Simple question. Which are some of your favorite rivals in the series? I despise the Gen 6 rivals, to be honest. They're all annoying.

Mine would have to be May, I play that gen more than anything so I got used to playing against her a lot.

Silver has always been my favorite rival. He is really the only one with character development and his team is relatively good.

Furret :

I think Hugh has more character development more than any other rival, at least in my eyes.

LunarDarkness2 : I suppose that's true. I just hate his whole "ERMAGERD WHERE'S PURRLOIN" thing he screams at every.team.plasma.grunt.he.comes.across. for like almost the entire game.

And I guess I just dislike him as a rival and character in general. He never gave me that competitive vibe that some of the other rivals did.

Silver on the other hand started of as an arrogant jerk and then turned into a slightly less arrogant jerk who sort of respects you in the end. Maybe not the biggest change but it was a much better change than Hugh's and overall better scripted.

I would probably have to go with Blue followed closely by Silver. Blue had by far the largest impact of any rival on the game's experience and the overall journey. He was a big incentive for the player to keep going acting like a total douche all the time and always seeming one step ahead of you, being an actual rival in that sense. You wanted to beat him at the Pokemon League, and for all the flaws I feel the 1st gen games have now if you look at them in retrospective this was one thing I felt they really nailed. It showed that a rival doesn't have to be complex to be really good, if anything in a game like Pokemon where characters and story usually isn't very deep it can work to its advantage. His cameo in G/S/C having become much more laid back was also cool.

My second favorite is Silver, outside of the nostalgia I have playing G/S/C I felt he had a similar effect, he was someone you wanted to beat in the sense to have him actually acknowledge your strength, and even if he didn't play as big of a role as Blue did he was the most interesting character with the best character development like how he treats Pokemon and had more depth to him like with his relations to Team Rocket and Giovanni. Suprisingly deep for a franchise that's otherwise pretty lighthearted (outside of generation 5 maybe anyway).

Those were in my opinion the only really good examples.

For the generation 5 rivals, none of them felt like they were rivals. There's Hugh but he wasn't that interesting of a character on his own and was mostly interesting because of his backstory with trying to help his sister which didn't make him a rival in the traditional sense because he wasn't trying to conqeur the Pokemon League, and the whole arc has a bit of anticlimactic finish as well even if I won't spoil it in part due to how they never go much into it. Even if I felt the idea behind a story like that could be cool.

Cheren and Bianca I found complimented the overall story of the first games well and does seem to send a good message to kids but neither were really that interesting on their own. There was one or two interesting moments like Bianca's conflict with her father but that is resolved and outside of that there isn't really much going on. Cheren really didn't feel like the competetive rival he should be either since he didn't seem that hard and wasn't someone you particularly cared about acknowledging you.

Seeing them grow up in BW2 was nice but you don't really see them much there either besides when you first meet them.

I feel like the other rivals (3 and 6) didn't actually feel that much like actual rivals or threats most were closer to the opposite feeling like they're always one step behind you (which is something gamefreak seems to have adapted with later games). Couple that with them not really having much depth to them, lke the generation 6 rivals feeling generic and bland and just plain unforgettable with not that much thought to them. And may May/Brendan just kind of being there (Wally is a little unique but he's never expanded upon that much nor does he feel like a threat either) and I feel like these were the weakest not only in a literal sense but also as characters because they didn't have personality really.

Barry is probably the only one that feels like somewhat of a challenge outside of Silver and Blue but that kind of falls short with his standout features being how obnoxious and loud he is. You don't want your rival to be someone you actually dread talking to just because he's annoying.

Zlinqx :

I thought it was a good thing they actually gave Barry a personality, and I actually enjoyed talking to him. And seeing as the head of the Battle Tower in Sinnoh is his father just makes him more enjoyable.

LunarDarkness2 : Well unless I missed something his personality really seem to be just him being obnoxious, annoying and complaining about time which at least in DPP where he's also supposed to be a close friend of yours doesn't really seem to work that well. The head of the Battle Tower being his father is cool but isn't something actually add much depth to Barry himself or make him feel more enjoyable to me.

I like blue more because I knew him more than silver. Blue I came to like with the battles that I had with him. I would have silver as second place because he was also a great rival to beat. They were not always easy beat in a way. Sometimes they would surprise you. That was if you first played against them. But as time goes on and you repeat playing the game you'll know what lv they are at net and when they pop out to face you again.

Silver by far, he's the only one that's caused a slight issue for me (when I was younger). All the other ones sort of have "weaker" Pokemon in my opinion.

I think Silver is one of the best rivals,Because he usually has a standardized team and I mostly can't beat him.He is weird because he Stalked Prof.Elm.Little weird...

Let's be honest here...
Gary is among the biggest jerks in gaming... who never really learns
Brendan and May are made out to be bigshots, but are probably the easiest rivals I've fought.
I'm not sure if Trevor, Shauna, and Tierno even fall into this category...
Calem/Serena was just bland and ANNOYING! I hate them!
All rivals tend to find moments to surprise you, but out of all of them Barry came at the WORST TIMES for me.
Hugh......... what Furret said...
Cheren and Bianca felt like actual friends rather than rivals, which isn't really a problem objectively speaking...
But Silver was a brilliant blend of multiple rival troupes. A major self-righteous jerk, someone who actually overtime develops as a character, eventually considering you a match and possibly a superior, even the most annoying embodiment of pure evil in scripted event history Point is, he felt real. All other rivals had to push themselves in your face to be rivals, but this guy just happens to be another trainer you happen to keep running into. There's a clear difference between "Hey! You lived in the same town as me! Let's be RIVALS! " And someone who you feel only became your rival after the second time you fought him and you want to beat.

Oh and there's also the guy who keeps chasing Suicune but only happens to catch up when you already scared it off. Talk about unlucky, no wonder he tries to beat you up.

My favorite Rival in the Pokemon series that is a hard one but i have always hated how hey always chose the opposite type. My favorite rival of the series would have to be blue because he makes himself sound like a bad boy. He always tells you to smell ya later like nothing but behind that fact he always acts like Gary in the anime. He is the soul reason why i fell in love with the games the Anime and of course the books everybody has their own opinion of the most of us when we were kids who made the series keep going as rivals kept coming and coming. This series was my childhood and i still play it today because of how the first rival was.

LunarDarkness2 : I have an honest question, and if you would respond I would appreciate that, but why isn't Wally on here? He is a rival character, 

but given my choices I'll have to choose Hugh from Black & White 2, he just seemed so interesting to me, it might have been the Purrloin back story they gave him, or just how he has a crush on Cynthia, but I just related the most to him

latias900 :

I forgot to put Wally in the choices. Derp. Sorry about that.

Silver is awesome. Unlike Blue, who's obsesses on being the Pokemon Champion, he at least has a dark story and defines what a rival should be. It's not like I think all rivals should have a dark past and become mean to the protagonist. I think they should have a unique story, while not being a dork to the protagonists. It could be either your best friend, or somebody who's a brute. I'm not the one who likes predicting the aspects of the rivals, for sure.

I don't have a favorite rival in particular, but If I had to choose, It'll probably be gary. I didn't expect someone like him to become the kanto leauge champion. Left alone, defeat lance.