Who is the best pokemon rival?

Hugh. Easily.

>>715341615 (OP)
>>715341664
samefag, go back to >>>/vp/

Pic related.
>competitive without being a shitbag
>isn't overbearing or annoying
>has an actual competent team

Silver

>>715341739
Also second best rival theme behind Hugh.

Does Guzma count as a rival?

>>715341615 (OP)
You just posted him

>>715341704
I refuse.

>>715341615 (OP)
Kieran, I want him to snap and rape the player character.

>>715341858
Not really. You battle him twice. He's more like an evil team leader, at least until Lusamine stole that from him.

>>715341664
I liked his battle theme

>>715341747
>Grrr I hate everyone fuck the trashy man his strolling pisses me off

>>715341935
I feel like he wanted to fuck ogrepon

>>715341990
Hell yeah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKOG5UM202Y

>>715341664
>Has the most hilariously edgelord design
>Is such a bro, you easily forget this
>That. Fucking. Battle theme

When was the last time there was a good one that wasn't an annoying le wholesome friendly rival

>>715342384
I thought Kieran was decent.

>>715342384
Hugh unironically.
Calem/Serena are trash. Hau is whatever. Hop is literally just Hau but worse. Nemona is also whatever but cunnyfags obsess over her because she's new and has a vagina.

Give my fucking cat back.

>>715342512
He looks like he fucks boys

>>715341615 (OP)
>Another poketurd thread
Kys retards everything about Pokemon is fucking trash

>>715342384
Hop and Hau are garbage, Nemona is cute but useless, Cheren is boring, I want to see Bianca naked, Wally has AIDS, Barry probably gave Wally AIDS, Hugh is cool, Silver is Silver, and Blue is GOATed. I don't remember who was supposed to be the rival in XY unless it's was just the player character you didn't pick.

>>715342538
>cunnyfags
>cunny
You don’t even know what that word means.

>>715342682
He looks like boys fuck him

>>715342697
>XY
It was the player you didn't pick. With little sub rivals being the other friends

>>715341615 (OP)
Does N count? If not, Silver

>>715343051
What does the N stand for?

Hop is the best because the moral of his story is give up on your dream you're a failure so find something easier to do

>>715343198
Isn't leon hop's brother? And leon is a retard. Imagine having your brother be the best trainer in the world and he's a retard, and you're worse than him.

>>715341615 (OP)
Idk, but as soon as your rival started being your pal, I was immediately over the concept
At least from what I can remember, gen 1 and 2s were more impressionable
It honestly took me scrolling through this thread to remind me that other games actually had "rivals" too
>>715342694
everything about *modern* Pokemon is fucking trash
ftfy

>>715341615 (OP)
Why don't we get cool and rude rivals anymore? Does Game Freak really expect kids to find agreeable, nice rivals plausible? Children can be some of the cruelest, rudest human beings imaginable, I doubt they would find an "evil" rival offensive or too much for their sensibilities. If anything, Blue and Silver's popularity proves kids do prefer asshole adversaries.

>>715341615 (OP)
Is it weird that I'm not really that big on any of them?

>>715343637
Just prove everything past gen 2 is fucking trash and forgettable

>>715343637
Well yeah, you want to beat them to death.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you ever actually fight Arven in the scarlet and violet story? Or does he just help you fight the titan pokemon

Hugh is funny since he's autistically fixated on saving his sister's Purrloin and physically shoves a team plasm grunt over

>>715342041
Best silver design, hgss looks like a faggot troon>>715341747

>>715343637
Because in this landscape where Nintendo is trying to be 90s disney, everybody's friends, except for bad guys, but not TOO bad, just bad enough to make a clear distinction
I think blue left the biggest mark, in a good way. But I think getting to see him grow as shown in gen 2, gave him an extra dimension that can't easily be shown all in one game
I really wish you could revisit regions to see before/ after that region's original game

>>715341615 (OP)
Pointless thread, you already know
>>715342512
He is the best

Paul, the anime did better rivals

>>715344002
That's just the art style shift. Some humans and mons seemed to be slightly improved by the change (mostly if not entirely pokegirls), the rest either break even at best, or look way worse like your example

>>715344089
Paul was literally just Silver

>>715344129
I don't see it

>>715344020
This, even Pokemon masters ex silver and blue stopped being bad guys lol

Blue silver Barry>>>>the rest was boring

>>715341739
Trash redesign

>>715343174
Natural.

