>>54112260It needs an antagonist, but Pokemon doesn't want to commit to a 'real' antagonist. Nor does it want to just present the adversity of being a trainer as being the antagonist of the story because the games themselves are relatively easy. Everything is extremely accommodating for 10 year olds wandering the landscape by themselves.
The rival is the closest thing aside from the gangs as being an antagonistic force but they've dulled the rival game after game until we're one step away from them just outright training your pokemon for you. So without the token loud, annoying team, what's left? The Gym leaders?
