Amourshipping General Discussion - V.2 *Spoiler Warning*

[Everlasting]

At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

Hmmm... Good question! I would be tempted to go with 50% because Serena's definitely good to go; however, the likelihood of it happening, considering Pokémon is an anime with a young targetted audience, is pretty low. But then again, XY has been a serie with full of surprises and new things, so a romantic relationship between Ash and a character would not totally come out of the blue. So I will go with 40%. They definitely have the potential to work on it and make something big happen with it. There's still some time.

For it to increase, I would obviously want to see Ash show more romantic feelings towards Serena - as in blushing, maybe getting flustered or even get jealous. Something that would show us that it is not totally blank on Ash's side.
For it to stay constant, I would think they'd have to keep Serena's crush burning. Unfortunately, I could definitely see her crush "fade away" as she gets more involved with her goal as a Performer, which scares me a little bit.

 

[Yuraenia]

Alright, back to posting! Had to bring my brother back home for spring break, then had to go to urgent care to take care of an infection in my foot. Word of the wise, wear shoes when dealing with a dog that likes to pounce on your feet. Helps you avoid their claws (things are freaking razor blades). Now, I thought of a question. Not going to be as good as some of the questions we have had recently, but I hope this will get the forum kicking again for a short period of time:

What I have seen a lot of on here, on YouTube videos, twitter postings, etc. is that when we state whether or not we believe this ship is going to be canon, we are very vague with our description. For instance, I see a lot of: I hope this goes canon, I know this will go canon, I don't think is going to go canon. Now, being in an analytic laboratory, numbers are very important. As being a scientist numbers have a very important part in what I do for a living. The first part of the question has to be answered in a percentage. The second part can be anything you want it to be (even fanfiction). So now to the question:
At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

How ironic because i have two Biochemistry exams (one for lab and one for lecture) in a couple of hours.

Chance of Amourshipping becoming canon? Maybe between 50-60%? That seems a little high (or low), considering the patterns we've already seen from the rest of the Pokemon anime. I cannot honestly say for sure what their chances truly are because, for all we know, the writers could suddenly give us a good slap in the face by not doing anything about it (imagine the rage from the fans if that happens). But, best case scenario? Yeah around 60-70%. And of course, what we'd all wanna see is Satoshi's dense barrier finally breaking or cracking, at least be a little bit more aware of things called "romantic feelings". Him asking about marriage is a good start He's already got the "being gentlemanly" down so what's next is his awareness.

Btw, good observations for all those episodes I'm surprised about him not fighting Serena back when she slapped his hand.

 

[Ikcatcher]

Alright, back to posting! Had to bring my brother back home for spring break, then had to go to urgent care to take care of an infection in my foot. Word of the wise, wear shoes when dealing with a dog that likes to pounce on your feet. Helps you avoid their claws (things are freaking razor blades). Now, I thought of a question. Not going to be as good as some of the questions we have had recently, but I hope this will get the forum kicking again for a short period of time:

What I have seen a lot of on here, on YouTube videos, twitter postings, etc. is that when we state whether or not we believe this ship is going to be canon, we are very vague with our description. For instance, I see a lot of: I hope this goes canon, I know this will go canon, I don't think is going to go canon. Now, being in an analytic laboratory, numbers are very important. As being a scientist numbers have a very important part in what I do for a living. The first part of the question has to be answered in a percentage. The second part can be anything you want it to be (even fanfiction). So now to the question:
At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

With all these hints,the date episode,Serena's blue ribbon.I feel like it's going to build up to something at the end,I'll give it a 50/50 chance of it becoming canon.
As to what I want to see,all I want is a grown up version of the flashback scene,just to remind us about Amourshippings root

 

[Citronic Gear On]

At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

I'd say 50/50, but only because there's really no way I can think of to determine which outcome actually is the more likely...either outcome seems totally reasonable, but it depends on a decision that the writers/directors are making, and that's not exactly something that really lends itself to probability.

