List of Pokémon rivals
These rivals, who can range from antagonistic to friendly, serve as significant challenges for the player, sometimes culminating in a final confrontation.
The concept of rivals in the Pokémon series has garnered both praise and criticism for its different implementations throughout the franchise.
Rivals are recurring characters in the games, often acting as roadblocks for the player due to their heightened difficulty compared to usual NPC Trainer battles.
A counterpart to Blue, named Gary Oak, known in Japan as Shigeru Okido (オーキド・シゲル), appears in the Pokémon anime, where he serves as a rival to series protagonist Ash Ketchum.
He later reappears in Pokémon Journeys: The Series, acting as a recurring character who appears as part of "Project Mew."
After a defeat at the hands of Lance, the Champion of Johto, Silver begins to reconsider his style of battling, and matures as a character following this.
Cheren is a young man who seeks to grow strong and rise to the top, while Bianca is on her journey for similar reasons.
Cheren, via Alder, realizes strength is not all there is, while Bianca decides to become a Pokémon researcher after becoming independent of her overprotective father.
Both reappear in the games' sequels, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, where Cheren acts as a Gym Leader[10] and Bianca as an aide to Professor Aurea Juniper.
N, full name Natural Harmonia Gropius, is a rival character introduced in Pokémon Black and White.
He acts as the "King" and Leader of Team Plasma, and reawakens the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram or Zekrom, depending on the player's version, to assist with his goals.
He later reappears in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, saving the player character of that game from being killed by Ghetsis.
After Ghetsis's defeat, he can be found in the ruins of his castle, where he will challenge the player to a final battle with his Legendary Pokémon.
Prior to the events of the game, his sister's Purrloin was stolen by Team Plasma, and so seeks to get it back from them.
He holds a strong prejudice against them as a result, which slowly lessens as he discovers not every member of Team Plasma was truly villainous.
[21] Hop is the younger brother of Champion of Galar Leon, who appears in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
He at first aspires to be as strong as Leon, seeking to become Champion, but after consistent defeats from both the player and Bede, he chooses to become a Pokémon Professor.
She is the younger sister of Gym Leader Piers, who has enlisted Team Yell to cheer on Marnie in her goal to become Champion.
Marnie acts as a rival to the player throughout the game, eventually settling it in a final battle, after which she takes over from Piers as a Gym Leader.
Klara and Avery are a pair of rivals who appear in the Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC The Isle of Armor.
Both act with rudeness towards the player and attempt to cheat to defeat them, but both eventually become Gym Leaders, as is revealed in The Crown Tundra.
After Mabosstiff is brutally injured, Arven seeks the Herba Mystica to restore his Pokémon to health.
[31] She appears in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, where she is the main focus of the "Starfall Street" storyline, where she apparently works with the mysterious Cassiopeia, and aids the player in defeating Team Star.
[32] Carmine and Kieran are a pair of siblings who appear in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's DLC, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.
Kieran starts out as a kind, albeit shy boy at first, who has a strong liking towards the Legendary Pokémon Ogerpon due to growing up on legends about it.
He later joins them on an expedition to Area Zero alongside Carmine, where he captures Terapagos in an attempt to grow stronger.
According to series director Junichi Masuda, the shift from this attitude to a more friendly one was due to greater freedom with the hardware as games developed, as well as a general distaste by the public to that kind of character.
[4] Blue's goals of becoming the strongest trainer and his significant challenge as a roadblock also helped highlight this, as it allowed the player to grow prouder upon defeating him while also echoing the franchise's core themes.
[9] The lack of difficulty also contributed to the "kinder" rivals being met with a less positive critical response, with the battles with Brendan and May in the Hoenn-based games and the rivals of Pokémon X and Y being highlighted as forgettable due to the lack of challenge,[25] though Hop's battling inexperience was highlighted for its ability to aid in the development of his character throughout the plot of Sword and Shield.
