I'd rather Ash, Misty, and Brock keep traveling with each other off-screen but the way they all said bye to each other basically suggested that they'd link up again not too long in the future. Misty and Brock didn't need to have a compelling reason to start travelling with Ash again after he became world champion so it's reasonable to assume they can just do it again whenever they feel like it.
Also notable is the hug between Psyduck and Pikachu. I pretty much consider it as an inferred hug between Ash and Misty. Now that the entire miniseries finished airing, MPM02 feels unusual in that it was the only episode in MPM that was dedicated to Ash's relationship with Misty instead of his relationship to Pokemon. The entire episode felt like it was saying that Ash and Misty express themselves to each other through their Pokemon. Hence, the ending with Pikachu and Psyduck finally getting to hug each other.
Overall, it's great that Misty and Brock made it to the last episode of the entire anime. It really solidifies their positions as the companions Ash values the most. I'm gonna miss them so much but I'm super grateful that they ended everything on these terms. Yeah, Pokeshipping isn't canon but everything the staff did throughout these episodes (MPM02, the cute visual easter eggs, Ash and Misty's heroic partnership, Ash asking Misty for her heart hairtie, Misty giving Ash her heart hairtie) basically sold a meta-narrative that said, "Yup, these kids are end game for us."
I wonder if dawn and Misty will meet and that lure pops up lol I want to see Ash explain himself and would personally love to see him still have it on him. If I remember in Sun/Moon he was slightly disappointed that Misty gave one to Lana
Ash just wants to collect all the Misty lures and never use them. He’s like those anime figure collectors that never takes the figure out of the box.
I still can’t shake the fact that Misty gets remembered more than anyone else! I think Ash has seen Misty more than any other traveling partner. I feel like the writers are teasing us somehow. I hate that there’s only a few episodes left
They definitely are conveying that Ash, Misty, and Brock really are meant to be inseparable from each other. Their time away was only temporary in the long term but vital to Ash’s growth into being the Pokemon trainer he is now. Now that Ash is world champion, he no longer has to grow and can finally go back to just having fun with Misty and Brock.
Plot twist, the return Of Georgio lol now that would be something. Once again they make a whole episode about love and psyduck laughs his tail off at Misty.
If we ever do see Georgio, I think he won’t really be interested in Misty anymore. If anything, he’d probably be with Casey since they hopefully got along well during their date at the baseball game.
Casey though, would be a good catalyst for something funny happening. Casey already met Ash, Misty, and Brock, so if they ever ran into her, maybe she’d be the one to bring up how Georgio tried to court Misty and put two and two together.
Recently I reflected on why I am such a hardcore Pokeshipper and didn't fall into amourshipping.
Honestly, I like XY and I like Serena. She is a nice character and her feelings are relatable in many ways. It doesn't even bother me that she got Ash's first real kiss. Not everyone's first kiss is with their soulmate/future person. Did Ash like her back? I don't know. He let her leave without saying anything to her. Then he went home and there were baby's breath flowers on screen as he returned home? People say that baby's breath flowers mean everlasting love so that means he has everlasting love for Serena? After one series? After one kiss? No. There are dozens of flowers that mean everlasting love/romantic love. There are also other flowers that mean 'innocence' as the writers claim it meant. The writers did not have to choose baby's breath which is synonymous with Misty's Japanese name, Kasumi, but they did! They know how to work symbolism. It was deliberate.
Now you can call it character development or whatever, but Ash became the experienced trainer when Misty left which watered down some of his rougher character flaws that made him interesting. Hoenn Ash and onward was smoothed around the edges. He was flawed yet by the end of each episode he was the perfect hero again. Serena "fell in love" with this new ideal Ash while Misty fell for his raw, original portrayal. To me this made pokeshipping feel real for both characters. There is also the little fact that Misty is the only person of whom he was ever outwardly jealous. So when Misty came back in Seaside Battle it was fascinating to see him revert back to OS Ash who automatically regained his personality around her. He was annoying, smug, and cocky, but that's alright because Misty was hot headed and loud right back. AND PIKACHU. I believe Pikachu represents Ash's true feelings. Pikachu sees through Ash's facade and straight up disobeys for his love of Pikachupi. There was no choice to be made. Misty belongs with them and Pikachu knows it.
I think the biggest sway though is just how similar the two characters are because opposites may attract, but similarities are the foundations of a successful relationship. All of the screenshots of them making the same damn faces and gestures in Seaside Battle are unbearably adorable. You also better believe that Ash and Misty would be the kind of couple that would settle matters with a battle. Who's going shopping? Battle. Who takes out the trash? Battle. Who feeds the Pokemon? Battle. Whoever first said that Pokemon battling is their love language isn't wrong.
After Seaside Battle, I just can't see a future where Ash and Misty aren't together.
And now I need to channel this Pokeshipping excitement into my fanfics.
Well per the gang in discord, the next episode A&M don't even display remotely what happened in the previous ep. No arguing, no tension, notta!
I don’t think Ash and Misty need to be arguing or teasing each other 24/7 in order to be conveyed romantically. Even in the previous episode when Misty meets up with Ash, when they weren’t arguing, the two were always being silly and dumb together and would always react the same way to something happening. Like when Ash and Misty fell into the ocean, they animated them spitting out seawater the same way while drawing them with the same SD silhouette. So for two people who are known to disagree, Ash and Misty happen to be in-sync so incredibly well.
They seem to want to convey that Ash and Misty are two sides of the same coin, just different in their own ways. Yeah, Ash and Misty in the latest episode didn’t argue or tease but they 1-to-1 had the same reactions as each other which was really cute and showed just how compatible they can be. I’m sure this episode they wanted to communicate that, yes, things got spicy last episode but for this episode, look at how much they vibe.
