Kiryn
Well-Known Member
Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve done this, so I figure it’s probably time to take another crack at it. I’m going to be keeping this strictly to Pokemon, because otherwise the length would be truly ghastly. Anime and games only, as I don’t read the manga. Also, I’m still working my way through the Sun & Moon anime, so my opinions regarding those ships are still mostly in flux. For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to do my level best to be as succinct as possible, and I’m only going to mention ships that I have something to say about; this list is going to be far from comprehensive, but I also don’t want to be here from now until the rest of eternity. Roughly in order of most to least favorite (comparatively, as these are more of what I consider to be my “top” ships). So, disclaimers done, let’s go!
Ash/Clemont (Diode): This ship is constantly fighting it out with Pallet for the OTP spot. It’s just so good and pure and wholesome, they’re just so positive and constantly gushing about how much they admire the other, they find each other so inspiring, and it’s just the sweetest, cutest thing ever. Not to mention how comfortable they are with each other, with the way they’re always hugging and nearly cuddling while asleep! Seeing this ship just brings the biggest smile to my face, every time. Also, Ash has literally never been more interested in science, and these days, he gets bored and starts whining about Sophocles going on about it, whereas when it was Clemont, he was all enthusiasm and sparkly eyes~ They’re just so in love with each other, it’s beautiful.
Ash/Gary (Pallet): The classic OTP. Diode is giving it a serious run for its money, especially because Clemont, and subsequently the ship, has gotten way more screen time than Gary’s ever had. But even still, when I imagine Ash settling down, getting married, that kind of thing, it’s hard for me to picture him doing it with anyone but Gary. Pallet has this childhood best friends/soulmates/yin-yang vibe to it, which I am a huuuge sucker for (it’s got that SoRiku and Stucky #aesthetic to it, which I find irresistible). In the end, they always come back to each other; “As night follows day”. They’ve also inspired each other so much, and the fact that, even up all the way through Sinnoh, Gary was a major influence on Ash’s life decisions…not to mention the Pokeball! The fact that they each kept half, even during the bitterest points of their rivalry…it gets me in all my feels. I just wish that they’d bring Gary back again, like they did with Misty and Brock. ;;;;
Dawn/Zoey (Appeal): Lol, no other Dawn ship can compare. After dealing with so many jerk rivals, Zoey was such a breath of fresh air. She was always so supportive of Dawn, right from the very beginning, never tearing down her confidence, dropping everything to go to her side when Dawn needed her, giving Dawn whatever she needed, whether it was sympathy or constructive criticism, gently but firmly nudging her out of wallowing, was protective without being overbearing, and took no crap from anyone (including the most glorious call-out on Paul’s awful behavior ever), and all with quiet, unassuming self-confidence? God, what a queen. Zoey is just so good for Dawn, and then Dawn returns it all, is just as supportive and loving in return…even years later, I still can’t get over their utter perfection.
Misty/Serena (ChampsElysee): Mmm, those sweet, sweet Korrasami vibes. Real talk, words can never begin to describe the importance of Korra/Asami to me, but what I loved so much about it (apart from the fact that it is gloriously canon) is that it took a bunch of garbage tropes, turned them all on their heads, and crafted perfection out of it. These two girls started as rivals in a love triangle, competing with each other over this guy, but then they chose to be friends in spite of that, and refused to let their relationships with the guy get in the way of it. And then over time, they grew closer and closer to each other, confiding in each other above all else, trusting each other, and slowly fell in love. And in the end, they ditched the guy and rode off into the romantic sunset together! Watching this happen was literally a dream come true, and so to have similar beats play out in Pokemon, with Misty and Serena being the Korra and Asami, respectively, to Ash’s Mako? I am so here for that. There’s so much more that I could say, but I’m trying to be brief, so I’ll just leave it here for now.
Mallow/Lillie (Jellow): I’m still in the early days of SuMo, but I’m already living for this ship. (Also, I’ve seen that Revolutionary Girl Utena screenshot, omggggggg!!!) Mallow is so protective of Lillie and so determined to take care of her, and Lillie is just so sweet (and it’s nice to see that her utter gayness is carrying over well from the games), and they’re constantly near each other and holding on to each other, and my poor gay heart cannot handle it. XD
Jessie/James (Rocket): I cannot picture them with anyone else, ever. Even without romance, it works great as a queerplatonic relationship, and I just…they care about each other so much, always choose loyalty to each other above everything else, they’re pretty much soulmates, and no matter how many times they blast off, they never blast apart.
