Yamato-san said:
I don't know.... Hadzuki seemed like little more than a Ruby/Sapphire advertisement to me. Simply there to be extra motivation for Satoshi to go to the Houen region, and show off the wonders of the new Bashamo by making it beat Lizardon and ultimately cost Satoshi the league.
That aspect of advertising may be true, but if you count only that then yes, Harrison is going to be a walking billboard. The same could be said for May and most of her recent captures. However, we don't just look at the shiny new Pokemon, correct? We see other qualities, and what I saw from Harrison was a noble figure. Sure, he seems rather cut-and-dry, almost placed there to fulfill one necessity (as you specify), but many other characters started that way as well: Gary, Richie, Masamune, Drew. So I don't believe acting as a source of emotional development for Ash should not be considered much of a hinderance either
The big reason I don't consider Harrison to be nothing more than an advertisement is that if you took out his Blaziken (and Kecleon) and replaced it with another Pokemon, he would appear to be just your average strong final opponent, just as May would still be a strong coordinator if they took out Munchlax, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. He's got a good variety of Pokemon, all well trained, had an earlier episode that he appeared in, and was even a good inspiration to Ash (then again, who isn't these days).
It's not that I hate Gary, Drew, or Harley (Richie, you're another story), it's just that they have some parts I don't like, parts that are aggravating, clichéd parts. The idea that we know less about Harrison is maybe why I like him, as all he comes off as is then a Superman (rather than a boy scout like Richie).
Speaking of other rivals, Masamune was a deep character but felt a little forced at the beginning, especially with the whole competing attitude, and Tetsuya was strong but had little originality when it came to Pokemon!
