>>42390566I give Hop about a 7. He is the best rival of SWSH, as the other two rivals (especially Marnie) don't have much of a role in the game. Hop is the most fleshed out character in the game due to both his inferiority complex with his brother and his desire to be a great trainer on his own standing. Hop dealt with an existential crisis halfway through the game when he becomes increasingly discouraged that you quickly and easily surpass him despite starting out at the exact same time as him, and that he isn't good enough to measure up to his brother. Hop said it best that it wasn't the fact that he lost that bothered him, but that he is making his own brother (who endorsed him) look bad by losing so easily.
Hop is too analytical and methodological for his own good. He kept trying to perfect his ball throws, his team composition, and the types of strategies he would use in battles. Hop was too unsure of himself. Leon even stated throughout the game that the fact that Hop is too obsessed with being perfect was stopping him from being the trainer he would be. Hop got by because he used the Pokemon that he liked best. In the end, Hop even earned a Legendary Pokemon because of his kind nature and desire to become stronger.
The best aspect of Hop's character is that he actually goes out of his way to change his team. He doesn't just use his original 5 or 6. This shows that Hop is actually doing what he is claiming to do and going to the Wild Area to catch Pokemon, as a few of the species Hop uses at certain points of the game cannot be obtained without going to the Wild Area first.
Hop is the Bianca story done right in my opinion. Somebody who knows he can't be the strongest but refuses to give in and acts true to himself. Seeing Hop finally get the recognition he craved from his brother at the end of the postgame was one of the best parts of the story.
