>>50809412After this he doesn't appear again until quite far into the postgame, at Mt. Silver, where you have your penultimate battle before his fully powered up team. However, one detail many seem to miss is that after beating him at Victory Road, he can be seen training in Dragon's Den on certain days. There's no reason to go there again after getting the Rising Badge unless you missed the Dratini, but it's a neat little detail. Dragon's Den is where trainers are tested on their love, trust and knowledge on Pokémon training, and if you talk to him here he mentions not pushing his Pokémon too hard, so it is a really cool detail that adds to his character arc.
So, back to the Mt. Moon encounter. His Kadabra and Haunter are now finally evolved into Alakazam and Gengar. This shows that he has improved on one aspect of himself that he previously lacked: caring about other people. It shows that he took the time to interact with others and arrange trades so he could evolve his Pokémon into their strongest form.
And then we arrive at the League for his strongest team. This time, his Golbat has finally evolved into Crobat. He has finally achieved that last part he was missing. He has learned to love his Pokémon and treat them with compassion and respect.
This is why Silver is still the best rival, and probably will never be topped. He literally could not become the strongest version of himself because he was lacking the most important characteristics of a good Pokémon trainer, but through battling you, you show him what he is missing. He is still the determined trainer with big dreams, but he turned from an edgy thieving little shit into a kind and respectful kid, just like you.
