Speculation Gen 9 predictions: Protagonists and rivals

[Sheep40]

Niello and Melchior (a poetic name for cupronickel)/NM is much more character-driven (in terms of both human characters and pokemon) in terms of plot: both the main league and villainous team plot usually play second fiddle to the characters and their actions, at least until the end of the game. At that end, you'll have a group of friends/rivals like in XY, but it will be built up over the course of the game:

• Protagonists and main rival:

Spyridon: the male protagonist. Default Spyr is a fair-skinned boy with black hair and blue eyes. He wears a white jacket (over a black undershirt) with black tracksuit pants and white tanker boots. He also wears a duckbill cap with a black stripe down the middle (it's otherwise white), and his bag a sachel.. He's about Calem's age by default (circa 14). "Spyridon" is an originally greek name of unknown origin, htough it incoroporates a root for "basket". Spyr's voice is kind of high for a boy, almost like it hasn't broken yet (he's voiced by a woman)

Senka: the female protagonist: Default senka is a pale-skinned girl with long white hair and red eyes. She wears a black jacket over a white minidress and tights, along with thighh-legth boots that are black. Her hat is a boonie hat with a white central cone, and her bag is a purse. She appears a bit younger than Bert (approximately 12). "Senka" is serbo-croat for shadow. Her voice is low for a woman, almost like a later teenager.

Matija: the main rival. Matija's gender is selectable through a prompt early in the game. Thing is, both designs areeffectively genderflips of one another. Male Matija (Mato) has short, frizzy hair, whilst Matko (female Matija) has a ponytail (they have blond hair). They both wear an outfit inspired by (if not an outright high-resolution version of) Chase (Mato/Elane (Matko)'s outfit, just with a three-way red-green-blue color scheme. Matija is the player's childhood friend, and the original owner of the toy scimitar, spear, and mace the player has in their room. The two of you moved apart, but when you and mom moved in with your grandma, you discovered Matija lives in the same town (s/he came by grandma's thinking you had moved in before you actually did). S/he's very eager and happy to see you again.

First set of rivals

Dzenefer: the rival Hospod players get after the first trial (being the boss of said trial). Dzen is a stern, principled girl with an athletic build (she's about bea's age and has a similar build, though it's much more difficult to point out when clothed) and a short red hairstyle. She wears a jean jacket over a loose gray minidress and red thigh-length boots (with black modesty shorts). She's very tall, standing a full head over the player character. Dzen does not back down from a challenge and is a very proud (some would say prideful) trainer.

Heidi: The rival hero players get after the first trial (where she's the boss). Heidi is a nerdy girl with a very average build and long almond hair. She wears an open green-plaid furlined jacket over a white undershirt that has asterisks forming a star around the navel, and a jean skirt with long black tights (and modesty shorts). Heidi is...a little too obsessed with completing the pokedex.

Slobodan: The rival Hajduk plauers get after the first trial (again, he's the boss). Dan is a tall, lanky, feminine boy with round blackhair who dresses in an overtly goth level and is basically a total edgelord (combining both the western and the japanese interpretations). He wears a thick black trenchcoat with red stars and white stripes (catch the reference), blue jeans, and a fedora with a red rim. He's actually a really nice guy who loves to pet wooloo (and he knows how to make cheese from their milk), just don't tell anyone...ever.

 

[Matleo]

nice but would want more complex rivals and protagonists that have goals and are more into strategies...
like a magic themed rival that uses dragons, faries, ghost and dark types only thinks other types arent a match to them?

Maybe rivals with different goal and a protagonist that can choose between those goals or try them out?

I feel we should get some rivals after Pokemon schools, some trainers from journeys and maybe some trainers that use tech to train their pokemon and strictly use data instead to fight for fun as rivals and the oposite strongn trainers with bonds and strategies based on traditions.

A well organised dysciplined rivals that represent some class or style?
a tech junkie? uses electric, steel and psychic types
maybe a traditional samurai fighter? diffrent warrior class pokemon
a ninja? with ninja oriented pokemon
a knight? knighted tamed pokemon more.
a musician? sound
a dancer?
a magician? ghost,faries, dark, dragons

 

[Sheep40]

They do get more complicated. Much more complicated.

