>>57995722Yes, Champion Magenta will recognize you (the player) when they meet at the Pokémon League, but it's intended that the Player not immediately recognize their Rival until it's subtly revealed through dialogue- and then explicitly after the battle. And no, the trauma from losing their Sneasel (decided to un-evolve the Weavile making it to where they never got to use the Razor Claw on it, and ended up finding a Hisuian Sneasel to use it on instead) is what spurs them on to change their type specialty and get stronger, but then the Player goes missing because of the 10 year time travel, and without the losses to the player constantly holding them back- they're able to excel and achieve their status as Gym Leader- but upon hearing that they've "returned", that prompts them to relinquish their Gym to their Disciple & become the Champion before the Player has a chance to.
And yes, time changes a lot of things-
