Are there other characters you think would have made interesting Champions in the games?

Lance/Blue, Steven/Wallace, Cynthia, Alder/Iris, Diantha, Kukui (and your player character), and Leon are all cool, but has anyone thought about what it would be like if another character from that generation was champion instead? Which character do you think would've made for an interesting champion?

I've been thinking about how cool it would be if Winona was the Hoenn champion; her design is beautiful and it would be really interesting to get a flying-type champ with how unappreciated that type seems to be sometimes. She's so elegant and gives me a similar vibe to characters like Diantha and Cynthia. She'd probably be easier to beat than those with more effective types like Steven, but it's nonetheless something I like to think about.

Thought of a different Flying-type trainer: Kahili (in Alola). Completed the Island Challenge before. Makes sense. Served as an Elite Four member, at least.

Another idea: one of your parents. Only ever sees one parent, except for in Hoenn. Is the player always raised by a single parent otherwise? Could all be a journey about getting your other parent's attention or using what they taught you, depending on the narrative.

Good question! I have a few candidates I want to mention:

Indigo League (Kanto/Johto): Well... I'll admit I still think Koga would be an interesting Champion, because he is supposed to represent the more "traditional" and "authentic" aspects of the region, and his emphasis on gimmicks rather than his signature type would make for a fun fight. Of course, that depends on how you define "traditional" and "authentic" - because, in my point of view, he represents an idealized-to-the-point-of-bastardization version of the tradition that engulfs both regions, and that alone, along with the fact he takes his vision completely seriously, makes him (and his daughter Janine) inauthentic. That said, he'd be ideal as a gray or outright villainous Champion - someone who is corrupted by his own narrow-minded vision of the world over time and usurps the position from whoever is holding it at the time.

Bonus Indigo League: I just remembered that going by the events of Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Gladion spent at least a month away training in Kanto and came back with a much more powerful team to challenge the player character as Champion of Alola. I'm not gonna lie, the thought of him having become the new Champion of the Indigo League has crossed my mind more than once. Given that the ending of the Ultra games gives both him and Lillie much fairer fates than the original Sun/Moon, I actually want to see that happen now. As sad as it would make me to see him separated from his sister and from the player character, I don't want the guy cooped up managing Aether Foundation; I want to see him out and about and eventually becoming a world-famous Trainer!

Sinnoh: Playing Let's Go Pikachu and seeing the similarities between Barry and Trace makes me think that having us fight Barry as Champion would have been much more interesting than fighting Cynthia. Of course, I acknowledge that Cynthia is one of the most powerful Champions in the series, but... I never really vibed with her, and even less so after learning about her lineage in PLA. Barry, on the other hand, is one of my favourite rivals on account of his having actual character development, and I believe that him getting serious and making his way to the position of Champion would have been a perfect conclusion. Heck, I would love it if a future game showed us a grown-up version of Barry as the Sinnoh Champion - a powerful Trainer, but still the same dork he always was, and much more like his father Palmer than we were allowed to see in the Sinnoh games.

Kalos: As much as I like Diantha as a character (a Champion who does her own thing and doesn't follow you around for like half the game, yay!), it was rather obvious that she was looking to retire from her position so she could devote herself fully to acting. If a third version/reimagining/sequel of the Kalos games had been a thing, I would have liked either Korrina or Trevor to be the Champion. Korrina applies more to the idea of a sequel; she already has the connection to Mega Evolution as well as the competitive-but-still-friendly attitude, and only needs to adjust her team a bit so that it isn't beaten so easily. Trevor applies more to the third version idea; I know that his goal aligns more with being a Professor, but it would have been interesting if his applying his knowledge to Pokemon battling eventually led to him being the last opponent the player character faces. We've never had a genuinely nerdy Champion (sorry Steven), and Trevor would have perfect in that role.

