You know, I'm team "I don't think Blue was that much of an asshole, he just treated you like you two were childhood friends in a competitive way."
Silver was an asshole though, there's no getting around that. Straight up abused pokemon.
That said, I'm still down for the more present rivals/friends, see Bianca and Cheren, where they're actually around and don't just show up like "I came as soon as I heard [evil team] was here, but it looks like you got it, MC!" Or the ones that don't know anything about them. For some reason that's stressful for me to read. "I've been hearing something about this evil group I just watched you fight 20 feet away and waited until you were done to come talk to you, but I don't know anything about it, and I'm going to stay out of it."/"I thought I heard about evil team being here, but I guess they're gone?"
For once I'd like rivals with sense.