Overall, who was the most interesting rival?

[Cilan]

I only listed the main rivals in the poll, but if there was another rival you found interesting you can post it.

Out of all of the rivals that every main character has had, who was the most interesting to you? Harley and Paul are the most interesting to me. Harley was one of the funniest characters on the show to me just because of how much of a jerk he was and Paul interested me the second I saw him. Gary seemed interesting to me at first but he barely did anything throughout his run as Ash's rival. I liked Ursula but she should have been introduced earlier, and right now Burgandy seems interesting to me because she reminds me of Harley mixed with Ursula.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Tyson is a really nice guy who is older and has sweet moves

 

[Shinneth]

Good golly, who could I have voted for.

But Barry, Harley, Conway, Burgundy, and Bianca are way up there for me as well. Gary and Drew were pretty good, too.

It's all a matter of PERSONALITY and RELEVANCE TO THE STORY and BEING UNIQUE.

Like, okay yeah, Paul IS a Silver Expy, but the existence of such a character in the anime where EVERYBODY is a goody-goody to some degree barring the villains was just mind-blowing. Knowing that cold-hearted jerkasses could exist in the anime was utterly mindblowing. That right there? It's a GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION. It also helped that most episodes Paul appeared in made him relevant, and they even made him comedy relief in one episode. That's just wicked. He also appeared frequently enough to remind us all that he's the main threat (until Tobias butted in at the very end), but never really made any unnecessary appearances, either. He was balanced just right, and they were even nice enough to give him a backstory to explain why he's so bitter at the world. Too bad the aspect that could've made it MEGA-deep never became canon, but that's why we have fanfiction. Not to mention, there's no flipping way his final battle with Ash will be topped. They spent THREE WHOLE EPISODES on that. Something they've NEVER DONE BEFORE. Paul was groundbreaking in so many ways.

Trip, we all knew from the start you had BIG shoes to fill in. Thankfully I didn't have high expectations for you and I can just pretend you're the bastard lovechild of Paul and Barry to enjoy you the most.

And for the love of god, Paul's not a Karma Houdini anymore. He got squashed - IN PUBLIC - by Cynthia and Brandon in battle, the latter of which he lost his shit and made a total ass of himself in front of all his peers. If that's not karma in the Pokemon anime universe, I don't know what is.

Now I'm getting on a tangent. I'll be quiet now.

 

[Aestivate]

Jun. Just... Jun.

I don't think I've fangirled over any character harder. (until Dent of course)

 

[Sweet Veil]

Gary
Drew
Harley
Paul
Zoey
Kenny
Barry
Trip
Bianca
Burgandy
Langley

It's PROCESS OF ELIMINATION TIME! Let's see.

Bianca is comedic so is Barry so not them Bianca was one of my fave game characters her growth and being unsure of herself was compelling the show made her into the typical shallow blond cute stuff loving dumb ass who is willing to reject someone who's helped her win three badges alone (Charbu) for the sake of a cute Zorua who plays tricks on her. I still like her though in the show.

Kenny was just a rival with a crush so he's out.

Gary was just a childhood friend, and Zoey was just a teacher so there out.

Drew, Langley, Burgundy, Paul, Trip, and Harley are left.

Paul was pretty much the Anti-Ash, so that made his interesting and the whole Chimchar plot. #1

Langley and Harley were both coniving and stuck up and evil so there a tie for number 2.

Burgundy has her comedic moments that's true, and she's stalked Cilan and stuff and challenged his gym that makes her interesting along with having a formidable Dewott but, she doesn't seem all that serious she hasn't grown much and she's being treated as if she's Cilan's Toy. All she does is bitch and complain about Cilan all day. It's like her life revolves around Cilan. Which isn't that great to be honest, just like with Trip, Paul, and Gary there lives do not revolve around Ash Ketchum. Langley's life does not revolve around Iris. Zoey and Ursula's lives do not revolve around Dawn. Heck the even reason she became a Connoisseus was because of him that's that. She doesn't even have any strive outside of Cilan.

Drew was a jerk, a classy classy jerk who did contest and gave May a huge drive and that's one of the reasons she's one of my favorites to this day because that rivalry was so dang great so he gets #3 I loved both of there growth and development.

Trip's out, don't get me wrong that whole camera, basic, champion, being called a kid, thing is interesting. Just not as good as the others.

 

[The Puppetmaster]

When voting please give a reason for why you made that particular choice. Failure to do so will result in a Pointless Post infraction.

Just a reminder. Thanks!

 

[Froakie]

I chose other, as i would have voted for conway if he was on the list. Along with being one of my top favourites, i thought conway was an awesome yet creepy character, who was not expected to come back and fight ash himself, but he did! He showed a bunch of new moves and strategies never focused on in the anime, and seemed to mirror some of the strategic gamers who exist.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

1. Harley
2. Kouhei
3. Cabernet
4. Bel
5. Urara
6. Langley

Based purely on my preferences. There is nothing else to add.

