Summary
In everyPokemongame, the trainer is given a rival to help make their journey more challenging. Sometimesthese rivals are friends of the playeror are more of an enemy, whatever the relationship is they challenge the player to battles at certain points in everyPokemongame.
The most famous and arguably the best rival is Blue from the Kanto games, his team is stacked with well-balanced typings, and it is proven as he becomes the champion. Some of the rivals in this list don’t hold a candle to the original, as the games have continued, they have become easier and this is shown also in the trainer’s arch-rival.
Every trainer’s final team is before any post-game content.
10Nemona (Pokemon Scarlet & Violet)
The newest rival in the franchise, Nemona ofPokemon Scarlet & Violetcontinues the trend of a friendly rival as she helps the player along their journey.In terms of her team, it isn’t the best when it comes to balance, with 3 of her final team weak to Fighting type Pokemon.
She has the starter which is weak to the one that the player picks, which means more than likely the player will have a Pokemon that can beat Nemona’s strongest. In the olderPokemongames, the rival uses a starter that is strong against the one the player picks, which makes the game more of a challenge. Nonetheless, Nemona still has a decent squad with Goodra being tough to take down and Pawmot which can pack a punch.
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Double Shock/Close Combat/Ice Punch/Quick Attack
None
Quaquaval (If the player chose Sprigatito) Meowscarda (If the player chose Fuecoco) Skeledirge (If the player chose Quaxly)
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Water/Fighting Grass/Dark Fire/Ghost
Torrent Overgrow Blaze
Aqua Step/Brick Break/Aerial Ace/Ice Spinner Flower Trick/Thunder Punch/Shadow Claw/Play Rough Torch Song/Earth Power/Shadow Ball/Snarl
9Hop (Pokemon Sword & Shield)
Hop pops up throughout the game, much to the player’s annoyance, and he develops a fairly decent team as the game progresses. He is the only rival in the game to actually use a Legendary Pokemon, which gives him a few points.
However, there are a few weak points on his team, Dubwool being the main reason, Hop’s sheep starter is weak to Fighting types with no cover for them. His second Pokemon Snorlax is also weak to the physical Pokemon so it should be a clean sweep with a solid Fighting Pokemon. With the final form of the starter that is weak against the one the player picks, the battle is just a breeze, there are no challenges in thePokemongames anymore.
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Steel Wing/Drill Peck/Swagger/Light Screen
Inteleon (If the player chose Grookey) Rillaboom (If the player chose Scorbunny) Cinderace (If the player chose Sobble)
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Water Grass Fire
Snipe Shot/Sucker Punch/Ice Beam/Dark Pulse Drum Beating/Slam/Knock Off/High Horsepower Gunk Shot/Iron Head/Pyro Ball/Zen Headbutt
Zamazenta (If the player is playing Pokemon Sword Zacian (If the player is playing Pokemon Shield)
Rusted Shield Rusted Sword
8Wally (Pokemon Ruby/Omega Ruby, Sapphire/Alpha Sapphire, & Emerald)
Wally, the sickly kid that the player helps to become a Pokemon trainer throughout the generation 3 gamesis a rival to the player,despite only battling him twice.
The player faces Wally just before exiting Victory Road with his team of five Pokemon which has some strong additions, but it is no match for Brendan or May. Depending on which version, the originals or the remakes, Wally’s ace is a Gardevoir or a Gallade which is his biggest threat. Altaria has a 4x weakness to Ice moves and Delcatty is a weak Pokemon, this battle should be a breeze.
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Galladite
7Hau (Pokemon Sun & Moon & Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon)
Hau’s team in the originalPokemon Sun & Moonfeatures a starter that the player’s chosen starter is weak to, which makes this battle a piece of cake. Although this is countered with the use of an Eeveelution which is strong against the starter, with some clever switching this will be no problem.
In the sequels,Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, his team receives an upgrade with the addition of a Noivern and Tauros replacing the less than battle-ready Komala. Without his improved team, Hau would be much lower down this list.
