Who Will Be Ash's Main Rival in XY?

[Hidden Mew]

I doubt that the trainer there from the opening is going to play a big role, let alone be a rival. He looks kind of generic in his design and I think he was just thrown in for a battle in the opening. I'm also starting to doubt that Ash will have a main rival in this series given that we heard about Paul and Trip before DP and BW started. I'd be fine with that to be honest. In my opinion, they need to take a break from writing rivals for Ash.

 

[Almonds]

There's a good chance Gary's coming back. He might be have a small cameo as a researcher, but I wouldn't be surprised if he came back as a league rival, if not the main.

 

[Pikafanboy]

I'd be good with going back to AG style and not having a rival for Ash through the series. Serena is a traveling partner, Calem won't exist outside of movie cameos since Ash is supposed to stand in for all the guys, and none of the the other three friends from the game are really focused on battling anyway. They could always make another original character, but we knew about those before their series started.

 

[Adil]

FOUND HIM!!!! (idk if anyone else has already noticed it or not but I didn't see it anywhere else so...)

Don't know if he is a rival or not. Along with the opening song, this guy also appears in XY games on Route 21/Dernière Way as "Veteran Louis", uses a Hippowdon (lv 55) and an Aurorus (lv 57).

Spoiler

 

[Silktree]

this guy also appears in XY games on Route 21/Dernière Way as "Veteran Louis", uses a Hippowdon (lv 55) and an Aurorus (lv 57).

It's a trainer class, so there are several trainers that look like that. The generic design alone proves that this isn't a rival.

 

[Adil]

this guy also appears in XY games on Route 21/Dernière Way as "Veteran Louis", uses a Hippowdon (lv 55) and an Aurorus (lv 57).

It's a trainer class, so there are several trainers that look like that. The generic design alone proves that this isn't a rival.

Oh, didn't know about the same design part. Disappointed. Oh well...

 

[Baby Seals]

I really hope they don't use Calem as a rival. They should go with Shauna, Trevor, or Tierno - those three are all from the games.

 

[Pikafanboy]

Tierno as a friendly rival, like Stephan. Tweak him to actually be a battler, but focus on Pokemon with dance moves (like Teeter dance, or made up stuff like Ash's Counter Shield) or have a dancing theme (Ludicolo for example), which is what I thought he was going to be in the game before seeing he's totally pointless.

Actually probably nothing till near the end, like in AG. We usually know about OC rivals by now, and Serena is a traveling companion.

 

[Crystalanachrony]

Tierno or Calem are the most likely candidates. We already have characters somewhat similar to Shauna and Trevor in the form of Bonnie and Clemont; not exact, but close enough that more characters of their dispositions couldn't really stand on their own. Perhaps they'll appear as minor parts.