Should Ash Get a New Rival in D/P?

[dabattousai]

Assuming Ash is in D/P, please don't respond with, "We don't know if Ash will be in D/P yet" answers. Thanks

I miss the tradition of seeing Ash compete with Gary in the Pokemon League and I don't really count those that he met in the Hoenn League. When I say Ash should have a new rival, I mean a rival that shows up in some episodes and maybe this time around fights Ash and we can watch his Pokemon grow in evolution and experience. That way we know Ash has another reason to win in the Hoenn League instead of just getting the badges and going in to compete.

 

[CyberCubed]

The problem here is that Ash is such an experienced trainer now that some newbie rival wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

If Ash is taking down legendaries for goodness sakes, why does he need a rival to push him along? The whole point of rivals are to constantly make the main character improve to get as good as them.

 

[dannyphantomhott]

Sounds like Ash will def be going to Shinou now, so I think maybe add an experinced trainer for Ash. Not a newbie one like CyberCubed said, it would be a waste of time.

 

[dabattousai]

The problem here is that Ash is such an experienced trainer now that some newbie rival wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

True, but the rival doesn't have to be a newb, it could be someone like Richie making a comeback and just like Ash, started anew and we could see both experienced trainers go at it during their journey.

 

[Almighty Zard]

If Ash is taking down legendaries for goodness sakes, why does he need a rival to push him along? The whole point of rivals are to constantly make the main character improve to get as good as them.

That's only half of the equation though, the other half is the pokemon themselves, Ash is taking down legendaries but it is his most powerful guys doing it. Besides i remember back at the beginning of jouto where Casey' Chickorita almost beat down Pikachu, so if he were using his more powerful guys than yes i could see him not losing, but otherwise there is still that chance.

 

[Leon Phelps]

I don't know if he should have a rival persay, but I would really like to see him encounter interesting reacurring characters that he would occasionally battle.

 

[Ash6K]

I hope Ash has some kind of rival person in Shinou. We always see him battle filler person, gym leader, or TR. Never a recurring character since Johto.

 

[Genos]

The Rival could be from the game of D/P.

 

[Judai-and-sho]

I would like for Ash to get a new rival yes, but also for an old rival to be seen more. I would actually like Richie to travel with Ash. Ash has yet to beat Richie and they both appear to be on the same level. I think them traveling together would make them both stronger trainers. Maybe Richie could be the gang's new cook. At least we would get to further explore someone who definetly needs further exploration.

 

[Pikafan]

Ash's is going to get a rival anyway because in all the season of Pokemon Ash always had rivals in each region. It's clear to me that he will have rivals in Shinou.

 

[Fizban]

Ash didn't really need a rival in the past season because there isn't much a badge rival can do before a tournament. Contests created a situation where your rivals were constantly fighting you, and could actually prevent you from getting further as a coordinator. The closest Ash ever came to this was when Gary went to challenge the Viridian Gym Leader before him, forching Ash to wait his turn (gasp!).

It wouldn't be bad if there was somebody who could get Ash fired up, but the role of a rival really does seem more suited for coordinators now.

 

[Alfonso]

Fair enough, this thread is slightly different from the others, but I feel D/P discussion for now should be limited to the main thread for Discussion/Speculation.