I don't get it. Game Freak MUST know how popular Blue is. How he's unanimously considered the best rival by both casuals and hardcore fans. Why haven't they applied those lessons again since the 90s? Do they genuinely consider his design to be a one off mistake they swear to emulate again? Does the concept of a cocky, competent rival violate one of the core tenets of their internal design document or something? They must be consciously ignoring all of this feedback on purpose.