"XY's sad attempt at making friends"

It's a common opinion that the neighbours from X and Y are some of the worsr rivals in the entire series and I really wanted to dissect why this is, see where they failed and maybe how to improve them.I feel like we need a successful attempt at what GF was going for by looking at Cheren and Bianca. I love these two and the way they're handled in the story. Firstly, these are a childhood friends. There is a lot of implied history and even when you meet them for the first time in game, there is a very natural established chemistry between the characters, they even hang out in your room like real people. They have clear motivations that change and develop as the game progresses. Sadly, the neighbours are everything Cheren and Bianca are not.When you first meet Serena and Shauna, there is absolutely no chemistry between the characters. The two girls don't even acknowledge each other the entire time they hangout by the front door and then these two strangers insist on hanging out at the next town and giving you a nickname. People don't do that... You then meet Trevor and Tierno, you learn about them not through dialogue but by everyone reading their TV tropes character pages- splendid. The first and only good moment with the neighbours happens in the forest. Everyone's branching off eager to try out their new pokémon but you're doing it together like actual friends. It's the last time it feels like their lives don't revolve around beating you/being on par with you.From then on, meetings with rivals are sporadic and uninteresting so let's skip to the bridge thing. You're off to claim your final badge after ending a would be attempt to end the world. You certainly have grown but have your friends? They battle you one by one and Shauna is amazed by how different they all seem now but nothing significant has happened. Trevor is less focused on his dex and wishes to beat you! Tierno is less focused on dancing and wishes to beat you! It doesn't feel like these guys have come into their own, they feel more like your stalkerish fanboys than they do your friends. The journey through unova helped guide your friends to what they wanted to do in life and they got a good resolution in the next games. These guys feel like they knew what they wanted to do but were so starved for attention they gave up on their dreams to be like the cool kid.Shauna has a confusing arc. At first she's hyperactive and enthusiastic about life and by the end she is just as happy even after seeing a man bury himself alive after falling to commit mass genocide. The only telling moment about her character is when she tries to explain why life is worth living in team flair's base. Wouldn't it have been better if Shauna was this super nihilistic emo kid who hated life but by travelling with you she learnt how wonderful life can be? See peridot from Steven Universe.Serena is just a sad rival. She has no motivation in life other than beating the player. This had me downright depressed during the fight in shalour city, an item of immense power that could help give her the advantage to help her win. She fights and she loses like always, her face sinking in sadness as if she foresaw the outcome of the fight but desperately hoped she could somehow change fate. The relationship you have with her reminds me of competing to have top grades in high school, your life is ruled by this obsessive need to surpass this person and it's draining. It's said her parents were expert trainers, why couldn't we have had a scene talking about how this upbringing has pressured her to become a strong trainer and then help her to step out of the shadow of her parents?These are just my thoughts, what do you think of the gen 6 crew and how would you improve them?Tl;dr: Your friends are not very friendly, Shauna should have been goth and we should talk about Serena's failings via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2f4Winj