The Hassel battle actually happened to the editor in her "Juliana run" of the game.
Once school was out again, Juliana stayed in Mesagoza to face her greatest nightmare. Well, second greatest nightmare. The city was still impossible for someone like her to navigate, and finding a tunnel that Nemona had not marked on her map and only mentioned in passing was even more difficult.
She never found the tunnel. She arrived at the Pokémon League by marking it on her map and riding Koraidon up a cliff.
"We might have to lend you to Florian for his turn at this," she told him, and Koraidon chirped in agreement.
Juliana took a moment to heal at the Pokémon Center in front of the building and then approached the door. A man and a woman were blocking it.
The woman turned around when she heard Juliana approach. "Hello, Juliana," she said with a smile. "So, this is it...you've decided to face the Pokémon League."
Juliana nodded. "I promised Nemona," she said, and the woman laughed quietly.
"Yes, Champion Nemona is very enthusiastic about you sharing her rank. I wish you luck from the bottom of my heart, Juliana."
Then the woman turned and went into the building, accidentally hitting Juliana in the face with her wild hair.
The man stepped in front of the building as soon as she was gone. He focused on Juliana himself. "Are you ready to face the Pokémon League's Champion Assessment?"
"Assessment?" Juliana repeated. "I thought it was just battling the Elite Four and Geeta."
The man held out his hand. "Your badge case, please."
He seemed surprised at all the Star badges she'd collected but allowed her to pass when he found the 8 legitimate Gym badges. "Very well. You may now proceed to the interview room."
"Interview?"
But he pushed her along before returning to standing guard, leaving Juliana alone.
She wasn't alone for long. As Juliana approached one chair, Rika approached the other, wearing a pair of glasses that made her look more serious. Juliana nervously took a seat. Rika sat, too, and stared her down.
"Thank you for coming today," she said, breaking the tense silence. "I, Rika, will be your interviewer. Let's get started with the first portion of the Champion Assessment."
"I was not told about interviews," Juliana said quickly. "I thought it would just be battles."
"We do things differently here in Paldea. Please think carefully, as you may automatically fail the interview depending on your answers."
Juliana whimpered slightly. Thinking carefully wasn't her strong suit. Her thoughts started out on the right track, but eventually took a wrong turn and derailed the train. "Thanks for warning me, Nemona," she grumbled to herself.
The interview started normally. Rika asked about how she got there, what school she attended, what she was doing there in the first place. Then came the hard ones.
"What do you plan to do if and when you become a Champion?"
"I..." don't know was on the tip of her tongue, but Juliana swallowed it. "I want to find treasure, I think."
"And what Gym gave you the most difficulty?"
It was a tie, Juliana thought. She remembered Katy, deliberately holding back and still taking out Juliana's Pokémon, and Brassius and his Sudowoodo. But then another Gym Leader came to mind. "Grusha's," she said, blushing a little at the thought of him. "The Ice-type Gym. Not in...not in battle sense, but in his Gym Test, and finding the place to begin with, and..."
Rika held up a hand for silence. Juliana obeyed. "I asked which Gym gave you the most difficulty," she pointed out. "I didn't specify in battle."
"Well, Katy and Brassius were difficult in battle," Juliana added.
"I have already entered Grusha as your answer." He'll be happy to hear it, Rika added in her head. "Now, in order to gather the skill necessary to make it here, you must have met a lot of Pokémon. What was your first partner Pokémon, Juliana?"
"Webby. I mean, Quaxly," she corrected herself.
"And, forgive me for repeating a question, but what do you plan to do if you become a Champion?"
"Forgive me for repeating an answer, but I want to find treasure."
"And do you like Pokémon, Juliana?"
"Of course!"
Rika was silent. Juliana wiggled in her seat a little. Then Rika smiled.
"Good job, kiddo. You passed the interview. But now it's time to get ready for the next segment."
Juliana gently touched the first ball in her lineup. She knew from her careful arranging it was Hydreigon's. "Battle time?"
"Battle time," Rika confirmed. "You'll be facing the Elite Four in a series of battles. We're the best the League has to offer. Four of us in a row - no turning back. Make sure you're all ready, then go into the room behind me."
Juliana and Rika walked to the room together, Juliana in the lead.
