What happened to the respectable rivals?t

[matsuda's being stupid again]

Honestly, ever since Cassie vanished, we have just had a stream of crap trying to pass for "rivals". Gary may have been a jackassn but at least he was kind of likeable. Of course we also had Richie, who was Ash 2.0, and the best rival, imo. In johto there was still gary, and we also met Cassie, the Electabuzz baseball teams biggest fan. But after Cassie, everything fell apart. Ash didnt even have a legitimate rival for the entire advance arc. In hoenn, he met morrison and that guy with the puss-in-boots meowth, who only existed for a few episodes. May had drew, one of the few respectable characters to have been introd in hoenn. Unfortunately she also had harley, probably the gayest character to exist in the pokemon universe. Now we're in sinnoh, with ash vs. Paul. Paul is just a douchier version of gary, possibly supposed to be a purple haired version of the g/s rival. Dawns rivals include zoey, who is clearly a man, kenny, and that creepy gabite girl. So writers, can we please get a respectable rival soon?

 

[RTHookers]

Yep. Garry was a badass insulting Ash and all. Gary would also catch an legendary Pokemon and not let it rot until Ash runs like it's his own life to a Pokecenter
Since the Beedrill episode Casey vanished, Richie also disappeared. Ricke was a better ash. I mean, your Pikachu is complete hax, how the hell he learned a move not in his generation? POKESAV!

 

[Jorah]

Paul isn't much like Gary o.O Gary bullied/teased Ash, drove around in a car with cheerleaders and had a huge ego o.O Paul is much more reserved, keeping himself to himself most of the time, and has a problem with Ash's training style and insults him for it o.O Paul just wants more powerful Pokemon and (I think) to be stronger than his brother. So yeah, basically Paul = Silver. What's wrong with that? Too bad Gary didn't appear more in Johto before he battled Ash at the league.

In DP, there's also Barry, and if the Saikou Everyday opening is anything to go by, Nando and Conway could also be rivals at the Sinnoh league. What's wrong with Zoey and Ursula? You may not like them, but they seem to be good enough rivals o.O Especially Ursula, she's probably the most interesting of Dawn's rivals. Nando's also a rival of Dawn's.

Cassie didn't even count as a rival, she only appeared in 1 or 2 episodes and not even at the Johto league o.O

 

[matsuda's being stupid again]

well, ursulas a crazy lil mofo. her entire "rivalry" is based off of jealousy, and thats not even a worthwhile cause to pursue. nando is a fair point towards rivals, and i like zoey as a trainer. i just wish she wasnt a pre-op -_-'''.... which one is conway again? and barry the spaz doesnt help the case of non-respectable rivals....

 

[Guy]

I'm probably gonna start by saying that Cassie and her Meganium were probably less of a rival that Paul and Gary were. She was more of an encountered friend they met along the way, but I don't think she was much of Ash's rival in the show. Comparing Gary and Paul together though, you also get two different people. While both guys deemed Ash to be in a lower standard than them, Gary still grew respect to his Pokémon and Ash at the end. Paul has yet to change in character, but you're right he does mirror the rival in the GSC & HG/SS series, Silver.

Dawn's rivals are probably the best in the newer arc thus far. With Zoey and Kenny, they at least show Dawn respect throughout all contests, but they also challenge her like rivals should. Though, I view Kenny more as a rival seeing he and Dawn go back since childhood. As for Ursula, like said she just comes out through jealousy and wanting to be better than Dawn (pretty much like Jesse, except she wants to be better than all for stardom). Nando though, I respect the most because he gives it his all as a rival (for both Ash and dawn), but he also helps in the most graceful of ways; then again, that is his character.

That's pretty much my sum up of the characters for the DP Arc. Though, in my opinion, no one really tops Gary and Drew as two of the best Anime rivals.

 

[dudeazombie]

gary wasn't a douce, just young, now paul... him and the red haird A-hole are close... but... i'm not sure.... i mean... all the red haired guy did was talk, AKA, it was just a text box but... i sensed he was an A-hole before i even battled him in bellsprout tow- wait no... it started when i said "hi" while he was looking at the lab and then felco pwnched me like 3 feet back.... ya, red haired guy wins the A-hole contest

 

[mynightmare]

Gary was cocky because his grandfather is Prof. Oak and then realized that he was a douche after the Johto League and then changed his ways. Paul is the exact opposite of Ash, which makes him the perfect rival for him. As for Drew, he started out as a rival and ended up turning into more of a friend. And Harley, he's just gay. :/

 

[PearlShipper4Life]

I like Paul a lot, I think his rivalry with Ash is awesome.
Well better developed than Ash/Gary was.
There polar oppisots, its makes for intresting rivalry.
Paul has gotten Ash way more ticked off for inside issues not making fun of him the way Gary did.
I love Barry too, his personality and hyperactiveness cracks me up, mashing him and Ash together in a rivaly is the best.
I don't care for Dawn's rivals though, Kenny is the Invisable kid. Nando has become the Where's Waldo character of the show.
Zoey, well she's the only well developed rival of Dawn's dispite being boring. I forget that new rival of Dawn, but she's kind of cool, she reminds me of Harley in a way. Wish they'd had her in place of the Invisable kid, we might have add more spice for Dawn's character arc. Conway for Ash rival is no sense at all, he seemed more intrested in Dawn. Guess they wanted to throw us a loop on him, still I liked him so its nice to see him some more. He did say he considered Ash his enemy so maybe that was a hint to us, I don't know.