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Favourite Rival of Ash

Gligar

Bruhfication Sayan
1,375
Posts
10
Years
Gary.Nothing better than an the first rival.He's cooler than the other rivals
 
6,281
Posts
14
Years
  • Age 31
  • Seen today
Gotta go with Gary on this one. He was an awesome character, and a perfect rival for Ash in the series. I loved the relationship between those two. They were rivals, but deep down they were friends. Gary was also just an awesome trainer in general, and had all my favorite Pokemon on his team lol.
 
75
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Dec 25, 2023
Gary for being the counterpart to the classic rival persona in RBY. Paul for character depth & his soul-crushing wins against Ash. Every other rival was just soft.
 

pokefangames

Sinor Trainer
18
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Jun 29, 2013
My fa is gary, but team rocket in seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14 are pretty cool too
 

Shadowraze

ur mum
794
Posts
10
Years
The best of all rivals would be Paul for me.

His coolness and toughness is great and the strength of his Pokemon are just awesome. Although I hate the fact how he treats Pokemon. But still his cool and one of Ash's strongest rivals.
 

BrandoSheriff

Has a tendency to figure things out
776
Posts
16
Years
It would be a tie between Paul and Gary Muthaflippin' Oak. Paul had a deep backstory as to why he trains the way he does, along with being one of Ash's strongest rivals. Plus his final battle with Ash was just plain awesome.
Do I have to explain Gary? He's Gary Muthaflippin' Oak! The original awesome rival. xD
 
2,724
Posts
13
Years
Yes PAUL was definitely one of the strongest Rivals of Ash. That makes him quite a character. But if we see strong rivals in terms of Pokes than Trip of Unova had similar intentions. But too bad they had not showed his many pokes and focused only one his Serperior most of he time
 

soulavenger

A Keen Observer
48
Posts
14
Years
Gary Oak is the only rival to Ash in my opinion.
He had a kind of swagger about him . . :P
I admit I never saw Paul's interactions with Ash but Gary Oak seems like the only person to ever rival Ash in terms of skills and popularity.
 
62
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Feb 10, 2014
Paul for me. He always seemed to be very calm and collected, and wasn't as... Childish? He also has this sarcastic nature and his Pokemon are just..well.. Awesome!
 

Kikaito plush

Angeline plushxKikaito plush
5,557
Posts
14
Years
Paul for sure as he was the only one who was not a pain.
Gary was just annoying and full of himself and I have not seen much of Trip.
Paul on the other hand was intresting rival to me honest.
 

T3h Reaper

It must end.
5
Posts
10
Years
Gary for me, it seems Pokemon is like Call of Duty, they are pumping a new games out so fast, so I guess I like original games better therefor I like the original Pokemon more. In fact, I remember watching the whole original Pokemon seasons not sleeping until I was done, that might be another reason as to why I think Gary.
 
32
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Jan 18, 2023
I'm going to go with Gary on this one. I loved the backstory and how each had a half of a Poke ball, the battles were always great between the two. Although, we don't see too much of Gary anymore; In some episodes he makes a short appearance and it's always great to see the two reunite. In second place would have to be Paul. He was much different than Ash, and one of his toughest rivals and the Sinnoh League ended greatly because of that rivalry.
 
8,571
Posts
14
Years
I believe that Paul was the strongest rival that Ash faced, and while he may have treated some of his Pokemon quite poorly, I don't personally have a big enough sample size to think he was a better rival than Gary.

Right from the very beginning, Gary had that cocky attitude and droves of fans even before he started training. Ash always seemed to be in Gary's shadow, and his goal was just as much to be the best in general as it was to be better than Gary. I think that motivation actually made Ash a better trainer, and to know that they eventually came to good terms with each other really solidifies this as my favorite rivalry of Ash's.
 
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