Yesss commentary from you :) I love your thoughts and now reading that last post omg I’m like idk so happy that pokeshipping is clearly being acknowledged by the writers. Question, does she say Red string of fate and what exactly does that mean? Thank you!!
It’s a trope that suggests that a red string (invisible or not) exists that ties two people together. A lot of anime use this trope to signify that two characters are destined to be together as a couple. It’s not a casual narrative device that a story should be throwing around.
The Pokemon anime would usually try to tip toe around subject like this and understand the optics of an Ash and Misty episode, especially considering how controversial Ash ships have been for the entire 25 years this anime has been airing. But no, Atsuhiro Tomioka, the writer of this episode, just straight out had Misty say that her and Clauncher are tied by the red string of fate. Like what? At face value, I guess you could explain it by saying that Misty just kind of loves water Pokemon to the point of delusion. But again, why even mention that narrative device at all in an episode where Ash and Misty have an episode to themselves. The subtext is just thick, intentional or not.
why did they make rowlet so comfortable with misty? rowlet would usually only sleep on ash’s head but all of a sudden it’s inclined to sit on misty’s as well. ash’s head is like a home for rowlet so is misty’s head also considered his home now too? is rowlet saying that misty an extension of ash and/or that misty is like his second owner??
why did they make misty not mind rowlet sleeping on her head? like she instantly got used to him sitting there. it was as if they were communicating that misty will continue to let rowlet sit on her head in future episodes or even beyond the end of the anime. does misty assume that ash’s pokemon are also hers to take care of? are they saying that misty will continue to be with ash even beyond the end of the anime that rowlet made a justifiable habit out of this?
why did they make misty reference the red string of fate?
why did they in emphasize how well ash and misty’s pokemon get along in general?
why did they go out of their way to draw big hearts between clauncher and corphish when they knew about the optics of what it would mean for ash and misty?
why even have an episode at all about the inseparability of a pokemon misty owns and a pokemon Ash owns?
why clauncher and corphish in the first place?
why not make it easy on yourself and just show the lure now instead of potentially trapping yourself for the inevitable episode with dawn?
why have misty physically wrap her line on ash’s wrist, why be so dramatic and intimate about it? why not grab ash’s hat or sleeve, something less physical?
why have ash and misty have the same goofy 1-to-1 expression when they’re dunked in the water, would they do that for any other pokegirl this late in the series?
why even have a battle this episode, what does it prove that misty can beat ash even though he’s a champion?
why have ash in the previous episode not have any idea where to go, only relying on his gut of what feels right, capped by him meeting misty who talks about fate albeit, delusionally, when it comes to clauncher?
It’s been a long time since I animated something, but I’m pleased with the result! A lot of work went into this particular commission but it was definitely worth it in the end.
I think it was about time this happened. 25 years of the anime. 25 years of my life.
Hell, I somehow managed to marry the girl I met and fell in love with through this fandom, specifically the Pokeshipping fandom. So I think I got the most of what I could out of this anime.
But sometimes you get greedy.
Over time, I do feel that some certain other ship had ended up eclipsing my preferred ship in the anime. It came out of nowhere and through a series of contrived and manufactured moments, earned a large fanbase of mostly male 20-30 somethings.
Let’s admit it, the anime had made a decision at around the time of XY to cater to them. That audience has been the hegemonic segment of this specific fandom. Despite the attrition that the audience of the anime has went through, those guys stayed loyal. They had been through the crucible and are the filtered result of all the arbitrary decisions, the capricious narratives, the misplaced priorities, and the fulfillment of laborious mandates directed by TPC, that were made by the creative directors. So I don’t blame the executive staff for keeping them happy.
But there’s at some point you can’t just look at the fans you currently have. You have to look at the people that you lost along with them. The lapsed audience, all those kids who watched the anime from the very beginning but ended up lapsing because they either disagreed the direction the anime went in or they grew up and had to reprioritize what was important in life. When the 11-episode special airs, I hope those segment of people don’t get punished with alienation and emotional heartbreak when they watch just so that the anime could please the current preponderant segment of the fandom.
That wildly unbased speculation that the next main character of the anime is a offspring of Ash is pretty dumb. So dumb that I shouldn’t have to even address it even is possible. I mean, I do have faith that the directors and executive producers of the anime would not to be so undisciplined to pursue something so contrived. But then again, the end of XY was such an tonal whiplash that I felt I needed to at least verbalize my hope that they don’t put the wants of that audience over everyone else, especially since that audience had started liking their certain ship likely at an age when they were almost a decade older than the characters in question.
(LOL @ the person who wrote the linked article, you were so naive)
The anime is ending, the news has been spread, people who haven’t been paying attention are now paying attention. The anime now has a captive audience that is returning. Please speak to them, those are the people that need a satisfying ending. They especially need a chance to properly say goodbye to something that formulated their childhoods, a chance to love something that they may not anymore but are eager to love again and want a chance to do so. It needs to be a chance to say goodbye, not on a sour note, but a happy note.
So please, please speak to the kids who were the same age as Ash and Misty when those two were just starting out.
TLDR:
The kids who grew up with Pokemon when the anime itself was no older than a toddler are going to be weirded out if that other ship happens because majority of those grown up kids are prob Pokeshippers.
That would be a weird message to send if you want to properly have closure for your oldest fans.
I mean, it probably won’t happen but who the fuck knows, maybe there’s some weird ass executive producer or director out there lurking about in the studio there who saw what happened to Nar*to and went “Yeah, let’s do that, I fucking love painful lacerations on my dick so I’ll probably love this too”
