6th Gen Rivals, Rivals, Rivals

[TLOEric]

I hate Tierno.... every time that guy showed up I was trying to run. Or kill myself.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

So much hate for the rivals...they may have been push overs when compared to Blue, and Pearl...but still...they weren't that bad.

 

[TheGr8]

To me the rivals were okay, I mean they weren't my favorite rivals ever, but I still wish you could name them. I feel like that adds so much uniqueness to everyones run throughs. My favorite one from X and Y is prob Serena, she's the main rival and I enjoyed each of the encounters with her throughout the story!

 

[Gigginold]

I didn't really like the rivals this time around. Tierno and Trevor went off to do their own things. Trevor would have been a great idea to focus heavy on the Pokedex but there's no real benefit to it.

Personally, I feel they could have done a lot more with Serena. It would be more satisfying if she was more receptive to her defeats, instead of "gosh darn I'm not a fan of losing to you".

To be honest, though. None of them are that great. They don't impose the will to get better against them like Blue, they don't have the feeling of wanting to see them redeem themselves as Silver, they don't have the inspirational story like Wally, they don't have the amount of energy that Barry has, they don't have the more complex story aspects that Bianca and Cheren had, and they don't have the kind of inspiring character like Hugh has.

They're probably my least favorite rivals.

 

[Doppelgänger1]

I really liked the rivals in this game. I liked how each had their own personality, and how we all started our journey together. It was fun to meet up with them at certain spots. They may not really fit the term "rival" though. They were too friendly, but still I liked them. Favorites were Serena and Shauna. I enjoyed them all though.

 

[Juno]

I felt like Calem/Serena were the only real rivals of the game, the others were just kind of travelling companions that occasionally challenged you to a pathetic one-sided battle. And by that, I don't mean Calem/Serena were particularly challenging opponents either, but they at least pretended they had a shot. I mean, I get that we're all good buddies, but these are just some of the most weak-willed competitors ever. "Oh! I lost again. Wow, [Nickname], you're just too strong!"

I don't mind that they suck at battling, but I really did not like their characters. Especially Tierno. Words cannot express how much I hate his stupid dancing Pokemon shtick, made me cringe every time he started talking. It was already getting old by the second encounter, I can't believe they really made an entire character that contributed nothing except lame dialogue about dancing Pokemon. He was a completely unnecessary character, even out of an entire group of unnecessary characters.

I guess their characters do reflect their supposed age more, since we're all supposed to be ten, right? Some of the past rivals seemed way too mature and badass for their age.

 

[Loner_grunger]

I think my favorite rival was actually Trevor. he wasnt just like the rest of the rivasl that just wants to battle and thats it, he wanted to have a different kind of battle.
Personally, I think the best rival so far has been Silver, he has so much deepness in his story, motives and change.

 

[Trainer Galza]

Its kind of a shame that the only rival that actually was a "legit" rival was the main one opposite your gender (calem/serena) .. and really was the only one that I kind of felt a sort of attachment to.. like seriously, I started feeling bad crushing their hopes and dreams every time they decided to fight me.. which hasn't really been a thing for me in previous games.. and I think it's because they developed that rival in such a way that you understood what victory meant to them. It wasn't just Gary talking trash and being a jerk to you.. you know?

the rest.. well, they're just a waste of resources sadly.. Trevor and Tierno both pretty much have nothing "unique" going for them.. no signature pokemon.. no real development.. they don't contribute to the over all story. You could easily remove them from the entire game and still have the same journey.. which in short, means they failed completely.. and Shauna's impact is pretty much less impressive than it could of been, being she spends most of the time just being a third wheel while you and your rival team up and get work done. She's slightly less dumb that Bianca was, but only JUST slightly.

I mean, its nice they added in these other rival guys, but seriously.. make them worth something!

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I wish Gf had taken the time to flesh out the four rivals more, sort of like how they did with Cheren and Bianca in BW, given them more purpose and having them find out who they really are/ what they want to be.
I felt like they could've mentioned Trevor's reasons for wanting to fill up the Pokedex outside of his home in Lumiose (in one of the houses you find his aunt(?) and sister. The sister mentions that he proably wants to fill up the dex partially due to his parents traveling around the world.)

