Anime rivals development

[Leonhart]

Which is sad because the trappings were there for a great rivalry. You get to have this classist snob vs. this hillbilly. If they had put any more effort into this rivalry, it would have fit with the duality theme of the BW games and been a memorable rivalry.

While that rivalry did have more potential, I'm more disappointed that Bel was hyped up as being one of Satoshi possible Isshu rivals when she first showed up, only for her to do a 180 turn during her second appearance and become a walking meme. It's one of the Isshu saga's worst decisions from my perspective.

 

[Kintaro]

They made Bianca too ditzy in the anime, the writers literally ran with the dumb/clumsy blonde stereotype.

 

[FullmetalJackie]

While that rivalry did have more potential, I'm more disappointed that Bel was hyped up as being one of Satoshi possible Isshu rivals when she first showed up, only for her to do a 180 turn during her second appearance and become a walking meme. It's one of the Isshu saga's worst decisions from my perspective.

I thought she got annoying too but I never thought she would be a rival to begin with since she seemed like more Juniper's assistant even when she first showed up.

 

[Kintaro]

I thought she got annoying too but I never thought she would be a rival to begin with since she seemed like more Juniper's assistant even when she first showed up.

Much like Casey back in Johto, the writers built up female rivals for Ash only for them to fail miserably or become jokes by the end. Apparently the writers think strong female trainers can’t be rivals.

 

[Leonhart]

I thought she got annoying too but I never thought she would be a rival to begin with since she seemed like more Juniper's assistant even when she first showed up.

I know that she started out as Araragi-hakase's assistant, but it felt like she was being built up to be something more, especially right after that Raimon City episode where she encountered her father and she told him that she wanted to continue traveling.

 

[Sonnas]

I don't think I would count Gladion as a rival since I feel like he's barely in the show alot besides the plot important episodes, unless I'm missing something?

 

[BTS_fan]

I don't think I would count Gladion as a rival since I feel like he's barely in the show alot besides the plot important episodes, unless I'm missing something?

Some people consider him a rival because he's battled Ash a few times and is probably the only trainer in Alola who is around Ash's age that can give Ash a challenge.

 

[Sonnas]

Some people consider him a rival because he's battled Ash a few times and is probably the only trainer in Alola who is around Ash's age that can give Ash a challenge.

Ok true enough, though I still feel like he's barely around in the show.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

I don't think I would count Gladion as a rival since I feel like he's barely in the show alot besides the plot important episodes, unless I'm missing something?

Neither are any other rivals. This is how it always is. Sawyer and Alain didn't even show up until 2/3 of the weay through the XYZ saga. GAry was barely around during Kanto or Johto. AG lacked rivals entirely until the League, and BW dropped theirs halfway through.

 

[Leonhart]

Gladio seems like the closest thing that Satoshi has to a proper equal in SM other than maybe Kukui-hakase, but he's too old and friendly to be considered as Satoshi's rival from my perspective. I would've liked to see Gladio appear more often in Alola outside of just a few Lilie episodes here and there, though.

 

[Emelie]

I think the Chimchar arc itself was great because it had emotional depth and a deeper meaning to it. It was one of the few longer arcs the anime has had. But if we're talking about character development and backstory Shinji/Paul isn't that great.

The idea of having a rival who acts like a competitive player is super interesting though especially since they introduced online battles in gen 4 which made having a good team with good EVs/IVs more important than before. It's moreso this concept that is interesting rather than Shinji himself.

 

[Leonhart]

While I liked that the Hikozaru subplot from DP helped give Satoshi another reason to want to defeat Shinji, I didn't like that the emphasis on Hikozaru made him so much more important than Satoshi's other Pokemon during the Shinou saga. I guess it was just one of those things that had to happen in order to elevate Shinji and such, but it still bothered me.

 

[Emelie]

While I liked that the Hikozaru subplot from DP helped give Satoshi another reason to want to defeat Shinji, I didn't like that the emphasis on Hikozaru made him so much more important than Satoshi's other Pokemon during the Shinou saga. I guess it was just one of those things that had to happen in order to elevate Shinji and such, but it still bothered me.

Yeah, Torterra getting the boot seems to be a complaint that a lot of fans have when talking about the DP series. Gible was also very underused.

 

[Moonlight Starlight]

Yeah, Torterra getting the boot seems to be a complaint that a lot of fans have when talking about the DP series. Gible was also very underused.

Gible should been use more being brought in BW traveling with Ash and Pikachu that would help.

 

[FullmetalJackie]

I think Ash and Paul's rivalry would have still been really good even without the Chimchar drama. That was just an added spice to make the whole thing more dramatic, but it still would've been a well written rivalry even if Ash and Paul didn't have that conflict of interest.

 

[Leonhart]

but it still would've been a well written rivalry even if Ash and Paul didn't have that conflict of interest.

I don't know about that. Had Hikozaru's trauma not been involved, I find it hard to believe that Satoshi and Shinji would've interacted as much as they did since they wouldn't have had much in common. Satoshi needed a reason to dislike Shinji, and that was one of Hikozaru's main purposes for existing in DP. Without that catalyst, Satoshi and Shinji's rivalry probably would've ended up becoming stale like Satoshi's rivalry with Shooti.

 

[catzeye]

I don't know about that. Had Hikozaru's trauma not been involved, I find it hard to believe that Satoshi and Shinji would've interacted as much as they did since they wouldn't have had much in common. Satoshi needed a reason to dislike Shinji, and that was one of Hikozaru's main purposes for existing in DP. Without that catalyst, Satoshi and Shinji's rivalry probably would've ended up becoming stale like Satoshi's rivalry with Shooti.

Agreed. While I do think Ash would have disliked Paul (and would have tried to get in his business) anyways just because he wasn't all super-buddy buddy with his Pokemon, I think having Chimchar there added a extra bit of spice to the plot. Ash and Paul would have still likely had conflict but it wouldn't have felt as significant without Chimchar being a focal point between their two differing philosophies.

 

[BTS_fan]

Speaking of Paul, I really liked how he snubbed Barry when they finally met. I wish that it had turned Barry against Paul, but even when they battled at the Sinnoh league it seemed like Barry respected Paul. Had I been him, I would have been salty though.

 

[Leonhart]

Speaking of Paul, I really liked how he snubbed Barry when they finally met. I wish that it had turned Barry against Paul, but even when they battled at the Sinnoh league it seemed like Barry respected Paul. Had I been him, I would have been salty though.

Jun being one of Shinji's biggest fans bothered me in all honesty, because the writers didn't do much with that. The two of them didn't even meet each other until the episode where Satoshi's Moukazaru evolved, which was towards the end of the DP saga. I really would've appreciated seeing Shinji and Jun interact more often throughout the Shinou saga so that Jun's fanboy inclination would've been further justified at the very least.

 

[Sonnas]

So something I wonder about is that is it true that during the Unova League the writers seemed to not do anything else or stopped caring about Trip after his battle?