>>54903694May/Brendan are some the worst rivals in the series and Wally was a good idea handled like fucking dogshit, 3 fights TOTAL, one of which is after he's been gone for hours at the ass end of the game, isn't anywhere near enough to sell you the idea of continuous growth.
Barry is just alright and Lucas/Dawn/Rei/Hikari are boring and hardly even count as rivals.
Gen 8, despite the shitshow that was the overall plot, had genuinely solid characters, even if they weren't executed perfectly. Hau's change in demeanor and goal from beginning to end, Bede's genuine smarminess and antagonism (which Blue didn't have btw, he was a playground tease at worst), and Avery/Klara's little mini arcs of self-improvement are all some of the best the series has to offer
not a high bar, honestly, with the big sore spot being Marnie, who's a walking plank of wood that's only the most popular because she's a cute girl.