>>715344020
>Because in this landscape where Nintendo is trying to be 90s disney, everybody's friends, except for bad guys, but not TOO bad, just bad enough to make a clear distinction

>Lusamine was shaping up to be quite the ruthless villain, rejecting her daughter, calling out trainers for "abandoning" their pokemon in PC boxes, using everyone and everything for her plans
>I was even 100% sure we were about to fight her when she fused with Nihilego
>nope she still uses her pokemon
>in the end it's implied she was just heavily brainwashed after spending so much time with Nihilego
>in the next game and in the anime she is the best mom ever

Why can't Gamefreak commit, for fuck's sake

>>715344453
>>in the end it's implied she was just heavily brainwashed after spending so much time with Nihilego
>>in the next game and in the anime she is the best mom ever
Was that Ultra Sun/Moon or base Sun/Moon? Since I was told she's different between the versions. I only ever had Moon so idk

>>715344453
Blame Japan they hate when pkmn is too edgy

>>715344530
Even recent anime they tone down battles because japanese people were saying Pokemon battles are too violent , pkmn should just be cute mascots

>>715344453
They kinda did with Cyrus and Volo. Volo was such a pain the the dick

>>715344235
Sounds stupid enough to be true
>>715344453
I completely fell off after xy, and even then I've been so detached from narratives since gen 4, I didn't even really pay attention to anything besides grinding the dex and building my lineup gens 3-6

>>715341739
/thread

>>715344524
In base Sun/Moon she is the deranged mom, but when you beat her, she reconciles with Lillie. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon she is way more normal, her principles are noble, and she ultimately swears to be a better mom and protect all pokemon. In the anime she is even super affectionate with Lillie.

>>715341739
>competitive without being a shitbag
OP said best rival, not biggest faggot

>>715344235
Blue was never a "bad guy", he was always stated to be your friend, just a bit of a cunt is all. The only rival that was ever truly antagonistic was silver

>>715341739
>THUD THUD THUD
I wish we got a sequel where he took over the Battle Tower from his dad, but instead we got bdsp and pla lol

>>715345047

>>715344453
The world of Pokemon is in eternal conflict with the idea people have of Pokemon, you can only have a happity friends franchise were everyone are friends and everything is cute if you ignore the glaring flaws like Pokemon being used in combat against other Pokemon just for fun

>>715345210
>the glaring flaws like Pokemon being used in combat against other Pokemon just for fun
They even tried to justify that by claiming Pokemon actually want to fight because it helps with their evolution, bonding etc., but it doesn't make much sense

>>715345292
There are a lot of things in this franchise that don't make size

>>715345415
*sense

>>715345415
You think Ash has a cross in his house?

>>715345552
I don't think I'd trust a Mr mime in my house

>>715341615 (OP)
You posted him.
>>715343326
>>715343637
Blue's animosity towards the player feels like it gets exaggerated time and time again by people, and I'm not sure if it's because a large group of people completely suck at picking up social cues or if it's actually a problem with me. Blue's way of talking feels unique among the rival characters in the implied closeness of his and the player char's friendship, you wouldn't really trashtalk someone like that unless you knew them well enough for it to be okay, and Blue never comes off as outright cruel in the sense that he would be doing it out of malice. He's here to see which of you is better at this Pokemon thing. Silver on the other hand comes off strangely pathetic, he keeps talking big but you beat his ass every time and you don't even really know him, the most you do for him is stop reporting him to Elm and authorities after the first time you run into him. All the others, barring maybe Barry, are just cordial acquaintances.

