On the development of 'rivals' and complex character networking in the Pokemon series said:
One argument I'll never understand from '90s series Pokemon lovers is that the OS did a superior job in creating dynamic relationships between the characters. I understand they're probably referring to the original trio — Ash, Brock, and Misty, which undoubtedly was one of most wonderfully executed main casts of the whole series.
But, as Pokemon carries on through the generations, there is one thing that the writers are consistently getting better at doing: creating rivalries and integrating these relationships to create complex networks of characters that all interact with one another.
Gary was the original rival of the Pokemon series, and he's revered as one of the fandom's (if not the whole Internet's) favorite antagonists. I mean, the guy has his own meme.
His teasing of Ash will forever be one of the series' most loved running gags ("Gary was here! Ash is a loser!"), but there's an end to the awesomeness: His relationship is limited to Ash throughout the OS. He barely interacts with Misty or Brock. It's Ash and Gary, and that's it.
Ash's secondary OS rival, Ritchie, also fails to engage with characters outside of Ash. There's a scene in EP079 in which Misty gets upset when Jessie, under the guise of Ritchie's voice, calls her a "big mouth," but there's not much beyond that.
AG started to break the limited role of rivals. For starters, May is the first of Ash's companions to receive her own rival: Drew.
Drew actually breaks out of a lot of the former limitations of the rival archetype. Not only is he the first rival of a Pokegirl, he's also the first rival to, on multiple occasions, actively interact with other characters. In fact, Drew's battle with Ash in AG050 marks the first time a rival battles a main character who isn't their rival.
Interestingly, Drew also develops relationships with May's other rivals: namely, Harley. This did not happen at all in the OS. Did Ritchie and Gary even appear on the same screen together? Much less the same episode?
AG goes further. May's rivals all know and interact with one another. Drew and Harley have several major confrontations over May. Solidad defeated Drew in his first contest. Harley and Solidad are old friends.
That's a network.
The deal was sealed by DP077, when the three appeared together in the same room, watching May compete in the Wallace Cup.
Drew apparently started a trend, too, because each of the subsequent series have been getting better and better at integrating its rivalries and creating a web of relationships among the cast.
Literally most of the DP cast is connected to one another in some form. Dawn, Kenny, Zoey, Nando, Barry, Conway, Ash, and Paul are all in the same network of trainers — and half don't even belong to the same trainer class. This happens because Dawn, Ash, and their respective rivals cross class networks to interact with one another.
Barry and Kenny are best friends. Zoey and Paul get into a spat in DP128. Conway is Dawn's partner in the Hearthorme Tag Battles. Nando is especially interesting, because he's both a coordinator and a trainer, and his major battles are pit against Zoey and Ash.
Moreover, Paul, as Ash's second major rival, also gets more opportunities to interact with Ash's companions than Gary did. He has a brief conversation with Brock in DP100. With Dawn, there's the famous volcanic eruption in DP016, and then their talk in DP186.
The DP series also introduces some cross-generational interaction with rivals. When Misty returned during AG, she didn't have the opportunity to meet, much less hear of any of May's contest opponents. It's a different story when May returns in DP; she forms a friendship with Zoey, Dawn's main rival, and gets to battle her in the Wallace Cup.
In fact, perhaps the only "limited" rivalry in DP is between Dawn and Ursula. But even Ursula gets to battle outside of this relationship, defeating and forming a second rivalry with Jessilina/Jessie in DP114.
Then came BW.
Initially, it seemed the series would lose its complex webbing of character relationships with the loss of contests. That notion was squashed with the introduction of Don George Tournaments, which are basically cesspools of character interaction.
However, rather than relying on backstories to connect characters — Kenny and Dawn being childhood friends, or having Zoey defeat Kenny at the Jubilife Contest off-screen in a DP026 flashback — there's a stronger focus on the here and now and the actions that occur in the present.
Also, for the first time, all three characters in the main cast have a rival. Iris has Georgia, Cilan has Burgundy, and Ash has Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and Virgil. Five. That tops Ash's four DP rivals.
However, the big difference between networks in DP and BW is that there are a ton of battles in the latter. Battles everywhere and with everyone; it doesn't matter who your rival is. It's like Ash versus Drew every single tournament. We've seen Cilan versus Trip, Ash versus Georgia, Iris versus Burgundy, Trip versus Bianca, Stephan versus Iris, the list goes on.
The interaction extends beyond the battlefield, too. Georgia and Burgundy are usually hanging out on the sidelines together, Stephan gets to "judge" a connoisseur showdown between Burgundy and Cilan, Bianca (the flirt) literally feels up Stephan's muscles in BW071 and gives Virgil ice cream in BW105, and Cilan, Cameron, Ash, and Stephan go to the sauna several times throughout the Unova league.
Cross-generational interaction also happens again when Dawn returns for the Junior World Cup and meets Burgundy.
The trend from rivalries being totally closed-off between two people in the OS to being more of a free-for-all in BW is an interesting one. It's made the series, in my opinion, more enjoyable. The OS certainly has complex, dynamic relationships on a one-on-one level; however, the intersectionality of characters and their rivals in later generations is what builds regional casts with active and compelling relationships.
That's change, for the better.
