>>52436671Gen 9 and its not even close.
>a pokemon league champion who beat the elite 4 and champion before you did... TWICE>a guy you beat titans with an actually brutal backstory for a pokemon game (dude has to learn his parents are dead, then watch them die again for him)>the leader of team star who could easily go toe-to-toe with the school directorThey're all really strong trainers in their own right. None of them are pushovers.
The last 3 gens' rivals have all been waaay weaker story-wise. Like wtf did Shauna or Hop do? Any of Gen 9's rivals could beat the shit outta all of them.
Least favorite is Gen 6's. All of them are gimmicky as fuck and don't do anything. I don't even remember half of their names.