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DamselShipping is the het ship between Sordward and Sonia from the Pokémon fandom.
Canon[]
In the postgame storyline of Pokémon Sword and Shield, Sordward and Sonia both appear and play major roles in the conflict of that storyline. They first meet in the Slumbering Weald after the player has become champion and returns to the location to return the Rusted Sword/Shield (depending on version). Their meeting is spurred on by the book that Sonia has written, which Sordward and his brother immediately denounce, claiming it to be filled with lies.
Throughout the postgame story while the player, Hop, and Piers are traveling around to aide the gyms with the issue of the Dynamax Pokemon, Sonia takes it upon herself to try to track down Sordward and Shielbert, using her Dynamax Power Spot Detector and searching on social media for sightings of them.
The two later show up at the Wedgehurst laboratory, demanding the Wishing Stars that Chairman Rose collected, which are being kept in the lab after the events of the Darkest Day in the main game. It's revealed that during this time, Sonia's assistant who was introduced at the beginning of the postgame storyline was sent by the brothers to infiltrate the lab and spy on Sonia in order to get the Wishing Stars.
After recovering from the initial shock of the betrayal, Sonia gets back into action on trying to locate the two, eventually chasing them to Hammerlocke Stadium, where they've entered the Energy Plant to enact their plans. In Pokemon Sword, Sordward reveals that their plan is to overload the legendary Pokemon with Galar Particles, in order to "expose it's true nature" to prove that Sonia's book was incorrect in it stating that Zacian and Zamazenta were the true heroes. He argues against Sonia's insistence that Zacian and Zamazenta have been protecting Galar since ancient times, showing offense that she would claim his ancestors were liars and call his family's status into question.
Their direct interactions in the game end there, and while there is no stated development of their relationship past this point, in the Crown Tundra DLC it is revealed that Sonia has allowed the assistant that had been acting as a spy to work for her once more.
In the Pokémon Adventures Sword & Shield Manga[]
Compared to in the games where Sordward and his brother's appearance is in direct response to Sonia's actions and the book she wrote, the twins become involved in the story earlier in the manga. While his role is less influenced by Sonia's in the manga than in the games, the two do still cross paths a few times.
The first time their paths cross is when Sonia discovers a camera that houses a video of Chairman Rose's meeting with Sordward and Shielbert on it, leading her to discover their planned collaboration in bringing about the Darkest Day once again. In an attempt to retrieve the camera back, the brothers have Shielbert's Klingklang fire an electric attack at the flying taxi Sonia is currently in. The memory card of the camera is corrupted, but Sonia escapes uninjured.
Sonia calls the two brothers "fake heroes", to which they respond calling her rude, saying she should at least call them "self-proclaimed heroes" with a laugh.
Their next direct interaction is not until during the Darkest Day, after Sordward and Shielbert's failed attempt to quell Eternatus. Sonia is seen holding back Casey as she angrily asks the twins where the Pokémon that they stole from her in the Slumbering Weald were. After Henry also questions the duo, asking where the Rusted Sword and Shield are, Sonia deduces that their plan with Rose was to bring about the Darkest Day, then they would step in to defeat Eternatus once enough energy had been gathered. The twins confirm Sonia's assumption, elaborating further on their motivation for doing so, as well as revealing that even they did not have the answer of how Eternatus was quelled passed down to them due to their ancestors attempts to erase the legendary Pokémon from history. Sonia states that she doesn't even have the energy to be mad, with their final interaction being her referring to them as "phony heroes", with the twins objecting to the blunt statement.
Fanon[]
This pairing is very uncommon, only having a few fans, although those fans are rather dedicated to the pairing. The rareness of this pairing is likely due to both Sordward's role being relegated to appearing in the postgame, as well as the general unpopularity of him as a character.
While there is no further canon development of their relationship after the end of the postgame, and they leave off on bad terms, fans of this pairing tend to interpret Sonia's decision to allow her old assistant to return to working for her as meaning that she likely doesn't hold a grudge over those events, opening the possibility for the two of them to become friends and possibly develop a romantic relationship down the line. Likewise, with how they helped out in planning the Galarian Star Tournament, there are a few pieces of fanwork that portray the idea of Sordward (and more often than not Shielbert as well) helping out at Sonia's lab and annoying her.
The typical portrayal of their dynamic from a romantic standpoint involves a lot of awkwardness on Sordward's end of not knowing how to approach Sonia in feeling remorseful for how he treated her in the postgame, and very often will portray it as a seemingly one-sided crush on his end. Fans of the pairing tend to like to focus on and draw attention to the impact Sonia had on Sordward's life, and his negative view on that impact, with him loathing Sonia as being the person who ruined his life. However, this aspect is also explored with it being interpreted as a good thing from an outside view, with how much it's changed Sordward's social situation, with it being assumed by many that in the past him and his brother were rather isolated, not having many personal connections outside of their family and their worshippers.
While this is among one of the least popular ships for Sonia in the fandom, it seems to be one of, if not the most well known romantic pairing for Sordward in the English fanbase.
Throughout the Japanese text of the postgame, Sonia refers to Sordward and Shielbert as シーソーコンビ(seesaw combination), a name which has been affectionately adopted by their fanbase as the most commonly used duo name for the twins. Likewise in other languages where they're given a specific duo name by Sonia (Korean, Chinese) those names tend to be used to refer to them among fans, with the Chinese fan wiki actually having a page for the duo under the name Sonia gives them in that localization. In English, fans of the two who use the seesaw name tend to translate it as "Seesaw Duo", with the account on Twitter responsible for hosting Seesaw Duo week and the upcoming SeesawSoni week being named "seesawduo"
Between February 10th and February 16th of 2025, an event named "SeesawSoniWeek" is planned to take place. The event generally revolves around the trio of Sordward, Shielbert and Sonia, however it welcomes both of the individual pairings of DamselShipping and InaccuracyShipping (Shielbert x Sonia). The name SeesawSoni while being a trio name for Sordward, Shielbert and Sonia, is also used as a catchall title for pairing either of the Seesaw Duo with Sonia. The prompts for the event are as follows: "Fairytale or Mythology" for the first day, "Comfort or Warmth" for the second day, "Wishing Stars or Change of Heart" for the third day, "Shopping Trip or Dress-Up" for the fourth day, "Valentines Day or Palentines Day" for the fifth day, "Flowers or Things That Remind Me of You" for the sixth day, with the final day being a free day.
Fandom[]
- TUMBLR
- DamselShipping posts on Tumblr
