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Best Rival?

fireredxy

Pokémon Master
So far there have been 13 rivals and i want to see which ones you like best. You can choose from Blue, Silver, Brendan/May, Wally, Lucas/Dawn, Barry, Cheren, Bianca, Hugh, Calem/Serena, Trever, Tierno, and Shauna.
 

KingMinun

Dawn/Sinnoh Fan!
So far there have been 13 rivals and i want to see which ones you like best. You can choose from Blue, Silver, Brendan/May, Wally, Lucas/Dawn, Barry, Cheren, Bianca, Hugh, Calem/Serena, Trever, Tierno, and Shauna.

Haven't played Sun or Moon (UK here), so for me, its got to be Silver, because he went through character development and ended up bonding with his pokemon.

However, I wouldn't class Lucas/Dawn as rivals as you can't battle them, they teach you how to catch pokemon and also battle alongside you, rather than battle you.
 
Haven't played Sun or Moon (UK here), so for me, its got to be Silver, because he went through character development and ended up bonding with his pokemon.

However, I wouldn't class Lucas/Dawn as rivals as you can't battle them, they teach you how to catch pokemon and also battle alongside you, rather than battle you.

I'm uk too, but it's practically guaranteed that Gladion has some kind of backstory, due to him appearing to be connected to Lillie and Lusamine, who are supposed to be good.
 

Hunter Zolomon

Into the Shadows
Staff member
Moderator
I have to go with Silver and Blue. Silver reminds me so much of Paul. He's so conflicted, and all he cares about is being the strongest. Blue is the OG. He's the very first rival that tested my Pokemon skills.
 

Aduro

Mt.BtlMaster
Blue, he was a total jerk and I wanted to see him lose more than the others. Plus I miss being able to give the rivals horrible nicknames, it gave Blue and Silver a good reason to be defensive and rude all the time. Honestly besides Barry and Hugh they've all been forgettable since Silver anyway. And neither seemed very formidable as people.
 

Kalosian

So long
Bianca for me. An adorable girl who just wants to figure out who she wants to be in life, with a little help from her friends. She battles you at several points during the main story and can be rebattled infinitely during the post-game, which are good qualities for a rival.

I am also a big fan of Cheren, Hugh and Barry. They also had great personalities, great stories, they battled you many times during the story and could be rebattled infinitely as well. I just like Bianca better than them.

May/Brendan and Wally were also really good, just not quite the best. The X/Y group of friends were acceptable, it was an interesting concept but the execution could have been better. I haven't played S/M yet so no opinion on their rivals until I have met them in their games.

Blue and Silver are my least favorites. They are jerks with zero or very little character development, which I see a big failure when it comes to important characters. I didn't find their personalities or backstories (or the lack thereof) very interesting either.
 

KingMinun

Dawn/Sinnoh Fan!
Bianca for me. An adorable girl who just wants to figure out who she wants to be in life, with a little help from her friends. She battles you at several points during the main story and can be rebattled infinitely during the post-game, which are good qualities for a rival.

I am also a big fan of Cheren, Hugh and Barry. They also had great personalities, great stories, they battled you many times during the story and could be rebattled infinitely as well. I just like Bianca better than them.

May/Brendan and Wally were also really good, just not quite the best. The X/Y group of friends were acceptable, it was an interesting concept but the execution could have been better. I haven't played S/M yet so no opinion on their rivals until I have met them in their games.

Blue and Silver are my least favorites. They are jerks with zero or very little character development, which I see a big failure when it comes to important characters. I didn't find their personalities or backstories (or the lack thereof) very interesting either.


Silver was a jerk, who stole his starter, and literally used it and his other pokemon as tools, through is constant loses to you, he came to realise that his way as a trainer was not working for him to be the best, and began to see his pokemon as creatures with thoughts and feelings themselves, this is shown through the evolution of his Golbat, which was Golbat for a long time, until it finally evolved through happiness and friendship. Plus he's the son of Giovanni.......

He's got tons of development.
 

Kalosian

So long
Silver was a jerk, who stole his starter, and literally used it and his other pokemon as tools, through is constant loses to you, he came to realise that his way as a trainer was not working for him to be the best, and began to see his pokemon as creatures with thoughts and feelings themselves, this is shown through the evolution of his Golbat, which was Golbat for a long time, until it finally evolved through happiness and friendship. Plus he's the son of Giovanni.......

He's got tons of development.
Even so, it is still far too little and can't be compared to that of Bianca, Cheren, Hugh, Barry and Wally, not to mention it happens way too late in the game compared to the others. I just don't find him or his small bit of character development very interesting.
 
Even so, it is still far too little and can't be compared to that of Bianca, Cheren, Hugh, Barry and Wally, not to mention it happens way too late in the game compared to the others. I just don't find him or his small bit of character development very interesting.

Same, he's a kinda cool character but other than that he's not really someone I'd like.
 

Litleonid

Well-Known Member
I think I really like Hau as a rival. I mean, his characterization was nice and I like how he was always trying so hard, considering he felt like he was living in the shadow of his grandafther, who is a Kahuna. You can tell that its frustrating to him and losing to you doesn't help. He still keeps a very optimistic look though and tries his best to improve.
 
I've yet to play SM, so I can't exactly include Hau or Gladion for another week (I'll be sure to edit when I can).

At the moment, it would be between Blue (a rival you really want to beat just because he's a jerk), Silver (interesting backstory and another jerk who you want to beat because of the clash in ideals; probably has one of the best arcs in the main series games) and N (best backstory of the bunch, another possible choice of best arc in the main series entries!).
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Silver, particularly in the Jouto remakes since his backstory was vastly expanded on in those, and he gained much more development and actual closure.
 
As of actually playing Moon, I can say Gladion did not disappoint, and is now my joint favourite rival along with N! Gladion got some great development in this game. When we first meet him, all he does is give us intense edge lord vibes, which of course instantly turned me on. Then when I next saw him it was in the Motel (btw I ignored him and explored every inch of the Motel). Then suddenly he got awesome when he leads our infiltration and rescue mission. And when we discover his backstory with Type:Null (first discoverable if you talk to him while he is standing outside Lab A) it makes him so much cuter! After that, the victory road battle. Pretty cool, but I knew he would become my joint favourite rival when he smiled. That damn smile melted me. After seeing him only smile briefly once in the whole plot, seeing proper full smiles made me happy AF. Then rounded off with him leading the new, better Aether? Yes.
 
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baguette

Member
Blue, he was a total jerk and I wanted to see him lose more than the others. Plus I miss being able to give the rivals horrible nicknames, it gave Blue and Silver a good reason to be defensive and rude all the time. Honestly besides Barry and Hugh they've all been forgettable since Silver anyway. And neither seemed very formidable as people.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS when you could nickname everything anything you wanted

Blue is forever my fave, there's just....something about him
Complete a-hole but thinks he's the coolest and had a kickass theme. A+

And then in SuMo they went too meta on the fandom with him I'm crying
 
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XY&Z Legend

Just chillin
One of my favorite rivals has to be Silver because of his attitude, pokemon team, and character development. He's another love to hate type of character like Blue, but at the same time, I felt sorry for him given that he was Giovanni's son and how he was associated with Team Rocket.

Hugh is a close second with his brooding, but sympathetic, personality, battle theme, and his utmost regard for his sister.
 
I'd choose Wally because I love his personality. He's both timid yet brave at the same time when he needs to be, as well as compassionate.
 
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