Gary Oak as a Symbol of Growth aka the oak tree that refuses to stay small
I always thought of Gary as THE rival in the Pokemon Anime.
As much as I appreciate Paul's role as a rival as a narrative opposite and how much of a spectacle Alain's rivalry, nothing to me ever comes close to Gary's rivalry with Ash.
Like Blue, he's that jerk rival that you just want to wipe the floor with because he's that much of an asshole. When you play the original games or the remakes of Red and Blue, at some point you think man I wanna beat this guy's ass because he's THAT annoying.
The kind of annoying that makes you wanna one-up him, y'know? Not the “urgh I have to get this battle over with so I can get back to catching pokemon." But the genuine I NEED to BEAT this guy to the GROUND.
Unlike recent pokemon rivals, at some point you are motivated to bring Blue a peg down or two.
With Gary, you want to push him off a cliff.
But for real though Blue Oak wasn't even that much of a jerk. I feel like we all collectively thought Blue was a jerk because Gary was a jerk in the anime. And don't get me wrong Gary was a jerk like actually but its hilarious that Blue got dragged into that reputation when he literally gave Red tips in the games lmao compared to Mr Cheersquad convertible over there.
I still love Gary though. He's so ridiculous <3
I do notice how Gary basically gave Ash direction for most of the anime. After the Indigo League, Gary basically gives Ash the idea to go to Johto. Then later for Hoenn. And after Ash won the Battle Frontier Gary is like okay, what's next for you, and Ash went to Sinnoh. And his final lines in the anime is LITERALLY Gary asking if Ash is a Pokemon Master yet and inspiring Ash to go to yet ANOTHER ADVENTURE.
Gary never lets Ash settle like ever and I love that for him as a rival.
I always think that Gary does the same for himself though. Never settling never sitting still always moving forward to see how far he can go.
I feel like that's the reason why Ash always regards Gary in a positive light despite his bullshit.
Because isn't it inspiring to see someone strive to grow?
Gary is kinda like what Bakugo was to Midoriya. But rather than be the Symbol of Victory, Gary feels to me more like the Symbol of Growth.
He's like an oak tree thats wayyyyyyy too hungry for sunlight. Like that oak tree REFUSES to stay small. And I love that for him.
Also hint hint nudge nudge “Shigeru” means “to grow.”
For me Gary would be the type to see how much farther he can go. And as a rival, he wants it to be the same for his rivals. His mockery is how he shows how much he believes in them because he's too emotionally constipated to share his feelings. He's like I want to see how much further we can go, so keep up, because I know you can.
Ash eventually knows that that is the intention.
And Ash eventually always thinks about it when he starts doubting himself or starts settling like “Gary wouldn't stop here.”
And when Ash wants to settle?
Gary will loudly and mockingly remind him, “you can go farther than this.”
But he'll say it like an ass and be like, “that's it?”
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