Which one of ash's rivals was the best and why?

[CyberCubed]

Paul becuase he actually pushed Ash's character to its limits. Trip has handled too horribly and was a pointless rival and Gary appeared too little and had disappointing character development by the time he was written off.

 

[Terrell]

Paul becuase he actually pushed Ash's character to its limits. Trip has handled too horribly and was a pointless rival and Gary appeared too little and had disappointing character development by the time he was written off.

Thats true.

 

[karczx]

Obviously Shinji. He's literally his polar opposite. The rest, aside from Shigeru and maybe Bianca, were either boring, tedious or downright stupid.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Gary, he's the only one that could really push Ash's buttons when it came to the little things.

 

[Madame Pika]

Shinji, for so many reasons. I liked how we allowed to take Shinji's side. How Satoshi's reaction to Shinji wasn't out of immaturity. I'd Shinji's personality and how different it was from everything else on the show. So much more too.

 

[Terrell]

I wonder who'll be ash's next rival in 6 gen?.

 

[death trapper]

Paul, and second will be Gary. No one can beat Paul in Jerkassness.
Trip is a very boring rival for ash.

 

[Terrell]

Yeah trip was a paul wanna be but failed.

 

[The REAL Gary oak]

i would say gary. even though he isnt rele "on tv" alot, hes still one of ashes most memorable rivals and friends. we dont hear anything about paul anymore, n ud think after this long thered be at least a mention of him. and trip is trip, meaning hes nothing compared to gary.

 

[Terrell]

Gary is a classic rival of ash's. they showed him awhile back on the team galatic eps.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Gary I think because he is Cool and the Main Rival for Ash I think and will Return for Future Appearances I think.

 

[Terrell]

They should bring back gary.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

The Should Bring Back Gary Mother*ucking Oak because he was a Good Rival.

 

[Caseydia]

Can I just say I like all three and why instead?

Let's start the first:

Gary- Handsome, full of potential in the beginning, loads of promise. He may not have interacted with Ash as much as I would have liked seeing since he was apart of the rby games. Not only that but I would have liked to have saw him as the Virdinian gym leader instead of Agatha. Maybe have him and Ash have a battle when they could had. So much promise yet I felt the writers could have done better back then. But all in all he was still cool.

Then there's him in Johto. I have to admit I liked him in Johto. He was maturing as well as Ash was so that made it interesting. But we saw him less than back in the OS days. It's really funny actually. I wanted more interaction between them. I wanted him to acknowledge Ash a bit more than before.

The reasons I like him:

He's cool. Despite from hardly seeing his battles, I enjoyed his character. I liked that he became a bit more humble after the Indigo league and that he took his training more seriously.

Reasons of what I don't understand:

Why have him be a researcher of all things? This is when they could have made him a temporarily gym leader for the eighth gym until they got another one. But instead they had him follow Samuel's and Tracey's trend. Really sad actually.

Next is Paul- Hot, powerful and makes you want to follow him with your eyes. I liked that he had a pokemon who's story effected the main cast in a way. I also liked his way of thinking as far as releasing. I release pokemon in the game I don't need all the time and find better ones. He was really your average game trainer.

Reasons I like him:

I like his voice actor and his personality. I think he grew to respect Ash pretty well and that did pay off. I also like his design. Completely different than most characters on this show had. It was nice to have a not so friendly character on the show for once. It made me feel like there was a real game rival that was in the anime for a change.

Reasons I don't understand:

I get his demeanor but he didn't have to be so cruel to Chimchar the way he did. I thought that wasn't necessary. They could have just had him release him without all of the pain he had to endure. Secondly, it would have been nice to see him at least get along with someone that was on the show. The way it looked as if he had no friends or couldn't communicate with anyone. Not even his own brother. Atleast with Gary he got along with his own grandfather.

Third is Trip- Despite what some may say I liked him more than most of the characters on BW. He is hot too and I liked his pokemon. Not only that but we got to see someone actually from start to finish start out their journey with a pokemon. Ignoring the Ash factor, he was nice to Professor Juniper and he was cool to his pokemon. I also adored his voice. It went perfectly with his design. Other than Snivy I thought he was going to choose a floatation/ghost type team with Litwick and Frillish. If only they would have dropped the bird, it would have been more better.

Reasons I like him: Although he didn't appear as much as I would have liked, he got stronger each time pretty quick. I liked that he lost to other character besides for the main and I liked that he ignored Ash a lot since he was pretty annoying in this saga. However, other than the Don thingys, I enjoyed his battles, mostly against Ash. Him admiring Alder was kind of cute. I liked that he wanted to prove to him.

Things I don't understand: With all of the rival interactions, it was nice to see that someone wasn't all that keen with it but it would have been nice if him and atleast Georgia got along or something like that. For some reason the writers just make it seem like Ash's main rivals aren't capable with getting along with other trainers yet the minor ones, do almost nothing but that but end up being shafted in other places. Another thing is his pokemon. With all of the pokemon he had why didn't they get more focus then they got? I mean the ice cream cone, the ghost candle, the bird, did they all just disappear? And lastly his time, I get about the Junior Cup being a one pokemon thing but it would have been nice to see more of his team. I also wish I would have seen a six on six battle with him and Ash. How come Gary and Paul had one with Ash yet Trip couldn't fairly get one? I don't think that was right at all.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Paul is, hands down, Ash's best rival. I did not enjoy the DP Series that much, but I can't deny that Paul and his characterization were very well done in the DP Series by the writers. Paul already traveled through Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn prior to starting his Sinnoh journey, providing an excellent foil to Ash in that their approaches to battling, training, and the way they treated their Pokemon was starkly different. It was a rivalry that transcended mere childhood attachments and was more of a battle of ideals, and what was truly right and wrong. It was very well done and is easily the best rivalry I've seen in the Pokemon Anime.

Gary is my second favorite rival of Ash's. He was a jerk at first, but I really began to warm up to him when Ash faced Team Rocket for the Earth Badge, and I think his rivalry with Ash developed nicely in Johto. It was great to see their rivalry come to an end.

As for the rest, I did like Tyson and how he and Ash hit it off pretty well. The others are best described as "meh" in my book, though Harrison and Trip were okay.

 

[Terrell]

Paul had that badass look and he never back down from battles.

 

[Dr. Buni]

Shinji was easily the best rival Satoshi ever had. While Shigeru wasn't as bad as his game counterpart, I really fail to see how exactly he was Satoshi's best rival. I enjoyed Kenyan and Bel a lot, too! A shame both of them were underdeveloped and the writers decided to make Kotetsu, of all characters, the "main rival" in the Unova league.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

I Like Gary because he is Awesome and he is Gary mOTHER*ucking Oak.

 

[Terrell]

I didn't like the new voice actor who does gary's voice. i still like paul.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

I didn't like the new voice actor who does gary's voice

Gary's "new" voice actor has always been the same since the beginning. :/

As for the topic at hand, the easy answer would be Paul, for his opposite training methods from Ash, among other things. But I don't think anymore needs to be said about him at this point.