So what are your final impressions of Trip, Stephan, and Bianca?

[pokeaussie37]

Largely disappointed by Trip, I didn't mind him so much at first, but in the second half of the series up to the league his appearances were largely taken up by his not-very-good Gurdurr/Conkeldurr, a brief mention of Alder, and his obvious focus on thinking that his Serperior could do it all. Much like a novice game-player in my opinion! Just using his starter?! I approved of his conclusion, I got a good laugh of him eating sh!t with Alder demolishing him and Ash emerging victorious, you've got a long way to go Trip if you want to beat the likes of Alder or Cynthia.

Stephan, I rather enjoyed, a bit similar to Trip I thought there was too much focus on his Sawk, but this wasn't on the same scale as Trip with Serperior since his introduction involved his Blitzle. Fitting that his concluding battle was a 3-on-3 so there was only one more Pokemon left to introduce from his roster. He was reasonably entertaining too.

Bianca, enjoyed the ditz, lots of focus on one Pokemon as well though. (Emboar)

To wrap up, I'd imagine it's possible that any or all of these three could appear during the N scenario thingie, particularly the more friendly rivals Stephan and Bianca, but we'll have to see what happens.

 

[pokefandt]

Trip was okay. I can accept Trip beating Ash now, because we've seen Ash beat trainers with a decade or more of experience on him and no complaints were made before. So there. I wish Trip's other pokemon had gotten spotlight, especially Conkeldurr. Serperior was awesome until Pikachu OHKO'd it. I wouldn't have minded if Pikachu had managed to get a few more hits in before. I'm really hoping we see more of him after the league.

Bianca. . . she had potential. I REALLY wished they had shown her rematch with Elesa, or better yet let HER or Trip have taken on Homika. It could have shown their growth as a trainer. She still could have been ditzy, but still have been a good trainer. . . god knows Ash and Kotetsu have their moments. I hope Bianca will appear after the league during the N saga, and she can pull her Gondor calls for aid thing with the Gym Leaders hopefully.

Stephan was Morrison done right. The name gag could have been done away. But Stephan had some of the Best Battles of the region as far as I'm concerned. My general reaction to whenever Stephan was fighting was "This is gonna be good" and he has yet to dissapoint.

 

[Platinum fan.]

I don't know enough about Stephan to comment since I haven't watched a episode with him in it. I can only go by what others say about him. People constantly say he was a nice rival done right so I guess that makes him cool? Again I don't know anything about the character and up until a few days ago I didn't even know what he looked like.

Bianca was pretty much how I knew she would be. Female Barry in personality and battles. That means I loved her personality but as a rival she stank. I could say she'd have been better on the main cast but when I really think about BW, I think it's better she didn't. I'm crossing my fingers that she appears in the N saga and has interactions with N that gives her the character development to turn her into a great character.

And finally Trip. I actually don't hate Trip. I dislike his position as Ash's rival, because no matter what I simply could not believe this rivalry. But other then that I have no problems with Trip being a powerful rookie trainer. I think his timing in the series and who his rival was hurt him most. Had we had a real rookie trainer on the cast and Trip was that kids rival, I'd be more on board with him. Because again, I don't hate Trip. I applaud him for being strong.

 

[Spin Attaxx]

I'm apathetic on Trip (eerie similarities to myself e.g. blond hair, starting with Snivy etc. aside).

Stephan... did they REALLY find the joke so funny that they decided to do it several more times? It's like they're saying HEY MISPRONOUNCING STEPHAN'S NAME IS STILL FUNNEH, RITE?

Bianca... just what an idiot. Again, her running gag got old, and she was quite a jerk when it came to Luke's Zorua (obsessing over it to the point of stalking and offering to trade her starter for it?!). Also, her buck-toothed derp teeth. In fact, most characters seem to have them in this season.

 

[Caseydia]

Trip- Basic rival, one of my favorites.
Bianca- Ditzy, idiotic, steriotypical blonde.
Stephan- Morrison clone, best battler of the entire rival group.

 

[PokemonNation2000]

I agreed! Trip should be more mature and more of his character development. I am hoping Bianca changes her attitude in filler saga much like her in BW2 games.

I agree with you as well, 100%.

 

[nuzamaki90]

Stephan could have easily been Ash's main rival instead of Trip in Best Wishes. Only because he's a rival done right, he got a perfect amount of focus, his final battle with Ash was awesome, and he was just as competitive with Ash as any other rival would be in the games. He even had his own gimmick, his mother's apparent poor choice of a name.

The only problem that I can see with Stephan is the fact that he never showed his badges, so it's like he was a rival that the writers couldn't think of any other place to put him, so they just dropped him off with the rest of Ash's League rivals.

I liked Bianca because she was Ash's first main female rival and she was exactly like how she was in the games, just like Barry....

Most people here know that I don't like Trip so I'm not gonna get into how I feel about him.

 

[BlueDragonfangirl]

Lets see...

Trip-Hes ok for a random filler rival character of the day, not for a main characters rival though. They really didn't do things right with this guy, he would hardly appear and would loose to every one but Ash whos had a longer journey than him I mean thats just. They even had him picking on Ash and his home town, no saying sorry at the end of the league battle?? Come on!! Him being kicked out right away? I think the writers hated this guy and really wanted him gone sheesh.

