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PostwickShipping is the het ship between Hop and Gloria from the Pokémon fandom.
Canon[]
Pokémon Sword and Shield[]
Gloria is the default name of the female player character in the Pokémon Sword and Shield titles. Her name and appearance can be customized by the player. Hop is an NPC in the game and serves as one of the player's main rivals in the story. The characters are neighbors and live in the starting town of the game, Postwick (hence the ship name), and they are also shown to be friends before the events of the story begin.
In the first scene of the game, Gloria is watching an exhibition match involving Leon, the champion of the Galar region who is also Hop's older brother. Hop comes in to greet her and her mother, showing familiarity with the both of them. Then, he tells her that Leon will be arriving to the nearby train station of Wedgehurst, and invites her to come and meet him. When they get there, Leon greets his brother and Gloria, apparently meeting her for the first time. He notes that Hop has talked about Gloria to him before, recognizing her by her "bright eyes," (implying that Hop has mentioned this trait to him specifically). After this encounter, Leon surprises the two by allowing them to choose between three starter Pokémon that he has brought with him. Hop courteously allows Gloria to have the first pick, since he already has a Pokémon of his own, Wooloo. Once Gloria chooses, Hop picks the starter that has a type disadvantage to hers. They have their first battle, which Gloria either wins or loses depending on the player's choices. After that, Leon is convinced to give both trainers an endorsement for the Galar Pokémon League.
They are then distracted from their journey when a Wooloo stumbles into a misty forest nearby known as the Slumbering Weald. This is meant to be a forbidden area, but the two end up going inside to chase the Wooloo and rescue it. While in the Weald, they encounter a strange mirage of a Legendary Pokémon (Zacian in Sword Version, Zamazenta and Shield Version). They try to fight it, but their attacks are ineffective. Then a mysterious mist knocks out both trainers, and they have to be rescued, along with the Wooloo, by Leon.
On the train
After this encounter, Hop and Gloria take a short train ride together to the Pokémon League, with Hop happily declaring that they are now rivals, and that this is the first chapter of his personal legend.
Hop feeling down
After this point, each trainer travels on their own to earn badges, with Hop catching up to Gloria every now and then, to challenge her to battle. Unlike their first battle, which Gloria can lose without a reset, every battle afterwards is canonically won by Gloria. While Hop is disappointed by these losses, he doesn't let it discourage him until he suffers another loss at the hands of their mutual rival, Bede. While Gloria was apparently nice about the losses, Bede berates Hop for his apparent lack of skill, telling him that he's a stain on his older brother's legacy. This clearly hurts Hop's feelings a lot, as he doesn't want to bring shame to Leon. After another loss to Gloria, he tells her about all of this and she is unable to console him. Hop is distraught and resolves to get stronger in order to live up to Leon's legacy. Since Gloria is a silent protagonist and player character, the player doesn't get to say much to help Hop in this situation, and Gloria's feelings about the situation are not explicit. However, when Gloria talks to Bede during the game, there are dialogue options in the game that imply she's not happy with him.
After their final match
All of this culminates in their semi-finals battle in the Galar Pokémon League. Hop is determined, ready to face Gloria with everything he’s got. During this battle, he once again has his original partner (now evolved into Dubwool) on his team. Unfortunately, he still loses, and while it clearly stings him, he stands proud and thanks Gloria for always being a worthy rival to him. After that, Gloria is set to battle Leon, and Hop expresses that he can’t decide which one of them to root for.
Before Gloria is set to battle Leon, dinner plans are made between Gloria, Hop and Leon, only for Leon to be a no show. The two search for him joined by their mutual rival Marnie, as well as Piers and the rest of Team Yell. The group pursue a member of Macro Cosmos to retrieve the monorail key so they can make their way to Rose Tower, where Hop and Gloria break off from the rest of the group to battle their way up the tower together.
The next day, once Gloria has battled through the finals, Gloria’s battle with Leon is interrupted by Chairman Rose, who has hatched a plot to save Galar’s future by unleashing the Legendary Pokémon, Eternatus. Leon quickly goes to stop him, while Hop and Gloria meet up. Sonia also meets up with them to figure out a plan. Since Chairman Rose is recreating the events of the Darkest Day, Sonia reminds them of the Sword and Shield Pokémon who stopped the event before. So they venture back into the Slumbering Weald. When they get to the center, they do not find the Pokémon, but instead find a worn down sword and shield made of stone. Gloria takes one of them with her, and Hop takes the other. (Which one gets which is dependent on the game version.)
After this, Hop and Gloria make their way to the Energy Plant underneath Hammerlocke Stadium, where they reach Rose himself, who is defeated by Gloria. But Rose tells them it is too late, as Eternatus is rampaging at the top of the tower. Hop and Gloria rush up there, in time to see Leon throw a Poke Ball at Eternatus. For a moment, it seems like Eternatus is caught. However, Leon senses that the ball is going to break, and instructs his Charizard to protect Hop and Gloria. The ball explodes open, and Leon is knocked out by the blast.
