Hassel: the art teacher who closes out the Elite Four

He teaches art during the week and guards the League's final door. Hassel is the last of the Elite Four the player faces in Paldea, just before the Top Champion, and he also runs the academy's art room. The whole character lives in that gap: an affectionate, talkative teacher who can't hold back his tears, and a team of dragons that gives you no opening at all.

Contents

• The Last Opponent Before the Top Champion
• The Art Room, His Classes and Professor Gible
• A Dragon Dynasty, a Runaway and a Dragon Tamer
• Seven Dragons That Also Serve as Models
• Three Meetings Along the Badge Trail
• In Horizons, a Mentor Who Cries at Just the Right Moment
• Hassel at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Last Opponent Before the Top Champion

In the Pokémon League of Paldea, Hassel is fourth in line: he is the last Elite Four member the player meets before the final match. His battle is even billed in no uncertain terms, as the "final fortress."

Even his entrance is a team gag. Hassel doesn't hear Larry's call and only shows up when Rika calls him, after which he lectures Larry: summoning him is Larry's job, not something their colleague should do in his place.

On the battlefield, he announces that he's setting his teaching role aside for the length of the match. Once beaten, he doesn't last thirty seconds: the teacher weeps with joy and congratulates the player between sobs, to the visible embarrassment of Rika, before saying he has no doubt about how things will go against Geeta.

The Art Room, His Classes and Professor Gible

Paldea's academy is his real home turf. You can run into Hassel in his art room long before you battle him, and taking his classes is optional: yet it's the only way to unlock his personal story, one chapter per lesson.

A Gible assists him during these lessons, introduced without a hint of irony as "Professor Gible". It isn't on any of his battle teams: its job is strictly educational.

Between classes, the teacher opens up more than he'd like. He asks the player what they think of Pokémon battles, admits he often wonders what strength really is, and acknowledges that his students' energy lifts his spirits. At the Academy Ace Tournament, he competes alongside the other teachers and gets knocked out — after that, he can turn up as an opponent in later editions of the tournament, at random.

A Dragon Dynasty, a Runaway and a Dragon Tamer

Hassel comes from a family of Dragon-type specialist Trainers based in a faraway region, and he had been raised to succeed his father as head of the clan. He chose to leave without warning, with a completely different plan: making a living from music.

Neither the family destiny nor the musical dream came to pass. He became an art teacher, then a member of the Elite Four, which doesn't stop his family from sending a Dragon Tamer to the academy to press him again, claiming his father's health is failing.

The matter is settled after the final exam, in front of the player. Hassel chooses the academy, saying he would rather nurture future talent than watch over an inheritance, and takes apart the medical argument along the way. The Dragon Tamer gives in, granting that he has a dragon's stubbornness; he then admits he had been on the verge of giving up, and gives the player fifty Dragon Tera Shards for helping him stand firm.

Seven Dragons That Also Serve as Models

His roster is both consistent and broad. Baxcalibur is its centerpiece, backed by Dragonite, Duraludon and Haxorus: nothing but raw power.

The rest of the group completes the picture with Noivern, Dragalge and Flapple. All seven carry the Dragon type, in keeping with the specialty the League recognizes him for.

The teacher doesn't keep his two jobs in separate boxes, though: it's "Professor Gible" who assists him in class, Terastallizing on request to illustrate the lesson. A Terastallization demonstration in an art room is an idea only this region could have come up with.

🐉 Paldea's dragons have their own section: see the Pokémon figures.

Three Meetings Along the Badge Trail

The official introduction comes right after the second Gym. Nemona has told him about this Trainer, and his first question is about motivation: why collect Badges, why aim for Champion Rank? There's no wrong answer — he thanks you and moves on.

He takes the opportunity to set a useful benchmark: Nemona is the youngest person ever to reach Champion Rank, and he suspects the player has the same potential. The advice that follows is decidedly less friendly — train hard, or face a crushing defeat.

The second meeting takes place outside the fourth Gym, with Rika, whom he introduces as his fellow Elite Four member: here he drops the figure that puts the journey in perspective, most Trainers give up on the Badges halfway through. Finally, at the sixth Badge, he congratulates you with an enthusiasm that gets the better of him, apologizes for getting carried away, and reminds you not to sacrifice your studies for the League.

In Horizons, a Mentor Who Cries at Just the Right Moment

The anime series introduces him over the course of Horizons as the art teacher at Naranja Academy. Liko, Roy and Dot run into him in a hallway, and it's Dot who recognizes the Elite Four member behind the teacher; he starts by scolding Rika for her attitude in front of the students.

A later episode of the same arc takes him to Artazon for the Art Festival, Gible included. He leads the trio to Brassius and the episode reveals that he mentored the Gym Leader through a difficult period. Since the expected battle doesn't happen right away, he signs the kids up for the festival, then comes back to rave about their work.

A friendly battle later in Horizons shows what he's made of as a Trainer: Roy and Brassius attack together and lose. Flapple holds the field, Baxcalibur freezes Fuecoco's Terastallized move and knocks out both opponents, and Hassel is moved to see them help each other grow. Later still, the Elite Four briefs the Rising Volt Tacklers on the Paradox Pokémon of Area Zero; when the trio still manages to beat Geeta, the teacher cries once again.

Hassel at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Hassel in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
  The fourth and final member of Paldea's Elite Four you face at the League, a Dragon-type specialist. He is also the art teacher at the academy.
• What is Hassel's team?
  Seven Pokémon defined by the Dragon type: Baxcalibur, Dragonite, Duraludon, Haxorus, Noivern, Dragalge and Flapple. His Gible, meanwhile, only assists him in class.
• Why does Hassel cry so much?
  The game makes him a teacher deeply attached to his students and easily overwhelmed. He weeps with joy after his defeat, congratulates the player between sobs, then does it all over again when the new Champion is crowned.
• Why did Hassel leave his family?
  Raised to lead a line of Dragon-type specialist Trainers, he left to make a living from music. Now a teacher, he refuses to take on the role despite the arrival of a Dragon Tamer sent by his family.
• What does Hassel do in the Horizons anime?
  He teaches art at Naranja Academy, once mentored Brassius, signs Liko, Roy and Dot up for the Artazon Art Festival, and beats Roy and Brassius together in a friendly battle.

In short

Hassel holds both ends of the same idea: you can only teach an art by putting something of yourself into it. The teacher who apologizes for crying in front of his students and the Trainer who fields seven dragons are the same person, and the game never asks you to choose between the two. All it took was a student helping him say no to his family for him to stay at the academy.