Why was Kenny so poorly handled as a Rival?

[Masurao]

Compared to the other rivals in this series his presence seemed kinda out of place. He didn't really appear that much, and never had a intimidating feel for lack of a better term.

Zoey: Was a mentor, who helped Dawn get better.

Paul: Rival, that Ash had to prove wrong in his methods weren't the only way to bring out Pokemon's power.

Ursula: Antagonistic rival who constantly downplayed her rivals skill.

Nando: He felt more like Zoey and Ash's rival, he was there to show that a person could balance out both fields fairly well.

Kenny only battled Dawn twice, and failed in the GF due to his Empoleon being to powerful. He didn't even battle Dawn, his rival, in his final episode. He battled Ash because he was jealous of him.It would have been better to have him reach the semi's ( a close battle with Dawn) and close his character off. That would have shown he was fairly good at his goal But for some reason the writers had him battle Ash, who has nothing to do with his goal. So, really what was the writers intention with Kenny?

 

[Piplup]

Don't read too much into it... in early DP Dawn needed friendly rivals to support her and that's what Kenny and Zoey were
Dawn won her first ribbon by beating Kenny and she also lost a Contest to him... Kenny also introducted us to the Pikari nickname which played important role later on and he showed hints of being in love with Dawn which was proven to be true in his final ep
I think it's nice enough... not every single one of the rivals HAVE to be an extremely important character... Paul and Zoey were the only ones who were really important, but the others were nice too, Kenny included
I can understand why Kenny would seem "boring" for some people, but I think people sometimes really exaggerate with the poor kid

 

[OneOfTheDragons]

He was poorly handled, his design wasn't good, but actually he was making up for that with Dawn's first ribbon, Energy ball, Pikari, shippign purpose(which actually did nothing), just like Piplup said people exaggerate with his character, because actually in every episode where he appeared something happend.

 

[Grave-E]

Being perfectly honest here, despite general consensus favouring the contrary, I still thought the guy was more interesting than Zoey was. I mean yeah, it's not saying much, but at least he had that whole childhood friend/secret crush thing going on, and it was kind of fun when he'd tease Dawn since it at least meant he wasn't being 100% chummy-chummy all the time. So he was at least successful in that regard, I suppose.

 

[Masurao]

It was rather odd. To me, it seemed his characters purpose was more revolved around beating Ash. I mean he didn't do well in the GF. That would have been a prime oppurtunity for Dawn, and Kenny to settle their tie, and have a great battle. It would have been great closure for his character to have him reach the semi's, lose of course, and get a good sendoff.

Having an episode dedicated to him coming off a "stronger" than Ash, someone who has nothing to do with his goa, due to the power of his love or w/e for Dawn was a strange way to close off a rival. It would have made more sense to have him battle his rival IMO.

 

[Sombra29]

I hate this kind of questions in topics..."why was something something poorly?".It is imposing an opinion on people.

I never found Kenny uninteresting,boring or a "poorly handled rival"(whatever that means....).I found him refreshing and cute,kind of a like an anime-Wally.

So...yeah.I´m not able to answer this thread´s question since I don't share this Popular opinion.

 

[pharaohyami5000]

Yeah well the battle between Kengo and Satoshi in that episode wasn't very good. One gave all he had and the other had to do experiments instead of more tactical techniques.

From the Pokemon Kengo has, I do wonder why he doesn't consider gym battles.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

Shippers are going to hurt me so I think I must state I have nothing against Pearlshipping and like Penguin, but I think it was because Dawn's story was focused on her goal(mezase toppa coordinatah!) than anything else, and Kenny's main point was the fact he had a crush on Dawn which sadly would not be developed much in such story that haven't got focus on romance or at least toy ships. That being said, I have no idea why he turned into a literal buttmonkey(just look at this, why his relationship with Barry never led to anything besides a few paralels, why he battled Ash instead of Dawn(or failed at GF) etc. I think writers just didn't have much idea how to use him. Which is pretty sad to me.

 

[Masurao]

I don't see why he couldn't get at least further than Jessie did in the GF. Not to bash her but, she was given a few ribbons by other people. Kenny seemed to have earned all of his. Kenny was more deserving of a GF double battle than Jessie was IMO. Giving him a 1 v 1 battle, while the other character was testing out a new battle style wasn't the best way to show his strength, and a terrible way to downplay Ash.

 

[Ashfangirl22]

Why you ask? Was he popular in Japan? If so that might be why. I never really understood why they had him loose in the appeal rounds either, I didn't expect that. I thought for sure at least he'd get in and beat Jessie for her winning against him last time. That'd redeem him more than his win against Ash. I didn't get why he battled Ash at the end either, he was Dawn's rival, so it confused me. Maybe to please Pearlshippers or some thing.

 

[Masurao]

I also felt it was odd that they put the "drama" in this episode that they did. Dawn didn't end up following either Ash or Kenny, so what was the writers purpose for this episode? Establishing Dawn as independent?

 

[Pesky Bug]

I didn't get why he battled Ash at the end either, he was Dawn's rival, so it confused me. Maybe to please Pearlshippers or some thing.

Rival for a couple of months, friend for years. Could've developed a crush. And if I screwed myself over like Kenny did, I'd wanna redeem myself, too.

I also felt it was odd that they put the "drama" in this episode that they did. Dawn didn't end up following either Ash or Kenny, so what was the writers purpose for this episode? Establishing Dawn as independent?

Or that Kenny fails no matter if he wins or loses.

 

[OneOfTheDragons]

I also felt it was odd that they put the "drama" in this episode that they did. Dawn didn't end up following either Ash or Kenny, so what was the writers purpose for this episode? Establishing Dawn as independent?

Excluding the "drama" episode had decent purpose, Flint had battle with Jasmine, foreshadowed Infernapes Flare Blitz, then uhm, Flint talked to Ash about League and Jasmine gave Dawn advice about her future, thats it.