>>55837215It's likely a case from actual character polling, and Japan maybe. For instance in the Alolan poll Acerola was one place behind Selena being the 4th most popular character. In the Masters poll for Sinnoh trainers, Barry wasn't even in the top, with Cyrus getting a spot. And then pic rel shows Wally higher than Barry by 10% though not a really big difference in contrast to other characters.
Art is a decent metric but not always the most accurate, especially porn. Its possible Wally likely didn't get much art until ORAS where his character was better depicted. Plus Barry gets the anime bonus, while Wally doesn't.
My personal take, Wally just has more character than Barry (At least in the games) as he develops into a capable trainer from being a meek boy. Ultimately though, to circle back to the OP it's really strange that Barry didn't get an ancestor while Wally did though. Being the main rival, he totally should have. Unless you want to be one of those who believe it's Volo.