 

[Sheep40]

General battle strategies:

Dzen is aggressive, featuring two primary attackers in the form of one new pokemon for physical attacks and a Kirlia specced for special attacks. She has no resident wall, and generally tries to steamroll the player.

Heidi is analytical and has a team specced for exploiting elemental weaknesses whilst making herself immune to them. She has the first stage of the electross line (indeed getting an electross later) as her signature pokemon.

Slobodan is very defensive. His signature is the regional insect (the aforemention miko-vampire-moth thing), specced to deal the generations new status effect: fear (which causes unpredictable effects, prominently randomized flinching, self damage, and randomized loss of stats). He means to interfere with you at fundament, locking you down and leaving you helpless to his one central attacker. Most of his team minus that is specced to slow the player down. He has two primary walls and a third secondary wall that can alo serve as an attacker.

Second team of rivals: encountered in between the first gym and the first of the second gym's trials

Zoria is the Rival for Hospod players, a bright and energetic girl with a deranged sence of humour and an utter blithe spirit. She has long purple hair done into twintails and blue eyes. She's short, and wears a sailor-suit themed shirt that does't entirely cover her belly and a short skirt, with long stockings. She's fond of a pith-hat with a horizon design on it. She's a big fan of magical girls and indeed owns a pokemon themed after them (which is also a Samovila, go figure), which serves as her signature. Her battle strategy is a surprisingly sadistic game of drawing out and wearing down an opponent, often using said samodiva/mahou-shoujou's ability that lets it resist all forms of fainting minus a health draining status effect or by direct damage to abuse the shit out of perish song.

Kilij is the rival for hero players. A somewhat muscular boy with short red hair and gray eyes, Kilij has a kind, uplifting soul that loves to help others, and really hates to see people suffer. Kilij wears a thin poshteen with designs depicting doublades over a gray undershirt, and jeans. His shoes are Espadrilles. As his name suggessts, Kilij has a Honedge as his signature, and has an offensive fighting style that likes to make use of counter moves.

Marzanna is the rival for hajduk players, an albino loli with an utter sugar and ice personality: at once as kind and supportive as Kilij, then relishing in inducing terror and madness in her opponents in battle. Marzanna wears a light black and red kaftan over a similarly (but inverted) colored midriff undershirt, black stockings, a purple skirt, an red heels. Her signature pokemon is a dark version of that Samodiva-magical girl mentione; her own fighting style is strongly reliant on an offensive usage of status restrictions and using a dark-type move than can basically be considered "enhanced false swipe" (deals massive amounts of damage but cannot cause fainting), often causing such statuses and poison and burn finish a weakened pokemon off.

 

[Sheep40]

Final set of Rivals: first encountered in between the last of the second gym's trials and the gym itself.

1. Sava is the final Hospodar rival that the player encounters, a blonde, pale-skinned youth akin to F:GO's Voyager, just with silver hair and a more streetwise dress (he's wearing a white coat and black sweatpants). He's an ethereal, fairly-like presence who seems both whimsical and unnerving at once. Sava predominantly uses a new psychic-flying type Peacock pokemon and it's high special attack and defense to tank.
2. Tadosha is the final Hero rival, a swarthy girl with long twintails, dressed in a pair of overalls over a white shirt with paint splotch markings. Tadosha's a stubborn, hardworking girl who wants to become the champion. She uses a mudbray and later Mudsdale to aggressively physical tank.
3. Skeherezada is the final Hajduk rival. A pale redhead wearing an open black jacked over a bellydancer bra, a miniskirt, and two long red stockings terminating in workboots, the rebellious and cynical Skeh wants nothing more than to prove that there's something seemingly manufactured about the villainous teams and the corruption within the pokemon league. She predominantly uses a new gargoyle-like pokemon as a rapid yet fragile physical sweeper, taking advantage of it's souped up variant of mold breaker to nullify certain type resistances.