So when are we going to get an ACTUAL rival again? Like, a figure who actually stands in your way as an adversary with opposing ideals rather than just a childhood friend who shows up every once in a while to say “i think i’ve gotten a lot stronger, let’s battle!!!!!” and then “wow i guess i really need to improve!!!!!” after you kick their ass. Blue and Silver were awesome, I really hated their guts and wanted to beat them into the ground. But everyone after that was just boring. Cheren was so close, he was SO CLOSE. I expected him to get bitter over not being able to beat you and stabbing you in the back or something. But instead they just drop his entire inadequacy complex towards you completely and he’s your best pal again. And even if the old rivals weren’t that great characters at their core, at least you had some sort of feeling towards them. Yeah, it was animosity. But the boring FRIENDS TILL THE END chucklefucks they give us just bore the shit out of me and nobody cares about them at all unless they’re a hot girl character for porn. How hard would it be just to create a total edgy asshole and pit him against you? Is that so hard?