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Less, the same, or more rivals?

K

KGB13

Man of Mystery
We got a pretty good amount of rivals in DP, 7 to be exact, some were good (Paul) and some were bad (Kenny).

So do you think BW should have less, the same, or more rivals?

I personally would like to see less, I think 4 would be appropriate.

Since we have 2 rivals in the upcoming games, I've been thinking that maybe Ash will have 2 this time around, preferably a girl and a boy like in the games. If Dento or Iris take part in Musicals/Contest, I would like to see 2 more rivals along the lines of Zoey and Ursala because they were great. I feel like 4 would cut out the fat and make the rivalry's a lot more personal and intense.

Discuss.
 
Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness

Eternal Evil
KGB13 said:
We got a pretty good amount of rivals in DP, 7 to be exact, some were good (Paul) and some were bad (Kenny).

So do you think BW should have less, the same, or more rivals?

I personally would like to see less, I think 4 would be appropriate.

Since we have 2 rivals in the upcoming games, I've been thinking that maybe Ash will have 2 this time around, preferably a girl and a boy like in the games. If Dento or Iris take part in Musicals/Contest, I would like to see 2 more rivals along the lines of Zoey and Ursala because they were great. I feel like 4 would cut out the fat and make the rivalry's a lot more personal and intense.

Discuss.
Click to expand...

Really 7?

Paul
Barry
Conway
Nando
Zoey
Kenny
Ursula

Wait never mind...
 
S

Silver_Seoul

Well-Known Member
Hoenn for Ash was terrible. He had no rivals until the end.

Sinnoh for Ash was okay. His rivals really drove the region, and it's biting us in the butt here at the rival-driven, rushed league.

I was thinking we meet in the middle and have two rivals for Ash (Barry/Paul,) and one recurring friend (Like Conway,) so that way, there's only three rivals at the League, and they can have the League-only. Making a total of four.

As for May, her two rivals were extremely well-handled but they were the reason Ash had no rivals, so they were both good and bad.

Dawn's rivals... err. Which ones do people count as rivals? Zoey and Ursula seemed to be the only real ones. But those two were pretty much the only ones handled well. If Iris just gets one I'd be fine with that, so long as they're handled well.

I'm hoping for about five, maybe six in total.
 
D

deathseer

Oh, u mad bro?
DP had the right idea, but just too much clutter. Both Ash and Dawn had two great rivals and two others that were better left forgotten.

For Ash is was Paul and Jun. Paul obviously being the greater of the two with Jun shortly behind. Both of them had great interactions with Ash and had some good battles with him. These two were pretty much all he needed. Conway seemed out of place and Nando just seemed out of nowhere.


Dawn had Zoey and Ursula. Ursula was similar to Paul in that she really pushed on Dawn while actively stating her desire to defeat her. She wasn't the slightest bit nice to her and it seemed she just only wanted to see Dawn lose by her hand. Zoey on the other hand was similar to Jun. She was Dawn's friend, but at the same time she knew that she had to try her hardest to defeat Dawn when the time came with her obviously being the better between her and Ursula. Both made for excellent rivals for her. Kenny was truly annoying and stalkerish, while again Nando, just seemed to come out of nowhere.


So whatever plans they have for Best Wishes, its better if they stick to 2 main rivals for Ash. One like Paul, who always pushed Ash to do better and wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the Pokemon world. And one like Jun, who despite being Ash's friend, wants to defeat him when the time comes.


Not too sure about Iris though. If anything, her rival seems to be a simple hairbrush. Because she clearly doesn't want to use one.
 
B

BlueDragonfangirl

Well-Known Member
I say, just give three rivals this time for sure. I have no idea why they gave Dawn so many rivals in D/P. As it was, Kenny should have just been a character rival of the day, he didn't have much going for him. Ash, it'd be nice to see him with two rivals from the begining maybe. That way, both rivals can do damage in the series. Iris or this new guy can have one, cuz we really don't want another thing like D/P again.
 
B

BlueMage

Well-Known Member
None of Dawn's Contest rivals ever grew on me. Zoey lacked the enmity that made May and Drew funny and interesting to watch, and as a character she felt extremely flat. Ursula was just a poor man's Harley, nothing more. And Kenny? He was just pure filler, not even getting past the first round of the Grand Festival. It didn't help that he had a grating voice in both English and Japanese, and his team was really bland.

Fortunately, Ash got a handful of good rivals instead. Barry is my overall favorite, but I was a little disappointed that he didn't get to fight Ash in the Suzuran Conference, and was even more disappointed by how one-sided his battle with Paul was. I also really liked Conway and thought he was a very interesting and original character, but he never interacted much with Ash so their battle didn't feel quite as satisfying as it could've been. It was great to see that he made it to the League, though.

Overall though, DP had just the right amount of rivals for both Ash and Dawn, so I'd be cool with that in Best Wishes.
 
