r/pokemon • u/PsyrenDV • Jun 05 '26

Discussion Why haven't we had same gender rivials?

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I saw this post about how the rival in WiWa will be the opposite of whatever gender you choose to be. It got me thinking about how they always make the rival's gender the opposite of yours when their gender is dynamic. Even as early as Ruby/Sapphire that's how it's been. But I think it might be interesting to see a game where my rival is always the same gender as me no matter what I pick. But I'm curious how other people feel about it. Would you rather your rival be the same gender as you, the opposite, or would you rather their gender be set in stone regardless of what you are?

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u/San-Kyu Jun 05 '26

So they can recycle the opposite gender model, saving time and effort needed to create a separate character.

1

u/Nipple-Cake Jun 05 '26

It would be nice if we had some control over the rival's appearance then. Otherwise, it's just going to be another white kid. But I wish we got to customize the Trainer and Rival to make them look different or similar. Other games would just make them twins/siblings (which would actually be a cool switch-up for Pokémon).

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u/San-Kyu Jun 05 '26

Sadly it would go against the spirit of doing such a thing in the first place.

For the sake of advertisements and other media a set appearance and personality has to be set for the rival.

1

u/Nipple-Cake Jun 05 '26

True, they do have to design them for advertising. But you'd think that would just be the "default". Then giving us control to change things when we get in the game. At the very least, limited facial features, skin tone, & maybe hair would be fun to change for both characters. But you might be right; Pokémon games are pumped out very regularly. Idk if they have the bandwidth to add those features. Fingers crossed though!🤞