>>48034488>he made ash open up every pokeball for them to be empty. How are those pokeballs even still there? Weren’t they supposed to go to the trainers?Replacement pokéballs. Not the ones the trainers received. Oak tried to teach Ash a lesson here to not be late by making him disappointed with each ball. Oak was not happy with Ash that day.
If Oak expected 4 trainers to arrive and actually had 4 pokémon, he planned to give Pikachu from the start to Gary.
With his grandson being the last planned to arrive on the scene, then Gary was supposed to be the special case. Gary was the most promising trainer and Pikachu the one with the worst attitude, Oak didnt want to recommend Pikachu to just any novice.
But it was Gary who decided to get the Squirtle instead when he saw there was an extra option. Squirtle was already his preference as he directly teases Ash saying he got "the best pokémon from professor Oak" with a smirk in his face, knowing Ash would get the disadvantage.
Gary had already heard about someone named Ash arriving late that morning, so Oak probably explained the situation to him while explaining why he could choose between two pokémon. If Ash didnt show up that day Oak had no need to give away the problematic Pikachu to anyone.
We also know Gary uses the pokédex and his grandad's knowledge to plan his teams in advance. For someone who is always planning it's likely that Gary knew Viridian and Pewter were the closest gyms and Squirtle would be an advantage there.
