Rival
- For the Elite Four Champion in Pokémon Stadium, see Blue (game).
- For the Japanese opening theme, see The Rivals.
A Rival (Japanese: ライバル Rival) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation I games, and is a recurring opponent to the player throughout the game. It specifically refers to Blue and Silver. However, there are Pokémon Trainers who may not be formally described as rivals, but have characteristics reminiscent of those of Blue and Silver. These Trainers are the following: Brendan or May, depending on the player's gender, as well as Wally, in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; and Barry in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Lucas and Dawn (whichever the player is not) are sometimes said to be rivals; however, they never actually battle against the player.
Typically, rivals will be met by the player early in the game, usually around the time the player receives their starter Pokémon. In most games, the rival will also obtain a starter Pokémon, and will usually participate in the player's first Pokémon battle against a trainer. From then on, rivals will appear frequently throughout the player's journey, always being one step ahead of the player as the player moves through the region, meeting and battling the player at various points in the game with a progressively stronger and diversified party. Usually they must be defeated in order to continue the game; the most important of these battles happening either right before or during the player's challenge to the Elite Four. After the defeat of the Elite Four and the Pokémon Champion, the rival can usually be battled at the player's leisure, but only at certain times with increasingly powerful Pokémon.
More often than not, they will have the starter Pokémon of their home region that weakens the one the player chose at the beginning of the game. The exceptions are Wally, who instead uses Ralts as his starter, either Lucas or Dawn, of whom one uses the starter Pokémon that is actually weak to the player's choice to complement how Barry picks the starter the player is weak to, either Ethan or Lyra, who do not have any shown Pokémon other than a Marill; however, Lyra's anime counterpart has a Chikorita, and it is never directly stated that they do not have a Johto starter Pokémon and Bel, who in Gen 5, chooses the starter weak to the player's. Since they are not rivals in the traditional sense, they are referred to as pseudo-rivals. Most of them use a variety of Pokémon for the remainder of their teams. The Pokémon Yellow Version of Blue starts with an Eevee, and should the player's Pikachu lose the first battle in the lab, he will evolve it into a Vaporeon, thus giving the player the advantage.
Images
Main Rivals
Pseudo Rivals
| Region | Johto | Hoenn | Sinnoh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | HG | SS | R | S | E | D | P | Pt | |
| Male | Name | Ethan | Brendan | Lucas | |||||
| Sprite | File:HGSS Ethan.png | File:Brendan.png | 
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File:Koki.png | File:Lucasplatinum.png | ||||
| Female | Name | Lyra | May | Dawn | |||||
| Sprite | File:HGSS Lyra.png | 
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File:Dawnplatinum.png | ||||
In the anime
Various rivals for the main characters have also appeared in the anime. Rivals in this sense refers to major recurring characters, as all of the main characters have had a "rival" who only appears in a single or few episodes that they eventually make up with. Examples include Morrison or Harrison, while the major rivals are listed below.
- Ash Ketchum has had Gary Oak while Paul and Barry are currently his rivals. Both Nando and Conway may qualify, as seen in Suzuran Conference, where they both battled, and lost to, Ash. Many other characters also collect badges and may be counted as rivals in the future.
- May has had both Drew and Harley. Solidad may also qualify, as the two battled in Kanto Grand Festival and Solidad was seen with Drew and Harley watching May in the Wallace Cup on television.
- Dawn has Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, and Jessie. Nando may also qualify, though he and Dawn have yet to battle officially.
- Johanna had a childhood rival with Lila.
- Brock had a friendly (and shortlived) rivalry with Suzy.
- Jessie and James have a rivalry with Cassidy and Butch respectively.
In the manga
In Pokémon Adventures, Red's first rivalry blossomed when, just as their game counterparts did, he and Blue were each given the first two Pokédex, as well as starter Pokémon to compliment their already growing parties (somewhat unlike in the games). Red received Bulbasaur, while Blue acquired the starter that weakens his, and both times his Charmander evolved before Red's. As would become a tradition in the manga, Green, hearing of these two fellow Pallet Town trainers' big send offs on journeys, stole a Squirtle (weakened by Red's) and proved to be a somewhat irritating obstacle for Red at times, stealing two of his badges and shrewdly taking his Moon Stone for later use before using the boy as a pawn to gather the seven known badges at the time to create Zapmolcuno (now knowing at the time that it would create a three-headed bird monster, a kind which she fears above all else). She also competed in the Pokémon League after Red's excursions in the Viridian Gym against Giovanni, as well as his capture of Mewtwo. She finally faced the then-disguised Professor in the semi-finals, but after her phobia of bird Pokémon was exploited, she lost, and after Oak's forfeit, Red defeated his rival in the final match.
Yellow, who took over as the protagonist two years later, had no real rival, but as both she and Lance of the Elite Four had the psychic healing powers of Viridian Forest, he would most closely match this description.
One year later, the tradition of the rival character acquiring a starter that weakens the protagonist's would again be revisited when Silver steals his Totodile while Gold took a Cyndaquil. Once again, the rival would evolve his starter before the boy when his Totodile became a Croconaw before Gold's evolved to Quilava, but after they were horribly defeated and narrowly saved by Entei, they would fall into a coma lasting for several weeks, during which a third protagonist, Crystal, is given a Chikorita, the last remaining starter (along with the final Pokédex), and it too evolved to a Bayleef. The three then were reunited in the Whirl Islands, and evolved to the final stages simultaneously.
Years after the Masked Man's defeat, Ruby and Sapphire would be given opposite starters, but unlike before (possibly attributed to the fact that Sapphire is female), Ruby would now acquire a Mudkip and Sapphire would be given the disadvantaged Torchic. Both evolved to their final stage similarly, though again the rival of the main playable character, Ruby, would evolve hers first both times.
Ironically, the grass-type starter would again meet the fate of being partnered after its chums when it at last becomes Grovyle with Wally, and is revealed to have been smuggled into the Battle Factory after evolving to its final stage in the wild. As originally intended, it ended up with Emerald.
The protagonists for the Diamond & Pearl arc received the same type starters as the RGB seniors years before, when Diamond (based on Lucas) ended up with a Turtwig, Pearl (based on the rival character) with a Chimchar, and Platinum (based on Dawn) was given a Piplup. However, unlike the first protagonists, their starters evolved almost exactly at the same time, with Diamond and Pearl's starters evolving simultaneously both times.
Trivia
- Ash has captured a Pokémon belonging to each of his rivals. Both Gary and Ash captured Krabby, and Paul and Barry use a Gliscor, Staraptor, and Heracross respectively, matching up with Ash's current team.
- Harley is the oldest rival in the anime, being at the very least older than Brock.
- Three of Ash's rivals each seem to be a parallel to each of Ash's female companions. Misty and Gary both have a bickering relationship with Ash; May and Tyson are both known for their optimism and fondness for eating treats; Dawn and Barry both have mannerisms on capturing Pokémon of their likeness.
- Wally is the only rival to not have a sprite change in any of the games he is featured in. Silver does not receive a sprite change in HeartGold and SoulSilver, but does in Gold, Silver, and Crystal.
- May is the only female rival in the games, though she ceases to be the rival by the end of the story, preferring to work as an assistant to her father instead (Brendan does the same if the player is May).
- Although rivals typically choose their starter after the player has made his or her choice, all rivals in Pokémon Adventures choose and acquire their starter before the male player does, as Blue picked Charmander before Red receives Saur, Silver stole Totodile before Exbo joined Gold, and Sapphire was given Toro before Ruby picked Zuzu. However, in the latter's case, May actually does pick her starter before Brendan gets to start his journey.
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