>>56740295The battle under the cycling bridge will always be an iconic early game moment for me, it's not that hard as an adult but as a stupid kid you're probably going to get your shit rocked atleast once. The Hoenn rival does feel more like a friend you occasionally bump into (to the point it's almost more romantic than rivalry), but I feel like that moment shows that the rival has competitive spirit and skill, it's just by beating them you fucking knock it out them. To the point where when you beat them for the third time at lilycove you put the nail in the coffin and they basically just give up return home and decide to focus on the catching side instead, but the dialogue was written so bubbly I have no idea if I'm reading into it too much, but by that same metric it feels like trying to save face. Their plotline feels unresolved in that degree, they're basically just a side character from that point on. It would've made more sense if it was the rival instead of Wally at the end.
