I've noticed Pokémon has done a really good job at getting me specifically invested in the rival friend groups these past few games because I genuinely seem to enjoy their scenes more than others and they tend to be high up on my favourites list (some even being my favourites in the game like Bede, Arven and notoriously Naveen. Also I kin Penny so there's that)
The only exception to this is XY. I had to replay the game a bit to actually care about them but I'm pretty sure that's the same for everyone