Echoing what someone else here just posted, I'd like to see more clarification of what went down during the summer camp where Ash and Serena met. That backstory would benefit from additional development and lend some additional legitimacy to the foundation of the ship. As I said before, it's kind of hard to put a concrete percentage on this ship happening, but if you want signs that we're potentially reaching a "point of no return," then it's when we'd start seeing even more blatant hints from Ash's side, where his feelings become more unambiguous. Right now we simply don't have much from his side that you can consider to be truly unambiguous; the closest we've gotten is the gift to Serena in XY060, and I think of that more as a first sign of potential things to come than anything. If he does start showing hints at or near the level of shippiness and frequency that Serena has shown throughout the series, then to kill the subplot the writers would need to take rather drastic actions that would stretch the limits of credulity and require some pretty bad writing.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy the ride and see where it takes us. We've got a long way to go, after all.

 

[Dinomeyt]

How ironic because i have two Biochemistry exams (one for lab and one for lecture) in a couple of hours.

Chance of Amourshipping becoming canon? Maybe between 50-60%? That seems a little high (or low), considering the patterns we've already seen from the rest of the Pokemon anime. I cannot honestly say for sure what their chances truly are because, for all we know, the writers could suddenly give us a good slap in the face by not doing anything about it (imagine the rage from the fans if that happens). But, best case scenario? Yeah around 60-70%. And of course, what we'd all wanna see is Satoshi's dense barrier finally breaking or cracking, at least be a little bit more aware of things called "romantic feelings". Him asking about marriage is a good start He's already got the "being gentlemanly" down so what's next is his awareness.

Btw, good observations for all those episodes I'm surprised about him not fighting Serena back when she slapped his hand.

Ugh, biochemistry exams. Never did worse on exams like I did with biochemistry. Now I look back at this question and am thinking that I am asking this question too early. I'm thinking right now this would be a great question to ask at like episode 100 because there is a lot left to occur. To answer my own question, I'm at 75%. I honestly should drop it to like 60% but this series of pokemon is so different from the other series we have had that I have high hopes. To increase the percentage, what I need to see from both sides:
Ash: understand romance/break the oblivious armor. He has feelings of friendship for her, but he's acting differently around her than he does around his other female companions. So he's slowly developing stronger feelings.
Serena: makes your hints more direct/obvious. Simple as that

 

[ashsfuture]

At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

That is a really good question, as of now i say 50% mostly because of how close Ash and Serena already are, and the fact that Serena has feelings for Ash cause episode 7 confirmed Serena's crush on Ash with the childhood past!

Then episode 26 was where we know Serena is aware of her feelings for Ash and doesn't deny her feelings/ basically transcended from crush to strong feelings

the mirror world episode Serena asking Ash will they always be together(traveling) which is never been brought up this early in a pokemon saga

The date episode
. Serena thinking she's on a date with Ash
.Blushing
.trying to hold Ash's hand
.The blue ribbon

episode 60
Serena wearing the blue ribbon that Ash gave her as part of her main attire, so from that point on crush to strong feelings to love (that's the only I can really put it)!

with all that also including the others hints, and support from outside the anime: posters and charts, it just feels like the writers can't really back out on this, I mean this has to be leading up to something! if not this will cause major damage to the series altogether.

Now to see the percentage increase for me would be

. Serena opens up to Ash about her feelings, or this is an old one she tells someone about her feelings for Ash

Bonnie or Shauna and her mother probably already knows, well she is Serena's mother and a mother always knows.

As for Ash I'm going to have to really think on that! so far Amourshipping there's just to much support for it!, to think of an outcome for it right now!

 

[AshSerena]

At this point in the anime, what percentage do you give Amourshipping's chances of becoming canon? And what do you need to see in future episodes or want to see in future episodes for this percentage to either increase or stay constant?

That is a really good question, as of now i say 50% mostly because of how close Ash and Serena already are, and the fact that Serena has feelings for Ash cause episode 7 confirmed Serena's crush on Ash with the childhood past!

Then episode 26 was where we know Serena is aware of her feelings for Ash and doesn't deny her feelings/ basically transcended from crush to strong feelings

the mirror world episode Serena asking Ash will they always be together(traveling) which is never been brought up this early in a pokemon saga

The date episode
. Serena thinking she's on a date with Ash
.Blushing
.trying to hold Ash's hand
.The blue ribbon

episode 60
Serena wearing the blue ribbon that Ash gave her as part of her main attire, so from that point on crush to strong feelings to love (that's the only I can really put it)!

with all that also including the others hints, and support from outside the anime: posters and charts, it just feels like the writers can't really back out on this, I mean this has to be leading up to something! if not this will cause major damage to the series altogether.

Now to see the percentage increase for me would be

. Serena opens up to Ash about her feelings, or this is an old one she tells someone about her feelings for Ash

Bonnie or Shauna and her mother probably already knows, well she is Serena's mother and a mother always knows.

As for Ash I'm going to have to really think on that! so far Amourshipping there's just to much support for it!, to think of an outcome for it right now

i just wanted to clear something, Serena did not try to grab ash hand during the date episode. it just she getting nervous and blushing thinking that this is a date for her, i saw on bulbapedia that this is listed as a hint but no, she did not try to grab ash hand.

as for the question.. probably around 50-60%. i cant say anything ryt now since we still at ep 60+. im gonna change it after i watch some upcoming episodes, but ryt now, after all the hint on prev episode i can say its around 50-60%

 

[Ballzeh]

Hello there

i just wanted to clear something, Serena did not try to grab ash hand during the date episode. it just she getting nervous and blushing thinking that this is a date for her, i saw on bulbapedia that this is listed as a hint but no, she did not try to grab ash hand.

I think she definitly wants to grab his hand but y, she is too nervous to do it ! As you said, she thought it was like a date, so grabbing his hand is the first thing she would have loved to do IMO.


I would give this shipping at least 60% to become canon. Even if i would love that Serena follows Ash in next region, i really dont think it will happen... Especially with the Episode 60, seeing Yashio looking at Serena like that means to me that something will happen between those two. Something like Yashio offering her help to Serena on the aim of becoming the new Kalos Queen.

But maybe she will fail and will try to perform in another region and THEN, she will follow Ash... I'll hope it will go this way :3 Anyway, XY Series is really nice to watch because of this shipping ! It's really different from the others series (finally !).

Sorry if my English seems bad to you, i am not a native English speaker.

 

[pokesrini]

I would like to echo the sentiments of most of the members here. I peg the chances of Amour being canon as around 50-60%. I have maintained this stand since quite a while now- almost since XY045. However, the expectations of many of you- that is, the expectation that Ash would drop concrete hints at some point in the future which I am assuming is before the league, may not be possible. The way I see it, writing hints from Ash's side- hints of the magnitude of those dropped by Serena at any point in the near future practically makes the ship canon. It would push it to that point of no return. Once they take that step, I don't see them retracting it. Maybe once the league is over, we might see something.

We can expect the league to be done and dusted by August next year (probably). Game Freak has not announced any new Pokemon games for this year, but they have announced a game which is co-developed with Sega, as I may have mentioned a while back. Hence the chances of a last minute announcement are incredibly low. So this would make XY a four year saga. And going by the rate of things, Ash will finish his 7th gym by the end of this year or early next year. So once the league is done and dusted, we have one full year for the development of Amour. Once again I reiterate- if we see Serena in Pallet Town, Amour is good as confirmed.

Now I would also like to pull up one of the concerns raised by The Prince of May. While AmourShipping hasn't yet reached the point of no return, Serena's feelings have. I don't see any chance of them retracting that. If AmourShipping is not meant to be, then it would be because of Ash's inaction or something of that sort, but certainly not because Serena gave up on it. The reason I say that is, once again, if such a thing were to happen, it would've happened by now, and it would've happened silently. The simplest excuse would've been that she had to focus on her new found dream after XY040. Yet no such thing happened. It was confirmed to be still going strong even as late as XY060 after her Performance loss. We have seen her look to Ash for support in XY064. Okay, if you don't want to consider that as a hint, then you can always go back to XY060.