Brock/N (ParadigmShift): Lol, I’m actually the one who came up with the ship name. It’s a crack pairing that I thought up one day, and have never been able to get out of my head since. I have a lot of headcanons about how they’d meet and how their relationship would work, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that I think they’d get along really well, have good chemistry and compatibility, in terms of both personalities and life goals. I find Brock to be pretty hard to ship usually, as he’s got a motherly vibe that doesn’t click well romantically with most characters, but I think it works with N. Again, there’s waaay more I could say, but I’ll leave it here for now.
Serena/Shauna (Boutique): You can pry bi!Serena (who leans mostly towards girls, lbr) from my cold dead hands. The romantic vibes for this ship, both in the games and the anime, are so strong, lol. XY in general seemed to especially favor this dynamic of positivity and inspiration, with the characters constantly gushing about how awesome and amazing the others are, and it was just so lovely to see. (And tbh, it’s why I loved the majority of the ships that came out of XY, lolol.) Again, this ship is just so sweet and supportive and wholesome, it’s my jam. It’s definitely running a close second to ChampsElysee for my favorite ship for Serena.
May/Iris (1000Wishes): I just feel that these two would have such a good vibe and dynamic, tbh. Both love travelling, food, can be aggressive and ready to throw down and fight you, but they’re also sweet and empathetic. They’re both such strong personalities, but they’d be able to balance each other out, and not end up with one being the over-dominating partner. They’d also have a few contrasts going on; first one that comes to mind is that May is a city girl, while Iris is a wild child. They’d challenge each other and wouldn’t be afraid to dish out some tough love on occasion, but they could also be sweet and supportive when needed. Like I said, I just really dig the vibe I get off the ship, and over the years, it’s grown to be my fave for them.
Ash/Gary (Pallet): The classic OTP. Diode is giving it a serious run for its money, especially because Clemont, and subsequently the ship, has gotten way more screen time than Gary’s ever had. But even still, when I imagine Ash settling down, getting married, that kind of thing, it’s hard for me to picture him doing it with anyone but Gary. Pallet has this childhood best friends/soulmates/yin-yang vibe to it, which I am a huuuge sucker for (it’s got that SoRiku and Stucky #aesthetic to it, which I find irresistible). In the end, they always come back to each other; “As night follows day”. They’ve also inspired each other so much, and the fact that, even up all the way through Sinnoh, Gary was a major influence on Ash’s life decisions…not to mention the Pokeball! The fact that they each kept half, even during the bitterest points of their rivalry…it gets me in all my feels. I just wish that they’d bring Gary back again, like they did with Misty and Brock. ;;;;
Dawn/Zoey (Appeal): Lol, no other Dawn ship can compare. After dealing with so many jerk rivals, Zoey was such a breath of fresh air. She was always so supportive of Dawn, right from the very beginning, never tearing down her confidence, dropping everything to go to her side when Dawn needed her, giving Dawn whatever she needed, whether it was sympathy or constructive criticism, gently but firmly nudging her out of wallowing, was protective without being overbearing, and took no crap from anyone (including the most glorious call-out on Paul’s awful behavior ever), and all with quiet, unassuming self-confidence? God, what a queen. Zoey is just so good for Dawn, and then Dawn returns it all, is just as supportive and loving in return…even years later, I still can’t get over their utter perfection.
Misty/Serena (ChampsElysee): Mmm, those sweet, sweet Korrasami vibes. Real talk, words can never begin to describe the importance of Korra/Asami to me, but what I loved so much about it (apart from the fact that it is gloriously canon) is that it took a bunch of garbage tropes, turned them all on their heads, and crafted perfection out of it. These two girls started as rivals in a love triangle, competing with each other over this guy, but then they chose to be friends in spite of that, and refused to let their relationships with the guy get in the way of it. And then over time, they grew closer and closer to each other, confiding in each other above all else, trusting each other, and slowly fell in love. And in the end, they ditched the guy and rode off into the romantic sunset together! Watching this happen was literally a dream come true, and so to have similar beats play out in Pokemon, with Misty and Serena being the Korra and Asami, respectively, to Ash’s Mako? I am so here for that. There’s so much more that I could say, but I’m trying to be brief, so I’ll just leave it here for now.