I'll also answer the question in reverse and say that, after seeing him in both the Johto games and LGPE, Lance would be much better suited to the position of Blackthorn Gym Leader than Champion. When you meet him in G/S/C, he doesn't even mention his title, and in HG/SS he even helps you fight Team Rocket before you even find out he's the standing Champion! It's clear he just likes to help for the sake of it regardless of what position he's in, and I believe he'd be much happier if he could do so without having to shoulder such an important position as that of Champion. Of course, there's also the possibility he left home to become such a powerful Trainer simply because he couldn't stand being around his a**hat cousin, but, you know... it's only a matter of time before she gets herself removed from the position of Gym Leader for her bad manners and lava pools, and the Gym's gonna need a replacement. That's the Tohjonian way - the Champion ends up running a Gym, and who would be better for that task than Lance?

Literally anyone would have made a better Champion than Leon. I would have liked to have seen Marnie take the position if only because it would have given Team Yell a little more significance. Having her an exasperated Champion with a hoodlum fan club might have been more amusing than what we got.

Obviously the mandatory 6 Magikarp trainer deserves to be a champion!

I would have liked to have fought AZ in Kalos, though not necesarily as a Champion.
Mustard gives off Champion vibes, but iirc he is a former one. Guess I would've liked seeing his team when he was at his prime.

Molayne maybe? scrawny and unimpressive looking, and then ends up being the champion. Would've been a surprise at the very least.

Honestly, I think Paul from the anime would have made for a good Champion. The stoic, unreadable type, ya know?

But realistically we all know Whitney would be best Champion. :p

Vielleroue said:

Indigo League (Kanto/Johto): Well... I'll admit I still think Koga would be an interesting Champion, because he is supposed to represent the more "traditional" and "authentic" aspects of the region, and his emphasis on gimmicks rather than his signature type would make for a fun fight. Of course, that depends on how you define "traditional" and "authentic" - because, in my point of view, he represents an idealized-to-the-point-of-bastardization version of the tradition that engulfs both regions, and that alone, along with the fact he takes his vision completely seriously, makes him (and his daughter Janine) inauthentic. That said, he'd be ideal as a gray or outright villainous Champion - someone who is corrupted by his own narrow-minded vision of the world over time and usurps the position from whoever is holding it at the time.

Click to expand...

This is really interesting! Koga definitely gives me an experienced, knowledgable trainer vibe and I think he would've been an awesome choice if we didn't have Lance. I believe he was also part of Team Rocket and a villain (or seemed like one?) in the Adventures manga, and finding a hidden villainous side to him when he's the Champion would have made for an interesting plot point. Would have loved to have Janine involved in some way too. (b' ')b

I think the SwSh plot could have been enhanced by like, Leon retires and then Hop becomes champion and loses immediately (to MC).

I think it would help with his arc since he'd 1) complete his goal, 2) still not measure up to his brother (who retired without a single defeat) and 3) realize that his victory was ultimately not that fun since it wasn't something he was particularly interested in doing.

As for the other games, I think a Platinum version in which Volkner does rise to the rank of E4 / Champion (and somebody else takes up his gym, could even be an ex-E4 member that was "kicked out" to make room for him) would be an interesting little change from DP. It would be a bit samey back then because Emerald did more or less the same thing, but they did set up Volkner wanting to leave the gym to face the E4.

I also think that Hilbert / Hilda would have been fun champions to face in BW2 (or maybe in the postgame as a Red-like encounter), since part of the game's themes was "growth", I feel the final confrontation being against (what's meta-textually) yourself would be neat.

Fairy said:

Honestly, I think Paul from the anime would have made for a good Champion. The stoic, unreadable type, ya know?

Click to expand...

Or Tobias. Say "screw it", have the Champ be some dude with no backstory wielding 6 legendaries like its no thing!

Devalue said:

Another idea: one of your parents. Only ever sees one parent, except for in Hoenn. Is the player always raised by a single parent otherwise? Could all be a journey about getting your other parent's attention or using what they taught you, depending on the narrative.

Click to expand...

Specifically: "Mom". Johanna in Sinnoh as a contest star was cool, but then they're just shelved the "parents have lives too" angle.

Shooting Star said:

I think the SwSh plot could have been enhanced by like, Leon retires and then Hop becomes champion and loses immediately (to MC).

I think it would help with his arc since he'd 1) complete his goal, 2) still not measure up to his brother (who retired without a single defeat) and 3) realize that his victory was ultimately not that fun since it wasn't something he was particularly interested in doing.

Click to expand...

