Wow the thread isn't dead xD
And welcome back Gazmof , good to see a familiar face around here xD
Thanks; I wouldn't just up and leave without warning, y'know
Great fanart, by the way, Ash.mx. I love the winter-feel of it, too. Kind of reminds me of that one scene in Tales of Symphonia. I always wanted something like that to happen in the anime...
What would your reactions be, if Dawn wasn't the main character in Sinnoh and May was taken to Sinnoh instead? What would you expect in Sinnoh?
I always figured May would leave the show once Sinnoh came around, because she was a very "Hoenn-focused" character. Of course, ideally I would have loved May to stay with Ash and for the show to "mature" with its audience, but the new generation targeted a new generation of kids with it, so naturally it got dumbed down quite a bit after the evolution it went through during the past three generations.
But hey, that's why we have fanfics, right? To try and solve the problems the writers threw at us. Truth be told, expecting canonity in a relationship in Pokemon is kind of like setting yourself up for a big fall... It's really unlikely anything will ever come of it, and if it does it'll probably just be briefly mentioned in passing for like 2 seconds in an epilogue episode or something. Here's what I would have loved to see in a perfect Advanceshipping world (short of them getting married and all that), ignoring the demands of the target child audience and the fact that it's a 30-minute game commercial:
May would travel with Ash to Sinnoh alone; Brock stays back in Pewter City and Max goes home to Petalburg. This would give Ash and May alone time and would help to develop their relationship and strengthen their personalites because they would have to overcome their shortcomings (for example, one of them would have to learn to cook, have more survival skills, etc; previously the writers just said "they have Brock" and that was that, so they would both have to mature a little if he wasn't present).
May would go on the contest circuit, of course (as already pointed out earlier in this thread, there's no reason why she should be excluded from Sinnoh if contests are still about and play just as important - in fact, some would say
more important - role in the DP anime).
I would have liked to see May get a new rival, preferably a female because it's more interesting than the "ooh a guy" cliche that Drew had. This isn't because I don't want to see Contestshipping happen, but simply because I think it would help May grow more as a person by making her face new enemies and new challenges, rather than just recycling the old content and giving it a fresh coat of paint.
If the new female rival of May's flirted with Ash, I think we could have been in for a treat. May would have been incredibly jealous, and of course Ash would be clueless as always, prompting some cute, flirtatious arguments between our two heroes. They could have even had a whole episode (or maybe a double episode) where May refuses to talk to Ash for a little while because he doesn't understand why she's so mad at him for not rebuffing the rival. This would be a very typical May reaction, in my opinion. Of course at the end of the episode Ash realises his mistake and explains he has no interest in the rival girl, but then in a comedic moment says he doesn't have time for things like girls, prompting May to groan.
More screentime to Ash and May supporting each other or training together would have been great. There were
so many times during Hoenn that I wanted Ash to hold May and tell her it'll be okay after she lost a contest, but he never did (if I remember right, aside from Date Expectations, which was a slightly different scenario anyway). The majority of time during AG their relationship was very passive and would flow through other characters as well, meaning a lot of potential development they could have had was often spoiled or diluted by the presence of their team members. This is why I loved the 9th movie so much - they had lots of alone time and though they didn't blatantly say things to each other, you could tell that there was a lot of chemistry and a lot of caring for each other during the scenes where they were alone together.
So basically, if I had been the writer of Sinnoh, and could've done whatever I wanted, I wouldn't have made Advanceshipping canon; but I would have definitely advanced it and left the subject clearly open - at the conclusion of Sinnoh there would be multiple loose ends to tie up: May's feelings for Drew and her feelings for Ash being the prime example here. I would have focused on dishing out lots of hints, lots of relationship/character development, and lots of opportunities for blushing/supporting/comforting.
What would May's reaction be if she was reunited with Ash after a 4 year 'exile' after the Sinnoh League, and how would this effect their relationship?
I agree with pretty much everything everyone else said - May would definitely mad, probably would ignore him for a day or slap him, then forgive him and just be pleased he was okay. Maybe she'd even cry on his chest when he first appears and tell him what a jerk he was for not saying anything, depending on how emotional the reunion is.
Ugh... I need to get back to Good Love Charm. My Advanceshipping desire has gone up significantly from this one post.
Great topics, by the way, you guys; they really get you thinking ^^