Headcanons
These are my headcanons about Hassel, aka stuff that's definitely not official. Please don't take these seriously!
Home region
I like to imagine Hassel comes from northern Paldea or souther Kalos, aka the inaccessible plateau in the game.
There are many dragon tamers especially in northern Paldea, also many of Hassel's dragons can be caught in the northern half of Paldea. I imagine his home is a small
castle in a snowy mountain. With Baxcalibur being his ace, snow fits him well in my opinion.
(Regarding the anime episode HZ096, many people took Dot's line "I think Mr. Hassel is one of them" regarding to dragon tamers in Blackthorn City as proof that he comes from there, but
to me it sounded to be a reference his dragon tamer status rather than his origin city.
(The line was an answer to Liko's "Dragon tamers?" line.))
I also half-heartedly like to think that all the dragon tamers you meet in Paldea are Hassel's relatives. Because it just would be funny.
Parents
Hassel's father and mother are named Valén and Aya. Their marriage was arranged. Both come from dragon tamer clans. Valén is from a south Kalosian clan and Aya comes from a region based on the Hiroshima prefecture in Japan (hopefully there will be a region based on it someday!) as the Hassaku tangerine was discovered there. Both of their names come from orange/tangerine breeds, Valén from Valéncia orange and Aya from Kobayashi orange.
These days Valén, a very old man, is of course still the family head as his son refuses to follow in his footsteps. Aya passed away a long time ago, and
her funeral was the last time Hassel visited home. Hassel was closer to his mother and has a strained relationship with his father. Aya was warm and
more understanding towards Hassel's dreams, but like Valén wished that her son would become the family head. Surprisingly, Valén always had a better
sense of humor than Hassel does, despite being so adamant about family stuff.
Oh, and Valén's ace is a shiny Haxorus while Aya's ace was a Dragonite.
Music and art
To me, Hassel was more into orchestral/classical music rather than being a rocker (a common headcanon with fans). He's always been particuarly talented with the piano.
After running away from home, Hassel found moderate success as a professional musician in a symphonic orchestra, after enduring some hardships.
Over the years he lost his passion in it though, and did smaller jobs such as giving piano lessons for a while. Being a strong Pokémon trainer brought in some money as well.
Upon meeting Brassius, Hassel became more interested in something art related as a new career. He had always loved drawing and painting as a hobby,
and often sketched from life.
Hassel had been enjoying teaching piano to kids and thought about teaching art. Before he became an art teacher at the academy, Hassel had taught some art classes in a different school.
Other headcanons
- Hassel's birthday is August 1st.
- He uses the Applin phone case on his Rotom Phone:
- Speaking of Applin, the signature with Applin in Treasure Eatery is totally by him:
