Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players call Paldea & DLC rival characters “best written the series has ever had”

Niladri Sarkar
pokemon scarlet and violet rivals arven, nemona, and penny in the paldea region

The new rivals introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and the two DLC additions seem to have created a huge fanbase among players as they laud all the characters, calling them “the best part of the game.”

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet brought several exciting additions to the game, including new Pokemon, the powerful Paradox species, and Tera Types.

The DLCs didn’t seem to be any behind either, as they brought the Synchro Machine feature, returning Legendaries, as well as the most challenging Elite Four battles to date, delighting the community.

But if there’s one factor that has remained a constant factor among fans, it’s the rivals that the protagonist journeys with throughout Paldea, Kitakami, and the Blueberry Academy.

After Reddit user ‘CrystalDragex’ made a post and captioned it with: “I appreciate Nemona, Arven and Penny a lot more now” and gave an elaborate description of why they admire the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet rivals, fellow trainers joined the bandwagon in the comments section, agreeing with the OP.

A user commented: “Breaking up the plot into three stories really helped these characters. They all got enough screen time. They all got to showcase what it is they care about” while adding that it is the “biggest narrative progession they’ve done in a while.”

Fan expressed how much they adore the characters by writing: “The characters are hands down the best part of this game, love them so much” and “This is legitimately the only Pokemon game that I feel has an actually solid plot with good characters.”

Elaborating on this, a player also went on to say: “I feel like these characters are the best written the series has ever had and I enjoy the more character focused approach this gen.”

Nemona seems to be the clear favorite among the rivals, as many found her “refreshing” in comparison to Hop, the rival from Pokemon Sword and Shield and a “breath of fresh air” in general.

More players gushed about Nemona by adding: “She can be truly, authentically herself. I’d wager that a lot of people resonated with Nemona (I know I did)” as well as “Nemone rocked.”

Even those who didn’t like Nemona initially stated: “I was skeptical of Nemona at first, but she really turned out to be a great character!” as others mentioned “Carmine and Kieran were great,” referring to the DLC characters.

Players can now find the trio of Nemona, Arven, and Penny, and possibly even Kieran and Carmine in the Kitakami Epilogue.

If you want to interact with more characters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Indigo Disk DLC, check out how to beat BB Elite Four Members Drayton and Lacey.

About The Author

Niladri is a Writer who specializes in Pokemon Go, Scarlet and Violet, and competitive VGC battles. With more than seven years of experience in copywriting and SEO content writing, Niladri has previously written for Pokémon GO Hub and Smogon. He has been covering Pokemon for CharlieIntel since June 2023. Niladri can be contacted at [email protected].