 

[Lorde]

Let's see. If Serena kissed Ash at the end of the XY Saga,then Ash would feel surprised and asking her does she falls in love with him by any chance,and she happily reply by saying yes and they both giggles with one another. And then Ash's maturity increases. As for me during that action, I'll say, "finally, its about time after all of those years of pokemon."

Tbh I think Ash would be too shy and stunned if he was kissed by her; I don't even think his mind could process that Serena likes him romantically yet, hence why most of my personal canon AmourShipping scenarios focus on them being much older when they do become a couple. I just can't envision two kids dating, much less when Ash is involved given how oblivious to girls he usually is.

 

[Ballzeh]

We can expect the league to be done and dusted by August next year (probably). Game Freak has not announced any new Pokemon games for this year, but they have announced a game which is co-developed with Sega, as I may have mentioned a while back. Hence the chances of a last minute announcement are incredibly low. So this would make XY a four year saga. And going by the rate of things, Ash will finish his 7th gym by the end of this year or early next year. So once the league is done and dusted, we have one full year for the development of Amour. Once again I reiterate- if we see Serena in Pallet Town, Amour is good as confirmed.

I was secretly thinking that because of no announcements from Nintendo. But, imo, it will be a three years saga just like BW was.
According to Nintendo calendar, Pokemon "Z" should be released in November 2015 (we may have some infos in May (as for OR/AS)). Then, in November 2016, a new generation should show up !

 

[Setsuna F Seiei]

Hmm, at the moment, I'd say 50-60% chance of becoming canon. While it's good and all that we are seeing support from both sides, I still think that Ash needs to display more affection towards Serena but then again, if that were to happen then chances for this ship to become canon may increase to 80-99.9% (Because there's still .1% that it will not happen, lol). Ash is the major deciding factor here. Serena already has a lot to offer for the ship. The only thing that she needs now is to be more open with her feelings for Ash.

What do we need to see in the future episode to increase the chances? Well, as I've said, Ash needs to play more role for amour but again, if that happens then there's no doubt that this ship will have smooth sailing towards canonization. Now I'm not saying that Ash hasn't done anything good for the ship. He has done a lot of great things for Serena that he hasn't done to anyone before. I just feel like with Ash's maturity level in the XY series, there's a huge chance that he'll develop romantic feelings for Serena in just a matter of time.

We also haven't seen any road blocks ahead either. Meaning that the ship hasn't encountered any threat such as a recurring love rivals. Heck, even their dreams isn't stopping amourshipping's development. Yashio is out of the question either. All in all, I think that amour has a lot of chances ahead of it and so far, Ash and Serena's relationship is strong as ever but not strong enough to say that amour is a guaranteed canon ship.

 

[AshSerena]

I was secretly thinking that because of no announcements from Nintendo. But, imo, it will be a three years saga just like BW was.
According to Nintendo calendar, Pokemon "Z" should be released in November 2015 (we may have some infos in May (as for OR/AS)). Then, in November 2016, a new generation should show up !

Bro i love how u did on ur signature, we can see ash help serena to get cross a log, but we can see from here that he still holding her hand till at the end gentle and they looking at each other

 

[Ballzeh]

Bro i love how u did on ur signature, we can see ash help serena to get cross a log, but we can see from here that he still holding her hand till at the end gentle and they looking at each other

Haha thanks man It just needs the Eureka " Kawaii !!! "

And yeah, this scene caught my attention because he could have let her go but he didn't ! Maybe there is hope for Ash after all...

 

[Setsuna F Seiei]

Hey, Amourians, now for another interesting question:
What kind of road blocks do you think amourshipping will face in the future? How do you think Ash and Serena would handle the problem? Do you even think that with their current relationship, they can overcome any threat to the ship? Why?

 

[Mewtario]

The identical faces posted thus far have so far been the ones I was thinking of aside from Serena's blank stare. I don't know the episode or context of the episode I'm thinking of, aside that it's not being made at Ash (because Ash is sanding next to her in the full version of the frame), but it's effectively a perfect match to Ash's blank stare.

