Best Supporting Characters From Pokemon Games

There are a lot of elements that go into the making of any great video game, and this same mindset reigns no truer than in Pokemon Games. From the Pokemon found within each given game to the overall plots for each of them, there are quite of few things that goes into a cutting-edge Pokemon Game. One of the most important factors among all others are the supporting characters of a certain Pokemon Game, ones that literally puts the game over the top. And that’s exactly why we are going listed the best Supporting Character from Pokemon Games thus far!

The majority of Supporting Characters found within this video game franchise are primarily seen in a player’s Rivals and Friends, but sometimes a Champion of a given region plays a crucial role within a game too. No matter their role of their given game, these select few are the best Pokemon has had to offer so far, and we’ll make sure to explain exactly what makes each of these characters so great!

We would like to note that these selections are in no particular order, that they are not ranked from worst to greatest. We would also like to share that at any given time, you can share your thoughts in Comments Section below each and every page. Whether you think we missed a character or nailed one of our picks, we would love to hear from you either way!

But before we begin, we’d like to share the few Supporting Characters that just missed making our list. These extras are still great characters and each of them contributed to their given games, but each just came up a little short compared to others. These characters include Cheren, Cynthia, Steven and Serena: Cheren played a unique role in the drama of Team Plasma, but he ended up being more or less a lot like what Silver already was (to a much lesser extent); Cynthia and Steven are among the most popular Pokemon Champions ever, and though each helped a trainer along the way throughout their given regions, players usually remember them as a tough trainer rather than a key supporting character; and Serena was great in the anime series, but her X/Y character came up lacking when compared to it.

With those characters aside, let’s take a look at our picks for the best Supporting Characters found within each and every Pokemon Video game so far!

Blue

When it comes to the Pokemon Video Games Franchise, there is not a Rival more icon than Blue, the original antagonist back in Red & Blue (and later in FireRed and LeafGreen). Much like what would later be with Gary in the Anime Series, Blue was a trash-talker like no other, but one with the battling prowess to back up his words. He pushed Red to be his absolute best with his somewhat irritating personality, culminating to a final battle for the Kanto League Championship to settle the score between these two rivals once and for all.

Blue set the stage for all Rivals that would follow, an impressive bar that was set extremely high from the start. Most early players of Pokemon remember him to this very day, as his popularity continues to sustain no matter how many rivals have come since him. There is a reason why Game Freak has brought him back so many times, from HeartGold and SoulSilver to even as recent as Sun and Moon. There is no question, Blue will remain held in such high regard for the duration of the Pokemon Series.

Silver

After Blue did such a great job of setting the bar where Rivals were concerned, it was going to be a tough act to follow for whoever would come after him. However, the transition from the first rival to the second was rather seamless, and a lot of that had to do with the character of Silver and the backstory he brought along with him. Unlike Blue, Silver wasn’t really that much of a talker, yet still one to have great strength in battle. Since he was a child, Silver was taught that power meant absolutely everything, and one could only earn ultimate power by making Pokemon do their bidding. On top of being a polar opposite of any main character and protagonist, Silver also had the luck of being the son of Giovanni, the leader of the infamous Team Rocket from back in both Red & Blue and Gold & Silver.

However, near the end of one’s journey of the Johto Region, Silver’s thoughts and mindset actually turn out for the better. No longer do he desire to make Pokemon his slaves, but rather to live in harmony with them as they journey through life. He set the example for later rivals like Cheren, who basically had an exact replica of a path to that of Silver (just to much lesser, underwhelming extent). Blue made things difficult for all other rivals that would later come, but Silver was up for the challenge.

Wally

Unlike Blue and Silver, not too many fans of the Pokemon Video Games Series would’ve said that Wally was actually a rival back in Ruby & Sapphire. Though he would later become a self-sustaining battler, and a great one indeed, most players remember Wally as the side-story of those given games, the one about the ill child that later became something with the help of your trainer. He didn’t compare to Blue or Silver as Rival, not even the rival/friend of May found in those games (what almost all players remember most about those games).

In all actuality, Wally didn’t become that great of any type of Supporting Character until Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Here, Wally finally became all he was ever made to be. From making more key appearances in the remake games to being all that better of a trainer, players discovered the rival in Wally that always should’ve been. Not to mention, his final team in those specific games is one of the toughest, high-leveled teams for any non-playable character of the Pokemon Video Games Series.

May

Outside of all the great Pokemon found back in Ruby & Sapphire within the Hoenn Region and Third Generation of Pokemon, most players remember those games for one specific reason, one specific person: May. Unlike Blue and Silver from the games that preceded hers, May was more of a rival/friend than and out-and-out rival. She was actually the first of her kind, since almost every rival since her have taken one a role much like the one she set. She was organic back in the day, a thought that was as completely original as both Blue and Silver (and later Wally).

But what made May all that more great of a character is how she started the first true theme (at least hints of such, especially in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire) of intimate feelings between the main character and herself. What once started out as a simple meeting between the new kid in town and the girl who lived there her entire life ended up blossoming in a great friendship, and then, by the end of things, something that appeared as a relationship of a little more (again, at least hinted towards). To this day, May has a special place in all the hearts of Pokemon Fans, whether her role from the anime series or that of the video games.

Barry

Game Freak nailed it with both Blue and Silver back in the first ever Pokemon Video Games; however, they missed the mark (as least at the given time) with Wally, and they needed to rebound going in the era of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl and the Fourth Generation of the PokeVerse. This was going to be especially hard due to the fact that Blue and Silver set such great examples previously; shoot, it was the reason that Wally was set up to frail from the beginning. But somehow Game Freak did it once again, striking gold in the character of Barry.

