#I know I’m being hard on him but I prommy I love hook

[meraus]

“You fucked up” babes he’s literally on the ground not moving, the only thing fucked up is his spine

[millenianthemums]

I know you love doing crossover pokemon teams, any particular reasons you gave dipper and mabel the teams they have, besides the obvious connections?

yeah! i have little headcanons in mind for each one!! i will now talk about them at length because you gave me permission!!!

this turned into more of a story summary than a brief explanation of why i chose these pokemon, and also became really long. so it’s under a cut. thank u

So I’ll start with Mabel’s team. She and Dipper both had an Eevee for their first Pokemon. Mabel’s is named Eloise, and he evolved into a Sylveon because i think that is by far the most Mabel eeveelution of all. the ribbons, the pink, the power of love… of course there’d be some big cool heartwarming moment where Eloise evolved to save the day because Mabel believed in it so strongly. they are best best friends and never apart.

Mabel and Dipper also both got to choose a starter Pokemon when they first arrived in Gravity Falls. i picture it as an equivalent moment to when Stan lets them each pick something from the gift shop. Mabel picked a Popplio she named Bubble Buddy. i remember seeing some cute art that i think Alex drew back around the time when Sun and Moon were new, showing Mabel with a Popplio, and i thought it was so cute and super fitting for her. the Popplio line is so cute and goofy and very transfem, all of which is true of Mabel as well. i imagine that Bubble Buddy is just as hyper and fun-loving as Mabel, and also tries super hard to be fun and funny and impressive at first, but chills out once she realizes Mabel will always adore her, even when her jokes fall flat.

GRAPPLING HOOK is a stand-in for Mabel’s grappling hook, of course. she completely lucked into catching her as her very first non-starter Pokemon and is unbelievably proud about it. she’s her ace in the hole for battles, and she thinks she’s the coolest, strongest Pokemon ever… even though she’s actually kind of a pushover in battle, at least at first. she gets knocked out all the time early on, but Mabel never loses faith in her, and sure enough, she comes through and saves Mabel and Dipper in the season 1 finale. then once she evolves, she actually becomes the unstoppable ace Mabel always believed she could be.

Waddles is Waddles. same role and backstory, the main difference is just that he was deliberately bred to be shiny and that’s why a regular little Lechonk was a sought-after carnival prize. the guy selling him had lots of objectively cooler shinies, but Mabel wanted Waddles. he loves following Mabel around, but hates to battle, so she just lets him hang around and chill out like a spoiled pet. he also doesn’t want to evolve, so Mabel makes him an Everstone friendship bracelet (not pictured but it’s there i prommy)

Mimikyu and Garchomp are less fleshed out in my mind, but i still think they’re fun choices. i think the Mimikyu’s name is Dolly and joins Mabel after she and Dipper realize he’s responsible for a haunting they were investigating. Mabel immediately thinks he’s adorable and shouts down anyone who calls him creepy, and Dolly is so happy to find a friend who loves him for who he is that he demands to join her team on the spot. Garchomp’s name is Chompy, and she hatched from a random lost egg that Mabel found. as a Gible, she was an absolute menace who gnawed on everything in sight and threw tantrums constantly. Mabel had a tough time training her and getting her to listen, but eventually Chompy learned to trust Mabel. she matured as she evolved and became very sweet and cuddly over time.

Ogerpon would definitely join the team after a big important story arc, but i’m not sure how that would go. i just think Ogerpon and Mabel are so similar in a lot of cute ways. they’re both weird girls with big sweaters who are very sweet but also very aggro. i’ve seen them compared before and i just love to see it. i think her nickname would be Pompom. i also really like the idea of Pompom being besties with GRAPPLING HOOK, i just think it’d be cute.