Rika opened with Whiscash. Juliana led with Hydreigon, of course, and Hydreigon pulled off a Body Slam that left Whiscash paralyzed. Whiscash used Blizzard, but Hydreigon avoided the move.
Hydreigon used Crunch, and did not avoid the Blizzard this time. Or the time that followed the Dragon Rush that missed its target. But Dragon Pulse finished off Whiscash, and brought out a Donphan in its place. A Dragon Pulse hurt Donphan badly, but a Stone Edge brought Hydreigon's battle health low. A Body Slam finished Donphan, and out came the Dugtrio.
Dugtrio used Sandstorm before Hydreigon got an attack in, but Juliana called for a Crunch that wiped out Dugtrio in one hit.
Juliana kept with Hydreigon, using a Max Potion for her first move. A Crunch and a Dragon Pulse took down the Camerupt, but the Yawn in between put Hydreigon to sleep once the battle finished.
"You really are something else, kiddo," Rika said, reaching for another ball. "I'm sending out my Clodsire. Are you going to keep going with Hydreigon?"
"I think she's all tired out," Juliana said bluntly, to Rika's laughter.
"Nice. Pick your next Pokémon, then! Go, Clodsire!"
"Go, Webby!"
And of course, both girls decided to Terastallize. Webby's Aqua Step didn't affect Clodsire at all thanks to its ability, leaving Juliana to use her other moves.
"Use Toxic!" Rika ordered, and the ball of sludge covered Webby completely.
"Low Sweep!"
"Protect!"
"Low Sweep again!"
The second time, it hit. Webby was then hit by Earthquake, but the quaking helped her shake off the poison. With that, Juliana grinned.
"One more Low Sweep!"
"And one more Protect!"
"You're mean," Juliana grumbled to herself, before raising her voice to give Webby her orders. "Try it once more!"
This time, Clodsire fainted, and Rika was defeated.
"Congratulations, kiddo," Rika said with a smile. "Time for the second. I'm warning you, she's even stronger than I am." She turned to the door behind her. "You're up next, squirt! Come on out!"
And as Poppy stepped in, Juliana failed to realize that she had completely forgotten to heal her Pokémon.
Poppy led with a Copperajah. Copperajah quickly took out Hydreigon, and Poppy let the elephant stay when Juliana swapped in Talonflame. Talonflame took out Copperajah and Magnezone in two attacks each, and Corviknight in 3. The Bronzong didn't even get an attack in.
Poppy stood her ground. "You think I'm scared of a bird?" she asked. "My last Pokémon will take care of that! Tinkaton, go!"
Once Tinkaton Terastallized and used Stone Edge, Talonflame was out of the match. Juliana sent out her own Tinkaton, and soon enough Rika was watching two Steel-Tera Tinkaton smacking each other around with not-very-effective Gigaton Hammer attacks.
"Gigaton Hammer!" Poppy shouted.
"Gigaton Hammer!" Juliana mimicked.
"Use Stone Edge!"
"Use Slam!"
"Gigaton Hammer again!"
"Gigaton Hammer again!"
"Stop copying me!" Poppy shouted, and Juliana smiled innocently.
"I'm not copying you. I'm just using Gigaton Hammer, too." She pointed dramatically at Poppy's Tinkaton. "Use Slam again!"
Eventually, on the third Gigaton Hammer, one Tinkaton fainted. Rika had lost track of which one belonged to who until one did a little victory dance and the other returned to Poppy.
Poppy immediately started to cry. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get revenge on you, Rika!" she wailed, running to the older Elite member.
"I think you mean, 'get revenge FOR me, squirt," Rika said seriously.
"Yeah, that."
Rika let her wipe the frustrated tears from her eyes before she got down to Poppy's level. "Well, you lost, and you cried your frustrations out. I think it's time to call the next guy."
Poppy looked surprised. "That's right! We've got more! We'll get him to get our revenge, Rika!" Poppy ran to the door behind her. "Mr. Larry! Come on, it's your turn!"
"Larry?" Juliana repeated, and her eyes widened when she saw the Gym Leader of Medali walking through the door.
He paid no attention to her expression. "Juliana. It's been a while."
Juliana healed her Pokémon this time, and soon enough Hydreigon was facing a Tropius.
