Who is the Best Main Rival so far?

[thedarkdragon11]

Who do you think is the best between Gary, Paul, Trip and Alain as a main rival to Ash?

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Right now, I think it's a tie between Paul & Gary since they were such prominent characters in the series and they pushed Ash to grow as a trainer in more ways than one.

 

[Genaller]

Objectively Paul and it isn't even remotely close. Gary's appearances were surprisingly scarce for a main rival and he only had 1 1 vs 1 battle with Ash before the Silver Comference after which he no longer counted as a rival. Alain is a well developed character; however, only became a rival during XYZ, and so his and Ash's rivalry wasn't as fleshed out as it could be. Alain is definitely the strongest rival but not the best. I could see arguments for both Alain and Gary on who should be considered Ash's 2nd best rival. Trip is clearly last as a rival. I mean even the writers lost interest in the rivalry judging by how they handled Ash vs Trip at the league.

 

[Paul1985]

I voted for Paul although Gary was a close second.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

• Paul is and always will be the best Main Rival,he showed up in a lot of episodes and actually battled Ash on many occasions unlike(Gary).
• He's the first and only rival to capture the strongest pokemon he could find then release it if it didn't meet his expectations.
• He's one of the most competent rivals in the show(along with Alain)
• He's the only rival to be seen consistently training his pokemon on screen.
• He's the only rival to own up to 6 Powerhouses.
• He's the only rival to send Team Rocket Blasting Off Again.
• He's one of the darkest characters in the show.
• He's arguably the smartest battler in the entire show.
• He has the same amount of experience as Ash.
• He's the first and only rival to regularly use a pokemon's ability.
• He's the only rival to be shown battling a gym leader on screen and win.

 

[Frozocrone]

Paul and it's not even close. 'Alain might always have the edge over never being beaten, but no-one else has made Ash question his own methods like Paul did.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Paul definitely. They did everything right with his character imo.

 

[DankOverlord]

Paul.
Alain is barely a rival and Sawye/Gary/Harrison/Trip are just underwhelming

 

[Wednesdayz]

Paul, because he was a consistent threat to Ash throughout DP.

 

[HoundoomFan]

Alain is a very bland character, trip isn't much different from Alain, Paul's main personality was careless(as in, he didn't care about anyone/anything) jerk & that's it. Gary wins he picking on ash was funny, he gots a car, some cheerleaders, some solid development we've seen more of than last time he's seen on tv, & he only lost to ash once, while afterwords he kicks his butt.

 

[sandtreamftw]

Paul was the most effective rival for Ash in that he directly opposed and challenged Ash's way of raising pokemon. He was a great motivation for Ash and Chimchar and when it was over you felt enormous satisfaction to see Ash and Chimchar overcome Paul's shadow. That to me is the quintessential kind of rivalry. Gary was fine as a rival, but I think he was stronger character on his own rather than effective rival. Trip is just a Paul/Cheren wannabe. Alain like Gary was more effective outside the rivalry, but unlike Gary, the rivalry was forced in the worst possible sense.

 

[Sitar]

I would be very surprised if somebody voted not for Paul for all obvious reasons

 

[Leonhart]

Shinji was built up perfectly in Shinou, so he gets the honor of being the best rival Satoshi has had so far.

 

[Zoruagible]

Paul. All of Ash's rivals have been awful since. And he was done so perfectly.

 

[XY Rules]

Yeah Paul is the only good main rival in general...Gary and Trip were terrible rivals and characters. Alain was an interesting character but an awful rival as well. In Gary's case it's because he hardly ever showed up and battled Ash even less. All he did was distract Ash from his true goal. And don't even get me started on his "character" (or lack there of). For Trip, he somehow ended up becoming a progressively worse trainer...and we didn't get any reason for why he hated people from Kanto so much. He's basically how to do Paul wrong. And Alan didn't show up early enough and I never really got the sense that there was even a rivarly between him and Ash. Paul though, was a great rival and character. One of the best ones to ever come out of Pokemon actually. He showed up from practically the beginning, had just as much experience as Ash, was very skilled, strategical, and competent, and was pretty much Ash's antithesis. This allowed for them to develop a true rivarly instead of that childish bragging game he was playing with Gary. "Rivalry" lol. Paul pushed Ash to his limits and kept him completely focused on his actual goal unlike Gary. And then we get to see why Paul acts the way he does and as the show progresses, Paul is consistently developing.

That is how to properly write a rival. And this is coming from somebody who hates Paul by the way.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Alain isn't even a main rival. All main rivals have their Japanese names start in Sh.

Shigeru
Shinji
Shooti
Shouta

Besides, he only interacted with Ash twice and he barely talked to him the first time.

 

[Genaller]

Alain isn't even a main rival. All main rivals have their Japanese names start in Sh.

Shigeru
Shinji
Shooti
Shouta

Besides, he only interacted with Ash twice and he barely talked to him the first time.

Well as of this episode Ash and Alain probably have more together onscreen time than Ash and Shouta do.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Anyone who is friendly towards the other person,takes notes of the other person,and is less experienced than the other person shouldn't qualify as a main rival,better description would be a fan or a student.Barry was kind of like this with Paul as he admired him as a trainer and tried to be like him.

 

[XY Rules]

Being friendly or not means jacksquat...lol. A main rival is the rival that is the most prominent/relevant. (Just as a main character is the character that is the most prominent/relevant.) I was just going along with it, since Sawyer wasn't a choice in this poll and I think he has the same flaws as Alan as a rival anyway, so it didn't really make a difference to me.

Alain isn't even a main rival. All main rivals have their Japanese names start in Sh.

Shigeru
Shinji
Shooti
Shouta

Besides, he only interacted with Ash twice and he barely talked to him the first time.

Huh, weird I've never noticed this before. XD

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Paul is my first choice, tho I liked Gary in Johto cuz he matured. Even Trip was kind of decent as well even if many fans disliked him. ^^;