Did you think Virgil was an interesting character?

[Sith Droideka]

Virgil was about as interesting as Kenny.

Except that Kenny got to evolve his Piplup on up, while Virgil didn't even get a Sylveon.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Virgil was about as interesting as Kenny.

Except that Kenny got to evolve his Piplup on up, while Virgil didn't even get a Sylveon.

Virgil's Eevee couldn't have evolved into Sylveon since X/Y weren't even announced by the time he appeared. He could appear later so that they could showcase how Eevee evolves into Sylveon, but since the only League rival to appear after a League was Ritchie, it not too likely that Virgil will appear again.

 

[Sith Droideka]

Well, no, but I do remember that Virgil was due to appear in the episode after Sylveon was announced, and the animé has showcased Pokémon that haven't been announced yet. So, while Virgil could've had an Eevee in his first appearance, by the time of his appearance after X/Y's announcement they should've given him a Sylveon- since we all know that there's a certain level of communication between the animé teams and the game teams that at least allowed Newtwo to be showcased in the next movie.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Well, no, but I do remember that Virgil was due to appear in the episode after Sylveon was announced, and the animé has showcased Pokémon that haven't been announced yet. So, while Virgil could've had an Eevee in his first appearance, by the time of his appearance after X/Y's announcement they should've given him a Sylveon- since we all know that there's a certain level of communication between the animé teams and the game teams that at least allowed Newtwo to be showcased in the next movie.

I don't remember the anime showcasing Pokemon that weren't even announced yet, at least not for a long time. After X/Y were announced, I'm pretty sure that the Unova League was already over, so they couldn't have given him a Sylveon. Plus, if they did, they probably would want to show how Sylveon evolved, or at least devote a whole episode around Sylveon, and they couldn't have done either one by that point. They also probably wanted to keep Sylveon's announcement a secret until they revealed its presence in the short for the next movie due to showcasing all of the Eevee evolutions and they'd probably want to keep its method of evolution, along with its type, a secret to create more hype. There wasn't much of a chance for Virgil to get a Sylveon right after X/Y were announced.

 

[Caseydia]

I don't really know how Virgil can be an interesting character when there was not much focus on him. His pokemon team had more hype than he did. And just because he won the league doesn't make him interesting either. I would have rather someone else win besides him. And Cameron winning would have been a definite no. I wonder why the writers didn't make up some better stronger trainers this season compared to before. I mean it's just insulting watching this league compared to all the others.

 

[Ampharos King]

To be frank, Virgil was as interesting as a wet towel. Yes, he had a "Pokemon Rescue Team," but this was not too different from what we had seen from COTDs and Pokemon Rangers in the past. Hell, in Virgil's DEBUT episode, he practically shared the spotlight with his older brother Davey and his own Pokemon Rescue Team.

Yes, he was the first trainer in the anime to actually own Eevee and its seven pre-Gen V evolutions (the only other instance being that trainer in the "World of Pokemon" segment in M11). But what has Virgil done to grab the interest of most people? Has he actually done something unique or personable that made me want to care about his accomplishments? Not really. His victory in a regional league competition doesn't make him any different from Tyson or Tobias before him, but unlike the prior two trainers, Virgil didn't advance past the rounds by beating Ash. With the exception of his first round, in which his Vaporeon had a complete advantage over a Crustle, and his final two matches, which only showed the defeats of his opponents' final pokemon, most of Virgil's battles were either off-screen or complete still shots in which his pokemon effortlessly defeat Gen V pokemon that hardly appeared in the anime.

Even outside the Unova League, Virgil didn't really contribute much to the storyline. He hardly ever interacted with the other major characters on-screen, with the possible exception of Bianca, who accompanied him to find Axew in BW105. And even then, Bianca only contributed to the dynamic by giving Virgil's Eevee an ice cream cone. Near the end of the episode, Virgil still sent out his Espeon and Umbreon to save the main characters' pokemon and calm down the wild Garbodor. He even needed a special item to calm down the Garbodor. Isn't it quite ironic that Ash actually owned that same item at one point? This means that Virgil's presence was barely even necessary and could have been avoided altogether. Basically, Virgil cannot hope to interact with anybody else on screen unless his own pokemon are involved too, which an interesting character does not make.

Again, Virgil only stands out because he owns Eevee and most of its Eeveelutions. While other recurring characters and even one main character have an Eeveelution on their respective teams, he has actually used all of them at least once. Unfortunately, when the writers decided to bring the character along the Unova League gravy train, they shafted developing him over the other "interesting" rivals (a stupider clone of Ash and a more sporty clone of Morrison). Virgil just didn't stick to me in the same way that some of the other recurring characters that debuted near the start of a regional league competition.

Any Eevee-based advertisements that the writers had hoped to incorporate by making Virgil, a character who should have just stayed as a COTD, into a "league rival" could have just been postponed until February when Game Freak/TPCi planned to debut Sylveon, the newest Eeveelution. After all, marketing Eevee to sell more products and to advertise the Japanese fans into seeing the "Pikachu and Eevee Friends" short months before either was announced was the main reason why Virgil was created in the first place.

 

[CyberCubed]

No, I found him to be bland and plus I don't think he should have won the Unova League with a team full of Eeveelutions