#i will confess that ive only recently gotten back into rereading and rewatching things so these thoughts are formed on what i know

[zip-toonz]

talk abt pkmn characters? YESSSS OF COURSE OF COURSE !!!! id like to hear anything u have to say abt the kalos rivals.....OR the lumiose siblings i care them too...

YEAAAAAAA

I have a lot of thoughts about Kalos as a whole all the time!! Heres a little something for everyone

Shauna: OK LETS TALK ABOUT SHAUNA!!!! I don't think I paid much attention to her as a kid but now adays I love picking apart her character. She's by far the most flexible of the the Rivals. In the game she's Sweet but doesn't seem to have a whole lot going on besides being really supportive and upbeat and I may have missed something while replaying the story of X but I don't think she really had a unique goal? Besides being the Rival who has the starter weak to yours. Which SUCKS cause she's such a charming character for what she is in the games. I know she states she's enjoys making memories with you and her friends and honestly I wish they did more with that. Shauna could have been the Rival who was in it for the adventure! maybe have a scrap book of all the things she saw and enamored with exploring the region. In the Anime (my personal favorite version of her due to nostalgia) She's energetic and social and has a established dream a goal! She wants to be a performer, she wants to be Kalos queen and knowing she succeeds brought me a lot of joy! I love that she's not above snarky remarks, I LOVE IT! She's a teen girl and Im glad she acts like one. To this day the playful "You're so slow" directed at Trevor in the summer camp arc lives rent free in my head. You can FEEL that they've know each other since for as long as she can remember. Or her "wow you don't know anything!" when talking to Serena and Bonnie about Pokémon showcases like YES I LOVE THAT! It doesn't really feel mean but rather like she's being playful. In the manga (I love her so much in the manga) the bluntness is bumped up to a 10, I lost my mind when she calls Trevor a wimp. She makes a snide remark about X or Y and again it doesn't feel mean spirited rather that's she's really comfortable with them and calling it as she sees it. And honestly I love that. She's down to earth. She's not afraid to call bullshit and make a scene if she has too. AND despite all that she's still a 12? (based on X's wiki age being listed at 12) year old girl who's still sensitive and has moments of vulnerability. She cried over her furfrou she cried when she hurt Viola while under the influence of Honedge. Then cried harder when Y scolded her before Y ALSO burst into tears. She cried over Pokemon getting hurt. like SHE STILL CARES DEEPLY SHE JUST ACTS TOUGH. (Also furfro groomer Shauna was so neat too! I'm just bias to Performer Shauna because pokemon performances blew my mind as a kid and still do)

Tierno: I often feel bad that when I was younger I didn't really like Tierno all that much as a character because when I got back into XY I was like WOW HES SUCH A COOL CHARACTER. ESPECIALLY IN THE MANGA. In the games he's a sweet kid who loves dancing and is self admittedly not that great at battling. He often gets distracted by the moves the Pokémon are using rather than the battle itself and that's really sweet. In the anime he's a skilled battler that integrated his love of dancing into battling and going so far as to use that to deflect opponents. He has a rhythm with his Pokémon and it strengthens their bond in a way that isn't as traditional as most other trainers and its COOL. And in the Manga he's sweet but not a pushover. He loves his friends, cares deeply for those around him, and went so far as to take care of X's Pokémon while X locked himself away. He wants just as much as the others for X to come back out of his shell but when X blows up on him early on he stands his ground while remaining civil about it. I was in awe of his sheer strength. He can do a flip on skates while carrying Shauna and Trevor like!? THATS SO BADASS ACTUALLY. and while he doesn't battle a whole lot in the manga he can handle himself pretty well. I love that his weight is not used as a joke. He's a fat kid who loves dancing and never he's a fat kid isn't that soooo funny like no its not funny I'm glad he's just allowed to exist as he is and love dancing. I love that the manga made his strong and sweet. I'm sad that he like the Kalos rivals as a whole tend to be ranked really low on tier lists or are just blatantly forgotten due to the time constraints and the in Game story suffering because of it. (READ THE XY MANGA PLEASE I BEG YOU IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE)

