While they're marred by a lot of technical issues, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet got many things right. One of the biggest was their new open-world format, allowing Pokemon to feel like a true adventure through a strange, magical world. Players could take any route they wished through the region of Paldea, and thanks to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's new multiplayer system, several friends could come along for the ride. All of this was supported by freeform progression that allows players to tackle tasks from three storylines in any order they please. Freedom is the name of the game, and it turned out to be something Pokemon has needed for a long time.
Thankfully, the right parts of Scarlet and Violet received polish to make the results compelling. In particular, the narrative has proven to be one of the strongest Pokemon plots that players have seen in years, with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story differences helping to make each game a bit more unique. The three storylines, as well as the surprising amount of optional content at the Academy, are all bolstered by strong character writing and a compelling set of friends for the player. Each of the three main recurring characters is tied to one of Paldea's story paths, and Game Freak may have chanced upon a winning formula for rivals going forward.
A History of Pokemon Rivals in Pokemon Games
Out of all the recurring Pokemon archetypes, the rival has seen the most change. Many look back upon the first two generations' rivals fondly, as they are by far the most antagonistic. The original, now often called Blue, even achieved the player's goal before them, serving as one of the best Pokemon Champions and the final boss. Since then, there's been a lot of experimentation with different rival setups, and one of the earliest involved introducing multiple rivals.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were the first, if understated, instances of this. Whichever of Brendan or May the player did not choose occasionally fought the player, but it became evident that their heart wasn’t in it. In their place, an early-game trainer named Wally appears with a strong team at the end of Pokemon's iconic Victory Road as the final rival fight. It was meant to surprise veteran fans, though that also meant it couldn’t be repeated.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl went back to the traditional single rival, but Pokemon Black and White arguably were the first to expand to three. Bianca and Cheren were the friendly rivals that players had come to expect, but there was also N. This mysterious young man was deeply tied to Black and White’s narrative, and had a leadership role in the villainous Team Plasma. This mixed role made him much more interesting than the other two, and his additional screen time helped. Pokemon X and Y went too far with their four friendly rivals competing for attention while offering little to the plot, but this failure was another step towards Game Freak nailing down its rival group formula.
Pokemon May Have Settled On a Rival Template
The idea recent Pokemon generations have settled on is that a group of rivals can provide the recurring boss fights that have become Pokemon tradition, while also filling out different roles in the story. The now-standard friendly rival can be offset by other characters with considerably different goals and dispositions. Despite Pokemon Sun and Moon's differences, Hau is the plain friend, and Gladion serves as both a Team Skull Admin and an unfriendly rival in both games.
These traits are further divided between Sword and Shield’s Hop, Bede, and Marnie, with just enough personality for all three to function in the story. Judging by the most recent games, rival trios seem to be a sweet spot for modern Pokemon's more ambitious storytelling, though Sword and Shield’s Chairman Rose made this fall flat.
Marnie didn't change much across her adventure, even though she became ever more impressed by the main character's skills and eventually befriended them. Meanwhile, Bede, the intended mean rival, only got a bit of screen time before reappearing as a changed person in the endgame. Finally, there was Hop, another friendly rival with a ludicrous number of fights compared to his fellows, and his obsession with becoming a Champion means that Hop could have shined in Scarlet and Violet. It's not hard to see how Scarlet and Violet outdid Sword and Shield's rivals, though, and it has lots of finer details that should inform how future competition is written.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Should Inspire Future Games’ Rivals
Every rival trainer in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is designed to complement the story path they appear in. Nemona is a Champion rank trainer, and she is designed to be a standard competitive rival, much like Hop. Her obsession with battles propelled her through the Pokemon League faster than her peers but also left her lonely despite her extroverted nature. That's why she fights the player several times, as she wants to ensure they’re ready to fight her with her full strength.
Meanwhile, Arven is a somewhat cold young man who grew up with absentee parents, but is trying to save his lifelong Pokemon friend at any cost. Finally, Penny wants to disband the mildly-threatening Team Star, but her history with bullying and complicated relationship with the Team has left her unable to defuse the situation without the player's help. Every rival serves a different story purpose with regard to both the traditions of Pokemon and how they relate to their surroundings. The themes explored among the three are sufficiently different and relatable to make them a strong group that the player enjoys spending time with.
Many players' biggest complaint is that the full set of friends don't spend enough screen time together, with them only uniting after their respective story paths are done. If Pokemon Generation 10 sticks with having three narrative paths, then it should keep tailor-made rivals for them as well. There only needs to be a little more crossover between them to keep the focus on a path’s main character while still developing the three rivals as the player’s mutual friends. Hopefully, the success found in Scarlet and Violet’s core cast will lead to more compelling competitors down the line.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on the Nintendo Switch.