With the Rusted Sword and Shield (custom Gloria)
Hop's plan
With Leon down, Hop and Gloria step up to try and defeat Eternatus themselves. Eternatus assumes a powered-up Eternamax form, which leaves all the Pokémon on the field unable to attack. In a last-ditch effort, Hop decides to hold up the stone sword/shield that was found in the Slumbering Weald, and Gloria does the same with hers. At their call, Zacian and Zamazenta stir from their hiding place in the Slumbering Weald. They fly across the region to help, and join Hop and Gloria in battle. The two of them realize that they are repeating the events of the original Darkest Day. After an epic struggle, Eternatus is defeated and caught by Gloria, restoring the Galar region to normal.
In the aftermath of this event, Chairman Rose turns himself in out of remorse, and Gloria is able to battle and defeat Leon, becoming the new Champion of the Galar region. Hop congratulates her, feeling somewhat bittersweet. This ends the main story of the game.
In the postgame, Sonia has published a book detailing the true events of the Darkest Day. This angers some people in the region who were attached to the old version of the story, including a pair of brothers named Sordward and Shielbert. They claim to be descendents of the original hero and are upset that Sonia is attempting to rewrite history. They decide to expose Zacian and Zamazenta and fraud heroes, so they steal Hop’s relic (either the Rusted Sword or the Rusted Shield) to lure one of the legendaries to the top of the Tower Summit in Hammerlocke as before. (this would be the opposite legendary to the one on the box). While they get their plan ready, they are also forcing Pokémon to Dynamax all over the region in the Gyms, so Hop and Gloria team up with the Gym Leaders to take those Pokémon down, before heading back to Hammerlocke's energy plant.
The brothers succeed in their plan to lure the opposite legendary to the tower, and they blast it with Eternatus energy in an attempt to make it go berserk and ruin its own reputation. This, of course, backfires when the legendary attacks them, and Hop and Gloria do their best to calm it down. Hop is concerned about the Pokémon’s wellbeing and tries to talk to it. Gloria battles the legendary, but even afterwards, it can’t control its power and charges at Hop. Hop is saved by the box legendary, and the opposite legend runs back to the Slumbering Weald. Hop feels guilty about allowing his relic to be stolen and not being able to help the opposite legendary. He leaves the Tower Summit to catch up to it. Meanwhile, the box legendary recognizes Gloria’s worthiness, allowing her to battle and catch it.
Hop and Zamazenta in Pokémon Sword
Gloria then gets a call from Hop that he has managed to catch up to the opposite legendary. She and Sonia meet him at the Slumbering Weald, where the Pokémon is still struggling. Hop manages to calm it down with his kind words, and the Pokémon finally gets itself back under control. Grateful, the opposite legendary decides it wants to join Hop, and he catches it, paralleling Gloria’s capture of the box legend. The two have now taken the place of the original two heroes of Galar, stewarding the sword and shield Pokémon respectively. (During this scene, the player can choose to have Gloria say “Hop, you’re amazing!”)
Rivals forever!
Now that the crisis is solved, Hop asks for one last battle with Gloria. During the fight, he talks about his personal journey, how he felt like he was always playing catch-up while everyone else had things figured out. Although he loses this fight, Hop is content. He declares that he has figured out what he wants to do in life, which is to learn about and help Pokémon as much as he can. He decides he wants to be a Pokémon Professor, and Sonia invites him to become her assistant. Despite his new goal, he declares that Gloria will always be his greatest rival. He also gets approval from Leon, which makes him happy. After this post-game story is over, the player can find Hop in Sonia’s lab, studying, and he will have some dialogue about how it’s all going.
Moments before he literally licks her head (for science)
The next canon event for Hop in this game is in the Isle of Armor DLC. If the player has completed the main story and this DLC’s story, Hop will appear on the island to conduct some research about the Dynamax phenomenon. He’s especially interested in Gloria’s Urshifu, and they go off in search of an ingredient that Urshifu would like to eat so it can Gigantamax. Hop has the idea to search for nectar, so he and Gloria look for a Pokémon that can make it. One of the Pokémon they find is Applin, which falls out of a tree and hits Gloria on the head. It leaves some of its apple juice on her head, so Hop, wanting to test its properties, licks the juice right off of Gloria’s head, seemingly unaware of how odd that is. Eventually, he and Gloria come across a Dynamax Vespiquen and get some Max Honey from it for Urshifu.
After finding the Honey, Hop says he’s going to take his research more seriously, and he stays around the Dojo for a while until Gloria fights the ex-Champion, Mustard. He watches her battle and then compliments her with pride when she wins, saying he’s not surprised in the slightest.
Looking forward to their future matches
In the Crown Tundra DLC, the player can pair Hop and Gloria up for the Galarian Star Tournament. Hop have some unique dialogue if they are paired together:
- After winning a match, Hop will compliment Gloria on her strength as Champion, and will say that battling alongside her has been one of the best and proudest experiences of his life.