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K

KGB13

Man of Mystery
Silver_Seoul said:
Dawn's rivals... err. Which ones do people count as rivals? Zoey and Ursula seemed to be the only real ones. But those two were pretty much the only ones handled well.
Click to expand...

Zoey was handled well, Ursala was robbed...

deathseer said:
So whatever plans they have for Best Wishes, its better if they stick to 2 main rivals for Ash. One like Paul, who always pushed Ash to do better and wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the Pokemon world. And one like Jun, who despite being Ash's friend, wants to defeat him when the time comes.
Click to expand...

I agree and would like to see the same thing.

Not too sure about Iris though. If anything, her rival seems to be a simple hairbrush. Because she clearly doesn't want to use one.
Click to expand...

Ha! :cool:
 
S

Silver_Seoul

Well-Known Member
KGB13 said:
Zoey was handled well, Ursala was robbed...
Click to expand...

Had Ursula been introduced during the Wallace Cup it would have been fine. She was a very good Coordinator, she was just introduced much too late.
 
B

BlueMage

Well-Known Member
Yeah, Ursula could've been a more passable Harley substitute if she had actually gotten her fair share of limelight, but she was introduced far too late to really amount to anything.
 
D

deathseer

Oh, u mad bro?
Still not sold on Harley. I still see Ursula as the better Coordinator and character when compared to him.

Ursula should have introduced as early as Kenny was. It would have been nice to see her throughout the entire region instead of him.
 
A

A_Merry_Snowrunt

Snorunt!
I lost track over the amount of rivals, however I really liked their development during the series as it progressed. It went from Nando > Zoey >Paul > Kenny > Conway > Barry and then Ursala. Ursala debuted late in the series, but had a terrific development as she debuted whereas Nando was seen less in several episodes, even when it came to his graceful Pokemon debuts. Kenny and Zoey were a bit on par. Conway to me just didn't seem very much of a great character to me whereas Paul was actually somewhat more fitting to be a tough and brash rival to make Ash get stronger. Barry is an amusing character that I like.
 
S

shac

Well-Known Member
One has to wonder how Ash is battling only people he has previously known in the league. I mean what are the chances? Johto league was better in that sense. I guess that is what happens when you have too many rivals. In my opinion Nando was the best rival idea in this gen. A common one....they could have evolved him more rather than spending more time with Kenny or Nando. But I must say I am just fussing here....Sinnoh was good with rival portrayals.
 
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Platinum fan.

Platinum fan.

RetiredPokemonMaster
Honestly it felt like Kenny's only purpose on the show was to prevent Dawn from ever getting a Prinplup. He was alright but I think I would have liked him better if he really was just a Cotd for that one contest. Zoey and Ursula are the only two rival's I would have given Dawn as serious threat's. Ursula's late entrance in the series was to bad because she had the best qualities of a rival among the DP coordinator's and her character would have kept Dawn's arc fresh after the Wallace cup, especially since Ursula was there and hates Dawn for winning. Zoey for the most part was handled well, the major bad things about both Zoey and Ursula is the one sided ness. Dawn never beat Zoey, and Ursula never beat Dawn. Give both a win and it would have been fine.

Paul was handled perfectly, no complaint's. Barry could have been made into a little more of a threat, he felt like a trainer version of Kenny with a better personality that was 99% likable. The other's Conway, Nando, and anyone else, meh didn't care for them rival wise.

If they make more rival's in BW just give them better screen time because that's what ultimately hurt anyone not named Paul and Zoey.
 
H

Hikari Paradise

Forever Alone
I think it should be the same. The number in DP was perfect however this time around they should all get a good amount of screentime. I don't want any more rivals getting the Nando treatment.
 
M

Manene!

Well-Known Member
I want the B/W Female, N, Belle, and Cheran to all appear. I'd prefer seeing them than having a bunch of anime only characters as rivals. None of the anime only rivals had designs I was overly impressed with. They've got great designs, I'd hate to seem the go to waste.
 
HoennMaster

HoennMaster

Well-Known Member
I think two or three is just perfect. I don't really count Nando as a rival for Ash and Conway doesn't count as a rival really. Zoey and Ursula were good, but Kenny was lame lame lame. I cheered following his GF performance.
 
H

Hyuuga Neji

Blargh
I still wonder what Kenny's purpose was. I mean Zoey was the main rival, and mentor that helped Dawn grow as an individual. She was boring but at least got the job done. Ursula was the antagonistic rival that could never quite beat the Dawn. She was Dawn best rival by far.

What the hell was the point Kenny? Honestly he only seemed to exsist to give Dawn a vague shipping. He didn't even have on last battle with Dawn. Instead he opted to battle Ash because he was a jealous, and Ash had nothing to do Dawn/Kenny's supposed rivalry.
 
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