"A Case for Tierno: An Attempt to Defend Pokémon's Most Loathed Rival"

Discussions dealing with who the best rival character in the Pokémon series is can be heated, without a doubt. However, as a whole, the rival characters introduced in Pokémon X and Y generally rank toward the very bottom of the list. Occasionally Serena/Calem will rank a bit higher, but Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno are generally considered the three worst rival characters in the series, with a notable amount of vitriol going toward Tierno specifically. However, I believe that Tierno in particular gets a lot more hate than he deserves, and that as a character, he is among the more interesting in the franchise.Before getting into a defense, one must first know why Tierno is disliked. I'm sure many may know already, and likely share the opinion, considering how common it is, but for the sake of a complete argument the more common reasons will be listed. Many players (at least internationally) seem to prefer rivals with a bit more arrogance or outright rudeness or abrasiveness, such as Blue or Silver (and to a lesser extent Hugh and Gladion). There is a notable camp that have come to loathe the more friendly rivals on concept alone. In addition, another sure-fire way for a rival to gain the ire of many is to have them lack battle prowess. Considering Tierno is a laid-back friendly guy who isn't a strong battler, it's easy to see why he failed to go over well with much of the fanbase. Add in the fact that many see him as a way to tick a few check boxes for the "funny fat friend" trope, and Tierno really gets hit with a lot of opposition.With all of that said, my views on what makes a good rival character in Pokémon differ greatly from what the majority seems to favor. In my opinion, being a strong battler is a bonus, not a requirement, for being a good rival character. A good rival character should be driven toward a particular goal and work toward it, and over the course of the story, go through some form of growth. A rival shouldn't be too static if they're getting such a lofty billing.Granted, I know my opinion doesn't work for everyone, and I respect the fact that some people view the need for being a competent battler as more important. Others, still, believe antagonism is a key aspect to a good rival, and that's fine too. I just happen to disagree that those qualities automatically qualify a character as a good rival.With that disclaimer out of the way, let's discuss Tierno himself. When you meet him in Aquacorde Town, you immediately see that he's very laid-back and friendly, insisting on giving the player a nickname despite just having met them. Of note, Tierno himself delivers the player their starter Pokémon. You eventually find out that his goal is unorthodox for a rival, to say the least. He doesn't want to be champion, or complete the Pokédex, or see the world...he wants to create a Pokémon dance troupe. To add to his list of quirks, he is the only one of the quintet to not start with a Kalosian Pokémon. While the player, Serena or Calem, and Shauna take the three Kalos starters, and Trevor starts with Flabébé (a three stage first form that shows off the new Fairy type), Tierno starts out with a Corphish, a Hoennese Pokémon that only evolves once. This Corphish, however, knows Swords Dance, showing that despite being new to training Pokémon, Tierno keeps his goal in mind first and foremost.Tierno has another aspect of his personality that shines through quite a bit during the course of X and Y's story: Tierno is pretty darn humble, and is fully aware of his limits, despite how boisterous he may seem at first glance. This first comes to light at Sycamore's Lab after the Professor gave them each some words of encouragement."The best Trainer... If being the best Trainer had more to do with dancing, then I might have a chance."This is the first instance in which Tierno shows his self-awareness over his lack of battle prowess. He recognizes that he isn't a strong trainer, and doesn't even consider his dancing skills to be at their peak yet (note his word choice, "might"). However, he still sees being a top dancer as being within the realm of realism, showing that while he doesn't have delusions of grandeur, he also doesn't lack the drive to see his goals through to the end.Before his battle on Route 5, he mentions that he and Corphish don't win often because,"Even during Pokémon battles, I'm always checkin' out their moves! And then my feet just starting moving, too! I can't even help it, y'know? Like with Swords Dance! I love it! I guess that's why I can never win…"Not only does this once again showcase Tierno's self-awareness, but also another important aspect of his character: his degree of passion for what he loves. To him, his Pokémon and their movements in battle are infectious. He loves dancing to such a degree that seeing his Pokémon dance across the battlefield overwhelms him to the point of dancing himself. Honestly, I think it's refreshing to see a semi-major character be passionate about something that ISN'T Pokémon battles, Contests, Pokédex completion, or in general anything that the player will inevitably be better at. It's not as though the player will become a better dancer at any point in the game. You'll see just as much of the world, if not more, as Shauna. You'll be a much better battler than Serena. You'll inevitably have a more complete Pokédex than Trevor. Tierno's goal is the only one that the player cannot usurp and invalidate (well, unless you go to Unova and participate in Pokémon Musicals, anyway).You face Tierno once again on Route 7. His only Pokémon is still his Corphish with Swords Dance and Vicegrip. After the player's inevitable win, he says this,"Win or lose--either way, you gotta smile! If your Pokémon see you getting down in the dumps, they might be less confident."At first this may seem like just a random piece of advice to promote good sportsmanship, but it actually says a lot about Tierno's character. Up