How do you think Gary Oak was treated as Ash's rival?

[Luxio2k8]

Before Paul, Ash’s biggest rival was Gary.

It always bother me that Gary wasn’t treated that well as a rival. I mean, when you play the original Red/Blue games it felt like your rival (who later would be based on Gary) showed up every other town you visited. Yet, it wasn’t like that with the anime.

The original Kanto Saga has a total of 6 episodes with Gary before the Indigo League (and most were just cameo appearances).

In Johto, Gary was around so rarely you wondered if he was even in Johto half the time.

Do think that Gary’s poor treatment as a rival is a result of poor handling or something else?

 

[Reggaehype]

I thought he was handled pretty good but I haven't seen the Kanto episodes in forever and when I did I was young.

 

[Ho-oh]

The options here kind of suck.

Gary was a good rival.

 

[Evil Raichu]

All of your poll options are negative towards Gary, so I'm not voting.

I liked Gary better than any rival Ash has had since. It was almost like sibling rivalry, their constant bickering and trying to out-do each other was great. I think Gary was written well and handled great.

 

[Cybersai]

He was handled well for Kanto and Orange, but he really should have gotten more appearances in Johto.

He only gets 3 episodes prior to the league, which was a shame.

 

[V Faction]

Gary, the rival, bites. Not just for being a bastard, but for being a crummy rival, too.

Gary, the researcher, is my kind of guy.

 

[Vance]

This poll is messed up, its too negative. I actually think that Gary was an awesome rival,and that last battle they had was awesome.

 

[ii kanji]

I loved Shigeru himself. Hated his treatment. The poor guy was hardly ever around. I'm not sure why I even remembered that he was Satoshi's rival. So for me it was a good set up with crappy execution.

 

[Piplup]

Gary wasn't handled good, NEVER, not even in the holy Kanto
As a character he could be a good rival but they didn't know what to do with him... Paul is the right way to do a rival

 

[Snake Bandage]

Poll options fail.

Anyway, I don't think Gary made for a good rival in Kanto, but I think that in Johto they handled him far better. I mean, he appeared a little more, for one thing, and actually showed that he has good Pokemon skills.

 

[Piplup]

Yeah, Johto actually made Gary better... but he still wasn't treated as good as he should have been...in Kanto it was a joke, for the whole Kanto saga they didn't battle at all! not even in the league! he barely appeared and most of his rare appearances were very short and more of "funny" scenes rather than plot related...

 

[PDL]

I do agree that Gary was treated like crap during his run as a rival.

It seems that the Ash/Gary rivialry was treated more like an afterthought tacked onto the show. Mostly because the main conflicts the writers were trying to push back then was the one between Ash and friends verses Team Rocket. Infact, quite a number of game plots were pushed aside for ones cooked up by the anime.

 

[Insanish Danish]

I thought Gary was handled well. I don't get why everyone thinks he was handled so badly. Maybe I'm just biased because I adored Gary's arrogant personality before he dropped off the face of the earth, but I'm sick of hearing that Gary sucks and Paul is Ash's only good rival. It's getting annoying.

 

[CLASSIFIED]

I agree with most of the people here, this is too negative. But I think he was treated fairly well, and was a great rival.

 

[Piplup]

I thought Gary was handled well. I don't get why everyone thinks he was handled so badly. Maybe I'm just biased because I adored Gary's arrogant personality before he dropped off the face of the earth, but I'm sick of hearing that Gary sucks and Paul is Ash's only good rival. It's getting annoying.

Admitting the writers didn't handle him as good as they should have doesn't mean you don't like the character
I like Gary, yet I see the obvious fact that Paul is handled much better in comparasion to Gary... it's obvious the writers learned a lot since Gary

 

[J J M]

Poll options fail.

Anyway, I don't think Gary made for a good rival in Kanto, but I think that in Johto they handled him far better. I mean, he appeared a little more, for one thing, and actually showed that he has good Pokemon skills.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Gary only appear for one Johto ep? The one with his Umbreon? I can't remember anytime else.

Anyway, Gary wasn't a bad rival per se. He was the only one who knew how to push Ash's buttons and egg him on, at least in Kanto. Ash's character at the time also made it a bit obvious. The only real problem with Gary was not enough appearances, which is being made up for with Paul. Other than that, he was a great character and rival.

 

[Ampharos King]

As the series' rival, Gary was very rarely seen throughout the majority of the original series. In the earlier episodes, he would sometimes appear as a rival to mock Ash or be mentioned by his grandfather on his progress to piss Ash off. He was then seen for two episodes- the Eighth Gym Badge and the Poke Corral episode- before the Indigo League. Gary was only seen about two or three times, as he was eliminated in the preliminary rounds off-screen.
Gary remained unseen until his battle with Ash after the Orange Island filler, before heading off to Johto. Gary has not appeared in Johto as much as he did in Kanto, but the episodes that he did appear in showed his growing respect for Ash. Gary was primarily shown in the Johto League, where he and Ash had their memorable battle.
After the league ends, Gary becomes a "researcher" and is officially not a rival anymore. He remained unseen or unmentioned until when Oak tells Ash that his grandson is in Sinnoh. Ash then sees Gary when TR attacks his Electivire. Ash and Gary have a battle before he loses. He was seen twice in Diamond and Pearl- the J and Gligar episodes.

Basically, Gary was a "rival" character whose screentime was blocked out by all of those unncessary fillers in Kanto and Johto. However, the episodes that he did appear in had him treated very well, to the point of those episodes becoming among the best in the series.

 

[Cybersai]

I wish Gary could appear in Sinnoh again.

He's gotten what...2 episodes out of 140?

 

[Piplup]

Gary isn't important anymore, there's absolutely no reason for him to randomly show up every second
Stop repeating that Scott, if anyone would even suggest Misty to randomly appear you'll get crazy, so why Gary should? we don't even know if he's still in Sinnoh

 

[Cybersai]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Gary only appear for one Johto ep? The one with his Umbreon? I can't remember anytime else.

Gary got 3 episodes prior to the league. He appears briefly in the early Hoot Hoot episode, in the one with Umbreon, and in the Pokemon race with Arcanine against Bayleef.

How can you forgot the last one? Ash won Phanpy's egg in that episode, and Gary had a race with Ash.

Gary isn't important anymore, there's absolutely no reason for him to randomly show up every second

The writers brought Gary back into the show after a long absence, revamped his design and made him travel in Sinnoh. I would have thought we'd see him more than in just 2 episodes.