>>48807549Well Hau starts off as a carefree doofus, and doesn’t take criticism from Gladion or Hala too seriously. It isn’t until Lillie gets kidnapped and he doesn’t manage to stop Guzma that he gets a reality check. And in USUM they make it even more serious because Hau’s own Pokémon start to feel a type of way about not reaching their full potential. This in turn leads to Hau taking shit seriously, to the point where Hala even lets him take on the Ultra Beast on his own, Hau defeating Hala in a serious battle, Hau telling Guzma to pick up the slack, and Hau warning the player that their next battle will be serious. Hau goes through a full blown redemption arc, ultimately being your final opponent for the title of League Champion, as well as being the strongest trainer in Title Defense.
And as for Hop, I haven’t played SwSh but it seems like he’s obsessed with beating Leon to the point where he even tries to throw Pokeballs like him. So when Hop loses to you and Bede, he pretty doesn’t know what to do at that point and is having some sort of existential crisis. I don’t know how he ends up becoming a Pokémon Professor but maybe because that’s like the opposite of a Pokémon Champion.
