27 rivals212 battles22 gamesUpdated OCT 30, 2026

All Pokémon Rivals

Every rival battle from Kanto to Paldea, plus the expansions and Legends games. Pick a game on a card, then a battle; where the team depends on your starter or your version, pick that too.

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Every battle

Pokémon rivals by region

One card per rival with every battle they fight against you, in story order. Pick a game, then a battle; the team follows your starter where it changes with it.

Kanto rivals

4 games

In Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen, Blue takes the starter that beats yours and has it fully evolved by your Silph Co. fight. In Yellow, your first two battles with him decide whether his Eevee becomes Jolteon, Flareon or Vaporeon. In Let’s Go, Trace raises the partner your version didn’t give you.

Johto rivals

3 games

Silver steals the starter with the type edge over yours from Professor Elm’s lab and treats his Pokémon as tools for most of the story. His Golbat shows the change: it evolves only through friendship, and it faces you as Crobat in his Indigo Plateau rematches after the League.

Hoenn rivals

3 games

Brendan or May picks the starter that beats yours, while Wally, the boy you watched catch a Ralts on Route 102, waits in Victory Road as the last test before the League. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire give him Gallade instead of Gardevoir and add rematches at the Battle Resort.

Sinnoh rivals

3 games

Barry picks the starter that beats yours, and from mid-game two of Buizel, Roselia and Ponyta cover the other two types, so his team ends with a Fire, a Water and a Grass type. After the credits he’s back for weekend rematches in the Fight Area, or the Survival Area in Platinum.

Unova rivals

2 games

N brings a different team to every meeting and ends at N’s Castle with Zekrom in Black or Reshiram in White. Cheren takes the starter that counters yours and Bianca the one yours beats; in Black 2 and White 2 the rival is Hugh, chasing Team Plasma for his little sister’s stolen Purrloin.

Kalos rivals

1 game

Of your four friends, only Calem or Serena starts with the type advantage over you. After the credits they wait in Kiloude City for a rematch once a day, and your first win there earns the Absolite, the Mega Stone for Absol.

Alola rivals

2 games

Hau’s starter is weak to yours, so from Malie City on he covers the gap with an Eevee evolution: Flareon if you chose Rowlet, Vaporeon for Litten, Leafeon for Popplio. At Mount Lanakila, Gladion’s Silvally holds the Memory that beats your starter.

Galar rivals

1 game

Hop picks the starter weak to yours and keeps reworking the rest of his team through the story. Once you’re Champion, he returns with the legendary your version didn’t give you: Zamazenta in Sword, Zacian in Shield.

Paldea rivals

1 game

Nemona brings the starter weak to yours to every battle, all the way to her Special Coach match at Blueberry Academy. Penny fights with a full team of Eevee evolutions, so pack answers for several types at once.

Expansions and Legends rivals

4 games

Play The Teal Mask after the main story and Kieran and Carmine bring stronger teams at far higher levels. By the time you face Kieran at Blueberry Academy, his Dipplin has become Hydrapple. In The Isle of Armor, Klara in Sword battles mostly with Poison types and Avery in Shield with Psychic types; in Legends: Z-A, Taunie (or Urbain, if you chose the female look) raises the two starters you didn’t pick, so one of them beats yours.

Champion battles (Blue, Hau and Trace) are on the Champions page. Battles where a rival fights beside you are left out, as are Bede’s and Marnie’s battles as Gym Leaders after the story.

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