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

When it comes to being which trainer is Ash's best rival, i would say either Gary or Paul. Even though I think Paul is a slightly better overall rival for Ash than Gary, My favorite of those two would be Gary. Gary was the first rival Ash had and obviously they go way back to long before their days in Pokemon Training and while compared to Paul, screentime is miniscule, he was well developed in personality and even in strength. He went from a cocky and overconfident weakling belittling Ash to being more humble and modest while still being stronger every time he and Ash met, and if it weren't for the fact that Gary only competed in 2 leagues as opposed to Paul 3 at the time now 4, id say Gary would be a bit stronger than him but that isnt the case is it? Every when Gary went all friendly and humble, he still is good enough to take on Ash in his prime, even defeating Ash in a one on one battle with Electivire vs Pikachu right after Pikachu whooped Regice's bee-hind. With Paul you have an awesome backstory and a powerful motive driving him to pursue strength and power like madness, and with the most well executed development he received pertaining to the rivalry, I would consider Ash rivalry with Paul much better than his rivalry with Gary in that regard. There was even more tension to it and it all culmunated to its peak during and after the full battle they had at Lake Acuity, all coming to a head and climaxing at the Sinnoh League in their full battle rematch. While it is hard for me to say which rivalry between Paul, Gary, and Trip or moreso Paul and Gary since Trip and his rivalry with Ash was a total flop from the start all the way to the don battle and flopped even more from there but I digress. While it is hard for me to say who out of Paul and Gary had the best rivalry with Ash, I would only choose Paul by a hair, but the rivalry with Gary is my all time favorite.

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Originally Posted by Five-Gate Omega

When it comes to being which trainer is Ash's best rival, i would say either Gary or Paul. Even though I think Paul is a slightly better overall rival for Ash than Gary, My favorite of those two would be Gary. Gary was the first rival Ash had and obviously they go way back to long before their days in Pokemon Training and while compared to Paul, screentime is miniscule, he was well developed in personality and even in strength. He went from a cocky and overconfident weakling belittling Ash to being more humble and modest while still being stronger every time he and Ash met, and if it weren't for the fact that Gary only competed in 2 leagues as opposed to Paul 3 at the time now 4, id say Gary would be a bit stronger than him but that isnt the case is it? Every when Gary went all friendly and humble, he still is good enough to take on Ash in his prime, even defeating Ash in a one on one battle with Electivire vs Pikachu right after Pikachu whooped Regice's bee-hind. With Paul you have an awesome backstory and a powerful motive driving him to pursue strength and power like madness, and with the most well executed development he received pertaining to the rivalry, I would consider Ash rivalry with Paul much better than his rivalry with Gary in that regard. There was even more tension to it and it all culmunated to its peak during and after the full battle they had at Lake Acuity, all coming to a head and climaxing at the Sinnoh League in their full battle rematch. While it is hard for me to say which rivalry between Paul, Gary, and Trip or moreso Paul and Gary since Trip and his rivalry with Ash was a total flop from the start all the way to the don battle and flopped even more from there but I digress. While it is hard for me to say who out of Paul and Gary had the best rivalry with Ash, I would only choose Paul by a hair, but the rivalry with Gary is my all time favorite.

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Yeah man i agree. :cool:

Paul and its not even close. He was the complete rival, he was like a "false bad guy" (think False 9 in soccer), the man was badass but he wasn't no bad guy, he was just badass and unless I see the second coming of Gary Oak or XY-rival topping what Paul did, then Paul is still the best...

Paul because he pushed Ash to be better than Gary or Trip ever did.

paul was a beast at battling. :cool:

I say it's a tie between Gary and Paul for me.

Gary was the first, and there was this sense of intimacy between him and Ash. He didn't appear as often, but he left an impression that never quite went away throughout the Kanto and Johto leagues. Not to mention he had a great arc. He started off as a jerk-ass, then gradually became a better person, until the two were friendly rivals. The thing is, though, that the change felt surprisingly natural, and it was clear that both Ash and Gary motivated each other to succeed. By the time they finally fought in the Johto League, it just felt natural and epic. He's the guy who comes to mind first when I think of Pokemon rivals.

Paul was just Ash's total opposite. He was a bad-ass, a jerk-ass, and all around kick-ass. He always left an impression, and--yeah, he and Ash had great chemistry. Not to mention that his fights were all awesome. He was clever. His final fight with Ash is one of the best fights in the series. All around, he's great.

Moving this thread. Tt's a better fit for the Grand Festival, as you're essentially choosing your favorite rival.

Paul needs to comeback lol.

It has to be Paul really. He is the only one of Ash's rivals who has displayed any kind of depth. Trip doesn't count because he is basically a re-hash of Paul.

lol i know right?

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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Thats true.

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

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

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.