Rivals are a key component of the Pokemon franchise’s identity. Ever since the original Red & Blue titles on Game Boy, players have found their journey to Champion framed around a rival who’s always one step ahead. Or at least that’s the indication Pokemon initially gave. With time, rivals have become more passive & outright friendly, no longer offering up any kind of narrative or gameplay challenge– but this just makes it easier to appreciate the likes of Blue and Silver.
The series’ first two rivals, Blue is beloved for being the original while Silver’s fan base stems both from his surprisingly nuanced character development & genuine villainy. Likewise, Blue & Silver are two of the strongest rivals in Pokemon, and any match between them would surely be legendary.
10 Blue: Kanto Champion
It’s hard to discuss Blue’s competence as a Trainer without immediately establishing the elephant in the room: he’s a bonafide Pokemon Champion. Not only does Blue beat Red to becoming Kanto Champion first, he puts up an incredible fight after already having proven himself to a fresh Elite Four (keep in mind Red battles them moments after Blue does.)
Silver never so much as challenges Will, put in his place by Gold before the two can take on the Pokemon League. Despite his quick loss to Red, Blue is a respected enough Champion to maintain a legacy which sees him representing Kanto (often alongside Red & Lance) in Champion tournaments later in the timeline.
9 Silver: Stole A Starter & Got Away With It
Blue is a jerk throughout most of Generation I, but he’s not a bad guy– just a bratty kid. For all intents and purposes, he does do the right thing in confronting Team Rocket alongside Red and never does anything particularly villainous. Not so with Silver, whose establishing moment is robbing a Pokemon out from underneath Elm and getting away with it.
Where Blue was mean, Silver is a straight up criminal who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. That aggression in Silver’s personality gives him a confidence clearly reflected in battle. While he’s a rusty Trainer, the fact he can keep up with Gold with stolen Pokemon as well as he does says a lot.
8 Blue: Established Gym Leader At 13
Generation II takes place three years after the events of Generation I, and one of the biggest surprises is stumbling upon Blue’s Gym in Viridian City. Taking over for Giovanni following his disappearance, Blue ends up opening Kanto’s first multi-type Gym. And for what it’s worth, it’s possible Blue became a Gym Leader long before Generation II even started.
Blue is considerably more mature in Generation II, which can make it seem like he’s older than he actually is. At just 13 years old, Blue is one of the youngest Gym Leaders in the franchise. It’s well earned, though, as he stampeded his way through Kanto and became Champion in record time: something not even Red can take away from him.
7 Silver: Giovanni’s Son
Silver may not have Blue’s incredible resume, but he arguably has something even better: a mob boss father. It’s also arguable that Blue only beat Red to the punch because he couldn’t stop Team Rocket himself. Blue bows out before Red fights Giovanni, giving him a lead Red never seems to recover.
Silver being Giovanni’s son also speaks to the former’s natural talents. When considering that Giovanni is one of the most skilled Trainers in Kanto (defeated only by a literal in-universe prodigy,) it’s understandable why Silver seems to give Gold such a hard time with what appears to be no formal training.
6 Blue: Higher Level Party
Across all their appearances in the main games, Blue has consistently been depicted with a high level party. This was especially true in Generations I and II where the latter had a much lower difficulty curve than the former– resulting in Blue’s party being over 10 levels higher than Silver’s (and then some.)
The remakes remedy things a bit by allowing Silver’s party to hit the 60s, but his team pales in comparison to Blue’s as far as levels go. Blue’s simply a more experienced Trainer, but that’s perhaps not surprising given that Kanto is a more dangerous region than Johto in terms of Pokemon levels.
5 Silver: Access To Legendaries (Stadium 2)
Ignore Stadium 2’s approach to level scaling entirely, and Blue would still have an extremely difficult time taking on Silver’s Stadium 2 party. The rival role in Generation I and II was specifically designed with antagonizing the player character in mind. Blue did this with his schoolyard taunts and beating you to the punch.
Silver does this by mistreating his Pokemon and serving as an outright villain. What better way to contrast him with the player than to imply Silver not only got to the mascot Legendaries first, but caught himself a Mewtwo along the way? Ho-Oh, Lugia, & Mewtwo together can eviscerate any early Gen team.
4 Blue: Balanced Party Composition
The majority of rivals in the franchise are multi-type Trainers, but Blue embraces the role a bit more fully than the average rival. Balanced teams are ostensibly his gimmick, and all subsequent rivals are just following in his footsteps. Beyond that, Blue canonical just has a well put together team of Kanto’s better Pokemon.
Blue covers as many Type spreads as he can while making use of the “best” non-starter Grass, Fire, and Water Pokemon from his region. His party isn’t especially competitive, but it’s a perfectly reasonable team that makes for an excellent final boss in the first Generation.
3 Silver: Unique Party Composition
While Silver is never as challenging as Blue in any of his matches (or rematches for that matter,) his party composition could easily trip up Blue, if only because of how unique it is. Silver does go for a multi-type party as well, but it’s not centered around his starter like Blue’s was in Generation I.
Silver’s Type coverage is wildly different from Blue’s, and could be his surprise advantage. Dark, Ice, Psychic, Ghost, and Poison are all represented fairly well in Silver’s team. More importantly, Silver has access to a starter in Generation II, whereas Blue has seemingly abandoned his. Then again, a starter like Meganium won’t do Silver much good.
2 Blue: Red’s Rival
Red is canonically one of the strongest Trainers in Pokemon if not the outright strongest. In many respects, Red’s canon party is just Blue’s, but better since he actually has access to all three starters (alongside a super powerful Pikachu.) Red’s so strong that he goes on to be the true final boss of Generation II.
The fact Blue can keep up with Red at all is a testament to his skills as a Trainer, but everything seems to indicate that Blue’s only continued this rivalry into adulthood. They may have taken different career paths, but Generation VII shows that Red & Blue are still equals– and still supremely powerful.
1 Silver: Gold’s Rival
Credit where credit is due, Red may be considered the strongest Trainer in the franchise, but there is one character who’s canonically beaten him: Gold. Generation II’s true ending doesn’t come until Gold defeats Red in their one-on-one duel. Red’s no slouch either, still the Trainer with the highest level party in the series.
It’s impressive that Blue can keep up with Red, but what does it say about the rival who can keep up with Gold– the Trainer who defeated Red? Silver doesn’t have the same experience as Blue, but one could argue that Heart Gold & Soul Silver depict him as a 1:1 equal to Gold.
NEXT: Pokémon: The 5 Best NPCs In Pokémon Red & Blue (& The 5 Worst)