 

[Dude492]

I'm sorry but i hardly liked any of the Rivals, I thought the point of the Rivals was to challenge us, yet i swept through them>:), I get that people enjoy the challenge of more than 1 or 2 rivals but i find it annoying that i could defeat them so easily-_-, I'm sorry but that's my opinion

 

[DanteSolablood]

For me I'd say there is only one real rival & that's Callum/Serena, the rest are there for story purposes, which I found really refreshing. I was just finding the whole annoying jerk rival set-up increasingly annoying because you pretty much got the exact same character over & over again but with different hair, clothes, teeth etc... a bit like The Doctor if he travelled through time and space JUST TO GIVE YOU A DEAD ARM EVERY WEDNESDAY.

Tierno was pretty forgetable & was playing the Dawn role in the game... representing people who prefer to do the side missions like the old pokémon grooming competitions (oh lord I miss R/B/S) and plays. While he doesn't get in the way, I think they could have made much more use of him if the game's story was only a bit longer. As it is, he's pretty pointless.

Trever again could have been completely missing & it wouldn't have made any difference, but he was there for pokédex completists. He's meant to represent people who arn't into battle so much as catching them all.

Shauna is just adorable! I can understand why people can find her annoying because she's deliberately a bit ditzy and a little odd, but that's why i find her charming... plus those little moments where she wants to make memories are great in my opinion.. that's what pokémon is about, the bits which you'll remember forever. Think she should wear longer shorts though. I'm an old man, I don't need to see that much. :P

My biggest gripe is how easy the whole game was, I think I only lost one battle during the whole game.. and that was because I can NEVER remember that Gyarados is a Dragon type. Lol, I'm in an Elite 4 battle slapping Gyarados with grass attacks, I really deserved to lose. :D

Surely they could make it so the rival always have the same level pokémon as you? Or even better, he could copy your team which would make the battles more about skill.

 

[Gardevoir the Dragon Slayer]

Yeah the rival where a bit underpowered to say the least.

Tierno: No I don't want to see your latest "Dance".

Trever: To say doing the Pokedex is his life he's not very good at it.

Shauna: The little Stalker, but at the same time kind of likable (I like how it means all the 3 starters get used rather than one being doomed to sit in in its pokeball on the professor's desk for the rest of time) at least she actually offers some help (solving puzzles) in defeating team Flare rather than just standing there doing nothing yet taking all the credit.

Callum: Mr Empty threat claims he will wipe the floor with you, gets bulldozed everytime and never learns from it. He's like Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf war promises the mother of all battles, yet when his tanks meet the enemy they all getdestroyed with out the loss of any UK/US tanks.

 

[Princess Diana]

For me I'd say there is only one real rival & that's Callum/Serena, the rest are there for story purposes, which I found really refreshing. I was just finding the whole annoying jerk rival set-up increasingly annoying because you pretty much got the exact same character over & over again but with different hair, clothes, teeth etc... a bit like The Doctor if he travelled through time and space JUST TO GIVE YOU A DEAD ARM EVERY WEDNESDAY.

D'ya think? Pretty much none of them contributed anything to the story. It's not like your rival in B2/W2

 

[fireflystorm]

I don't know -- I didn't really mind the whole 'several-rival' set up. I thought it was a little more realistic because, you know, friends. I wouldn't start a Pokemon adventure without my friends, and they'd be challenging me to different random stuff all the time.

That being said, I thought maybe their personalities were a little lacking. Shauna was cute, but I wish there had been a little more to her. Like, more conversation about why she likes you so much and such. Trevor was "shy and smart" and those were his only two traits. Tierno... gosh, honestly, he was just "I LIKE DANCING" the whole game and didn't have much to him at all.

I do like Callum/Serena in the sense of always trying their best to get the upper hand (without being a jerk), but they really didn't present much challenge. I started with Chespin, but battling Serena was a piece of cake with my Charizard/Talonflame combo on top of the rest of my team. Further, the thing that really irritated me was her constant lament of losing. It made me feel bad for demolishing her, but not really, because she kept whining. I understand that it was probably there to force character development (as later on she decides she doesn't mind losing and wants to use it to grow as a trainer), but it really got old fast. At least she was consistent in supporting you, though.

All in all I like the direction GameFreak was trying to take and I can't wait to see more in the future; I hope they'll keep improving.

 

[DaBomb137]

Honestly, I adored Shauna. She almost made me wish that Pokemon had romances -_-. But it was also because I liked her so much that I had trouble defeating her (I didn't wanna make her sad).