Sleepy 💤

Generally speaking, final pokemon are the trainer’s aces. They are the highest level and typically strongest members of their teams. Sudowoodo is definitely Brassius’s ace, especially seeing as it is on both of his teams. Sometimes ace pokemon will have their traits manifest into their trainer’s design, usually in an obvious visual sense. Brassius and Sudowoodo don’t share much visually, but especially conceptually, they are a pair.

While Brassius’s own smile is a far cry from the goofy one Sudowoodo typically displays, especially with how it’s less constant, it’s still a symbol of personal growth. Brassius nowadays can afford to smile, to be quirky and wild, to be true to himself and authentic, much like how Sudowoodo affords to smile because it no longer needs to cry after having evolved from a Bonsly.

Brassius also seems to take from Sudowoodo’s design in the sense of the spots on its body. There are five yellow marks going down the body toward the legs, staggering in an alternating pattern, with one irregularly shaped one off to the side.

Sudowoodo is the only pokemon of Brassius’s to know the move he hands out, Trailblaze. As such, he has special dialogue for using such a move. Said dialogue varies on when you fight him, but it is either “At times, art becomes a race against the clock! Let us increase the pace!” or “My dear grass… grow, I say! Heed my wishes and grow!”.

The first line is the first one you hear in game, directly referencing the speed boost Sudowoodo gets from using it. If you were to play the game as intended, Sudowoodo has the potential to outspeed; Brassius’s ‘artwork’ is literally increasing the pace and racing against time. The second one sounds more encouraging, regarding Sudowoodo as a grass type now that it has terastallized into one. It could also be perceived as relating to how Brassius wishes for Sudowoodo to grow metaphorically. To spread life and wellness, to grow as a person, to blossom into something new instead of remaining in the past, to follow dreams.

The second line is further supplemented by what he says before sending out Sudowoodo; “This work’s concept is the deep-rooting nature of plants! A briar’s thorns are not easily removed!”. Sudowoodo is once again acknowledged as a plant, a briar in particular. Brassius himself is rather thorny in design, especially in his vine-like hair. Metaphorically, Brassius has also had the thorns of hardship stuck in him, and it was a struggle to remove them and change his outlook in life. But now Brassius’s thorns are largely related to his battling, how he holds himself up in defense instead of how he tears himself down. He reflects himself onto his pokemon, his artwork, because he sees some element of relation to it.

The description for Trailblaze reads like so: The user attacks suddenly as if leaping out from tall grass. The user’s nimble footwork boosts its Speed stat. Brassius sure does have nimble footwork if he’s able to take a fall from the height of that windmill with ease. Ironically, despite an actual low speed stat of 30, Sudowoodo is also extremely fast to run away from you when spotted. The actual definition of the word trailblaze is all about being the first to pave the way for something, to show that it is possible for others to do the same. In Japanese specifically, the move is referred to as Trailblazer, a noun form, which is far more fitting when describing what Brassius is. He gives an entire speech in Art 4 about being true to yourself and doing as your heart desires instead of making yourself out to be something you aren’t. He’s setting an example for the students in Hassel’s class, trailblazing the way to being a better person should they follow the moral. 

Brassius’s Sudowoodo is very offensive moveset wise, having only physical moves. Its attack stat is a nice 100, making full potential of the moves power. Brassius might not be a physical fighter himself, like how his Sudowoodo is, but if he is using his art as a statement against the world, sculpting is far from a job that doesn’t require much physical labor.

Trailblaze is on both team movesets, boosted by the Tera typing, a constant reminder of his personal beliefs in modern times. In the first battle, Sudowoodo has Rock Throw as the secondary move. Being a rock type, Rock Throw gains boosted damage even if it’s a weaker move selected to go easier on the weaker trainers Brassius typically faces. In the second battle, Sudowoodo has Fire and Ice Punch, along with Stone Edge. Stone Edge is also subject to a type based damage boost, and has a high critical hit ratio. Ice Punch has a 10% chance to freeze, likewise with burn for Fire Punch.