Unlike Blue and Silver, and even Wally for that matter, Barry was the most realistic thing to a life-long friend since birth that ever could’ve been within any given video game. From his light hearted trash-talking of fining his pals to the friendly competition of being the best he had with all of them, Barry made his games both fun and realistic at the very same time. He was like the perfect mix between Blue, Silver and May: he was as boisterous as Blue, competitive as Silver (with a well-known included), and as kind as May. No Rival is ever perfect, but Barry was as close as one could come to such a thing.

Dawn

Unlike Pokemon Games released before it, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl weren’t as great as they were because of the fabulous Rival they had in Barry alone, but because they had Dawn as a secondary Supporting Character as well. Dawn was a lot like May in most regards, providing addition support to make a trainer’s journey that much more special. She didn’t like to battle as much as May did, but Dawn took the aspect that May had set with more intimate feelings to a whole new level found in the World of Pokemon.

At first, Dawn was a little snobby when your characters first came to be. But after a number of times helping her out of jam, ones that culminated to your character saving the entire Sinnoh Region as you knew it, she became great friends with your trainer. By the end of the Storyline in Pokemon Platinum, when you own your own Villa in the Battle Resort, Dawn will sometimes visit you and even hint at having feeling greater than friendship for you. From May to Dawn, the Pokemon Company seemed to have found a winning formula with where a rival/friend character was concerned.

Bianca

It was a real shame that Cheren never lived up to being this great character back in Black and White. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Team Plasma and all the complexities they incorporated in one distinct storyline and antagonist group, the Fifth Generation might have gone done as a complete and absolute bust. Cheren’s influence on a trainer just wasn’t there, and the Champion in both Alder and Iris were lacking compared to the prior examples set in both Blue, Lance, Steven and Cynthia. Luckily, the Pokemon Company did have Team Plasma to fall back on, as well as the interesting character of Bianca.

Bianca was different compared to other rivals and friends from previous Pokemon Video Games. She sort of wanted to be a trainer at first, but she was actually just looking for a way to explore the Pokemon World of Unova (which he father was hesitant about). She was quirky to say the least, being very different from both May and Dawn (especially since there was never any intimate feelings shared or even hinted at towards the main characters and he and herself). She even made a return in the sequel games of Black2 & White2, now being an aid for Professor Juniper. She was different, and since Cheren missed the mark in more ways than one, Bianca shined through.

N

There were many, many things about the storylines of Black and White that left players yearning for more, but one thing that wasn’t included in such a feeling was that of the character of N. N was so different compared to anything and everything that was seen in characters before him, but he was very similar to that of Silver in how he was so soft-spoken and few of words. He never wanted to have absolute control over the world and Pokemon like Silver originally wanted, actually being manipulated by Ghetsis into thinking he was actually saving Pokemon from the harsh ways of the human race.

By the end of said storylines, N breaks all ties with Team Plasma whatsoever, and leaves to live in harmony with Pokemon. He was as fragile of a character as Wally, yet as innocent of a soul that would later be in Hau. N even makes a return in Black2 & White2 in helping stop Ghetsis, his so-called father, for good this time (though such a small role it was). N was a complex individual to say the least, with as much drama as any rival before or since.

Gladion

If you aren’t paying close attention, it is very easy to let a lot of the little details of Sun and Moon slip right past you. At first, Gladion looks like another Blue or Silver in the making, a rough child willing to do whatever he has to stop your player from becoming the best that has ever lived. But as the storyline goes on and the layers of Gladion’s personality begin to unfold before your very eyes, you begin to see him in such a different light.

What once was the impression of kid who joined the local gang to get off the streets quickly turns into a soul that cares deeply about others, especially his family and the likes of all Pokemon. He looked like a misguided youth at first and even second glance, that is until you discover how he risked his entire life to save the life of one single Pokemon and the lengths he is willing to go to save his sister from his own mother. Under that rough exterior of Gladion’s is a heart of gold, the same that became of Silver at the end of Gold & Silver.

Lillie

If you’re one of the few people that have player every single game apart of the Mainstream Pokemon Video Games Series, then there is a very good chance that Lillie would be near the top of your given best and favorite supporting characters. Shoot, she might even cap off the lists of many on this same subject. And the mere fact is that Lillie truly is one of the best supporting characters that has ever been in the Pokemon Franchise.

Not a friend and yet not a rival, Lillie becomes something more to all players that play Pokemon Sun and Moon. She starts out as a quiet soul, one who, for some unknown reason, doesn’t like battling and doesn’t like sharing herself with people outside of her circle. So much mystery revolves around her character and her Pokemon that she calls Nebby for the longest while; that is, until every last thing about her past is disclosed as the storyline of her games proceeds.

Much like how her brother, Gladion, ran away after stealing a Pokemon from their mother’s scientific testings, so Lillie did the same with Nebby. On top of this, the girl had as horrible of mother as Silver and N did in a father, one that was lost in the beauty of ultra beast and the power they held rather than the beauty in her own children. But by the end of the storyline, Lillie becomes a character almost opposite of that when you first met her, not being scared of the world no more. She becomes all more original and exuberant, even gaining enough nerve in the process to confront her mother.

No matter how one would like to spin things, Lillie is amazing in every regard, everything one would ever want or look for in supporting character (much like everyone else listed so far).

With Their Support, Things Were Great

Well, it looks like we’ve come to the end of our list of the best Supporting Characters that have ever been in Pokemon Games. From Blue to Lillie, we’ve seen the best characters of sheer support that have come thus far. We thank you for reading all of thoughts, and we’re all the more appreciative to those who went the extra step and voice their thoughts in comment area below.

Until next time, Pokemon Fans!