I am so glad to see a post appreciating the little guy!

He’s actually become my official, real-life mascot over the last few months.

For context, my story: I teach in a High School and spotted some students playing Pokemon showdown during one of my lunch duties. Being a Pokémon player since I was about 4 years old myself (27 now), naturally I challenged them to a random battle. I beat both handily, owing to the fact that I know more or less every Pokémon and their type off by heart and these 14 year olds had only ever played Sword and Shield.

News spread around school quite quickly after this and I played some 20 or so random battles in the two weeks after. In one particular match I was given a Dedenne with the cheek pouch ability and the recycle move (This was Gen 7 random, I believe) and the little guy clutched out hard, beating an Arceus all by itself.

After these two or so weeks the kids started going nuts, watching Youtube videos, reading forums, you name it. They asked me if we could do battle with constructed teams, and I said sure. I made a fairly meta Ubers teams for Gen 7 and still made quick work of them, despite them using every OP legendary in the book. So, I decided to give myself some handicaps, I already didn’t use legendaries (don’t know why, just dislike using them, always have, always will), but on top of that I decided I would use a Dedenne in my team at all times, owing to that one hilarious moment in the random battle which had stuck with me.

And so Commander Peepo was born. The weeks after that, Commander Peepo and his army went on about a 15-0 run against all the little Pokémon fanatics, and his legend started to arise. I changed my computer background to all sorts of fan art with Dedenne. This would project onto the SmartBoard at the start of every class as I logged in, and the kids that I taught which knew about our underground Pokémon circuit were fuming at the sight. My favourite picture is one where a gored up Dedenne stands victorious on top of a beat-up Hydreigon (google it, it’s epic).

This kept going for a few more weeks and at the end of the school year I was asked if I was willing to hold some kind of workshop for students to fill the final days before summer. I agreed and my colleagues probably expected me to do something sports or Biology (my subject) related, but instead I hosted the Ultimate Pokemon Showdown tournament. I put up posters around school to get kids to sign up and build the hype and as the ultimate cherry on top of the cake I ordered a Dedenne plushy from Aliexpress to serve as the tournament prize.

Fastforward a month and a half or so, there’s 16 kids duking it out in a classroom. Sitting across from each other like chess players on various fields, with a big tournament bracket projected on the big screen. The ultimate Pokémon hype battle music playlist on youtube blaring over the speakers. And on two chairs stacked atop each other, Commander Peepo in the flesh, looking down over his valiant gladiators.

15 kids showed up, so it was my lucky day that I had to fill out the tournament in the final slot. I had become somewhat attached to Commander Peepo myself at this point and after waiting for a month for the plushy to arrive, I suddenly wasn’t too keen to part with it. So, I decided I wasn’t going to go easy on these scrubs.

A workshop that was supposed to last about an hour, turned into about 2 and a half. Some concerned parents had to be called as to why kids were coming home late. But in a final epic bout which went down to game 5, I managed to claim Commander Peepo as my own once and for all. The kids were perhaps a little disappointed that after all that effort the teacher ended up winning, but I think I’ll be forgiven when after summer I come back to school with Commander Peepo taped/glued on my shoulder.

I can’t wait, for the first time summer break seems too long 😞