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NOW DIPPER’S TEAM! his starter was also an Eevee, of course, but his was a shiny! he and Mabel chose their Eevees from a big litter of babies their dad’s Eevee had, because giving an Eevee to new trainers is a longstanding Pines family tradition in this AU.

his was nicknamed Laika, and she started out as a solemn, angsty loner who took herself too seriously and only got along with Dipper; they’ve always bonded over being different and having trouble making friends. but over time, just like Dipper, she makes new friends and becomes more confident. eventually she evolves into Umbreon at a dramatic story moment, maybe at the same time that Eloise does because that’d be really cool. i think Umbreon is a fitting choice for Dipper because it’s mysterious and odd, but still based on the power of friendship, so deep down it’s just as cute and sweet as Sylveon. it just doesn’t like to admit to its own cuteness.

Dipper’s Alolan starter was Rowlet. he named him Nova, and Nova absolutely ADORED Dipper from minute one. despite being the size of a basketball, he immediately saw Dipper as a tiny little baby that he was responsible for. he was always preening him and fussing over him, and Dipper was annoyed and embarrassed by it at first, but always kind of found it endearing. sometimes in the first month, people like Robbie and Gideon would make fun of Dipper for being babied by a tiny round owl, but then a couple months later that tiny owl was a six-foot-tall assassin raptor, and if you so much as breathed wrong while looking at his human son he’d try to tear out their liver, and no one made fun of Dipper anymore. anyway, Rowlet is the most “nerdy bookworm”-coded starter in my mind, so i think it’s a natural choice for Dipper. especially if Mabel already has Popplio. i think the Litten from the trio they both chose from stuck around the Mystery Shack and eventually became Stan’s pokemon against his will.

The Rotom, Pluto, lived inside Ford’s Journal 3 Pokedex and was just trapped in there until Dipper found them. Pluto is super excitable and full of energy and always wanting to do new things and have adventures, and after all the time they spent cooped up inside a hidden, deactivated Pokedex, Dipper can hardly blame them. he does everything he can to help Pluto have fun after everything they’ve been through, and tries not to pry too much even though he’s really curious about their past. Pluto doesn’t talk, so they never directly give Dipper any answers about Ford. they’re still technically Ford’s Pokemon, and they’re traumatized by the loss of their trainer and at first very conflicted about whether they should let Dipper go down the same path that he did. but eventually they bond with Dipper enough to decide to help with solving the mystery of the journal-dexes. i just love the idea of the journals in a Pokemon GF AU being Pokedexes, because in a way, they kind of already are in canon, right? so i think that’d be the perfect excuse for Dipper to have a Rotom. once Ford comes back, he would be really grateful to see how much Dipper helped his traumatized Pokemon. up to that point Dipper wouldn’t have caught Pluto since they already had a trainer, but once Ford’s back, he’d definitely gift them to Dipper.

Crobat (named Comet) was Dipper’s first catch and represented a big important step in his journey, but starts out super anxious and terrified of everything. Dipper thinks Comet is kind of useless at first and is jealous that Mabel caught GRAPPING HOOK, who actually likes to battle and has confidence, as opposed to this dinky little Zubat who would never impress anybody. but eventually Dipper realizes that viewing Comet that way is unfair; she’s not a tool, she’s a living thing who’s shy and fearful and needs a friend who believes in her. so he changes his approach and treats her with more kindness and care, and she very quickly comes out of her shell and actually ends up being one of Dipper’s most powerful Pokemon.

The backstories for Golisopod and Beheeyem are a lot less detailed. Golisopod (Bermuda) is basically just a nod to Dipper’s arc of learning to be brave and stand up for himself, and Beheeyem (Dover) is just because Dipper’s whole thing is mystery and the paranormal and stuff, and also Beheeyem strikes me as a big nerd just like him. Sorry Dipper, that’s just how i view you.

finally we’ve got Terapagos. i like the idea of Dipper befriending them because to me they represent, like, the truth behind a big mystery. the hidden treasure at the heart of a search for the truth. that just seems perfect for Dipper. i think he deserves to discover and befriend Terapagos and be the first one to discover all the secrets they hold. and also hug them because they’re a cute little turtle. i think he’d name them Star.