 

[Charbok]

Harley was one of the funniest pokemon characters ever to me. He definitely kept my interest XD
But Paul was one of the main things that kept me interesting in DP. To me he was Gary done right. If Gary showed up as much as Paul did then I would have liked him a little more.
Conway was also awesome in his own creepy way.

 

[Catzeye]

Paul. He was one of the few worthwhile things about the DP saga.

He wasn't a goody-two shoes like most people Ash and co run into, so it was a refreshing change of pace. Plus he actually showed up more than a couple of times (unlike Gary) and he actually battled Ash more than once.

I thoroughly enjoyed him, my only complaint that his reasoning for being such a drill sergeant to his Pokemon was very flimsy. They should have explained more on why Reggie's lost affected him so much.

 

[Cilan]

I realized I forgot Conway. He was interesting in his own way in my opinion.
I guess I forgot Nando too, but he barely showed up anyway xP

 

[Jukain]

This would require me to define what an interesting rival is, and it is many things to many people. Some of the ones listed are interesting for different reasons from each other, and I cannot weigh one criteria as being more important than another, so I will pick out the ones that stand out the most to me.

Drew is the perfect compromise between total jerkwad and friendly rival. True, he started out more jerkish, and indeed he was skilled enough to back it up, but he develops a sort of admiration for May, to where he is less jerkish, but he isn't about to be overcome by her, either. He may even hold something deeper for her...

Harley, as I've said before is just fun to watch. He's so over the top and jerkish that it may be impossible not to like him. (unless you just can't take that kind of cheese) He's also a different kind of threat, where he plays with your mind and your fears to win. True, Ursula played with fear, too, but Harley is just more enjoyable because he covers a lot of fields at once. (although Ursula isn't that bad either)

Paul is essentially the kind of rival we've been expecting from the anime for a long time. A pure jerk capable of thrashing everyone in his path. He even epitomizes one of the things I hate the most about the pokemon fandom: the Smogon trainer. An elitist numbers geek that finds the most efficient ways to win. That is what makes this a truly interesting character, because you know that in a way, he is right. Training pokemon that are already super good at what they do will make the process easier. This is what made me truly realize how idiotic Ash's methods are, and that perhaps anyone could be a better trainer than him if they did their homework. This rivalry is furthered through Chimchar, whom Paul could not unlock his potential through his methods, and Ash did. We have seen the most epic battle in the entire anime arise from this, and I feel this rivalry shall forever be legendary. What's that? So is Gary? Yeah, I will give you that, but truthfully, Gary was not handled as well as Paul.

Barry deserves some note as perhaps the screwiest of the screwballs. True, he possessed some skill, but not enough to be a match for either Ash or Paul. (I know he defeated Gible once, but it was freshly caught, there is no way that should count) Again, he's just fun to watch, fitting his game personality to a T. He may not be much of a threat, but at least you'll get a few laughs out of him. Bianca has some of this, too, except that she seems to be more of a scatterbrain than him.

You may have noticed I did not mention any of Dawn's rivals except a bit of Ursula back there. Yeah, even for the mentor role that Zoey played, I don't find them interesting. In fact, I may go so far to say that Zoey wasn't even really a rival, even though they have competed against each other. Trip seems like he was intended as a copy of Paul, but he has lost some wind lately due to some lackluster battle performances. I am willing to handwave it to him just not using his best pokes, though. That's how I feel on this matter.

 

[Yamato-san]

I liked Shinji a lot, but in the end, I gotta give this one to Harley. Besides, the thread is asking for most "interesting", not "strongest", "most threatening", or maybe even in-general "best", but "interesting". In such a case, it's Harley, hands down.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

no one loves tyson but me

 

[Bandit Keith]

Conway and Casey.
Conway for his Super Nerd persona (MY FAVORITE MALE TRAINER CLASS),
Casey for BASEBALL.......Only explored with her around!
More baseball and SUPER NERDZ, please!

 

[Bandit Keith]

Conway and Casey.
Conway for his Super Nerd persona (MY FAVORITE MALE TRAINER CLASS),
Casey for BASEBALL.......Only explored with her around!
More baseball and SUPER NERDZ, please!

 

[Blue1225]

Paul. I like to think of him as Gary Oak handled properly and given the screentime he deserves. The lack of screentime is what killed Gary's character way back when. Paul is a person who has just as much experience as Ash. He wasn't new to the pokemon world. He'd been traveling a long time and had his own unique approach to training his pokemon that happened to conflict with Ash's approach, which led to an appropriate amount of antagonism and respect between the two.

 

[Caseydia]

Trip is starting to become kind of hott. I'm starting to like him now. I wish we could see him again real soon. Maybe in a mini arc.

 

[Slowpoke Warrior]

Its gotta be Gary. In the Anime I didnt really care for him. I liked him best in the Manga and the games.

 

[Paperhorse]

Burgundy. I find her the most interesting because she is intense, and I love how she became a sommelier just for revenge against Dent. Also, I think it's cool that Satoshi's male companion has a rival.