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- “A worthy opponent for...Rei?”
- — Lucas to Akari in Pokémon Masters EX
BeretShipping is the slash ship between Lucas and Rei from the Pokémon fandom.
Canon[]
Lucas is a young trainer aiming to be champion of the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl if chosen as the player character or the professor assistant and friend of Dawn if he is not. Rei plays a similar role in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where he's either a boy transported to the past if chosen as the protagonist or a senior member of the Survey Corps if not. The two never meet in their respective canons.
The two encounter each other in the Pokémon Masters EX story, Together in an Unknown Land. Rei and Akari are in the middle of a difficult pokemon battle when they are sucked into a space-time distortion. This causes them to travel from Hisui of the past to Pasio of the present. While the two are contemplating their situation, they overhear Lucas saying that there was a space-time distortion, though are unable to see him. This surprises Rei, and he immediately jumps into a defensive stance and asks who's there. Lucas cries out in surprise before emerging from the bushes with Dawn. Both pairs of friends reel back in shock upon seeing each other. Lucas smiles when he realizes who the two identical strangers are and approaches them. He reveals that he was told about Akari and Rei by Adaman and Irida. Rei wonders what's going on. Lucas apologizes for confusing him and explains everything from the beginning. He introduces himself and Dawn before revealing their from Sinnoh, which is Hisui in the future, which alarms Rei as it's similar to his own situation. Rei mentions that it all must be due to a space-time distortion. Lucas agrees with him as Adaman and Irida got to Pasio via the same method. This makes Rei realize that he hasn't lost his memories of Hisui as he did with his original world, which makes him smile. Afterwards, the quartet go to see Adaman and Irida.
Later, while waiting for Adaman and Irida to arrive, Rei has a discussion with the other three about his own situation. He explains that Pasio is familiar and he'd come from the past. While Dawn is shocked, Lucas understands as Adaman and Irida mentioned someone who came from a space-time rift. Akari raves about the benefits of the Galaxy Team, which makes Lucas wish that Team Galactic had never changed. Rei is confused by this comment. After Rei announces that he'll work hard as a sync pair, Lucas offers him help should he ever have an issue.
A few days later, Akari and Lucas have a conversation after training. Lucas remembers Rei mentioning that sync stones don't work well with Hisuian pokeballs. Akari reveals to him that she feels bad due to Rei surpassing her despite being his mentor. Hearing this saddens Lucas as it reminds him of his own situation with his protege, Dawn. However, in the process of comforting Akari about her situation with Rei, Lucas himself gains renewed confidence in getting to Dawn's level. Later, Rei and Lucas are battling on opposite sides of the battle field. Rei is with Dawn and Adaman while Lucas is with Akari and Irida. Rei is shocked to see that Akari became a sync pair with her freshly caught samurott, to which Akari tells him that it's all thanks to Lucas's help. Afterwards, the six friends have a battle while Barry and Cynthia look on.
Fanon[]
BeretShipping as a romantic pairing is a rarepair overall, with most art depicting them together focusing on a potential ancestral relation or the parallels between the two instead of any romantic relationship they may have. The ship name was coined on December 2025 by AnonymousOwl54. The name is a reference to how both Lucas and Rei wear a similar red beret with a design on the side while wearing their primary outfits.
One of the most common interpretations of these two characters is that they are the same person or perhaps alternate universe versions of the same person. Another popular theory is that Rei is actually the ancestor of Lucas as a result of marrying Akari. However, there is some art that focuses on pairing the two boys together, whether romantically or platonically. Some AUs also depict the two as brothers, most commonly twin brothers. It's also common to see both duos depicted together in fanart. It's not as popular as HairClipShipping (Dawn x Akari) as a pair of characters, but the two duos are often depicted together in fanart. In the Japanese fandom specifically, while BeretShipping is still a rarepair, it has a bit more popularity than HairClipShipping. It would appear that HairClipShipping is more popular overall while BeretShipping is more popular as a romantic pairing.
Fandom[]
Trivia[]
- Lucas and Rei both appeared in the anime, but only as brief cameo roles with no speaking lines, and neither met any member of the main cast.
- Incidentally, both boys appeared in specials revolving around a Sinnohan deity featuring Dawn as a primary character.
- Despite the similar appearances of the two that suggest an ancestral relationship, any relationship between the two is unconfirmed. However, this bit of fanon is often taken as canon by fans.
- The popular theory that Rei and Lucas are the same person is also often taken as canon, but has been debunked by Pokémon Masters EX, which presents them as separate characters.
- Lucas and Rei themselves do not acknowledge any potential relation between them, only acknowledging that they look similar to Dawn and Akari respectively.
- Rei and Lucas are similar in their NPC roles.
- Both have a pokemon from the cleffa line.
- Both speak in a more casual manner than their female counterparts.
- Both are researchers who were surpassed by their proteges.
- Despite their similar appearances, there are some key differences between the two.
- Lucas is slightly taller than Rei.
- Lucas's skin tone holds a pink undertone while Rei's is more olive.
- Rei and Lucas have different voice actors.
- Rei has a brighter hair and eye color than Lucas.
- In Rei's concept art, he is shown holding up the same hand sign that Lucas does in his Diamond and Pearl key art.