Mallow/Lillie (Jellow): I’m still in the early days of SuMo, but I’m already living for this ship. (Also, I’ve seen that Revolutionary Girl Utena screenshot, omggggggg!!!) Mallow is so protective of Lillie and so determined to take care of her, and Lillie is just so sweet (and it’s nice to see that her utter gayness is carrying over well from the games), and they’re constantly near each other and holding on to each other, and my poor gay heart cannot handle it. XD
Jessie/James (Rocket): I cannot picture them with anyone else, ever. Even without romance, it works great as a queerplatonic relationship, and I just…they care about each other so much, always choose loyalty to each other above everything else, they’re pretty much soulmates, and no matter how many times they blast off, they never blast apart.
Brock/N (ParadigmShift): Lol, I’m actually the one who came up with the ship name. It’s a crack pairing that I thought up one day, and have never been able to get out of my head since. I have a lot of headcanons about how they’d meet and how their relationship would work, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that I think they’d get along really well, have good chemistry and compatibility, in terms of both personalities and life goals. I find Brock to be pretty hard to ship usually, as he’s got a motherly vibe that doesn’t click well romantically with most characters, but I think it works with N. Again, there’s waaay more I could say, but I’ll leave it here for now.
Serena/Shauna (Boutique): You can pry bi!Serena (who leans mostly towards girls, lbr) from my cold dead hands. The romantic vibes for this ship, both in the games and the anime, are so strong, lol. XY in general seemed to especially favor this dynamic of positivity and inspiration, with the characters constantly gushing about how awesome and amazing the others are, and it was just so lovely to see. (And tbh, it’s why I loved the majority of the ships that came out of XY, lolol.) Again, this ship is just so sweet and supportive and wholesome, it’s my jam. It’s definitely running a close second to ChampsElysee for my favorite ship for Serena.
May/Iris (1000Wishes): I just feel that these two would have such a good vibe and dynamic, tbh. Both love travelling, food, can be aggressive and ready to throw down and fight you, but they’re also sweet and empathetic. They’re both such strong personalities, but they’d be able to balance each other out, and not end up with one being the over-dominating partner. They’d also have a few contrasts going on; first one that comes to mind is that May is a city girl, while Iris is a wild child. They’d challenge each other and wouldn’t be afraid to dish out some tough love on occasion, but they could also be sweet and supportive when needed. Like I said, I just really dig the vibe I get off the ship, and over the years, it’s grown to be my fave for them.
Selene/Lillie (MoonLily): This ship is my ultimate OTP that ends all OTPs and ships in this fandom. They are perfection incarnate, too sweet, too precious, too good for this world, too pure. They are my precious lesbian daughters whom I love with all my heart and soul. This ship is the main reason why Sun is now my favorite game in the series. Lillie is so good and pure, she has an amazing arc and journey, and I’m so proud of her. Seeing as I’ll always choose to embrace the femslash, I go with the female MC to ship Lillie with, and all the scenes where she bonds with Selene are still romantic and gay as heck. I just…love them, and love this ship more than words can ever say. This ship is god tier to me.
Red/Blue Oak (Nameless): This ship is basically the same dynamic and vibe as Pallet (though arguably with more angst and tension to work through), so of course I ship it as well. Tbh, this has become one of those pairings where it’s hard for me to ship them with anyone else. They just…belong so thoroughly to each other. And yeah, I subscribe to the headcanon that they’re married now and are using the Battle Tree as an excuse to take a second honeymoon in Alola. XP
Steven/Wallace (Origin): My original (heh) gameverse OTP before MoonLily came along. Again, I’m just a sucker for ships where it feels like they’ve known each other forever, where they don’t ever need to really say anything now because everything’s already been said. They feel like soulmates, is what I’m saying. I also love this ship bc they have the potential to be the biggest dorks of all time, and I think that’s beautiful. XD
Hau/Gladion (CuteBones): Oh hey, it’s another SuMo ship that took my heart by storm. They’re an “opposites attract” ship, but in the best way possible. Hau is cheerful and positive, while Gladion is a cynical edgelord. Hau is laidback and easygoing, while Gladion is super serious and the most over-dramatic bean of all time. Hau has this quiet, carefree self-confidence to him, while Gladion is a ball of anxiety and trying desperately to hide the fact that he is a Mess. Hau is openly affectionate and wears his heart on his sleeve, while Gladion is awkward and blushy, and trying desperately to pretend that he’s cold-hearted, when in reality he has the softest and mushiest heart, and feels all the feelings extremely deeply. They’re so different from each other on the surface, but at heart, they’re actually far more similar, and they’re both just Soft, Sweet, Loving boys. In the beginning, it would take a fair amount of patience on Hau’s part, waiting for Gladion to start coming out of his prickly shell, but as he comes to trust Hau more and feel safe, the real Gladion would start shining through, and it’d be worth the wait. Hau would help Gladion soften up, and Gladion would help Hau become more driven and focused, and not just wandering around aimlessly. There’s so much potential in this ship, and I just think it’s beautiful, and I love them dearly.