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Thunderbolt/Quick Attack/Psychic/Focus Blast
Flareon (if the player chose Rowlet) Vaporeon (if the player chose Litten) Leafeon (if the player chose Popplio)
Fire Water Grass
Flash Fire Water Absorb Leaf Guard
Flare Blitz/Quick Attack/Charm/Baby-Doll Eyes Hydro Pump/Quick Attack/Charm/Baby-Doll Eyes Leaf Blade/Quick Attack/Charm/Baby-Doll Eyes
Close Combat/Ice Hammer/Stone Edge/Brutal Swing
Primarina (if the player chose Rowlet) Decidueye (if the player chose Litten) Incineroar (if the player chose Popplio)
Power-Up Punch/Ice Hammer/Stone Edge/Dizzy Punch
Primarium Z Decidium Z Incinium Z
6Cheren (Pokemon Black & White)
This is where things get easy, Cheren has just four Pokemon at his disposal, one is an Unfezant, a Flying-type which has a lot of weaknesses. His starter is the one which is strong to the trainer’s starter which gives him the edge over his rival counterpart.
Although he does use an Elemental Monkey, which is weak the same type as the chosen starter and the moveset is less than appealing with Lick, Leer, and Fury Swipes being frankly awful moves at this stage in the game. In the games' sequelsBlack 2 & White 2,Cherengoes on to become a Gym Leader,and it is a real surprise with his choice of team here.
Razor Wind/Detect/Air Slash/Taunt
Scope Lens
Simisage (if the player chose Snivy) Simisear (if the player chose Tepig) Simipour (if the player chose Oshawott)
Assurance/Night Slash/Slash/Taunt
Sitrus Berry
Emboar (if the player chose Snivy) Samurott (if the player chose Tepig) Serperior (if the player chose Oshawott)
Leftovers
5Bianca (Pokemon Black & White)
Just like Cheren, Bianca is a rival in Generation 5 and her team is even weaker than her friend’s as she has the starter which is weak to the player’s chosen one, although her Elemental Monkey is stronger than it. With the right switching, this battle will be over before it starts, especially with the Monkey’s poor moveset.
She uses a Normal-type in her case this is Stoutland which has access to some decent moves such as Work Up and Retaliate, but Normal Pokemon are some of the weakest and can be taken out with Fighting moves easily.
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Work Up/Crunch/Roar/Retaliate
Simisear (if the player chose Snivy) Simipour (if the player chose Tepig) Simisage (if the player chose Oshawott)
Defense Curl/Psybeam/Lucky Chant/Hypnosis
Samurott (if the player chose Snivy) Serperior (if the player chose Tepig) Emboar (if the player chose Oshawott)
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4Bede (Pokemon Sword & Shield)
Bede’s team, on paper, does not look that bad but the player must take into account that all of his Pokemon arenot only all Fairy-type, but three of them are Psychic/Fairy meaning they are all weak to the exact same typing.
The player can easily plan to take on Bede, simply by taking a squad comprised of Poison, Ghost, and Steel Pokemon. Bede is the only rival in the entire franchise which specializes in one type and this is to his own detriment, placing him low down on this list.
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3Shauna (Pokemon X & Y)
The rivals ofX&Yare the worst in the games, Shauna is the best of a bad bunch, in the final battle with her she has just three Pokemon for the player to beat. Goodra is a great Pokemon and it should be a challenge with Dragon-type’s limited weaknesses.
She has the starter who is weak to the players and Delcatty to make up her squad, they all have a decent move to use but at this stage in the game, it should be easily beaten by the player. Why did GameFreak decide to have the rival pick the Pokemon that is weak to the chosen one of the players? It just makes the games less of a challenge.
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Dragon Pulse/Sludge Wave/Body Slam/Earthquake
Greninja (if the player chose Chespin Chesnaught (if the player chose Fennekin) Delphox (if the player chose Froakie)
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2Trevor (Pokemon X & Y)
Trevor has three decent Pokemon here, Raichu has its uses in battle and it can be tricky with Nuzzle at its disposal. Aerodactyl is a great Pokemon with Supersonic to annoy the player with confusion, and Florges which makes use of the then-new Fairy-type.
However, the fact he has just three Pokemon against the player’s team of six makes the battle easy, with a Ground-type, Water-type, and a Poison-type this battle could be an onslaught. The way Trevor sets up his teams, with a team of six he may be way higher up this list.
1Tierno (Pokemon X & Y)
Last but least is the weakest rival in all of Pokemon and it is no other than Tierno, with a squad of three, just like his fellowX&Yrivals.His lead is a Talonflamewhich is 4x weak to Rock, a strong rocky Pokemon, and Talonflame won’t have a chance.
Roserade is up next and shockingly only has one move, Petal Dance, it doesn’t even take advantage of its part Poison-type with a STAB move. Crawdaunt is a solid Pokemon, but it has a lot of weaknesses, and it has to do a lot of carrying here. Not one of Tierno’s Pokemon has a full moveset, absolutely pathetic and the battle isn’t even worth the trainer’s time.
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