By this, I mean out of the traditional rivals who pick out a starter Pokémon with you in the main games.

While the difficulty of his fights leaves much to be desired, from a storytelling perspective, Hop has one of the most human and relatable arcs we’ve seen in a Pokémon game.

He begins wide-eyed and excited to start his new adventure. He's the little brother of the Pokémon champion who has been showered by constant praise and accolades as he grew up. This has led to massive respect and admiration for his brother and a strong desire to be like him and eventually overpass him.

The game uses gameplay “subtly” to show his enthusiasm for Pokémon. Unlike any other traditional rival, he already has a Pokémon he started training before the starter leon gives us. The idea that he knows about concepts like type advantages, catching Pokémon, and Pokémon centers are a clever way to tie his enthusiasm and passion for becoming a Pokémon master to his role as a tutorial figure. This is repeated in the train ride to the wild area, where he enthausiticly explains how the new area works.

As the game journeys on, you fight him after defeating Milo, where you first see the seeds of doubt begin to plant in hop's mind. He begins to wonder if you are both even on the same level of strength if you were able to wipe him so easily despite you both having the grass badges

In this area, I believe swshs easier difficulty contributes to this storyline as it might not have worked as well if he kicked your ass five times in a row.

Soon after this fight, you meet bede. Bede is the essential ass asshole rival we know and loathe from the early games. But this time, we aren’t the ones to feel their wrath, it’s hop.

Bede looks down on hop for his cheery earnest nature and views him as weak for it. Bede hopes to tap into the pressure he feels from Leon to teach him a lesson.

Here is where hops arc truly begins. After losing his fight to Bede, he begins to feel all the times he’s lost to you crash down on him. Bede convinced him he was letting his brother down, and he began to believe him. And yet you don't blame Hop.!He’s been practicing for this adventure his entire life; his the brother of one of the strongest trainers in the Pokémon world.

And yet you 6-0 him every time you meet.

Throughout the subsequent encounters, you can see his enthusiasm begin to fade. He’s no longer doing this because he’s passionate about it. But because he feels like he has to. There are signs he doesn’t even care about Pokémon battling anymore. He begins switching out his starter Pokémon (Wooloo) for more vital team members, switching out old Pokémon for ones that better fit his team diversity. And even so, you still stomp his entire team into the ground.

Later in circhester After learning more about the slumbering Weald and rediscovering his passion for Pokémon and challenges you with his last team led by his starter Pokémon, Dubwool. He’s back

As the game wraps up, you beat Hop one last time at the Champions cup. Here we can see hop Dynamax for the first time, and once again, the little details shine through with hop imitating his brother's Dynamax animation (albeit more sloppy). Once defeated, it’s clear hes no longer takes your rival as personally. While visually upset, he still congratulates you and accepts his defeat. Where the Hop previously in the story would’ve been destroyed by such a loss so close to defeating his brother, and desperately try to make up for it. The new hop decides to cheer you on from the sidelines.

During the postgame, we finally see his Arc complete. By calming down the mascot legendary and defeating opposing Dynamax Pokémon, hop finds his passion lies not in living up to his brother's massive legacy but in creating his own by helping the people of Galar.

Of all Pokémon rival stories, I think this is ultimately the most relatable and human story. It’s not a one-note “asshole learns not to be an asshole” or the bland “we are best friends and have a friendly competition with each other.” It’s a story of a kid surrounded by overachieving peers who are crushed under the pressure of living up to their legacy. Only to ultimately realize he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to succeed his brother or rival; he doesn’t need to be the greatest champion of all time.

He is his own person and can forge l his own path instead of following in the footsteps of another.