What do you think of Ash and Trip's Rivalry so far?

[Demonsead]

SPOILERS BELOW



I find it quite boring myself, especially compared to Iris/Georgia and Cilan/Burgundy. I find the problem in my liking the rivalry stems from 2 things.

1. Trip is a beginner trainer
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Ash vs. Gary: Both legitimately beginner trainers with no on hand training experience, but with Gary being better at catching and studying Pokemon.
Ash vs. Paul: Both legitimately experienced trainers who have traveled to the same main regions(Kanto, Johto, Hoenn), with Ash alone beating the Battle Frontier and maybe the Orange League.
Ash vs Trip is imbalanced in Ash's favor because Trip is a newbie, so Ash had to be reset hard(before, it was just his teams, now it's that and his intellect) and have Pikachu gimped out of it's strength to give Trip any real chance of matching up to Ash in their battles, making any of Trips wins against Ash ring hollow to me.


2. It's not personal in the slightest
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Gary acted like a bully to Ash and ticked him off with his arrogance.
Paul and Ash clashed over their Pokemon training methods and philosophies.
Burgundy became a Connaisseuse to get revenge on Cilan for his evaluation of her Oshawott.
But Trip? He had a brief flash of nationalism when we first saw him, and I wanted to see that expanded on as the basis for his rivalry with Ash, but it disappears in his next appearance, and leaves him with an amateur photographer gimmick instead and no animosity towards Ash other than slight annoyance.

So that's it for me, how do you feel about the rivalry?

 

[CyberCubed]

I don't like it at all. Trip comes across as a watered-down version of Paul just for the sake of giving Ash a new rival.

Both Gary and Paul motivated Ash in different ways and inspired him to become a better trainer. The rivalries with both also had a purpose and a dynamic.

Ash's rivalry with Trip is meaningless, mainly because Trip is a beginning trainer. Secondly, Ash and Trip's rivalry is just boring. How are his interactions with Ash any better than Gary or Paul's?

Fun fact: I never even thought Gary was handled well as a rival, but Trip's inclusion made me appreciate Gary a whole lot more. Even if Gary barely appeared and only battled Ash once before the league, at least he made an impact when he appeared and got a reaction out of Ash.

Trip is quite possibly the worst rival of the series, only above the levels of Kenny, Richie, and other low-key rivals.

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

I like Trip, but I hate the rivaly for just about everything you explained in the OP.

 

[Athenas_Wrath]

Even if Gary didn't challenge Ash often (or appear often for that matter), his mere presence pushed Ash to get better. People from different cities would mention Gary having already breezed through or Oak mentioning how well Gary was doing so there was still a "rivalry" going with them.

Trip is just dull, there is no reason for them to be rivals. Gary and Ash grew up in the same town and started the same time, Paul had his training methods and reject pokemon (chimchar), why are Ash and Trip rivals?

As its been said before, the hard reset on Ash does make this whole "rivalry" much worse as its overly forced to make Ash weak enough that Trip beats him.

 

[randomspot555]

I think Trip as a character is actually pretty good as far as a Cheren stand-in goes. Trip's rivalry with Ash though falls flat.

It's pretty blatant that they're trying to recreate the rivalry with Paul but it just isn't having that affect.

 

[Dirk Sheppard]

I was really hoping for a different kind of rivalry this time round. Something like Ash had with Morrison back in Hoenn. Where there fierce rivals but also good friends. Something like that spread over the whole of best wishes would of been awsome. Trip is to similar to Paul in the way he doenst think much of Ash for my taste

 

[Yeul]

You people are focking nostalgiakids, not even giving Trip the slightest, I SAY THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE, just 'cause you want another Paul.

Trip's nothing like Paul, he's far too nice (striking the balance theme with Best Wishes, he's an arse to Ash but at the same time he's helpful and considerate to other people) and is actually shown to give a fock about his Pokemon, unlike Shinji Ikari. Also, from what we're seeing of him and Alder, there's something lurking underneath that icy, rigid exterior, something that we shouldn't doubt just yet. Let's positive thinking, this unintentional rejection by Alder could lead to Trip pushing his team even further, to destroy all opposition and defeat Al! Am I right, or amirite?

 

[Caseydia]

Off topic: There is already a bunch of threads that ask this question in multiple ways. Do we really need another one?

On topic: I think it's fine. Since BW has a lot of bad fillers so far, it really doesn't matter since it's the only thing I think is decent besides for the gym battle episodes.

 

[BlueDragonfangirl]

I don't like it at all, they could have done things differently here and have Trip want to beat Ash. From start Ash could have kind of been a mentor to Trip, even if Trip really wanted to defeat him.

