>>38056224The rival being a dick is meant to push you to want to be better than them. The newer rivals don't really do that when they laugh off you beating them for the 10th time in a row and the encounters with them just become hollow and forgettable.
The only friendly rivals that made me feel like I had any actual connection with them were Cheren, because you can actually see him learning throughout the course of the game and using those tactics in battle like starting matches with fast moves and using Berries, and Wally in ORAS because, he basically reverses the dick rival role onto you at the end and vows to beat you with his amazing team he got out of nowhere. Wally loses points though for disappearing for half the game.
Special mention to Bianca who has terrible AI, and I'm not sure if its intended to match her character, but it works.
