>>46111719N is used somewhat sparingly in BW1, even though he wasn’t that strong he was as interesting as an NPC as one could get in a Pokémon game even in my later playthroughs, though the uncommonness of his battles and monologues were made moot by how Bianca, Cheren and every gym leader also took a bunch of opportunities to spill their life story when possible.
I get that I signed up for an RPG narrative between characters when it comes to Pokémon, shit even Gen 1 wasn’t completely free of railroading you to a certain order when I played blue version, but I’d like the ability to turn left or right every once in while once the NPCs are finished these days