 

[Platinum fan.]

Pretty much what Cyber and Haunter227 said. I don't hate Trip, I actually think he's a okay rival stereotype and he fits a rival role fine. I hate how I'm suppose to believe that Ash, a veteran trainer who's been through 4 excuse me, 5 leagues and a Battle Frontier is getting schooled by a kid who just got his Pokemon and got this is his first year. What a joke. I'm all for young trainers beating older more experienced trainers because it sends a message, even if you have more experience someone younger can still catch up to you and beat you, otherwise there is no point in becoming a trainer unless you wait for the Cynthia's of the world to die of old age. But this is overkill. Trip just got his Pokemon, he should at least have a year of training before fighting someone like Ash. The rivalry itself sucks because I've already seen Ash interact with people like Trip loads of time. Gary, Paul, even Drew and it's boring now.

Bottom line, I hate the Ash and Trip rivalry, but I think Trip himself is a okay character he just doesn't work with Ash for me. Had he been someone else's rival I would have liked him more. And like Cyber said, I appreciate Gary a lot more now because of this.

 

[Victini01]

I don't mind the rivalry and Trip isn't such a bad character since you don't really hate him but you don't really like him either. I think that they should have it that Trip wants to battle Ash instead of Ash forcing him to battle and getting Iris to talk to him saying how Trip is 'such a little kid' for deciding not to battle Ash. Although, this is only my opinion but in A Venipede Stampede Trip saves Ash's Pidove so... I suppose Trip does care for Ash's Pokemon. It's only my opinion so it doesn't need to be 100% correct.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

I think the rivalry is horrible, because of the same reasons that have already been posted. Trip's character itself is ok I guess, but the rivalry between Ash and Trip is boring. Next time, they should make someone like Barry as a main rival instead of repeating the pattern of Gary, Drew, Paul,Trip, etc.

 

[Caseydia]

I don't know if this counts but alot of things are boring in BW. But the rivalry is not the most boring thing I've seen so far.

 

[WhyHelloThere]

. Next time, they should make someone like Barry as a main rival instead of repeating the pattern of Gary, Drew, Paul,Trip, etc.

Barry? Oh crap, NO!

 

[Yeul]

I think you people are being silly if you think that he's going to win EVERY single battle just because he's been in over 8000 focking regions. That's no fun, and you'll start hating on him then because he's just a boring obnoxious Gary Stu. Stop being so hard to please, they're making these episodes to entertain a few hundred thousand kids and not a hundred or so twenty-something year old men, and thus you should adopt the mindset of a small child when watching Pokaymanz.

Look upon it in fascination. Aren't the bright colours pretty? Doesn't Ash have really nice eyes now? Does "Kodomo ne?" make you giggle?

 

[Athenas_Wrath]

I think you people are being silly if you think that he's going to win EVERY single battle just because he's been in over 8000 focking regions. That's no fun, and you'll start hating on him then because he's just a boring obnoxious Gary Stu. Stop being so hard to please, they're making these episodes to entertain a few hundred thousand kids and not a hundred or so twenty-something year old men, and thus you should adopt the mindset of a small child when watching Pokaymanz.

Look upon it in fascination. Aren't the bright colours pretty? Doesn't Ash have really nice eyes now? Does "Kodomo ne?" make you giggle?

He doesn't have to win every battle, but having him lose to an untrained snivy and an unskilled beginner trainer is just WAY over the top forced rivalry.

 

[MidnightMelody]

Trip needs to die and they need Cheran to take his place. I don't care how the kid dies but make it happen!

 

[randomspot555]

Trip needs to die and they need Cheran to take his place. I don't care how the kid dies but make it happen!

He basically is Cheren. I won't spoil anything, but later episodes that haven't aired outside of Japan yet make it pretty obvious.

 

[Yeul]

He doesn't have to win every battle, but having him lose to an untrained snivy and an unskilled beginner trainer is just WAY over the top forced rivalry.

Yeah, one battle and you all want him dead. You wouldn't say the same thing about Paul.

 

[Athenas_Wrath]

Yeah, one battle and you all want him dead. You wouldn't say the same thing about Paul.

I never said I wanted him dead, I merely stated it was a dull and overly forced rivalry. Ash's rivalry with Paul was more intricate, there was a much deeper and more fundamental conflict between them that drove them to compete against one another, with Trip there is no conflict there is no point. They simply exist as rivals, because they are rivals, its bad logic (if you can call it that). There is no reason for them to rival each other, no reason to push each other. It took a plot hax to force them together and even still they barely maintain any mutual interest (heck, sometimes Trip doesn't seem like he knows he even has a rival).