Both rock type moves are an acknowledgement of what Sudowoodo ‘used to’ be; a pure rock type. While they carry their own weight in type damage boosting and supereffectiveness against most of grass’s weaknesses, it’s obvious that Trailblaze is the true highlight move instead. Likewise, Brassius acknowledges just how bad he used to be in the past, even if he moved on from that period in his life. The punches are quite literally weaponizing grass type weaknesses, as the type is frail to fire and ice respectively, and both types are super effective against two of grass’s other weaknesses. Instead of letting his own moment of weakness fully consume him and tear him down, Brassius embraced it, his passions, his artistry, and used it as a strength.

Every move in Sudowoodo’s second battle moveset also has a secondary effect of some kind, matching with the seriousness Brassius has in the moment of facing you. His pokemon is stronger, and both Brassius and Sudowoodo are going to give it their all when going against you.

Sudowoodo is based more on defensive capabilities, having a high stat of 115 defense and 65 special defense. Its ability, Sturdy, is all about survival, effectively keeping Sudowoodo alive even when hit with a move that should’ve killed in one hit. Brassius survived his illness, despite hanging on by a thread, and he survived his lowest point mentally, reapproaching art with a new mindset.

Sudowoodo are often known in Johto for standing still and blocking paths while pretending to be a tree. Brassius has blocked his own path in the past, halting his progress as an artist because he was more focused with money than doing something he loved.

Sudowoodo is also one of the two pokemon that Brassius owns that is male.

Sudowoodo’s pokedex entries can also corroborate a chunk of the information deduced from above, further strengthening the connection between the pokemon and trainer (entries are displayed in bolded text):

Although it always pretends to be a tree, its composition appears more similar to rock than to vegetation. 

If a tree branch shakes when there is no wind, it’s a Sudowoodo, not a tree. It hides from the rain. 

Sudowoodo is the only not grass type pokemon on Brassius’s team. Instead, it relies on terastallization to become a grass type and fit in. In fact, Sudowoodo is actually a rock type, a type weak to grass and water. Its tera type gives it resistances to both, effectively allowing Sudowoodo to go out into the water it despises so much. It also effectively weaponizes this weakness, given the boost to Trailblaze. Brassius has dialogue explicitly regarding the tera type, referring to Sudowoodo as ‘Truleewoodo’ upon crystallization twice. He treats it like an artwork for terastallizing, yet also recognizes the inner desire of Sudowoodo to be a plant. He’s allowing it to follow its dream, supporting it much like how Hassel supported Brassius. 

It’s so popular with the elderly that there’s a magazine devoted to this Pokémon. Fans obsess over the particular length and angle of its arms. 

Apparently, the larger the green parts of this Pokémon, the more collectors value it. It’s a particular favorite among elderly people. 

Sudowoodo is valued by many as some sort of art piece, given certain parts of its body. Brassius certainly thinks of his pokemon as artworks, especially Sudowoodo given the lines directly about it. Brassius takes deep interest in its form as a result of that. It might not be a typical muse of his, considering it is not truly a grass type, but Brassius treats it indiscriminately. After all, to him it really is a grass type.

Sudowoodo camouflages itself as a tree to avoid being attacked by enemies. However, because the forelegs remain green throughout the year, the Pokémon is easily identified as a fake during the winter. 

Though it pretends to be a tree, it fails to fool even children. To the touch, its body feels more like rock than tree bark. Sudowoodo’s extreme aversion to water merits special note. 

Sudowoodo is extremely meek, always hiding itself and camouflaging amongst trees even though it doesn’t quite fit in. It also runs from problems, like in cases it’s found out to be fake. This fits with how Brassius likely was in the past, because he wasn’t embracing his own boldness and lacked confidence in his work. His low confidence was terrifyingly noticeable, especially to Hassel. His mindset was rough and rocky, creating uninspired works to camouflage among artists deemed more profitable than himself.

The result of its holding the same pose all the time is arms that have become supple yet strong. 

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