I know a lot of people are hating on Bede for being toxic to Hop, and most of them attribute it to him “just being an asshole”. But I do think he has a reason for being the way he is, especially when it comes to his contempt for Hop early on into the game.
First of all, Bede is the exact opposite of a spoiled rich kid. He’s spent most of his life at an orphanage, getting into fights, until Rose gave him his endorsement and sent him on his gym challenge. From what we’ve seen of Rose and Oleanna, they aren’t exactly the doting type. In fact, the game straight out states that they were using Bede for their own gain.
Bede starts out as someone in the lower rung of the social ladder, having nowhere to belong, and once he’s endorsed he’s been shown as someone who works tirelessly and desperately for Rose’s approval (remember, he destroyed the monument in Stow-on-Side for ROSE, not himself). Like him or not, you can’t deny that Bede has worked hard to get where he is now, and worked even harder to get the approval of someone who barely even notices him. He’s earned his strength fair and square, and he’s proud of that, flaunting how much better he is because of it to us whenever we battle him.
As Hop’s childhood friend, we get to see how hard Hop works to pursue the championship he’s always vied for (even if it’s just because of his idolization of Leon, but that’s another rant for another day), and how he’s slowly crushed by his older brother’s reputation that he was never meant to carry (again, rant for another day). But Bede doesn’t see that. Hop’s not shy about revealing himself as the unbeatable champion’s brother either, so when Bede first gets to know Hop, I imagine him seeing a person who has gotten his fame and endorsement because he’s related to the champion, who probably gets insider tips on how to train his pokemon from Leon, who has started his pokemon journey with an unfair advantage by piggybacking off his brother’s successes.
To Bede, Hop is the embodiment of the privilege he’s never had, who belongs in a family like he never did. And that’s why he hates him.
On that note, I’d like to say that this doesn’t excuse what Bede has done. He’s the reason Hop gets depressed and doubts his abilities, and he’s completely in the wrong here. But it’s not because he’s the “asshole rival”, it’s because of his past and his beliefs
tl;dr: Bede’s animosity towards Hop is a result of their social class disparity.
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