- After two matches, he will say that he will work hard not to be the reason she loses.
- After winning the tournament, Hop once again says that he’s glad to have won by her side, and that this win will motivate him to finish his studies.
Some dialogue will be unique depending on who they are facing. For example, if the player and Hop end up facing Leon, Hop says he needs to show Gloria how good he’s gotten. If the player chooses not to team up with Hop, they can get some unique dialogue if they face off against him. For example, if he is paired with Leon, Hop will comment that he “knows [Gloria] better than anybody, just leave [her] to me!”
Spinoffs[]
Hop and Gloria also appear in the spinoff mobile game, Pokémon Masters EX. In this game, the protagonists of Pokémon games are given lines and personalities, so Gloria is now more of an active character. The events of Pokémon Masters are not technically canon, so they often choose one of the player characters as the “true” protagonist of every story. For Pokémon Sword and Shield, Gloria is the “true” protagonist while her male counterpart, Victor, is said to have done side plot DLC activities. This is proven because Gloria is paired up with Zacian while Hop is paired with Zamazenta, cementing him as Gloria’s opposite in the story.
Gloria, finally allowed to speak, voices her thoughts
Hop’s entrance into Pokémon Masters takes place after the end of the main story of Pokémon Sword and Shield. He talks a lot about his work as a professor’s assistant, and Gloria often compliments him about how smart he has gotten. They also reminisce on the main story of Sword and Shield, especially about how they fought against Eternatus together. The main bulk of the event is helping to calm Eternatus, who has appeared on the island of Pasio, until it is properly caught by Leon.
A second event involving Hop was the Neo Champion event for the Galar region, for which he, Bede, and Marnie are competing for the title. Gloria is one of the judges of the event, along with Victor and Leon. These teams of three face each other in the finals, and Hop’s team gets the title of Neo Champions. Hop and Gloria are also among the group of Galar characters who are concerned when Chairman Rose appears on Pasio, apparently with no recollection of the events of Sword and Shield. They keep an eye on him and try to convince him to pursue his goals in better ways, but once again, the bulk of this event is focused on Leon.
After raising a Pokémon together
During the events of Galar’s villain arc, Gloria teams up with a Cinderace. In a side story, she reveals that she got the egg from Hop, and the two of them comment on how Cinderace seems to have “inherited” traits from both of them respectively.
Gloria also has dialogue in the Pokémon Center, in which she names Hop as one of her rivals and good friends.
Fanon[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
Since Gloria is a silent protagonist for most of her appearances, fans are left to reinterpret her personality and thoughts during and after the story. There are various ways she is portrayed in fans’ headcanons. A popular idea is that she is a feisty and temperamental individual, most likely influenced by the “angry Scottish trainer” meme that circulated when she was first revealed. This personality matches that of her manga counterpart, Schilly. Other versions of Gloria show her as a fairly nice, happy and somewhat mischievous character, which is what Pokémon Masters portrays her as. Still others view her as a kindhearted and soft-spoken person, who is deeply concerned with caring for her Pokémon and her friends.
Whatever personality type they go with, Postwiskshippers all agree that Gloria is fiercely protective of Hop and wants to encourage him through the harder parts of his journey. She’s often portrayed as trying to bring him out of his funk and caring for him, perhaps worrying about how he views her as a result of his constant losses to her. She also isn’t the biggest fan of Bede in some iterations, since he is the one who upset Hop in the first place. Though, some fans like to mend this relationship and show Gloria as sympathetic to Bede as well, and perhaps Bede may become a love rival to Hop. By the end of the game, Gloria is proud of Hop and he is proud of her, as they both walk their new paths together.
After the game’s story, fans like to play on the childhood friends/rivals to lovers dynamic. Fanworks like to portray how they grow up after the game’s events, with Gloria as the Champion and Hop as a rising Professor. This is also a parallel to another popular ship, Lionheartshipping, which some Postwickshippers also like to ship. As Hop and Gloria grow up, fans like to imagine how they would confess to each other, start dating, and maybe even get married and have kids in their adulthood. Since Pokémon is a pretty big fandom, there is no shortage of different plotlines and AUs that fans have come up with for these characters and their stories, as well as tons of fanart.
A popular headcanon is that the heart of the Slumbering Weald would be their wedding location.
A favorite topic is the fact that Gloria and Hop own one of the respective legendaries, acting as their “parents” or stewards. Their parallels to the original rulers of Galar lead to various royalty allusions, perhaps even full-on royalty AUs. Fans of the ship were very happy to see Hop’s entrance into Pokémon Masters with Zamazenta, as this validated the dynamic in their minds as the two heroes of the story.
In Pokémon Masters
Fandom[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
FAN FICTION
- Hop/Gloria tag on AO3
FAN ART
- Hop/Gloria tag on DeviantArt
- ホプユウ tag on Pixiv
TUMBLR
- Postwickshipping tag on Tumblr
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