Rival Discussion & Speculation

[Hikamaru]

What are your hopes in regards to how rivals are handled in Sun & Moon? Are you hoping for a return to the classic bratty rival, a typical friendly rival or multiple rivals?

[Staff Edit May 15 2016]
Rival was revealed! Click here for info.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I'd love for a real rivalry to return. I loved the group of friends in XY but they felt like that....friends and not a competitive rival. I'd love to see a rival like Blue or even Barry in this game. It's fun feeling like someone is competing against you!

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I think 3 rivals should be the max. One smart, one fun, and one brat.

I think that would be the perfect combination. 1 girl and 1 boy and then the other is the opposite of the gender of the player.

I love having more than one rival, but XY was a little too much. I really want the rivals to have more dev time though.

 

[blue]

Just one or two rivals a most. I didn't like how many rivals you had in X & Y, it just felt like there were too many to keep up with. Having just one or two to take the remaining starter Pokemon is enough.

 

[PageEmp]

I want a single female rival.

 

[Dedenne1]

Id like to have 2 rivals again not more than that though just one girl and one guy there was a couple too many in XY but i loved what they did in BW they should do something like that except have them both be trainers ^-^

 

[Candy]

I miss Cheren, Barry, Blue/Green, and Silver, and Hugh (somewhat).

They need to come back with a rival rival and not ragtag-group-of-friends rival.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

Two rivals. One cute, the other cool. One smart, the other hot-headed.

 

[Thepowaofhax]

Seeing as one of games is named after the moon, we better have an immoral/evil rival. After all, there's supposedly more crime on the day of a full moon, so why not make the rival evil as a reference to that?

 

[firekid115]

I at least want there to be one rival in the same vein is how Silver's character was. (I'd even be fine with another Blue-style rival)

I don't care for the others. They seem to like sticking with the circle of friends thing though.

 

[Zet]

I hope for another group rivals like in X and Y. I want to be someone's Gary Oak again.

Image related.

Spoiler:

 

[Rivvon]

I don't care who they are, how friendly or sinister they are...I don't even care how many of them there may be. Just let them be a good, well-written character who grows and develops and is substantial in some way.

I obviously can't speak on behalf of others, but I feel that the unconscious reason why lots of people tend to react negatively to the idea of a larger group of "rivals" is because the in only game we've gotten that (X & Y) they were implemented awfully. I'll admit that, in a sense, the more characters there are, the harder it becomes to make them all meaningful. So in terms of that, I do think it may be better to have one or two rivals at most. But again, I have no preference. Well, I do have a preference, but it's just that the rival(s) is a proper, intriguing character.

 

[Cay]

I'd really like a scenario like gen 3, where you have the typical rival, and then a character like Wally, who progresses to be more powerful from almost over the game's course. That would be absolutely ideal for me.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

A frail rival would be interesting. Maybe one that starts off with a Magikarp and Feebas team, but by the end they are using Milotic and Mega Gyarados on you...

 

[MarinoKadame]

Wally progressed but overall his team was really easy before E4, even his Mega Gallade didn't felt like a threat.

 

[jombii]

A real-rival is a must. One who actually competes with you every step of the way instead of friends who thinks they are on an adventure with you. I want someone who actually challenges he players by using various tricks and methods, a rival who grows with you. He may use simple tactics in the beginning of the game but I expect an explosive battle in the end where he/she uses the accumulation of all his knowledge gained throughout his adventure. Mega-evolutions, held items, heck, even EV-trained Pokemon. Switching when things get sketchy. Revives. I want a real rival battle.

 

[Ishra Takami]

I really like the jerk rival and how they actually posed a threat to you and your team. 2 or 3 rivals would be cool. Have them be essential to the plot. It would also be cool if they were the children of the evil team or teams leaders. Like how silvers dad was giovoni. But most importantly I want good character development.

 

[Flowerchild]

They need to come back with a rival rival and not ragtag-group-of-friends rival.

I totally agree. I never really found any of the rivals in XY at all interesting, there were just too many of them for the game to have time to focus on making any of them at all well-rounded.

I'm honestly tired of the "best friend"-esque rival. Can we go back to the ol' jerk rival in the old days? D:

That'd be really nice. However, seeing as our rivals have pretty much gotten progressively nicer since like Gen IV, I don't really see us getting a jerk rival this time around either. However, it's also possible that Game Freak will want to shake things up a bit by going back to a total jerk of a rival.

 

[MarioManH]

We fr need a rival that's actually challenging. I remember the days of good ol' Blue wiping my whole team with his starter. Sure it's hard, but it's gives us another goal to train for and also wiping you rival with one Pokemon (and heals if needed, probably not) is kind of lame. Rivals have gotten to a point where they just feel like filler.

 

[pkmin3033]

I'd like more than one rival again, but I'd like there to be more than one character archetype amongst them, and I'd like them to be properly developed. If they're not going to give multiple rivals the attention they deserve, then they need to go back to doing just one and having him or her be a complete prick that you genuinely want to pound into the ground multiple times. I liked the group dynamic Kalos' rivals had, but I didn't like the characters themselves - I never got to know them because I hardly ever saw them, and none of them were particularly...well, rival-esque. I'd like to see that change in Sun and Moon, to evoke the feelings the rivals from the first two generations prompted.