[Sword & Shield] Champion Leon and his younger brother, your rival Hop

[colours]

Leon loses some points with me for having his ace be a Charizard... 😒

One of my frustrations, as well. Wouldn't it make more sense for his ace to be a Gen 8 Pokemon of some sort? Like the psuedo-legend of the region? idk

 

[Benermerut]

I predict that when we beat the elite four and it's time to challenge the champion, we'll find that Hop has just defeated his brother and it's him we'll be battling instead of Leon.

 

[colours]

I predict that when we beat the elite four and it's time to challenge the champion, we'll find that Hop has just defeated his brother and it's him we'll be battling instead of Leon.

That would actually be a nice twist!! I really hope we get something like that. =o

 

[Saint Suplex]

For some reason, the instant I saw Leon, I thought that he was totally going to be evil.

 

[Percy]

leon gives me bad guy vibes. would love to have a story where the champion is evil though! hop looks friendly, not the intimidating kind.

 

[Gym Master]

To me, Hop does look friendly, but not like "a fan of the MC". Personally, I loved Hau's effervescent sweetness. But Hop seems a bit cooler, less bubbly. And sounds more focused on defeating his brother than anything about the MC. The MC standing between him and Leon seems, so far, like an obstacle he'll be more than willing to "hop" right over.

Sorry. Couldn't stop myself.

 

[moon]

leon gives me bad guy vibes. would love to have a story where the champion is evil though! hop looks friendly, not the intimidating kind.

Omg yes, what a nice twist that would be! Him turning on Hop would be a tad bit like Lusamine turning on Lillie though, but hopefully done better.

 

[Rivvon]

I was also disappointed at the Charizard "ace," but considering Leon is only the second champion who's been revealed to us before their showdown, there might be any number of twists regarding him. Hopefully it's not that he's pulling a Diantha where Charizard gets something new when it already has two Megas, but with his shirt having a sword and shield on it despite the legendaries supposedly being unknown in Galar he may have some ties with them, making one of them his aces in the end.

Potential spoilers regarding a potential leak:

Spoiler:

But if it does turn out that Gigamixmantamaxing or w/e is real and Charizard gets special forms again I won't be able to control my eyerolls

 

[Blue_Pigeon]

I'm luke-warm to Hop at the moment. I don't necessarily mind a 'friendly rival', but he needs to be more like Barry, Cheren or Hugh rather than like the XY rivals or Hau. I do like how we know what is driving him though, and it could be very interesting to see how his arc progresses. I don't need an arse for a rival, but I want one which doesn't bore me or irritate me and that makes me invested in them (and is at least somewhat challenging).

I'm open to Leon as a champion. He seems to have a much larger presence in the game then other champions (looking at you Diantha) and with Hop being your rival he can hope for him to be making regular appearances. I also really like the fact that his facial hair is different to his hair colour - gives his face more detail. I think his outfit could do a with a bit more work though. Just having a t shirt and shorts underneath a majestic cloak makes him seem more like a kid playing make-believe than an important figure.

 

[Zeiro]

Heard one of the guys on GameXplain (Ash?) say they think Leon will be a fraud and I really hope that's the case, it'll be really interesting seeing how that would play out. I've seen some spec here + other places saying he'll end up being a bad guy, but that just feels way too fresh coming out of Sun and Moon with the Aether Foundation. Being a fraud isn't something we've really seen so I hope it's that, or something else we haven't seen.
Hop looks like the typical "friendly rival" which I know I, and a lot of others. don't care for. I would much prefer him to be a jerk, but outside of Blue, Silver and Barry, the rivals haven't been that memorable anyway, so whatever. The fact he's the champions younger brother could end up being very interesting though, especially if he is a fraud after all. Regardless, I just hope they don't go down the "Hop just beat Leon and now he's the champion" route again, it's way too cliche.

 

[ShinyMilotic1993]

I'm hoping that Leon has some type of cool motive for being champion other than 'becoming the strongest'😉, like having some type of dark past or something interesting. And Hop looks like he'll be full of energy and spunk, so maybe he'll become another Pokemon League Champion before you get there, like most Pokemon games go, which I hope not since its so unoriginal! I really agree with you on the looks of Leon though😍!

 

[hotsushi-kun]

I am hoping Sword and Shield would have an sequel where it takes place 25 years where Hop became a champion of his own and complete replacement for Gym by the newer generations.

Sword and Shield 2 would be brilliant game that is sequel to the SWSH first Gen 8 game!!!

 

[RachelTheIvysaur]

I personally am not hoping for Leon being evil or fraudulent. It would be something different for sure, but it would also be too easy I feel. Hop has already endeared himself to me with his expressions and official artwork. I hope both of these bros are cool competitive battlers that have an interesting dynamic.

 

[Treecko]

Really hoping Hop isn't another Hau character-wise. The last several rivals have been really boring and nothing interesting about their character stood out to me. I really think they could expand on the "trying to become champion like brother" arc a lot more than him just trying to beat the league before you. Maybe a darker backstory or motive as to why he wants to become champion. Maybe he wants to be champsion out of spite or jealousy cause he always felt inferior to Leon. I just want a rival with a more in-depth backstory for why they want to always challenge you. There was nothing interesting about Hau at all that made me really want to beat his ass.

 

[colours]

I feel like every generation there's always some people that hold on the faint hope that the rival would either be a dick or give more "motivation" (so to speak) for the player to defeat them. And every generation, we've been getting more or less friendly rivals, but still friendly rivals nonetheless. I don't expect Hop to be drastically any different than any of the rivals that we've seen so far. Maybe a mix of Hau and say... Hugh. Or maybe a mix of Barry and Hau. But idk, I'm starting to get the feeling that the asshole rival days are long gone, rip.

 

[Whim]

HOP IS CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, best character design for me until now from this generation. Leon had this evil look for me too, but the moment Charizard appeared I was like "eh... not evil at all". It's not like they would relate a so highly popular Pokémon with a game's villains.

 

[Fairy]

I never thought I'd say this but I miss "smell ya later!"

:c

 

[CF1994]

It was pointed out that Hop is suspiciously similar to Hau, as he moves just like him in one of the trailers.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ty5lUK-EM-A

It is blatant false advertising to explain that many Pokémon won't be in the games to improve animations, yet many movements and models from the 3DS games are recycled.

Someone's favorite Pokémon was omitted for this.

 

[mysticalflute]

Aww, I love Hop's design! I'm glad he's a friendly rival and not an asshole like Blue that would stop the game dead and annoy me to all hell. I just hope he's stronger than Hau was. You can be friendly and be a threat.

 

[Sheep]

I generally enjoy characters like Barry and Hau, so of course Hop would be a character I'd like. Hau will always be my favorite from this personality type though, my boyyyy

Jerky rivals are probably something GF won't do again, as to not upset parents watching their kids interact with someone who tells them to get lost or something haha. I liked Green and Silver, but can't see them returning to that.

also Leon is v cute