>>715345292
>but it doesn't make much sense
why? you only encounter the ones who want to battle

>>715346165
Worth noting that silver is Giovanni's son and its made clear that he doesn't respect his dad.

>>715343948
Very early on after you and Nemona make it to the Lighthouse you fight him and his single weak pokemon, Then after you beat his side story there's an optional fight with him and iirc he has a full team of level 60 pokemon

>>715346329
when the fuck was that established

>>715346479
I'm sure a more readily informed anon will provide context, but this feels very familiar. I almost wanna say it comes to light having something to do with the in-game celebi event or something....

>>715345292
>They even tried to justify that by claiming Pokemon actually want to fight because it helps with their evolution, bonding etc
That makes sense with Digimon because they are just data beasts that want to digievolve and chill with tamers, Pokemon behave more like animals and pets so it clash completely, like why the fuck Ash sent his Pikachu against an unholy amount of fights where he can get badly injured just for shiny bottle caps?

Pic related.
>competitive without being a shitbag
>isn't overbearing or annoying
>has an actual competent team

>>715346584
The Celebi event in HGSS shows a young Silver shouting at Giovanni going for milk right after the events of FRLG. And there's an episode of Pokemon Generations where Looker is interrogating Silver and just straight up asks if he's Giovanni's son. Also in FRLG some grunt asks if you're his son but then corrects himself by saying "Giovanni's son has red hair"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19T-UN3igrQ

>>715346479
it was confirmed with celebii event in hgss, but it was already hinted in FRLG

>>715346876
Ah, thanks, informant-kun

>>715346165
>you wouldn't really trashtalk someone like that unless you knew them well enough for it to be okay
Or you have serious contempt against that person, and that's why people like Blue, because you want to beat him, meanwhile the other rivals are just discord friends

>>715346935
It's hinted even in the originals since there's no reason for him to be snooping around goldenrod tower and dissing otherwise. They never spelled it out but in hindsight it's clear the idea was there. I do wonder how different earlier drafts of the story were since Giovanni as a whole feels tacked on for how important he was in gen 1

>>715346479
There's a Team Rocket scientist in FireRed/LeafGreen in the Rocket Warehouse on the Sevii Islands that mistakes the player character for Giovanni's kid momentarily, then corrects himself by saying Gio's kid has red hair. There's not a lot of important previously established characters that could have referred to, so it was more or less accepted as canon from that point on. Further confirmed in HeartGold/SoulSilver with the Celebi event and accompanying cutscenes where Giovanni and Silver interact.

>>715346838
>any trainer in SWSH having a competent team

>>715343637
Because they want blue be the unique, the same reason they are not making another attractive champion female like Cynthia

>>715344089
>>715344129
>Paul was literally just Silver
In the games, Silver doubts himself because he always loses to you.
In the show, Ash doubted himself because he always lost to Paul. Classic underdog story. The games can't do this, because they're hard programmed for you to succeed.

>>715347671
>they are not making another attractive champion female like Cynthia
Iris? Diantha? Nemona?

>>715347887
Lol ugly flops

>>715347787
>The games can't do this, because they're hard programmed for you to succeed.
Barry's Staraptor says otherwise

>>715341615 (OP)
Hau is extremely underrated and overhated as far as rivals go.

>>715347887
Rika? Larry?

>>715347887
Diantha is not even popular kek his pixivbux is so fucking low even penny and Geeta got more art

>>715348046
His?

>>715347918
>Barry's Staraptor
?

>>715348113
It has intimidate and close combat

>>715347913
>Iris
>ugly
you must be blind.

