>>58616757>>58617137And yeah, the other protagonists of Special don't all do the gyms, but at least they actually do shit. At leadt they have their own individual goals and interests. At least they actually feel like individuals and not soulless husks who are only interested in helping another person who treats them like shit. Someone like Ruby, for example, doing contests is a great example of how it doesn't have to be gyms as long as they're doing literally anything at all that justifies why I'm reading about them.
Diamond and Pearl as characters are, in a way, pretty much beyond my limits of believability when it comes to feeling like real people, despite some of the exaggerated jobs/hobbies many other Special protags have. I don't understand how someone could have so little individual curiosity or sense of self so as to never push themselves in any way to do things for their own reasons or out of their own interests, and instead just be completely content with being someone else's lackeys. They don't even seem interested in their own Pokemon at all even when they just get handed new ones. I'd even kinda argue it's out of character that neither one considers doing the contests, AKA performing with Pokemon on stage for a prize, when their stupid manzai routine that serves as their literal introduction involves them performing with Pokemon on a stage for a prize. Wouldn't that be a way to get themselves out there? The manzai interest itself seems to just be a way to ensure they'll never possibly overshadow Platinum, because they have zero interest in Pokemon and so will never actually want to participate in Pokemon-related activities in any way except if forced into it by outside circumstances (Platinum and Team Galactic).
It's worse that they're supposedly the protagonists because it means we have to see them doing nothing for nearly every chapter. At least in many other Special arcs the focus is split and you're not seeing all the main characters all the time