"I thought you were a Normal-type trainer," Juliana objected.
"I am. At my Gym, I use Normal-type Pokémon, as they are my type of choice. Here, La Primera says I need to use a different one. So, I picked Flying."
Juliana nodded, explanation received. "Hydreigon...we forgot to teach you Thunder Fang, didn't we?" she laughed. "Use Body Slam instead!"
The Body Slam attack didn't do much damage. Larry chose to open with a Sunny Day, though he responded to the Crunch attack with a Dragon Pulse. Another Crunch and Dragon Pulse, and Hydreigon was the weakened winner.
When Larry announced he was switching for Altaria, Juliana swapped for Tinkaton.
Tinkaton took out Altaria with a single Play Rough, and the Staraptor that followed with one Gigaton Hammer. When Larry sent out Oricorio, Juliana, used to Florian's, considered swapping for Webby.
She didn't, and was relieved to see that it was the Electric-type variant. This one took two Play Rough attacks to get rid of. Then Larry brought out Flamigo.
"You're even stronger than before," he said, and Juliana smiled at the compliment. "At the risk of messing up my suit a bit, it's time to get some wind at our backs."
And he proceeded to Terastallize. Juliana didn't bother - a Play Rough and a Gigaton Hammer were all she needed to win.
Juliana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was down to the final member of the Elite Four, and she knew who it would be.
She took the time to heal Hydreigon and Tinkaton in preparation, but it didn't stop her from hearing Larry's weak call for Hassel, and Rika's much louder call for the man.
He answered her. Juliana was immediately put at ease with her favorite teacher present.
Then she remembered she'd have to battle him, and the pressure increased.
Hassel's Noivern pulled off a Super Fang, but fell to Hydreigon's Dragon Pulse in one shot. The Flapple didn't even get an attack in.
"You're doing great, Miss Juliana," Hassel said, fighting back tears of pride. "But you're not fighting me as a teacher! You're facing the final member of the Elite Four!"
And he sent out a Dragalge. Juliana stuck with her own battle dragon, and once again, one-shotted it with Dragon Pulse. Then came the Baxcalibur.
Hassel Terastallized, of course. That was how Juliana knew this was his last one. She didn't think Hydreigon stood a chance, even with the lack of Ice-typing, but she tried anyway.
"Use another Dragon Pulse!"
"Icicle Crash!" Hassel ordered, and Hydreigon, faster than her opponent, launched her attack before spinning out of the way of the icicles, making a point to shake her center head tauntingly.
Can I really win this match with Hydreigon alone? Juliana thought, but brushed it aside. There would be time for thinking later. "Dragon Pulse!"
Once again, the attack hit. Baxcalibur roared as the Tera Jewel shattered, Hassel calling it back before it could hit the floor. There was a moment of shocked silence.
"You really did it," said Rika, before breaking into applause.
"Oh wow!" Poppy squeaked.
And Larry's commentary was cut off by the sound of Hassel's sobs.
"Wo...WONDERBUL!" he cried, and Juliana took an awkward step back. "I'b...I'b just so proud ob you..."
"Mr. Hassel?" Juliana said uncertainly. How had Brassius calmed him down after art class? "Mr. Hassel, please stop crying..."
Poppy ran up to Hassel, tugging on his sleeve. "Don't cry, Grandpa Hassel!"
"Grandpa?" Juliana asked, looking back up at Hassel. How old was he?
Larry shook his head. "He's not her real grandpa. It took her weeks to stop calling me Uncle Larry."
"But back to the point." Rika stepped forward as Poppy hugged her 'grandpa.' "Your result for the Elite Test of the Champion Assessment is a sound victory. Now for the final challenge to you becoming a Champion." She turned her head to look at the door. Juliana followed, before getting distracted by her sobbing teacher. Should she call Brassius? Should she leave him alone?
"Miss!" Poppy suddenly shouted, getting Juliana's attention again. The child put her hands on her hips. "Listen when Rika's talking to you!"
"Sorry!" Juliana looked back at Rika. "Sorry, Rika. What were you saying?"
Rika shrugged it off. "I was saying that the Top Champion is behind that door," she explained. "Beat her, and you'll be a Champion yourself."
Juliana accepted Rika's offer to heal her team, and then she was on her way.