>>35841574>>35841637>There was no uniqueness, he was just kid that was forced into Ash as his rival instead of making real rivals to compete with Ash. Most of Ash's rivals were either friendly ones that were around his level of strength, or serious ones that wanted to win no matter what. Ash was either as strong as or weaker than his rivals. Sawyer was the first rival that was weaker than Ash, which presented a unique relationship between them.
Friendly/Somewhat Serious Rivals Around Ash's Level - Ritchie, Morrison, Barry, Cameron
Serious Rivals Above Ash's Level that Ash Ultimately Surpasses - Gary, Harrison, Tyson, Paul, Trip, Alain
Sawyer was a serious rival (as opposed to a friendly one) that was weaker than Ash. We never had that before .
>He didn't even felt like a rival, he felt more like a sidekick.Sawyer traveled on his own except for a few instances where he traveled with Ash and co. He was never relegated to the sidekick role.
>It just make me feel even worst that Ash work so hard to reach Kalo league just so he could beat Sawyer again. Truth is, Sawyer is the example of poor rival that comes from lazy writing,True, some elements of Sawyer's development were lazily handled and had terrible writing behind them, but his character's overall purpose was well constructed and unique for his time. Also Ash worked hard to reach the Kalos League so he could win. Who he fought was irrelevant so long as he advanced far enough to win. Not that it mattered since Ash always loses.
