Tupp: The Team Skull Grunt Who Never Got Over Ilima

He leads a trio of grunts, and he loses just about every battle he picks. Tupp is the small-time antagonist of the anime's Sun & Moon series: a Team Skull member who bosses around Rapp and Zipp, rides a motorcycle and leaves beaten. Yet the character holds up thanks to a motive that's unusual for a sidekick of his rank — a childhood grudge, nursed episode after episode, against the Trainer who stole his spotlight.

Contents

• The leader of a trio named after a kitchen drawer
• A childhood grudge against Ilima
• An opponent who leaves beaten every single time
• Trio leader, but at the very bottom of the ladder
• Alolan Grimer, Salandit and the trio's smell
• Tupp at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The leader of a trio named after a kitchen drawer

Tupp keeps coming back throughout the anime's Sun & Moon series, always flanked by the same two sidekicks. He's the leader of a trio of Team Skull Grunts that he forms with Rapp and Zipp, a title of command that gives him no authority beyond those two. His look doesn't stand out any more than that: it's a carbon copy of the male Grunts you run into in Pokémon Sun and Moon and then in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

The trio carries a joke in its very name. Tupp comes from Tupperware, Rapp from plastic wrap (her French name, Cello, from cellophane) and Zipp from Ziploc, the American brand of resealable plastic bags. Three ways to wrap up leftovers, for three characters the story treats more or less as such.

French audiences first knew him under a different name. During season 20, the French dub calls him Ted, before renaming him Tupp from the following season on — very likely to line up with the name the character goes by in English, and not an isolated case, since another character in the anime went through exactly the same change between two seasons. In the French dub, he is voiced by Alexis Flamant.

A childhood grudge against Ilima

The character's driving force goes back long before he joined Team Skull. As a kid, Tupp and his Alolan Grimer were a hit with the girls, until the day those girls met Ilima and his Eevee. None of his attempts ever let him regain the upper hand, and he's been left with a hostility that has never died down.

The story replays the scene years later. When Ilima comes back to the Pokémon School, Tupp rounds up other Grunts to go confront him, and the Trainer's Eevee drives off the whole group single-handedly. The worst blow to the trio leader's pride comes next: during the clash, the Team Skull girls who are there fall for the Trainer and his Pokémon in turn.

The rivalry eventually produces a downright revealing scene. Coming across a wild Eevee, Tupp wants to take it for himself in the explicit hope of becoming as popular as his rival, while Rapp wants it simply because she thinks it's cute; the two squabble, and the Eevee teams up with a Popplio to chase off the three Grunts. The last word goes to Ilima himself: in the Alola League's Battle Royal, it's his Eevee that knocks the trio out of the competition.

An opponent who leaves beaten every single time

His very first appearance sets the tone, and nothing will ever prove it wrong. The trio goes after Kiawe to steal his Charizard and sends out nine Pokémon against him; the Trainer fights back with his Turtonator, Ash and his Pikachu arrive as backup, and the Z-Move Inferno Overdrive sweeps them all away. The rematch attempt that follows ends with Pikachu's Gigavolt Havoc.

The targets change, the outcome doesn't. After sneaking into the Pokémon School, the three Grunts steal Tauros Ride Pokémon to cause chaos and run into Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, who takes them on with her son's Litten before Pikachu chases them off once again. Another time, they try to snatch an Umbreon: its Trainer's Lycanroc gets the better of them with no apparent effort.

Even unlikely opponents hold their own against them. Up against the Team Rocket trio, Team Skull loses the race for a Darkinium Z guarded by a giant Totem Alolan Raticate — the Totem routs them, and the Z-Crystal goes to their rivals. At Mina's place, a drawing contest nearly ends in a tie, until a critique wounds Tupp's ego and pushes him into a battle he loses. Later, caught spray-painting the walls of the League stadium and threatening young Mimo, the three get thrown out by the Silvally of Gladion.

Trio leader, but at the very bottom of the ladder

His title only extends to his two teammates. Sent to Poni Island by Plumeria, the trio steals radishes from a field to lure and catch Sensu Style Oricorio, then gets swept aside by Hapu's Mudsdale; the Admin then reappears, openly unhappy with their feeble efforts, and orders them to follow her back.

When it comes to the boss, their role shrinks to that of messengers. It's Tupp who brings word to the Shady House that the first Alola League will soon be held, then the trio escorts Guzma and Plumeria on Melemele Island, briefly crosses paths with the Team Rocket trio and swings by the Pokémon School to catch Professor Kukui's attention.

Their one real initiative backfires on them. Convinced they're doing their boss a favor, the three try to destroy the stadium to stop the League from taking place without breathing a word of it to Guzma, are beaten in a matter of moments by Ash, Kiawe and another Trainer, then get scolded by Guzma and Plumeria for how pointless the whole operation was. They spend the rest of the competition in the stands cheering on their boss — and trying, without the slightest success, to rattle Lana ahead of her battle against him.

Alolan Grimer, Salandit and the trio's smell

Only two species are credited to him, and the older one goes back to his childhood. The Alolan Grimer that was with him back then is inseparable from his brief moment of glory: it was with this Pokémon that he made an impression, before Ilima and his Eevee came onto the scene. The available material only shows it at that point, never as a battle partner.

The Pokémon you actually see in action at his side is Salandit. His moveset mixes venom and dragon: Venoshock, Toxic, Dragon Rage and Flame Burst, a range that sums up the character's method pretty well — wearing opponents down and sowing disorder, rather than raw power.

Poison is in fact the whole trio's signature color, and it ends up playing a nasty trick on them. While trying to grab Ash's Poipole, the three watch the arm of Zipp's Garbodor get stuck on a venomous blockage and release a putrid smell; the battle stops dead and the Grunts take off on their motorcycles. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more faithful picture of what the story has in store for them.

☠️ Venom, but the decorative kind: check out our Pokémon figures.

Tupp at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Tupp in Pokémon?
  He's a Team Skull Grunt, leader of the trio he forms with Rapp and Zipp in the anime's Sun & Moon series. He keeps coming back as an opponent for Ash and his classmates, and leaves beaten just about every time.
• Why does Tupp hate Ilima?
  Because of something that happened in childhood. Tupp and his Alolan Grimer were popular with the girls until they met Ilima and his Eevee. Having never managed to regain the upper hand, he has held a stubborn grudge against him ever since.
• Which Pokémon does Tupp use?
  Two species are credited to him: an Alolan Grimer, seen back in his childhood, and a Salandit, the one you see in battle. The latter uses Venoshock, Toxic, Dragon Rage and Flame Burst.
• Why was Tupp called Ted?
  It's a change in the French dub. The character is called Ted during season 20, then renamed Tupp starting in season 21, most likely to match the name used in the English version.
• Did Tupp take part in the Alola League?
  Yes. The trio enters and fights in the Battle Royal, but it goes after Ilima and gets eliminated by his Eevee. Tupp spends the rest of the competition in the stands cheering on Guzma.

In short

Tupp is a sidekick, and the story does nothing to hide it: he never gets what he came for, not once in the entire series. What saves him from anonymity is his motive. Where most grunts act because they're told to, he carries around a years-old wound to his pride, and most of his initiatives aim to heal it — to the point of wanting an Eevee because his rival has one. His name, borrowed from a brand of plastic containers, sums up how he's treated: a handy container, never the contents.