Also, someone found an instance where the two of them simultaneously hold identical facial expressions in XY008:

Spoiler: Image

[img139]http://40.media.tumblr.com/6f692fb7b44de67b1402ae84db9ec36f/tumblr_nio29uQak81rmds53o1_1280.png[/img139]

I simply find things like this amusing.

 

[pokesrini]

I was secretly thinking that because of no announcements from Nintendo. But, imo, it will be a three years saga just like BW was.
According to Nintendo calendar, Pokemon "Z" should be released in November 2015 (we may have some infos in May (as for OR/AS)). Then, in November 2016, a new generation should show up !

I'm not so sure about that. I mean, if we were really supposed to get a Pokemon game this year, first off we would've heard at least rumours of it. I mean, there were rumours of ORAS since a month of XY's release almost. And even if not, the fact that Game Freak is working on a game in partnership with Sega to release this year reduces the chances that they plan to release another game of their own at the same time. We may get the Z version in April next year, or May. Then again, it is all speculation at this point, and this is not the right thread to discuss that. But the way I see it, the chances of getting a new Pokemon game this year is a bit low.

Hey, Amourians, now for another interesting question:
What kind of road blocks do you think amourshipping will face in the future? How do you think Ash and Serena would handle the problem? Do you even think that with their current relationship, they can overcome any threat to the ship? Why?

Well there are many possibilities as far as roadblocks are concerned- love rivals being in the top of the list. I rule out anything to do with their dreams because so far, Amour has been shown as a supporting factor for that. However, there is still a likelihood that it may become a threat, but they would eventually make it through.

But of all the roadblocks I see, it is Ash's development that tops the list in terms of impact. I mean we can more or less leave Serena's hints aside now. If you ask me, there's no turning back as far as her feelings are concerned, as I mentioned before. Ash's development has been rather...interesting of late, I must say. Yet, if I have to place a threat, it would be Ash's own development. The easiest way that they can get away without implementing Amour is to keep Ash as the dense guy with no idea about what's going on.

As to whether Amour is strong enough to get through any threat, there's the question of intent. If I were the writers, and I wanted Amour to go badly at the end, I would be throttling it to death by now, rather than feeding it and making it grow. I know that only Serena's feelings are unquestionably obvious at the moment...I have said so myself. Yet, I find it really hard to see what other route they can take at the end with all the development and hype they have given so far. I know many of you may disagree with me in this one, and I don't blame you. After all, DP was a shining example of them taking twenty steps backward, but things have changed since then. I try to disagree with myself when it comes to this point. But it is something that at least I cannot turn a blind eye to.

 

[Dinomeyt]

I'm not so sure about that. I mean, if we were really supposed to get a Pokemon game this year, first off we would've heard at least rumours of it. I mean, there were rumours of ORAS since a month of XY's release almost. And even if not, the fact that Game Freak is working on a game in partnership with Sega to release this year reduces the chances that they plan to release another game of their own at the same time. We may get the Z version in April next year, or May. Then again, it is all speculation at this point, and this is not the right thread to discuss that. But the way I see it, the chances of getting a new Pokemon game this year is a bit low.



Well there are many possibilities as far as roadblocks are concerned- love rivals being in the top of the list. I rule out anything to do with their dreams because so far, Amour has been shown as a supporting factor for that. However, there is still a likelihood that it may become a threat, but they would eventually make it through.

But of all the roadblocks I see, it is Ash's development that tops the list in terms of impact. I mean we can more or less leave Serena's hints aside now. If you ask me, there's no turning back as far as her feelings are concerned, as I mentioned before. Ash's development has been rather...interesting of late, I must say. Yet, if I have to place a threat, it would be Ash's own development. The easiest way that they can get away without implementing Amour is to keep Ash as the dense guy with no idea about what's going on.

As to whether Amour is strong enough to get through any threat, there's the question of intent. If I were the writers, and I wanted Amour to go badly at the end, I would be throttling it to death by now, rather than feeding it and making it grow. I know that only Serena's feelings are unquestionably obvious at the moment...I have said so myself. Yet, I find it really hard to see what other route they can take at the end with all the development and hype they have given so far. I know many of you may disagree with me in this one, and I don't blame you. After all, DP was a shining example of them taking twenty steps backward, but things have changed since then. I try to disagree with myself when it comes to this point. But it is something that at least I cannot turn a blind eye to.