Trevor: I've talked about Trevor a ton because I constantly put him through the horrors. But It's wild to know that of all the kids Trevor has this vague hidden lore just chucked into an interaction with his sister if you just happen to talk to every npc and end up in the right house in Jaune Plaza. Its just sitting there. It really makes me think he was intended to be a bigger character in the games. I felt like I interreacted with him the most while replaying the games so maybe he was. He's your Dex rival. he wants to fill the pokedex and its not until you happen to talk to his sister that you find out why he's so fixated on doing it. Its like he's coping with the fact his parent's left him to train Pokémon. Trevor is also not the best at battling in the group so maybe filling the Dex is the next best thing to him. And the lack of parents is never touched upon in the manga or the anime as far as I'm aware so its just this little piece of trivia sitting abandoned in the game. I love that Trevor despite being shy is kind of snooty in the anime. He can be full of himself or a bit of a smartass at times and I like that. Makes him feel less like "oh he's just the shy kid" and more like he's a teen boy who can be a bit full of himself its a welcomed change of pace. I love that the anime makes him a photographer. Its a neat idea. Making a Photo Dex is so unique and the fact he's determined to photograph every Pokémon and hopefully discover a new one is sick! The scene where he's geeking out about Spewpa (I think?) is cute. Like of course he as a photographer and a huge nerd is gonna notice the little things. And in the manga they just commit to him being a huge Pokémon buff by making him a Professor. His dynamic with Sycamore is just Adoptive father and son to me because of the manga and the one in game interaction. Trevor clearly looks up to sycamore but even better is in the manga Sycamore RESPECTS HIM. And of all people Sycamore is (by game lore) the only known positive adult figure in his life. I like to think sycamore has been helping his sister and him for years and honestly the thought that Trevor probably has slipped up and called sycamore dad and then died inside is so funny to me. (Unrelated tangent but I love that they keep giving Trevor scary dog privileges with huge Pokémon twice his size being on his team like why do you have an Aerodactyl and a Tyrantrum Trevor!? and I love that he specializes in Fairy egg and Fossil Pokémon exclusively in the games like what a weird restriction but also a fun one)

X/Calem: WHY ISNT HE IN THE ANIME WHY WHYYYY. I love X a lot. I like the concept of his character I like his dynamic with his friend group and the fact that he clearly has a favorite (Trevor)/j. But more than anything I love that X is a burned out gifted junior trainer. One who locked himself in his room to avoid the fame. Its such a neat angle to go with for a Rival. He never deserved to have his privacy invaded so consistently. He never deserved for people, grown adults even, to disrespect his boundaries. And the fact of the matter is that it traumatized him. Enough to give up what he loved. it's so upsetting and yet so real. His whole arc is one I really enjoy. His trauma feels real. His depression and anger breathe a lot of credibility to it. Child stardom does tend to do a lot of harm. He felt so unsafe to the point he chose to shut himself away to avoid it. And it wasn't even just him it was his Pokémon too. He didn't want them involved with what he saw as his problem. its just GOD!! I know he doesnt have an anime counterpart but personally I think an anime Calem could have worked. They made a rival for ash in the series and I get that they tend to avoid making anime rivals based on the male player character cause that's what Ash is meant to represent but like DUDE. In my mind an anime verse Calem (as opposed to X and game Calem) is a really lax dude who loves being a trainer (And just happend to be really good at it). He like the rest of the rivals in the anime could have been traveling separately (Maybe even returning from traveling abroad for training) and been introduced in the Summer camp set of episodes along side the other rivals. How funny would it have been if he recognized serena as his neighbor. I have more thoughts on an anime Calem but I feel like at some point ill just make him real and properly flesh him out.

