New Rivals!!

Now as The Pokemon Company has announced the Pokemon Direct We are going to get New Games for Nintendo Switch. Do you think that there will be new rivals other than Hau or hau will be replaced?

I hope we do get new rivals. Hau is... pretty bland. He's always happy and such.

I need a rival akin to Gary/Silver. Those were good rivals.

Tbh, I am fine with Hau. I didn't like Blue and Silver that much because they were dicks.

L'Belle said:

Tbh, I am fine with Hau. I didn't like Blue and Silver that much because they were dicks.

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which added depth to their characters and is akin to how a real-life rival should act. Blue wasn't a dick. He was snobbish and acting high and mighty. Your defeat of him brought him down.

Home said:

which added depth to their characters and is akin to how a real-life rival should act. Blue wasn't a dick. He was snobbish and acting high and mighty. Your defeat of him brought him down.

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Just an opinion you know. He really was a dick. I am not the biggest fan of those kind of rivals.

L'Belle said:

Just an opinion you know. He really was a dick. I am not the biggest fan of those kind of rivals.

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alright then.

But can we have a consensus not to bring back Gen VI-type of rivals?

Home said:

alright then.

But can we have a consensus not to bring back Gen VI-type of rivals?

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There wasn't even that big of a problem with the characters, except that there are too much of them. 2 rivals is enough.

L'Belle said:

There wasn't even that big of a problem with the characters, except that there are too much of them. 2 rivals is enough.

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idk. imo there wasn't much of a character trait to them. they were fairly one-dimensional. That I don't like.

Home said:

idk. imo there wasn't much of a character trait to them. they were fairly one-dimensional. That I don't like.

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Probably a result of the amount of rivals. They had a lot of potential.

L'Belle said:

Probably a result of the amount of rivals. They had a lot of potential.

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That's the sad part. They had a lot of potential but then xy wasted it. Sad.

Ooh, I didn't even think of this until now! Considering how it's an alternate storyline, I'm gonna guess that we will be seeing at least one new rival. Hau was alright, but I'd prefer a more arrogant and in your face rival if we do end up getting a new one. As long as we don't get like 4+ rivals at one time, that just doesn't work..

I'd love a jerk rival like the one in gen 2 and HGSS, with an interesting backstory. Going back in time and meeting/fighting Giovanni is still one of my favorite moments in Pokemon.

I think they will replace Hau with another Rival ( i wish they are like Blue or Silver) but they will keep Hau aside like N

TBH I felt that Hau was more of a friendly character that just followed you around for a bit. I don't think he was are real rival. That position goes to Gladion as he does technically have Pokemon that are strong against you( His Silvally) but that's just me. I do think we'll get a new rival though or a variation of that rival.

Rather than make a new rival, I think they'll just make Gladion more rival-like. He already fits the part, they just need to give us some more battles with him.

Similar to how we got Hugh in Black 2 and White 2, I'm fairly sure we'll get a new rival here too. But I really want to see Gladion return too, and see Lillie have developed into a trainer!

Blue said:

Ooh, I didn't even think of this until now! Considering how it's an alternate storyline, I'm gonna guess that we will be seeing at least one new rival. Hau was alright, but I'd prefer a more arrogant and in your face rival if we do end up getting a new one. As long as we don't get like 4+ rivals at one time, that just doesn't work..

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I only played a bit of Generation VI, but I felt like I had too many rivals to keep track of. I didn't really feel connected to any of them because they just didn't get any character development. With how story-driven SuMo was, it might work... But I'd rather have just one or two rivals to really focus on, you know?

Eresse said:

I only played a bit of Generation VI, but I felt like I had too many rivals to keep track of. I didn't really feel connected to any of them because they just didn't get any character development. With how story-driven SuMo was, it might work... But I'd rather have just one or two rivals to really focus on, you know?

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That's what ruined it for the XY rivals. Right from the start there were too many which made it difficult for them to stand out. Two rivals at most is much more reasonable, I think that would work in USM.

Shouldn't that be in inverted commas? We haven't really had a rival character since...what, Generation V? I suppose you could count Hugh. Maybe.

Now, I get that you do not have to be a complete dick to be a rival to someone - although it certainly helps, given the popularity of Gary/Blue/Green/whatever he's called and Silver - but there hasn't been a sense of competition from any of these faceless NPCs they introduce as "rival" characters for years now. At best they're your friends, at worse they're just nuisances that randomly challenge you to battles every now and then. They're not competing with you. They're just off doing their own thing and occasionally getting in your way.

I doubt USUM will do anything to change that. But god do I hope never to see Gladion, Hau,or Lillie again. Or if they are in the game, put them in the game less. I don't want Lillie leading me across Alola by the hand again.

I'm probably keeping hopes for a new rival low, but if we get a new rival I would still take it. I do have a gut feeling Game Freak will make it another friendly rival which will of course disappoint those who liked the antagonistic rivals of the early generations.