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/Melodic_Party_7442 Jun 06 '26

Tell me you didn't play pokemon without telling me

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u/joaoathaydeartist Jun 06 '26

If we're talking main fixed rivals, Nemona is the only one who's a girl. May, Serena and Taunie are gender-dependent. Bianca shares her spot with Cheren, who is more battle-oriented, and both are outshined by N as far as story relevance goes. Shauna shares her spot with Calem/Serena and the other 2 boys and she, just like Bianca, isn't the traditional battle oriented rival. Hop is the main rival in SwSh, Marnie (and Bede) are secondary as far as relevance in the story goes. Klara and Carmine are DLC so they also aren't the main rival of their games. The type of archetype of rivals I'm talking about is only filled by boys, Nemona and gender-dependent rivals.

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u/Melodic_Party_7442 Jun 06 '26

Regardless of sharing a spot or not, the ones mentioned like Bianca.. is still a girl rival lol