until this point, Tierno has been nothing but honest with himself. He doesn't try to pretend to be something he's not. As such, we can assume that he's the type to practice what he preaches. From this we can see that Tierno is prone to hiding his emotions if it means he won't get others down. Tierno is all about making people happy through dance, so he feels it is best to keep his sadness over his lack of battle potential to himself. This comes back a bit later in the game.The next time the player meets Tierno is in Reflection Cave, where he gives the player the TM for Flash. He mentions that he relies on Flash all the time, as it lets him avoid battles. This once again shows that Tierno is fully aware of his shortcomings as a battler.The next big moment for Tierno comes when the player enters the Tower of Mastery. When it comes time to decide who should take the Mega Ring, Tierno quickly declines, saying that it'd be out of his league since battling isn't his strong suit. When it comes down to the player and Serena/Calem, he questions why they'd "fight for something, even though [they're] friends." Yeah, the writing here is pretty hamfisted, but it does give some insight into Tierno, or at least confirmation of what was suspected before. Tierno dislikes confrontation. This would explain why he isn't good at battling, avoids wild Pokémon, and prefers to bring joy to people through dancing. He's pacifistic by nature.At this point Tierno sees a dip in importance as the Flare arc is starting to come to a head and the player almost finishes collecting badges. However, after the culmination of the Flare arc, you find out that during the crisis, Tierno had been by Geosenge Town on Route 10 helping out Pokémon, while leaving the battling of Team Flare to Sina and Dexio.The final interaction the player has with Tierno during the main story is on Route 19, on the bridge. He explains that he had an epiphany during the Flare crisis. Had the player not been there, he would be dead. All of Kalos would be dead. Tierno had been calling the player a friend and even calling them by a nickname, and now he realizes that he and the player come from completely different worlds, and that he doesn't know them as well as he thought. Tierno is then inspired. He begins training and now challenges the player to a battle. Gone are the days when Tierno had a single Corphish. Now he has a fully evolved Crawdaunt, alongside Talonflame and Roserade, giving him a well balanced team with a Grass, Fire, and Water type. As well, it's notable that none of his Pokémon know Flash, showing that he has grown past the need for avoiding battles. Still, though, Tierno is still a relative novice at battling when compared to the player, and after the fight, says,"It's weird, but… I don't get that down when I lose to you."This goes back to what he said earlier about maintaining a smile in the face of defeat. As well, the wording confirms that when losing to others, Tierno does get down, but never shows it. And yet, here he voluntarily challenges the player to a battle, likely knowing fully well that he'd lose. He later explains that battling the player was meant to show gratitude, and maybe to get to know them a little bit better.Much of the criticism that I see of Tierno points to the fact that he's a bad character because he sucks at battling. However, that's the entire point of his character. He doesn't usually engage in battles because he isn't good at them, and losing tends to get him down. He'd much rather dance and make himself and others happy than risk his insecurities souring the mood for others. And at the end, he starts to realize that he's different, but that that's okay. Not everyone can be a great Trainer like the player when it comes to battles. He no longer needs to feel insecure. He's simply cut from a different cloth. And over the course of training his team, he likely lost his fair share of battles...but he persevered. He now had three fully evolved Pokémon and a good type spread among them. In an attempt to learn more about the player, he also learned more about himself, no longer allowing his fear of losing to get in the way.It's for these reasons I feel Tierno is sorely underrated as a character. Is he a good battler? Of course not. But he doesn't have to be. He grows and changes throughout the story, which is more than certain other rivals can even say. Battling strength alone shouldn't determine the worthiness of a character. Heck, characters like Lillie and Looker are well liked despite not engaging in battle at all. In my opinion, some people are too literal or otherwise strict in their definition of a good rival, and the hate toward Tierno is evident of this. The world shouldn't just exist as a playground for the player, but be inhabited by varied people with varied goals. Being a poor battler is a crucial part of Tierno's development throughout X and Y. And hey, he starts with a Corphish. That's pretty neat.TL;DR - Tierno has a small, but notable, arc during X and Y. He's humble and passionate, and puts on a happy face to mask his insecurities that stem from his poor battling skills. After an epiphany he realizes that he shouldn't be insecure about it, as someone will always be better. He then re-focuses on dancing. He's not a good battler, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good character. End of TL;DRAlso the fact that they didn't bring him back for Sun and Moon and instead opted for the non-entities that are Sina and Dexio is a decision I'll never understand. Alola has a Pokémon whose gimmick REVOLVES around dancing, and it's not like Tierno didn't run errands for Sycamore anyway. Game Freak should totally bring Tierno back in USUM with an Oricorio.So yeah, those are my thoughts on Tierno. I fully expect some to disagree, and maybe even a bit of snark, but hey. That's all well and good. People vary. Still, I just thought I'd put this out there. Who knows? Maybe some even agree. via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2gKD9qr