Nemona (Pokémon fandom)

Nemona (Japanese: ネモ Nemo) is a character from the mainline Gen 9 Pokémon games, Scarlet and Violet. Although never going quite as far as threatening people or harming her love interest, she nonetheless has many traits that have led to subsets of the fandom considering her a Yandere, or "Yandere-lite".

Canon portrayal[]

Nemona is presented as the Uva/Naranja Academy's student council president, and a champion-level trainer. She is asked to help the player character and latches onto them almost immediately (regardless of their gender). Thereafter, Nemona encounters you at several locations in the game, with it being heavily implied by her dialogue that she's stalking you. She asks the player to be her rival, and if the player refuses, she will insist again and again, telling them that she won't accept no for an answer, showing the clingy nature and lack of respect for boundaries and personal choice that characterize a Yandere. Lastly, she demonstrates jealousy and possessiveness when she finds you battling other trainers besides her (Team Star), dismissing them as 'randos' and telling you not to waste your time on them, promising you that you can get all the battles you want with her alone (page image).

However, Nemona's canonical self is not technically a Yandere as her obsession with you is not explicitly romantic in nature. The closest she gets is when Geeta asks the player for a battle, in which Nemona accuses her of trying to steal you away from her and that she saw the player first, and she also exhibits flirtatious behavior throughout the game, but nothing overt such as a love confession. Nemona also appears in spin-offs and adaptations, such as Pokémon Masters and Pokémon Horizons, though with Florian/Juliana, the target of her obsession, present in neither, her yandere qualities are toned down.

Fanon interpretations[]

As shipping is very popular in the Pokémon community, many fan works depict Nemona as romantically obsessed and violently possessive of the player character (either Florian or Juliana). It is also a common interpretation among Nemona's detractors, who find her forcing her rivalry on the player to be selfish and controlling.

Regardless of motivation, many fans agree that Nemona has the features of a yandere, even if the games themselves don't go the full distance with it. They note moments such as her barging into your room unannounced as examples of this behavior, and one line in the game where she mentions that she can even battle as late as 3 AM is often combined with it in fanfic, where Nemona will challenge the protagonist to battles at that time by breaking into their house.

One notable example of a fan work using the Nemona-as-yandere interpretation is El Saqueo. In this story, Nemona starts off somewhat friendly, but as time goes on and her obsession increases, she acts progressively more emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive toward the very socially anxious Florian. The same author also wrote the humorous fic Everybody Loves Florian, in which Nemona is portrayed as still yandere, albeit in a more lighthearted manner.

Description[]

Nemona wears a modified version of the game's school uniform, albeit with the addition of thighhighs, as well as a single red fingerless glove on one of her hands. She has medium-length black hair in a ponytail, with some green strands at the front. Her skin is slightly dark and she has a few freckles. Her eyes are orange in color.

Personality-wise, Nemona has the features describes above, as well as a tendency to pepper her speech with Spanish expressions.