>>715348290
I like her as a character but she's too brown for me

>>715348154
*laughs*

>>715348395
Where the fuck you gonna get rotom before end game

>>715348290
>saucenao
>Genshin Impact yuri and Love Live

>>715348434
you can get one right after gardenia dummy

>>715348290
her hair is fucking dumb

>>715348434
Platinum lets you get it in the haunted house early

>>715343637
We do, but you are retarded and biased, so they "don't count" for reasons only you know.

>>715347581
A single mon of his literally beats every other rival with ease.

>>715346165
The dialogue in gen2 really gives the impression that he respects the player even if they're rivals.

>>715346165
I love this guy

>>715347581
Anon he has a Zacian depending on the version, that alone is more than enough.

>>715341615 (OP)
I just discovered he calls a dirty bug catcher in the jp script in green

I feel like half of them are pretty good and the other half is so bad you wish they weren't in the game.

Only outliers for me are Wally (the twist doesn't change that only showing up twice is too little), Bea (also not handled correctly), and Hop (he's good but shows up too much).

>>715341739
Hated Barry as a kid, realized that was the point when I grew up. Good character.

I want to fuck Bianca
Also May/Brendan in gen 3 fucking suck as rivals

>>715341858
Halfway between an Archie/Maxie and an N.

>>715342384
They stopped doing outwardly hostile as the main rival because they already nailed it several times. Nemona is a good rival despite autists struggling to grasp that the game is portraying her as clingy and lonely and not respecting you at all. Hop and Bea were good but SwSh's pacing is shit and undercuts their effectiveness. It was really just gens 6 and 7 that completely failed (which is why they took another shot at Hau with Hop).

>>715342697
Cheren and Bianca are side characters, N is your rival in BW.

>>715343198
The moral of his story is nobody is entitled to the things they want and, if things don't work out, the healthy option is to move on and find something else you love. He's designed as a 1:1 parallel with Rose, except Hop isn't a shitty spoiled brat.

>>715341739
>isn't annoying
>stop fining me $1,000,000 I'm hispanic I am going to be late

Barry is pretty kino. Starts out as a retarded little sperg and grows into a great trainer in spite of his ADHD. Blue was always cool, though the Gary Oak memes have muddied his personality (similar to online Waluigi). I never liked Wally, though having him replace Brandon/May was neat. Silver is that retarded bully who, in actuality, is probably a big softie loser and overcompensating.
I don't consider either lf the two fags from BW as rivals, so I'll say N was the rival. N was pretty fun, what with his "in game Nuzlocke" gimmick.
I have not played Pokémon since BW.

>>715346165
No, you're correct. Blue starts out mostly with bants, but also a bit of smugness and whiny entitlement because his grandpa is important. He's your pal, but he's also kind of a shithead who plays a little dirty. His dialogue reflects a gradual shift in both getting irritated that you're actually not far behind him but also in him starting to take the whole Pokemon thing seriously.

Most people read him as a douche because of the anime.

So if you played BW unspoiled, which back in 2010 I played BW japanese rom on an emulator before release and got to Lenora's gym despite my pc running it at 10fps.
Anyway to a kid, and at the time; Team Plasma and N were asking pretty interesting questions about the Pokemon world. Sure it's still a saturday morning cartoon plot, but the themes of BW's writing were a deliberate attempt to step up from RSE's and DPPt's fairly generic take over le world. BW grounded pokemon down, the gyms were sometimes purposeful locations, you had friend rivals but then this green haired mystery antgagonist who appears with a new team everywhere he goes. And can talk to Pokemon.
N is so cool. N is my favorite rival and always sticks out in my head, Gary was special but N was really trying to challenge my thinking.

>>715344453
Lusamine was absolutely a TPC thing, you could see GameFreak desperately trying to make her a heartless piece of shit.

>>715342512
Him going from timid but sweet boy that just wanted to befriend Ogerpon to actual power hungry champion was really fun to see. Even better was him patching things up in the end and helping you against Peacharunt. All in all, a great character from start to finish

>>715341992
seems like a lot of people on this site want to

I need to rape Nemona