Y/Serena: Honestly I've always played as the female player character and since Cal and Serena are the same as far as I'm aware in the games I'm gonna jump to the anime. UNPOPULAR (?) TAKE BUT I HATED ANIME SERENA FOR A LONG TIME. I know why of course. I was mad because of how much they pushed the crush on Ash. It really pushed me away from her character. I never liked how it ended up reducing her character at times to "she likes Ash" when there was so much they could have done with her. I've since come to accept that its not her as a character I hate but how she was handled that I hated. I like her dynamic with Bonnie in the anime. They act like sisters and its fun to watch them hang out. I liked her in the first 2 episodes when we see her interacting with her mom. I like her being bitter about her mom pushing her to train as a Rhyhorn racer. I like her making snide remarks about it. I like the episode where she teaches ash how to Race. I like episodes where the focus is on her and not on her Crush. I just wish she had of been more than what they made her at times. In the games your rival is a skilled trainer. Why couldn't Serena have been? I never really saw the chemistry between them and it really hurt Serenas character. I like parts of her but I feel like there was more that could have been done. IN COMPARISON Y IS SO WELL DONE. Shes pissed her mom kept putting her in the spotlight and being expected to follow in her footsteps so instead she becomes a sky trainer!? BAD ASS AND REALLY FUNNY. Shes the groups glue and holding them together!? INTERESTING! Shes stubborn but well meaning?! COOL. Shes a strong trainer and a force to be reckoned with!? SICK! Despite her strained relationship with her mom she still worries about and misses her!? NICE! Y is what I wished Anime serena could have been. I don't mean that to down play Anime Serena I've come to like her but Y is so strong of a character while Serena was just beginning to get there. I wouldn't say I want A!Serena to be Y I just think if she had at least one of Ys characteristics she would have been stronger. If I was given the chance to change Serena in the anime Id keep the Performer aspect and the lack of serious interest in battling those are fine but I'd think adding naturals leadership skills or hell having her develop an enjoyment for racing would have given her a little more grip. at the end of the day I want her to be better because I do care about her character

Clemont: Anime Clemont my beloved. Watching this kid fail time and time again only to keep trying is everything. I like his dynamic with Bonnie in the anime he's a good older brother stern with her but not mean to her. Keeping dedenne for her until shes old enough to be a trainer. Protecting her when theres danger. Correcting her behavior. You can tell he cares about her and it never feels like he hates or resents her. I like his dynamic with Ash in the anime they really admire each other. His whole deal being that Ash gives him the confidence to venture out of his comfort zone is sweet and fun to watch. I love seeing his wacky invention of the day. And I LOVE CLEMBOT BAYBE!!! Anime Clemont is really fun to watch in general. Hes sweet yet very awkward but doing his best to better himself. I like how much he cares for his Pokémon and his friends. I find the running gag that hes a terrible runner funny. I think about how much that backpack must weigh too given his inventions. I love his team in the anime straying from that of the games with Bunnelby and Chespin being my favorites. Overall I understand why I liked him so much when I was younger because hes just enjoyable to watch (Talking about the anime cause my memory of Manga and Game Clem is basically sticker residue)

Bonnie: I ADORE BONNIE. Usually I have the hardest time enjoying little kid characters in a show because they tend to be written for the sake of annoyance or just poorly developed but Bonnie is a delight. She's a kid yeah she does childish things but its never pushed to the point where its actually grating to me. She gets upset, sometimes irrationally so but she's a child. That makes sense for her character. Like her puffing her cheeks and arguing that she wanted to hug Pikachu because it was cute only for Clemont to ask if Pikachu liked it is Kid behavior. and she apologizes when corrected that good! her finding every Pokémon super cute or getting sleepy because it past her usual bedtime its like YEAH she's like 6 -8 ish if I had to guess. She loves taking care of pokemon and I kind of wished we got to see her as a trainer starting her own journey. I love the bit of her trying to find clemont a wife because like SHES A KID SHE DOESNT FULLY GRASP THE WEIGHT OF THAT SHE JUST WANTS SOMEONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER BROTHER CAUSE SHE CARES ABOUT HIM. I love bonnie focused episodes. She's very well done for a little sibling character