May/Lisia/Zinnia (DragonQueens): Basically, I love May/Lisia, Lisia/Zinnia, and May/Zinnia individually, and I think they’d work even better together. May has such fantastic chemistry in-game with both Lisia and Zinnia (her chemistry with Lisia is particularly cute and sweet), and now that Zinnia’s fulfilled her lifegoal (and is hinted to be grieving over some kind of personal loss), I can see her as being unsure what to do next. I think Lisia could offer her some fresh perspective, and show her that life is overflowing with new opportunities and experiences to be had. I just think that they’d all balance each other out nicely.
Archie/Maxie (Harden): I was drawn to this ship because they totally have a Magneto/Professor X vibe going on; two people who used to be super close friends, but then became enemies and rivals because their conflicting ideologies caused them to go down separate and opposing paths in life. And like with Cherik, in all of Archie’s and Maxie’s interactions, and especially in the way they talk to each other, there’s this sense of weight and history to it all. And I think how relatively quickly they seem to realize their mistakes and make amends with each other, at least in ORAS, speaks volumes about their relationship too.
Red/Blue Oak (Nameless): This ship is basically the same dynamic and vibe as Pallet (though arguably with more angst and tension to work through), so of course I ship it as well. Tbh, this has become one of those pairings where it’s hard for me to ship them with anyone else. They just…belong so thoroughly to each other. And yeah, I subscribe to the headcanon that they’re married now and are using the Battle Tree as an excuse to take a second honeymoon in Alola. XP
Steven/Wallace (Origin): My original (heh) gameverse OTP before MoonLily came along. Again, I’m just a sucker for ships where it feels like they’ve known each other forever, where they don’t ever need to really say anything now because everything’s already been said. They feel like soulmates, is what I’m saying. I also love this ship bc they have the potential to be the biggest dorks of all time, and I think that’s beautiful. XD
Hau/Gladion (CuteBones): Oh hey, it’s another SuMo ship that took my heart by storm. They’re an “opposites attract” ship, but in the best way possible. Hau is cheerful and positive, while Gladion is a cynical edgelord. Hau is laidback and easygoing, while Gladion is super serious and the most over-dramatic bean of all time. Hau has this quiet, carefree self-confidence to him, while Gladion is a ball of anxiety and trying desperately to hide the fact that he is a Mess. Hau is openly affectionate and wears his heart on his sleeve, while Gladion is awkward and blushy, and trying desperately to pretend that he’s cold-hearted, when in reality he has the softest and mushiest heart, and feels all the feelings extremely deeply. They’re so different from each other on the surface, but at heart, they’re actually far more similar, and they’re both just Soft, Sweet, Loving boys. In the beginning, it would take a fair amount of patience on Hau’s part, waiting for Gladion to start coming out of his prickly shell, but as he comes to trust Hau more and feel safe, the real Gladion would start shining through, and it’d be worth the wait. Hau would help Gladion soften up, and Gladion would help Hau become more driven and focused, and not just wandering around aimlessly. There’s so much potential in this ship, and I just think it’s beautiful, and I love them dearly.
May/Lisia/Zinnia (DragonQueens): Basically, I love May/Lisia, Lisia/Zinnia, and May/Zinnia individually, and I think they’d work even better together. May has such fantastic chemistry in-game with both Lisia and Zinnia (her chemistry with Lisia is particularly cute and sweet), and now that Zinnia’s fulfilled her lifegoal (and is hinted to be grieving over some kind of personal loss), I can see her as being unsure what to do next. I think Lisia could offer her some fresh perspective, and show her that life is overflowing with new opportunities and experiences to be had. I just think that they’d all balance each other out nicely.
Archie/Maxie (Harden): I was drawn to this ship because they totally have a Magneto/Professor X vibe going on; two people who used to be super close friends, but then became enemies and rivals because their conflicting ideologies caused them to go down separate and opposing paths in life. And like with Cherik, in all of Archie’s and Maxie’s interactions, and especially in the way they talk to each other, there’s this sense of weight and history to it all. And I think how relatively quickly they seem to realize their mistakes and make amends with each other, at least in ORAS, speaks volumes about their relationship too.