Bel-She was ok, I found some of her jokes funny and I really liked her interactions with Ash. Though, why the writers felt the need to keep having her knock Ash into the water is beyound me LOL. What is that for? Fanservice or some thingXD

Stephan-Man oh man, I wish they had this guy as the main rival instead he was a lot better, every thing done right in my opinion and I hope we see him a lot in the future but some how I don't see this unless in another filler saga *Sigh*

 

[wildheart90]

Sawk vs Emolga (japanese version) remains as my favourite Best Wishes battle thus far

 

[TsukiMirage]

I enjoyed all three rivals, though I wish they had all gotten some more screentime. Also that Trip and Bianca gotten more full battles.

 

[Airi-Chan]

Trip : Good characters, good enough personalities, nice ambition, hard working, intelligent. But I am very disappointed Trip had lost against Ash in the first round & lack of appearance. I like when he smiled toward Ash and friends. I hope we can see Trip VS Ash 6 on 6, if not I want to see Trip VS Iris. I wish, Trip can encounter Team Plasma hahaha.

Bianca : She is the best female rival that I've seen. I just add notice to see more Bianca's Pokemon.

Stephan : Funny running gag. I want to see more of his Pokemon.

 

[gliscor&yanmega]

I enjoy Trip, Bianca, and Stephan, I hope to see more of them after the league.

I enjoyed pretty much everything about them, I would have only just liked to seen them more. I would have also liked to seen more battling from them against Ash, but I don't mind as it was something different, there is more to a rivalry then just battling.

 

[J Ken]

If it wasn't for BW's lack of rival appearances outside tournaments and the overusage of one on one battles I am sure we would have seen more of Trip and Bianca's teams. Only Stephan really got away with one on one battles because he usually always got a win before he lost.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Well tbh I think that Stephan was the only decent rival, Bianca was what I'd expected of her though. While Trip is okay as a character for me, I felt that the Ash and Trip rivalry was just a waste of my time imo.

 

[Eievui-Nymphia]

A bit of trivia:

Bianca is the Ash's rival that got the most number of appearances through BW. If you look through the episodes, you know that Bianca has gotten 19 episodes and Trip has gotten 16 episodes. Although the abscene of Bianca the Junior Cup make the gap in episodes between the two to 1 episode, in the league because Trip leaves after losing but Bainca doesn't, Bianca is having 4 more episodes than Trip.
The Unova League will end with Bainca getting 5 more appearances than Trip and the N's arc could increase Bianca 's appareances to 25 (I think that Paul and Zoey got less) or more depending if there's or not a tournament*. And I think that Bianca will make her last appearance after Iris (or Cilan if that's the case) leaves (remember, Ash need help to transport at least 10 pokemon from Unova to Kanto

Also, Bianca has a key difference with Stephan. Stephan gag has ended. The reason to end the gag is because Stephan isn't going to appear after the league. Although it's not confirmed (and I don't see Bianca staying at the start of N's arc) Bianca gag hasn't ended (is palyed twice) Bianca has a relationship to Juniper, and we know that Cedric will appear at the start of chapter N.

*The tournament could be or the tournament to end the Georgia and Birgundy rivalry. Or the PWT (like in-game) that serves the purpose top advance for the Plasma plot. I see Bianca in the two fo them but I don't see Trip in any of them.

 

[STICKTOPIA]

I expected more out of Ash and Trip's rivalry. I really think it could have been a lot better. Shaking hands was not something I expected though.

Stephan was cool imo. I never thought they'd stop the mispronouncing his name gag. Thank god that's over.

Bianca.... Basically another Barry since she always bumps into Ash. She was cool and she really looks different without the hat. She was okay though.

 

[Caseydia]

I expected more out of Ash and Trip's rivalry. I really think it could have been a lot better. Shaking hands was not something I expected though.

What exactly were you expecting then? Trip wasn't really a mean character as I've said thousands of times but no one listened. They only didn't like the fact that Trip had beat him a few times. Then when people saw that Trip wasn't as strong as he seemed, then people now feel sorry for him? It was bad writing from the start. They should have just made Trip more experienced in the beginning and then we wouldn't be seeing Trip out in the first round of the league. That was just painful to watch.

 

[Pokemaniac24]

I like Trip's character, I like his backstory, I like his Pokémon. I HATED the way he was handled.

Stephan's alright, I guess. I mean he is good in playing the role as Ash's competitive, slightly goofy rival. But there is nothing that unique or fascinating about him and his name joke was already done with Butch and Dr.Namba.

Bianca- Once again, a rival who was treated poorly. She is there to be comic relief but she comes off as more annoying than funny. Not a huge fan of hers.

 

[Princess Raspberyl]

I like Trip's character, I like his backstory, I like his Pokémon. I HATED the way he was handled.
Stephan's alright, I guess. I mean he is good in playing the role as Ash's competitive, slightly goofy rival. But there is nothing that unique or fascinating about him and his name joke was already done with Butch and Dr.Namba.

Bianca- Once again, a rival who was treated poorly. She is there to be comic relief but she comes off as more annoying than funny. Not a huge fan of hers.

I agree with what I bolded 100 percent. Loved his personality, disliked how he was handled. >.< I excepted him to be a lot more utilized due to how well Paul was treated but unfurtunately that didn't happen D:
Stephan's ok I guess. Don't like him don't hate him. Same with Bianca, I like her more then Stephan but a lot less then Trip >.<

 

[Locormus]

I enjoyed most of the rivalries. The only one which I didn't know what to do with was Burgundy.

Now.. uhh.. The only one that was a waste was Virgil.