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What do you think of Ash and Gary's friendship

EmberFireTrainer

An anomaly
One friendship that I have always found to be a bit peculiar or at least interesting is the friendship of Ash and Gary. I find it to be a rather interesting and perhaps complex friendship as they were far from friends during much of the original series particularly in Kanto.

One thing that's been stated in the anime is that Ash and Gary knew each other before their trainer days. It may be just me as I'm not even sure if it was even made clear in the anime, but I feel that Ash and Gary might have been really good friends at one time before their rivalry.

I think the reason this friendship grew on me is how much they have both matured and grown to respect each other especially with Gary respecting Ash more. I know this is probably one of the more unpopular friendships out there in the Pokémon anime, but what do you think of or get out of their friendship?
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I thought that their rivalry was good during the Kanto saga since Shigeru knew how to push Satoshi's buttons, but nothing really came of that since they didn't battle each other until the end of the Orange Archipelago arc, by which time Shigeru had mellowed out and the competitiveness between them wasn't quite the same.
 

Bguy7

The Dragon Lord
I absolutely love the way Ash and Gary's relationship grew once they finished their final battle. Those few times that Gary has appeared since then have always been such a treat, as it's just so cool to watch these two, who used to hate each other, act like they're old, close friends. You can really feel how much both of them have matured since their early days, and it's one of the best examples of Ash's growth as a character in the series. Here's to hoping he gets a reappearance sometimes in the not-to-distant future.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I thought that Gary made an excellent rival for Ash in that he was always one step ahead of Ash and gave him the necessary push to become stronger. The Silver League battle pretty much was the turning point and one of the most important battles for both Ash and the anime. Gary never outright hated Ash or showed pure contempt towards him. He just made fun of him because Ash was always lagging behind struggling to keep up. When Ash won their League battle, you could tell Gary fully respected Ash as a trainer that won fairly. During the OS it seemed like the two were more like frenemies that weren’t too fond of each other but also didn’t completely loathe each other so much that they couldn’t be civil enough to not cause a scene when they were in th3 same room together.
 

Spider-Phoenix

#ChespinGang
I actually like their friendship.

But it's not like they hated each other. If I recall correctly, they used to be friends when they were kids but eventually became rivals because of their similar goals.

Tbh Gary and Ash have more chemestry than Ash and Gou

I dissagree. I think Go and Ash have a fun dynamic specially because they get along well despite being opposite on some things.
 

Ubermuk

Sticky & Sweet
I think the reason this friendship grew on me is how much they have both matured and grown to respect each other especially with Gary respecting Ash more. I know this is probably one of the more unpopular friendships out there in the Pokémon anime, but what do you think of or get out of their friendship?

I liked how Gary matured the quickest out of the two characters. Ash took longer to get to that level of mentality that Gary had where he respected Ash as a trainer and learned from his past mistakes.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
I like it, I just wish that they didn't wait until Johto to start touching on their past and further developing Gary's character. Gary was always one of my favorite characters and it was such a thrill seeing him and Ash become close like they used to be again, I loved when he came back in Sinnoh and to this day I've been hoping for his return! He's the one character I'm dying to see more of, there's still a lot they could do with him. Especially now that Mega evolution, regional forms, and Dynamax/Gigantimax is a thing. I'd love to see him studying under Magnolia in Galar or perhaps even residing at Sakuragi's for a brief arc?

I also liked how Ash won his respect long before the League match between the two

Tbh Gary and Ash have more chemestry than Ash and Gou

Not hard to top that lol
 

EmberFireTrainer

An anomaly
I absolutely love the way Ash and Gary's relationship grew once they finished their final battle. Those few times that Gary has appeared since then have always been such a treat, as it's just so cool to watch these two, who used to hate each other, act like they're old, close friends. You can really feel how much both of them have matured since their early days, and it's one of the best examples of Ash's growth as a character in the series. Here's to hoping he gets a reappearance sometimes in the not-to-distant future.

Yeah, I'm hoping for a reappearance too at some point. It was really cool to watch their interactions with each other and especially to watch Gary's character change over the series.
 

Ubermuk

Sticky & Sweet
Yeah, I'm hoping for a reappearance too at some point. It was really cool to watch their interactions with each other and especially to watch Gary's character change over the series.

I just want to see Gary again because I want to see if he's completely become a Pokemon professor who just studies Pokemon or if he's still making time to be a battler.
 

Sham

The Guardian of Ruin and Birth
I can’t get over how the anime kinda dropped showing Gary becoming a professor and like generations later Pokémon introduces a character who’s interested in studying Pokémon who’s grandparent is a professor and they themselves end up becoming one
 

EmberFireTrainer

An anomaly
I like it, I just wish that they didn't wait until Johto to start touching on their past and further developing Gary's character. Gary was always one of my favorite characters and it was such a thrill seeing him and Ash become close like they used to be again, I loved when he came back in Sinnoh and to this day I've been hoping for his return! He's the one character I'm dying to see more of, there's still a lot they could do with him. Especially now that Mega evolution, regional forms, and Dynamax/Gigantimax is a thing. I'd love to see him studying under Magnolia in Galar or perhaps even residing at Sakuragi's for a brief arc?

I also liked how Ash won his respect long before the League match between the two



Not hard to top that lol

Gary's one of my favorite characters too although he wasn't always on my favorites list lol. His character really grew on me over watching the original series to the end of Johto. I agree. I wish they didn't wait til like the later half of Johto to explain things with Ash and Gary's backstory. I feel it would have been more ideal to start explaining either at the end of Kanto or closer toward the beginning of Johto especially knowing how long and filler filled Johto was.
 

Ubermuk

Sticky & Sweet
I can’t get over how the anime kinda dropped showing Gary becoming a professor and like generations later Pokémon introduces a character who’s interested in studying Pokémon who’s grandparent is a professor and they themselves end up becoming one

I so wish that Gary had been Ash's new partner instead of Go. The new series could've worked just as well if it had taken place in Pallet Town and followed Ash and Gary's adventures.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Ubermuk said:
I so wish that Gary had been Ash's new partner instead of Go. The new series could've worked just as well if it had taken place in Pallet Town and followed Ash and Gary's adventures.

That would've been great since it would've appealed to older fans while at the same time following the main concept of the current series. Shigeru taking on Gou's role as a collector would've worked perfectly since he could've easily sought out Pokemon for research purposes.
 

BabaVanga

Well-Known Member
I didn't care much about their friendship. I liked their rivalry, I liked that they grow to respect eachother, but Gary giving up on training Pokémon to become a researcher after losing to Ash was something I'm having a hard time to understand to this day.
I loathed his AG/DP appearances, they made him look so generic and removed everything I liked in the good 'ol Gary Oak that the episodes with him were almost unwatchable to me.
 
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