"Hugh is the best modern pokemon rival because he actually gets to succeed"

Its clear that after gen 2 GF decided the rival shouldn't be an antagonist. And while some have been worse than others (Ruby and Sapphire easily the worst as you battle may all of 4 times and don't see their starters final form.) The only one I think really succeeds is Hugh. Hugh is nice to the player character like all modern rivals, but he clearly still has an edge to him. He HATES team plasma, and ithis is where the genius of his character come across. His motivation isn't to be league champion most others, but to get revenge on Team Plasma for stealing his sisters Purrloin, that we learn later was captured by his late grandfather. At the end of victory road, he encourages you to challenge the league, because his job is done. He didn't set out to become league champion, he simply wanted to get back what was stolen from him, and destroy team plasma so it can't happen again. And he actually did it! (With obvious help from the PC of course) Compare that to Hop, who is also a friend, but his goal is to become champion like his brother Leon. Beating Hop and destroying his dreams doesn't feel satisfying because Hop isn't antagonistic. It doesn't feel good to make your friend sad all the time. With Hugh, every defeat is actually good for his goal, because he knows your strong enough to be trusted.In the future, if the rival HAS to be the players friend, can we please give then a goal other than the players? via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/39oCJCy