Improving Hop’s Transition From Champion in the Making to Pokémon Professor
While not my favorite rival, I do appreciate what they were trying to go for with Hop’s character arc. Him being the younger brother to the champion and coming to realize that he’d rather be a professor was neat. It, along with the player, reminds me of Sonia and Leon’s journey, where Sonia admits she didn’t think she had what it took to be champion like Leon did.
However, if there was one thing that I felt could have been done better, it was how that transition occurred. Because, while I did enjoy it, I did feel like it could have been handled a bit differently. So I thought it would be interesting to go over what I felt could have been done to make the decision feel more natural.
Having Opal’s Comment Reach Hop
While Opal’s storyline ended up coinciding with Bede’s, she does make a comment or two on Hop and how he doesn’t want to tarnish his brother’s legacy. Specifically when she says “That child.. Gym Challengers should battle for the sake of their own Pokémon. Why worry about saving the Champion’s name? We all know he's unbeatable." I feel like this quote could have lead into Opal taking it upon herself to help nudge Hop in that direction. It could be as simple as Opal saying, “you don’t have to be like the Champion” and/or “What does Hop want?” or something like telling him how he reminds Opal of someone who came to realize that they wanted to go down a different path (Sonia).
Either one could have Hop start to question if he truly wants to be champion. The former could lead to him realizing how he really cared about Pokémon and how he knows quite a bit about them. It could also get him to think about the Pokémon Team Yell ends up battling over you disturbing them (the Silicobra on Route 6 and the Dreadnaw on Route 9) and how he thinks they had a good idea but was poorly implemented. The latter could lead to a conversation with Sonia, what made her realize she wasn’t cut out for battling, and how she knew she wanted to be a Professor. This could lead to him starting to care for Pokemon on a more health and scientific level, and/or lead to him to empathize with Eternatus, knowing that it lashing out wasn’t entirely its fault and wanting to prevent the same thing happening again.
I wouldn’t expect Opal to do too much else since Bede ends up being the rival she mentors, but a small enough push from her could have helped initiate that change.
Have Sonia be His Mentor
With how often Sonia shows up to help investigate the Darkest Day and Dyna/Giganta-Maxing, I feel like this could have been an opportunity to have Hop slowly, but surely wanting to help her look into it. This could lead to him better understanding Dynamaxing and show him how bad forcing it can be. Which, in turn would add to his anger when Sordward and Shielbert force it onto Pokémon during the final portion of the main game. As well as being a catalyst of him learning how to soothe Pokémon when something like this happens.
There’s also the fact that she is Leon’s closest and best friend. Besides Leon, I feel like Sonia would be one of the few people who’d pick up on Hop’s melancholy. I also feel like she would pick up on it a bit quicker than Leon (due to his role as Champion keeping him busy). I also feel like she’d be able to pick up on Hop not being “champion material” since she would have that experience. As such, I could see her helping him out and gently guiding him towards a path outside of being champion.
Leon Stating that Hop Doesn’t Need to be Like Him
We never truly get a conversation between Hop and Leon about how much the Bede fight and subsequent loses effected him. It’s never fully addressed on Leon’s end outside of him acknowledging that loses can happen and can hurt. I just feel that there could have been a conversation where Leon sits Hop down and states how he doesn’t expect Hop to be like him or preserve his legacy. As well as maybe apologizing for making Hop feel like he had to (intentionally or not) and that Hop doesn’t have to follow in his (Leon’s) footsteps if he doesn’t want to.
Like Opal, this could be a simple conversation that goes a long way. The main difference being the impact being bigger since it would be coming from Leon himself. This conversation could then lead into Sonia deciding to guide Hop while Leon’s busy with his champion duties.
Who do I Think Would be Better to Mentor Hop?
Between Opal and Sonia, I would say that Sonia. Mainly because I could see her being the catalyst for Hop’s decision to go into research. There’s also the fact that Sonia is more involved with the player and Hop than Opal was. The player meets up with her several times throughout the game, with her interactions in Motorstoke, Circhester, and the Slumbering Wields being some of the more bigger ones involving Hop. And since Sonia is familiar with the idea of not having the drive to be a champion, she would be able to understand Hop in that regard.
As neat as it could be for Opal to help based on what she’s said to the player, it may not seem as necessary. Especially since Opal deciding to mentor and sponsor Bede does result Bede becoming the new Ballonlea Gym Leader, which is what she wanted. Similar to how Piers hoped that Marnie could take his place as the Spikemuth Gym Leader.
As for Leon, he could blend into either. However, it would be more significant with Sonia since the player and Hop’s journey, in some ways, mirrors Leon and Sonia’s journey. So there would be an added layer of understanding to it.
In Conclusion
Though small, I think that giving Hop a push towards research a bit sooner would have helped connect his main game goal and his end game resolution. Opal could be a little more vocal towards Hop instead of the player, though Sonia being that guide would probably work better in terms of who Hop interacts with more in the main game. Leon can contribute in either case, which could have helped these two have a conversation on Hop not needing to be like him.
What do you think? How would you connect Hops changing goals more fluidly in Sword and Shield?
Sources
Opal Quotes Bulbapedia: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Opal/Quotes
Hop Images From: https://www.serebii.net/swordshield/hop.shtml
