>>50034341Most were good/competent until Gen 6.
>Gen 2 RivalSaid to be strong throughout the game, and in GSC he only loses to the Champion and the Champion-in-the-making, and the final battle music implies that he actually is Champion level like Lance and Red. HGSS admittedly nerfed him a bit despite giving him more backstory, which was pretty much my only problem with that game, but it still implies he's strong, like him being the reason that Victory Road is empty.
>Gen 3Bait and switch with Wally, who succeeds through Victory Road. I don't think it was done well, but shows that they were going for something new at least.
>Gen 4Barry's strong, and in-game was one of the strong rivals ever. I think this was their attempt at making a "nice" Blue, what with them both making laps around the protagonist.
>Gen 5Nice balance of weak/casual and strong rivals, with Cheren and N both being stronger than the Elite Four, while Bianca's the only real jobber but they did it for contrast with Cheren. Hugh doesn't compete too much with you and treats you more as a partner in taking down Team Plasma, which is at least a unique premise for a rival.
>Gen 6Okay these guys suck.
>Gen 7Hau and Gladion had potential but it's wasted.
>Gen 8Actual jobbers. Better than Gen 6 because their stories actually take them somewhere, but in the end it's still just about losers having to accept that they're losers.
