteen Raticate (and all of the other Pokémon in his party). Later on, when you run into Gary at Lavender Town Tower you notice that his Raticate is no longer a part of his party. The thing about this that’s alarming is that Lavender Town Tower is a massive Pokémon graveyard and it’s implied that Gary could be there to mourn his Raticate.
3 The Origin Of His Name
When you talk about all the people in your family you are likely to refer to them all as part of your ‘family tree. It’s not a surprise then that you find that Professor Oak is named after an Oak tree and that all the other professors you meet in the series are also named after various types of trees.
In continuing with that term you might be surprised to learn that Gary is, in fact, also named after an oak tree, but it’s a very specific one known as a Garry Oak. In a way, the creators were reinforcing the fact that Gary was of the same family as Professor Oak or the same family tree if you will. Gary is a unique type of person or a unique type of oak as the creators alluded too.
2 His Japanese Name Is A Form Of Tribute
While many people in America know him by the English name of ‘Gary’ he has a very different name in the Japanese version of the series. In the original version of the animated series, he goes by the name Shigeru which is in reference to Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. Yes, that Shigeru, the same one that made games like Mario and Zelda that we all love today.
What drove them to name him after Shigeru Miyamoto you ask? Well, he had a lot to do with the future success and completion of the video games. Satoshi Tajiri (the creator of Pokémon) was having a lot of trouble with creating the game from scratch and Shigeru took it upon himself to help Tajiri every step of the way until completion of the games to ensure that they ran as was intended.
1 The Voice Actor For Gary Hasn’t Been Changed
It’s not often that you have a television series run for as long as Pokémon did without having one of the main characters voice actors change, but that’s exactly what happened when it came to the English version of Gary Oak. From the start of the show in 1998 until now the same voice actor, Carter Cathcart, under the fake name Billy Beach has voiced Gary in the English dub versions of the show. This was despite the fact that the show switched production companies in 2006 from 4Kids Entertainment to TAJ Productions.
He has gone on to become the voice for iconic characters of the show such as Professor Oak, Team Rockets’ James, and Meowth to name a few. Additionally, he now helps to do script adaptation for the show.
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