>>15485260Cheren and Bianca are probably my favorites, battling with Barry for the top. I dunno, it felt like they sorta shoe-horned in the WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS FOREVERRR trope, with the three I mentioned you got a good idea that hey, you've known these nerds since they were kids. You know their personality, how they react to things, and you see them go through good develop. Fuck when Barry got his ass handed to him by Platinum, that hurt me in the soul.
I felt like... none of the rivals had a general idea of what they really wanted to be, if that makes sense. They don't have arcs.
Barry is hyperactive, thinks highly of himself, thinks he's a GREAT trainer (to be fair he is, he blasts through the gyms same rate as you), finally gets his ass handed to him when he bites off way more than he can chew, actually puts effort into his teams, studies, levels out.
Shauna... has a friend crisis for some reason? Serena gets steadily more passive aggressive? It all felt very tacked on. I feel like a little bit longer and they could've given us something really grand.
