So what do you think of the rivalries in Best Wishes? Do you think there is more then they could have done with them. Do you feel there is too many, as in they didn't focus on one but dealt with many characters jumbled up? Or just didn't adequately deal with any at all.
Trip - Initially I thought Trip and Ash rivalry was going somewhere since it started off like Paul with his Elekid. Then a few episodes later he had a 5 on 5 battle with Ash in the Battle Club. So at that early point I though well they have a lot of interactions with just 10 episodes in, but from there they went down hill with their rivalry from that point. Not to mention the 5 on 5 battle was a bit hax with Super Luck from Trip Tranquill. After that encounter it was in Castelia which there was some friction there as well, but not confrontation. Finally another battle but a lack luster one as it seemed to be more focused on Oshawott not being able to control himself and Trip didn't even want to battle Ash to begin with, until Iris called him chicken. Then he goes and loses in the first rounds of Don Tournaments, and in the Junior Cup his Serperior seemed broken at times. For me Trip seemed more focused on Alder then Ash. I mean his goal was to clearly surpass Alder and that is what he was striving for at the being of Junior Cup. And then yet again he loses in the first Round of Higaki Tournament.
Tl;dr Trip focus seemed more on Alder then anything, so I don't see why they even bother with him vs. Ash. Not that they did since he was so distance for most of the main Unova arc anyways.
Bianca - I really don't consider here much of a rival either. She seemed more like a reoccurring friend then a rival. She never really battled Ash much nor anyone else for that matter. I mean she lost to Stephan twice but there was no rivalry involved. In the end I think she will be just that I reoccurring friend type character like Luke.
Stephan - He seemed to be more like someone that just came along and filled in for battles. Not really much of a rivalry. He did compete with him in other competitions like Wishing Bell Festival.
Burgundy - She does have what I consider a rivalry with Cilan. But for me it seems one sided since she always seems to come out as they fool in the end not to mention she really is not around to maintain much of a rivalry.
Georgia - Similar to Burgundy expect she has a mixed record against Iris. She more over has something against Dragons then Iris. But she still has pretty heated exchanges with Iris. And again their interactions between another are few and far between.
All in all I don't really consider much of these rivals. They seem to have too few interactions and when they do they seemed to be jammed into a short lived Don Tournament or some other tournaments. For me when I think of Rivalry I think of Gary and Paul were they had multiple interactions with Ash as well as there personalities played off each other. Then there is Drew and Zoey who May and Dawn saw in nearly every Contest...
Trip - Initially I thought Trip and Ash rivalry was going somewhere since it started off like Paul with his Elekid. Then a few episodes later he had a 5 on 5 battle with Ash in the Battle Club. So at that early point I though well they have a lot of interactions with just 10 episodes in, but from there they went down hill with their rivalry from that point. Not to mention the 5 on 5 battle was a bit hax with Super Luck from Trip Tranquill. After that encounter it was in Castelia which there was some friction there as well, but not confrontation. Finally another battle but a lack luster one as it seemed to be more focused on Oshawott not being able to control himself and Trip didn't even want to battle Ash to begin with, until Iris called him chicken. Then he goes and loses in the first rounds of Don Tournaments, and in the Junior Cup his Serperior seemed broken at times. For me Trip seemed more focused on Alder then Ash. I mean his goal was to clearly surpass Alder and that is what he was striving for at the being of Junior Cup. And then yet again he loses in the first Round of Higaki Tournament.
Tl;dr Trip focus seemed more on Alder then anything, so I don't see why they even bother with him vs. Ash. Not that they did since he was so distance for most of the main Unova arc anyways.
Bianca - I really don't consider here much of a rival either. She seemed more like a reoccurring friend then a rival. She never really battled Ash much nor anyone else for that matter. I mean she lost to Stephan twice but there was no rivalry involved. In the end I think she will be just that I reoccurring friend type character like Luke.
Stephan - He seemed to be more like someone that just came along and filled in for battles. Not really much of a rivalry. He did compete with him in other competitions like Wishing Bell Festival.
Burgundy - She does have what I consider a rivalry with Cilan. But for me it seems one sided since she always seems to come out as they fool in the end not to mention she really is not around to maintain much of a rivalry.
Georgia - Similar to Burgundy expect she has a mixed record against Iris. She more over has something against Dragons then Iris. But she still has pretty heated exchanges with Iris. And again their interactions between another are few and far between.
All in all I don't really consider much of these rivals. They seem to have too few interactions and when they do they seemed to be jammed into a short lived Don Tournament or some other tournaments. For me when I think of Rivalry I think of Gary and Paul were they had multiple interactions with Ash as well as there personalities played off each other. Then there is Drew and Zoey who May and Dawn saw in nearly every Contest...