I feel there is only one thing that I am going to consider a roadblock to any shipping with Ash, and with Amourshipping in particular (I am not worried about love rivals at this point. In fact, Ash could use one to develop romantic interest in Serena). In all the other ships, save minor ships like AbilityShipping, the major roadblocks were the development of romantic feelings between Ash and the female of interest from BOTH sides. The female not admitting to or denying having feelings is another common roadblock found in popular shippings in Pokemon (see Poke and AdvancedShipping for shining examples of this).

The second roadblock has been jumped over in Serena's case. Even though she hasn't vocally admitted to liking him, we have enough expressions and hints, as well as a flashback to know that Serena likes Ash (as of XY60, that crush has turned to love due in part to the ribbon being in her design).

The first roadblock, where it's admitted by both sides, has been halfway passed. Serena has done enough to show us where her heart is. There is still one part of the block though that needs to be passed, and it's the one thing that will either canonize or decanonize the ship: Ash's development and hints. Pokesrini makes a valid point that Ash's development and attitude since XY059 has been strange. But it's being done very slowly. If the writers are going to bring in the idea of love and romance to Ash, then they are doing it at the right pace. Going too fast hurts the development of the main character.

So Pokesrini hit it right on the spot when it comes to what the biggest obstacle in Amourshipping is: Ash himself. If they continue to do with Ash as they are doing right now, expect a lot of happiness in this community. But we as a community need to give it time. Unless you want to become one of those people who overhyped XY059 and got burnt because it didn't go PG-13. I feel like the message the writers sent in XY059 was a message to Amourshippers in general: The writers know what we want (canonization from both sides), we just need to be patient and give this relationship time to develop.

 

[tomyno]

I was secretly thinking that because of no announcements from Nintendo. But, imo, it will be a three years saga just like BW was.
According to Nintendo calendar, Pokemon "Z" should be released in November 2015 (we may have some infos in May (as for OR/AS)). Then, in November 2016, a new generation should show up !

But 2 wouldn't 7th generation mean the end of Amourshipping? Come to think about it our only chance was if xy were the end. We all have been hoping Amourshipping will become canon at the end of the Kalos saga. Honestly, I can't imagine Serena and Ash travelling the whole 7th generation as a couple, so please tell me there won't be any 7th generation because I don't want to lose hope that Serena won't be just crossed out like previous girls were to keep anime for kids rather than for original fans! Please tell me there is no 7th generation!

 

[Ballzeh]

Hey, Amourians, now for another interesting question:
What kind of road blocks do you think amourshipping will face in the future? How do you think Ash and Serena would handle the problem? Do you even think that with their current relationship, they can overcome any threat to the ship? Why?

As pokesrini said, the road blocks SatoSere will (probably) face are all about Ash...
Not only because he isn't feeling that much for her (like she does for him) but because maybe, MAYBE, Ash would be interested by another type of girl ! I mean, he is a trainer right ? So a trainer girl (like Anabel/Lila) could be a potential threat for Amourshipping !

Even if, IMO, Serena won some Pokémiles HERE judging by Ash's face


However, there is no fear about Serena's feelings for Ash... And i really dont think that she would crush on another boy.

But 2 wouldn't 7th generation mean the end of Amourshipping? Come to think about it our only chance was if xy were the end. We all have been hoping Amourshipping will become canon at the end of the Kalos saga. Honestly, I can't imagine Serena and Ash travelling the whole 7th generation as a couple, so please tell me there won't be any 7th generation because I don't want to lose hope that Serena won't be just crossed out like previous girls were to keep anime for kids rather than for original fans! Please tell me there is no 7th generation!

That would be sad but it will depend on the shipping and if it goes canon or not ! There is a lot of possible endings for XY Series. My favourite would be Ash and Serena becoming a couple and starting the new generation with a new hero ! Cause, as you said, they can't travel the whole 7th Gen as a couple, it would be weird for kids (especially young ones).