With a new trailer for Pokemon Sword and Shield showing off some brand new Pokemon, including Galarian Forms of Pokemon like Weezing and Zigzagoon, it's easy to miss that they weren't the only things that were revealed. A previous trailer confirmed the new rival character, Hop, who begins his journey on the same day as the players and aims to be the Champion, but he won't be the only one gunning for that title, as the trailer announced two other rival characters - Bede and Marnie.
Bede seems to be the more antagonistic of the two rivals in Pokemon Sword and Shield, given his rather smug demeanour. Described as being prideful, Bede has joined the Gym Challenge by being sponsored by none other than Rose, the chairman of the Pokemon League. His bio also states that he "seems to have other objectives as well." Are these hints to him having a more villainous goal aside from becoming Champion? Or maybe something more noble and/or sympathetic? Gladion from Sun and Moon started off as an antagonist but was later revealed to be much kinder than he appeared so maybe Bede will fill a similar role? Given his purple outfit and the fact that we see him use a Duosion in the trailer, it's possible that he'll be a user of Psychic types.
The other rival is Marnie, who also aims to become Champion with her Morpeko, one of the new Pokemon that was announced. She's apparently already quite popular in the Galar region due to "her sense of style and calm, calculated battle strategies." In fact, Pokemon Sword and Shield's villain team, Team Yell, are her adoring fan-base, though it doesn't look like she actually leads them like Guzma did with Team Skull in Sun and Moon. It seems like they act independently of her, as they'll do rather underhanded deeds in order to help her become Champion. As for what other Pokemon she could use, her black, punk rocker outfit could suggest that she uses Dark types.
The cast of Sword and Shield is gradually getting bigger and bigger with these new additions, and there are still plenty more characters we have yet to see. After all, we only know four of the most likely eight Gym Leaders that will appear, and given that each version of the game has at least one exclusive Gym Leader, it's possible that we may see more than that.
Pokemon Sword and Shield will release exclusively on the Switch on November 15th.