I can’t say I was much of a headcanonizer or theorizer during my initial entry into the fandom. I certainly enjoyed a theory or two since no matter how wild (like the Giovanni is Ash’s father theory), but I don’t remember an exact moment where I came up with my own theory or headcanon. The closest I can think of is possibly having a headcanon that Lance acted as a father figure to Silver, which I still kind of hold onto today.

That said, my first “real” headcanon has to be this one involving Piers. The inspiration for it comes from the fact that Piers uses an Obstagoon, and with it being an evolution of Zigzagoon’s Galarian Form, the idea of Piers being from Hoenn sounded like an interesting idea.

So I began to formulate how this headcanon would work. And I ended up on a few factors to help expand on it. Things like how Piers got his Obstagoon, why he chose to specialize in Dark types, and why he is a musician. With that in mind, here’s s breakdown of my headcanon.

Why Hoenn?

To further explain why I chose Hoenn, it came down to a few factors.

Obstagoon: I don’t think it’d be incorrect to say that Obstagon is Piers’ ace. Sure, he doesn’t send it out last, like most gym leaders do with theirs, but I consider it his ace over Skuntank since it’s has perfect IVs in both Defenses. Which could have been given to Obstagoon since Piers doesn’t use Dynamaxing/Gigantimaxing. And while Obstagoon does originate in Galar, I thought that Hoenn would make sense that he was from Hoenn since Zigzagoon and Linoone can be found in both Hoenn and Galar pretty early on.
Hoenn is one of a select few regions that have a notable Dark type specialist: While trying to think of potential places outside of Galar that Piers could come from, I wanted to pick a region that had at least one notable Dark type specialist. This would narrow it down to Johto, Hoenn, Unova, and Alola since they either have an Elite Four member or Kahuna that specializes in Dark types. Karen (Johto) and Sidney (Hoenn) felt like the better options. Sidney just felt like the better option based on it being Hoenn and I could see him being the reason that Piers specialized in Dak types.
Kabu is from Hoenn: This doesn’t necessarily have to sell the idea that Piers is from Hoenn. Kabu just happens to be from Hoenn, which is confirmed on his normal League Card. I just think that it wouldn’t be too unreasonable to say that more than one trainer in Galar could have moved from Hoenn.

These were the main factors that went into me deciding Hoenn. That and one other area that I’ll get to in the next part.

What About Piers’ Interest in Music?

I knew I wanted one of the more musically inspired trainer classes to be another inspiration for Piers. I figured he could have gotten inspired by the Guitarist Trainer Class. While there is a Musician Trainer Class, which would also be fitting, the aesthetic of the Guitarists feels closer to Piers’ than the Musicians do. The Black 2/White 2 Guitarist probably feel more closer to his aesthetic than the ones from the original Hoenn games, but the outfit for the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire models also feel close aesthetically to his outfit. Just with it being primarily black and not having the jacket.

This trainer class would also overlap with my other Hoenn points, which I liked. Plus, Guitarists can be found in Johto, Hoenn, and Unova. So if I decided to go the Johto or Unova route for his type specialty, this trainer class would work out perfectly. Whereas the Musician Trainer Class’ oldest appearance was in both Unova games.

There’s also the fact that Sidney is stated to be a musician in the manga. So that really ties this point together well with both of their Dark specialties.

All that to say, this is how I came up with where Piers got his love for music from. With his music and type discussed, there’s the question of…

How Piers Got His Obstagoon?

My thought process for this had a few factors:

His Obstagoon’s parents and
The circumstances leading up to him getting it.

My idea for this was that Piers’ parents had a male Hoenn Linoone that was more of a house Pokémon than a battler (a.k.a. a family pet). And one day, they would leave this Linoone, nicknamed Lonnie, at the Day Care while they were on a family vacation. There, Lonnie would end up breeding with a female Galarian Linoone named Luna. This Galarian Linoone would be one that Sydney was fostering and left her at the Day Care to help her socialize while he went to a League conference.

Sidney would be unbothered by this happening, knowing that it could happen. More than anything, he was surprised that Luna was that comfortable with another Linoone, since she didn’t seem to like a lot of people or Pokémon. However, an even bigger surprise would be the fact that Luna liking Piers.

So when it came to the matter of what to do with the egg, Sidney decided that Piers should have it. As well as letting him keep Luna since she trusts him. Piers’ parent would initially be hesitant, but Sidney would convince them, stating that he’d rather have Luna be with someone she could be comfortable with, and he had a feeling that Piers and the egg would go far some day.

The reason I went with this route was because I knew I wanted Piers’ Obstagoon to be tied to his family. So making him the son of two Linoone made sense. And I figured the mom would be a Galarian Linoone since, unless someone was breading a Pokémon with Ditto, an egg will always be whatever the female Pokémon is.

Miscellaneous Factors

I also had a few miscellaneous ideas for this headcanon that, while not exactly geared towards specifically, it would help build this headcanon more.

Piers was about eight when he got his Obstagoon as an egg: Assuming he would have started his adventure anywhere between the ages of ten and fourteen (based on the ages of some of the player characters), I figured it would make sense if he got his Obstagoon as an egg a little bit before he started his journey. For the sake of discussion, I’ll say he was thirteen when he started his journey.
He was born and Raised in Lilycove City: Lilycove felt like the best place to place Piers since it has a Contest Hall and a route leading to the league. That way, he would see all of the Guitarists coming through for contests or on the final stretch of their league journey, while also living in a travel point whenever the Elite Foure goes to and from the League.
Piers’ family moved to Galar when he was nine: Of course, Piers would have to make his way to Galar at some point, and nine felt like the right age. That way, if he were to start the gym challenges at ten, he’d have at least a year to get acclimated to Galar. I could also see him moving to Hammerlocke for his dad’s work and moving to Spikemuth later.
Marnie was born in Galar: In this scenario, I can see Marnie being born in Galar. While their ages aren’t confirmed, I could see there being a ten years difference between Piers and Marnie. And if I had to guess how old they were during Sword and Shield, I would say that Marnie was fourteen, which would make Piers twenty-four. Which is why I figured Piers would start his jouney at thirteen in this scenario. This way he has a few years to build a relationship with Marnie before going on his journey.
Sidney is the one to sponsor Piers: We know that Rose sponsored Leon during his gym challenging days, so I thought it would be neat if Piers had a well known sponsor. And since I already had Sidney being his reason for being a Dark type specialist and the one to gift Piers his Obstagoon, it’d make sense that Sidney would sponsor him.

Closing Thoughts

This is one of my favorite headcanons. While it may not have needed to be as elaborate as it ended up being, I felt that it needed it to help explain how I came to this conclusion.

Hoenn Originating Dark Specialist: A Piers Headcanon

Why Hoenn?

What About Piers’ Interest in Music?

How Piers Got His Obstagoon?

Miscellaneous Factors

Closing Thoughts

What do you think of this little headcanon?

Further Reading