3rd Gen Rivals

Let's talk about the rivals of the AGen games. Green and Brendan/May.

Did you like their traits? Would you have liked them to be better in any aspects? Would you change their teams to better options?

As you may know, Green is a cocky brat who'd like to be the best without consideration of others. Something like Gary, however that's another story, since Gary has evolved and stuff. Would you have seen some character development in him, hmm?

Then comes May and Brendan. Both posing as friendly rivals, helping us by giving useful trinkets sometimes, and also not being so strong at the end, as we never see their final starter form. Character development here, as well?

Definitely some development in Green. Not sure if they wanted to stray too far off the original games but it would be sick to have a mission where you have to work with him (include more double battles) to fight off TRocket in some evil Hideout of theirs. Im ok with his arrogance, but maybe give more reason for him to be arrogant cause everytime I face him I trash him {XD}

I'm pretty sure Wally, that kid you "help" capture a Ralts early in the game, counts as a rival too, sort of.
I'm pretty sure he does count. It's a shame you only battle him a couple of times before the Pokémon League.

You don't get to battle Brendan/May again after Lilycove City, which I was disappointed with. It would have been nice to battle them again in a rematch after becoming the Champion, or even to face them in the Battle Tower/Frontier (Depending on the game, and that includes Wally too)

And in Fire Red/Leaf Green, wouldn't you have liked to battle the trainer of the gender you didn't pick as well as the rival you do have (Blue or Green depending on your language and the game).

May / Brendan is a horrendous rival. The strongest they ever get is lv. 35, which is abysmal - you couldn't even beat the Johto Elite Four with their team. Plus their acting all superior really doesn't work if they can't even get a fully-evolved starter pokémon.
Wally is much better as he has a bit of character growth - from the wimpy kid who nearly doesn't ask Norman for help catching a pokémon, to a genuine challenger who makes his way to Victory Road.

Green's the original rival, and probably the best in that he actually becomes Champion. It's kinda implied your other rivals in Gen II/III/IV/V don't defeat the Pokémon League but just get everywhere you do because that's what rivals do. Like May actually getting to Wallace - there's no way she beat the Elite Four, Prof. Birch could've possibly though. Green, on the other hand, works his way up to the top, even if he lasts less than 5 minutes as Champion. Plus he even goes out and raises new team members (Heracross and Tyranitar) to high levels. His cockiness is justified as the FRLG level curve is quite steep, and he's significantly ahead of it all the time.

Green and Wally where the best rivals of the 3rd Gen, they actually prove to be a handful towards the end of the game, you can't muck around with'em.
I don't think it's necessary for character development, it's seen enough in how they speak, act and treat the player in my opinion. No need for more text in the game... ;P

Green was a great rival that I felt gave the others a run for their money. He acts arrogant and cocky at the beginning but slowly develops into a better person. He puts effort into his training and he isn't just someone who tags along or wanders around the region just to catch a few Pokemon to please his father or grandpa. He wants to be the best and he strives for that goal. He achieves that goal and keeps aiming for the top. He learns from a loss and tries to improve on it, he actually was a worthy rival that gave you a challenge. Brendan and May are nothing next to him.

May and Brendan could of been worked on, battle-wise and personality wise. I felt that May was an okay rival but all she wanted to do was have cute Pokemon and they both always acted like they were superior. This is laughable after the 70th time you've beat them, as they're still arrogant and oblivious to the fact that you're just naturally better. All they ever had were weak Pokemon and yet they acted like they were kings of the world while you swept the entire Pokemon League. Weak personalities and horrible teams. I'm not saying they're the worst rivals but I just didn't like what Gamefreak did with them. They give you items because they sort of feel sorry for you or because they're surprised at the fact that you've beaten a gym. It's just sad.

Wally however was a good character. He went from an ill boy with a Pokemon to someone who faced you in Victory Road. It shows that he never gives up and is determined to achieve his goals. I like these sorts of rivals since they're generally tougher and Wally was definitely no slouch compared to Brendan or May. He just had that spark and he strived till the very end which makes him one of my favourites. So yeah that's my opinion on the rivals of the third generation. :p

Blue (I'm going with this name because that's what the games use) is a good rival that challenges you until the very end. His Pokemon can be tough to defeat at times.

Brendan/May fades towards the end of the game and that's never a good sign.

Wally, on the other hand, put up a good fight in the end, but he just... came out of the blue, therefore he didn't strike me as a well-developed character.