This is pretty good, but I was pleasantly surprised by the whole "rival befriends a legendary" angle. Also if you play Sword I find it thematically appropriate that Zacian is battling all the time for the champ, whilst Hop takes Zamazenta and aside from occasional rematches with you just chills.

Shooting Star said:

I also think that Hilbert / Hilda would have been fun champions to face in BW2 (or maybe in the postgame as a Red-like encounter), since part of the game's themes was "growth", I feel the final confrontation being against (what's meta-textually) yourself would be neat.

Click to expand...

Yeah I definitely think they should have had a reappearance. I guess as the second sequels they were conscious not to mimic Gen II too much though. Unlike Red, I think their gender should either be dependent on the version or your gender (with the opportunity to match your BW character if you use Memory Link). Rather than Champion I'd like it if they reappeared once you have your dragon so you could have the two halves of the dragon face off again.

I always thought it would be cool if Wally's arc went a step further and he actually became Champion, perhaps as a post-game challenge with a strengthened E4 (although in RSE there is basically nowhere post-game to level up, hence Steven being so tough).

I by and large like all the Champions in the series but have thought of replacements for them sometimes with their teams:

Kanto - Sabrina.
- We are told in-game that Sabrina is a Powerful trainer who easily defeated the Fighting Gym. She has Psychic Powers of her own too that give her an aura. Also Psychic was broken in Gen 1 with no real counters.
- Team - Venomoth, Hypno, Exeggcutor, Mr Mime, two Alakazams

Johto - Koga
- A Gym Leader to Champion would be fun and Koga strikes me as the sort of trainer who would confuse and outhink his opponent. There are a lot of Poison types in Johto and this would give him a lot of Team options
- Team - Venomoth, Forretress, Weezing, Venusaur, Arbok, Crobat

Hoenn - Flannery
- I really like the two Champions Hoenn had but Flannery's Grandfather was in the Elite Four so she could go one better. Her awkward but competitive personality could make for a fun champion.
- Team - Magcargo, Camerupt, Drought Ninetales, Arcanine, Torkoal, (Mega) Blaziken

Sinnoh - Cynthia
- Cynthia is arguably the most iconic Champion.

Unova - Marshal
- I like both Champions of Unova but think Marshal could have been an interesting choice for BW2 Champion. He is the Apprentice of Alder and surpassing him to become Champion could be a fun story. Fighting is also a very strong type in Gen 5.
Team - Sawk, Throh, Lucario, Heracross, Mienshao, Conkeldurr (Emboar is an option for his team too)

Kalos - Korrina
- I love seeing Gardevoir on a Champions team but I am not a fan of Diantha. Korrina is the Successor and gets a bit of backstory in XY and is an easy choice for alternative Champion here.
- Team - Hawlucha, Machamp, Mienshao, Blaziken, Chesnaught, Mega Lucario

Alola - Kahili
- As mentioned by earlier posters a flying type Champion could be fun.

Galar - Hop
- This would work more for a third version but your friend defeating his brother to become Champion before facing you would be fun I think.
- Team - Hop's Team in the game + maybe Zacian/Zamazenta

Zinnia from Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the crazy Draconid girl that is the main character of the post-game story involving Rayquaza, in my opinion, would definitely be a great Pokémon League champion. She had the personality, the strength, and facing her would have definitely been more of a challenge if you weren't allowed to use Mega Rayquaza during her final battle against her. In addition, she had an awesome theme would sound great in the background during her champion battle.

A few:

Wally would have made a great Blue/Hau style rival champion. Perhaps he could have been the champion in Emerald as opposed to Wallace.

Korrina could have made a great Kalos champion in a potential Z version, especially considering her association with Mega evolution.

Anyone would be good to replace Diantha. She literally did nothing the entire game. But, I honestly can't think of who would have worked more since almost all of the X/Y characters are incredibly forgettable as a whole.

But, I think some of the Alola Elite Four that were repeats should be replaced by some other characters. Like, wasn't fond of them using mostly characters we already knew. I know this is a new Elite Four, but did we really need two of the Elite Four being Island Kahunas? Maybe Ryuki could have been an interesting champion, though, in US/UM (I don't know if you can battle him in title defense, forgive me).