Favorite and Least Favorite Rival?

@AceTrainerBasil It's fine to want a different experience from Pokémon, its characters and its narrative, but when the core mechanic of the game is based around competitive battling, do you really think it will be conducive to a laid back, friendly socialising experience with the games characters?

It sounds like you want some kind of Pokémon dating sim. I am not saying that derisively.

Criticism is not hatred. Fans, people who love something, tend to be its harshest critics. Not because they hate it, but because they want to see it develop, improve and grow. They want it to be the best it can be.

Just accepting things as they are might be easier and keep you content for the moment, but in time the issues will wear on you, the cracks will show, and you will see and start to wish you had had something better.

That is not to say outright, perpetual negativity does you any favours either. Discourse on the internet is inclined to hyperbole and dichotomies. Everything is either the worst thing ever or the best. No nuance. No middle ground.

Of course, constant negativity or even outright hatred all the time is going to wear on you too.

You need balance. Recognise what is good and savour it. And seek to build and improve on that where you can. But do not shy away from criticising things that could be better, things that have fallen short or outright missteps in your favourite franchises. That is when you don't have to compromise and pretend that they are great. That is when they have the potential to actually become great.

For me it might be a little easier to accept Pokémon as it is cos I already got Gen 1 and 2 - the perfect gen duo with almost endless possibilities, where most of my favorite pokemon are already present.

I know exactly how a fan is a harshest critic, I know that from being Mewtwo and Alakazam fan, I know the feel of disappointment. My problem, which I, sorry, didn't specify, is that community seems to want Pokémon become something else sometimes. Here we discuss rivals - ok, fine, in Gen 2 we got a real rival, not a friend. But iutside of this discussion, just like I said, read any tweet or watch any podcast - people want Pokémon to be more like Zelda, more like whatever other franchise they like. Like, ok, maybe here talking about rivals it's reasonable, but sometimes "fans' say such big and foreign criticism you question wether they chose the right franchise.

As for rivals, I think there's slight misunderstanding here in the community. Blue is often regarded as an OG "jerk rival". In reality he's actually a friend. He just that type of friend who can't show affection. Blue brags about 40 kinds in his Pokédex, but everything else he does is completely friendly. Friendly rivals existed in Pokémom from the very beginning!

Second, life is not an endless battle. You can't be rivals with everyone. Pokémon needs characters like Arven, who's mostly a friend. And helping a friend is a much better motivation than "one day I'll kick your <upper leg muscles>".

Pokemon games are pretty long, as you may have noticed. If you play it like I do, which means do some EV training, breed for as good IVs as possible before Destiny Knot and high rank raids are available, explore all the areas, do daily item collecting, than you can't finish a Pokémon game on one breath. You can't feel energised and motivated this whole time, you need to find slow and steady approach.

And, finally, Pokémon is not focused on rivalry. According to its lore pokemon battles are acts of friendship and only appear violent, while in fact they somehow aren't. In every Pokémom game there's some point at which some NPC tells you how love and care is the most important thing, and only caring about strong pokemon and winning matches means you're a bad trainer. Those are not my words!

@AceTrainerBasil @D-ManBlue It is fine to want and enjoy things other than battle and rivalry from Pokémon. I never said there weren't other aspects. I said battling is the series' core mechanic.

What can you really do with the Pokémon you catch (through battle, might I point out, since they don't want to make Legends Arceus' catching mechanic a series staple) other than stick them in the box? I don't think picnics or camps were ever developed enough to carry a game. You wouldn't do that for 30+ hours.

Likewise your relationships with other characters are going to be shaped and revolve around this system. Heck, the entire Pokémon world seems to be obsessed almost exclusively with it. Rivalry with friends seems the natural way to depict any friendship, and show how it develops through the game's systems and mechanics.

What else can you do with the game's systems? Have your friends come up and tell you how that you are a good friend and they enjoy your friendship, while you A button through their dialogue?

Again, I am not saying this is the only aspect of the games or your relationships with human characters. Gamefreak could even develop upon this and add new systems to the game to facilitate it. But the games as they are now do not.

Almost all of them! Every time he appears he gives some useful info. It's clear he cares about you.

1. On Route 22 he warns you that going further would be a waste of time cos they won't let you in with no badges. Yeah, it's not THAT friendly, but definitely not something an enemy or a jerk would do.

2. In Cerulean City he tells you about Bill. Like, come one, what do you expect feinds to do, kiss on the lips?! Blue genuinely shares with you, old friend, what excites h - Bill the pokémaniac. All that Silver did, for example, was saying how he hates weak and how battling you was a waste of time.

3. In Pokémon tower I don't recall what exactly he tells you, I believe it was about Cubones. He said, like, I've been looking for Cubones here but found none, so don't waste your time here if you want one. Imagine how helpful that was when kids didn't have internet to check encounters.

4. ... nah, I only remember 3.

Blue is one of those friends who do care about you, but keep it cool, not being overly affectional. He talks in a teasing or sometimes even intimidating manner, but, again, unlike Silver, he means no harm. I mean, Silver wasn't your enemy either, but that guy wasn't a friend, while Blue clearly is a friend.