Hassel

Hassel
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Paldea) Naranja/Uva Academy
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Brown
Relatives	Father Unnamed Dragon Tamer (relative)
Debut	Pokémon Scarlet/Violet

Hassel is a Pokémon trainer who appears as the the leader of Paldea's Elite Four and an opponent in the ninth generation games of the Pokémon series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. He specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon.

Background

Hassel was born into a long line of Dragon-type Trainers and was originally expected to succeed his father as the head of the clan. At some point when he was young, he rebelled and ran away from home while swearing to make a music with living. He ended up in the Paldea region, where he worked as an artist and saved Brassius from his lowest point by inspiring him to be true to himself. Hassel ended up obtaining two prominent positions within Paldea. One was working as an art teacher for Paldea's prestigious Academy for Pokémon Trainers, and the other was acting as a member of Paldea's Elite Four. According to Rika, all of the Elite Four members were 'strong-armed' into joining by Geeta, who was the Top Champion and Chairman of the League. Being the strongest member of the Elite Four, Hassel acted as the leader and was the final member to be battled by challengers. He referred to himself as "the dragon guarding the final fortress of the Elite Test". Hassel was known to be a kind and sensitive man, and he was prone to emotional outbursts in which his words became unintelligible. Around school, Tyme scolded him for his outbursts. At the Elite Four, he was also said to have tendency to give Larry endless lectures.

During the events of Scarlet/Violet, Hassel appeared throughout the Victory Road path. He made several appearances in the lobbies of gyms, starting after Florian/Juliana had defeated their second gym. He introduced himself to the young trainer and showed faith in their potential to become a young Champion like Nemona. He also encouraged them to train hard and also attend his art class. He had two more encounters with Florian/Juliana in gym lobbies as they progressed through the gyms, introducing them to Rika during the first of those two encounters. When Florian/Juliana challenged the Elite Four, they eventually made their way to Hassel. Hassel took a moment to show up, because he did not hear Larry's quiet attempts to call for him, and Rika had to shout for him, which caused Larry to anticipate a lecture from Hassel. Florian/Juliana defeated Hassel, at which point he was overcome with emotion, leaving it up to Rika to explain the last part of the Champion Assessment. Hassel later showed up with the rest of the Elite Four to congratulate Florian/Juliana after they defeated Geeta, and they all also spectated Florian/Juliana's ultimate battle with Nemona at Mesagoza.

After meeting Hassel for the first time, Florian/Juliana could take his art classes at the academy. While Hassel admitted that his subject was not a necessary one, it was one that could add much joy to their lives. During his classes, he covered a variety of subjects including the Terastal phenomenon, the Ten Sights of Paldea and Pokémon Ribbons and marks. He also brought in Brassius as a guest speaker. Florian/Juliana could also talk to Hassel outside of class in order to grow closer to him. During those scenes, Hassel was confronted by a Dragon Tamer from his family who claimed that his father was in poor health and wanted him to come home to take his place as leader of the clan. He ultimately defied her by choosing to stay at the Academy, as he preferred to help nurture the young talents there and admitted that he found it to be fun. He was confident that the story about his father's health was a lie spun to make him leave his post. The Dragon Tamer seemed insistent on returning to persist in trying to get him to cave, but Hassel welcomed this, as he assured her that she'd find her match in stubborness. He later admitted that he nearly gave in to the Dragon Tamer's demand, but he found the courage to say no from his students, including Florian/Juliana. He thanked the trainer for their help by giving them 50 Dragon Tera Shards.

In the post-game, Hassel could also appear as an opponent in the Academy Ace Tournament.

Pokémon Roster

• Noivern
• Haxorus
• Dragalge
• Flapple
• Dragonite: He only uses this Pokémon during the Academy Ace Tournament.
• Baxcalibur: He Terrastalizes this Pokémon into a Dragon Tera Type.

He also brought out a Gible in his classes, who he referred to as Professor Gible, and Terastallized it in a demonstration of the Terastal phenomenon. It had a Grass Tera Type during the one class and an Ice Tera Type during the next one.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Hassaku, named after the Hassaku orange. His English name of Hassel seems to have been intended to sound like Hassaku.
• He and Brassius refer to each other with nicknames: Hass and Brassie.