"Klara is My Favorite Rival in a Long Time"

This might sound strange, especially considering how the DLC ends in the blink of an eye. She's only relevant for five seconds - but that's exactly it.For those five seconds, she felt like a real rival. Hop, Marnie, Hau, and the Gen VI rivals were all fun characters, but none of them felt like they actually wanted to beat you. Most of them want to have a quick battle and maybe win, which is fun, but there's nothing intense or exciting about that. They're far more like good competitive friends than real rivals. I couldn't even take Hop seriously until his final battle.Klara, on the other hand, really took me by surprise. She really wants to beat you down! And her language, animations, and gestures all communicate that. She's a star trainer who's so good that she's gotten lazy. So she's understandably upset when some nobody (or the Galar Champion in my case, but I guess she doesn't watch TV) who is supposed to be a new, humble student beats her.And that infuriates her. She even goes so far as to try to trick you, and when that doesn't work she intimidates you. A rival actually threatening you! Imagine that! You might even so so far as to say she even feels insecure because of you, which drives her even further. At the same time, she's no villain, but she's no all-good-vibes Hau either. Perhaps it's because she's older than you that she's not afraid to lie to or intimidate you, and then smile while secretly hoping you get lost and never come back...However, The moment that really sealed the deal for me was the final battle, when she cheats and lays toxic spikes before it begins. It's such a small, petty thing. But it shows she really wanted to win by any means necessary - and after generation after generation of rivals who don't really feel like they're thoroughly trying to beat you, I really came to respect her for that. She saw she was getting pushed into a corner and genuinely did everything she could.Granted, the battle ended pretty quickly. But my point is, her character is amazing by Pokemon rival standards. She's a competitive, determined rival with a real (though brief) story arc. Her goal is to absolutely crush you, even if it means resorting to underhanded methods. But she's not a terrible, toxic person. You can tell she cares about her Pokemon. She'll even apologize to them mid-battle if things go wrong. And later on, she even apologizes to you.While Klara's story was short and sweet, it just makes me wonder how exciting a game would be if your main rival was that determined all the way through. She has a dream, and you're getting in the way of that. She's a star trainer, and you defeated her. She doesn't just smile, wave it away, and say "Oh well, maybe next time, it's okay because we had fun!" No. By defeating her, you took away her pride and threatened her dream, and she won't take that lying down.As a final note, in most Pokemon games, the professor or whoever guides you will say that you and your rival will push each other to grow together. But it rarely feels like that's true. You defeat Hop. He vanishes, suddenly reappears with stronger Pokemon, and vanishes again. Despite what he says, it doesn't feel like I had anything to do with him magically getting stronger. But Klara's already strong. You lead her to regain her former strength, and even go above and beyond, just to defeat you. At every turn, you get to see how you directly push her further, and that developments gives your rivalry meaning.Whatever it is, I really enjoyed being rivals with Klara. I haven't enjoyed a rival that much since N, or even May. If Klara was Sword's rival instead of Hop, and if they extended her character arc longer to fit that, it probably would've been a fun experience - like being rivals with Jesse from Team Rocket. Though it was short and brief, Klara's rivalry was a refreshingly determined and memorable one. via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/2BtmNAx