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I always thought the original Rival was a dick as a mini “fuck you” to Shigeru Miyamoto, (seeing as his original name was Shigeru, in fact, you can even select that name canonically under the drop-down menu when Oak asks for his name) because Tajiri was doing the equivalent of most kids where they name their rival after that one kid they hate in their school, or literally name him “asshole”.
At least this has been my head canon since 1999.
Anyway yeah- Kieran was a good step in the middle, in my opinion. Nemona wasn’t bad either even though she’s not a dick, she at least isn’t pathetic like the other friendly rivals.
