Public Because Everyone Should Know
If you’re going to comment on this (to debate or not, I don’t care), please use proper grammar and spelling. I don’t want to waste my time trying to figure out what you’re trying to say in textspeak or whatever else. Also, please back up your arguments. Baseless claims will be ignored or made fun of. I’m using a little brainpower to write this, so I would appreciate it if you used your brain in reading and discussing it. So it goes without saying that if you haven’t read the entire document, I would prefer you not to make any arguments against it. If you’ve read everything, I welcome you to.
My Thoughts on the Shipping Wars of Pokémon
(and why it’s silly to fight)
Background
(or: things I hope everyone can agree on)
Pokéshipping (aka AAML, or Ash/Misty) was originally known as Gakishipping. Gaki translates as “twerp” in Japanese, which is what Team Rocket and Team Rocket fans call the protagonists of the show, namely Ash, Brock, Misty, Tracey, May, Max, Dawn, and Gary. It was called Gakishipping because the majority of fans at the time were Rocketshippers or Team Rocket fans in general. At the time, the fandom belonged to them.
Later it was called Sushishipping; the only reason for this that I can speculate being that sushi is a Japanese word that kids knew in the 90s. And, of course, the fact that more and more fans were beginning to favor only the protagonists. They wanted a nicer-sounding name all to themselves (or it’s a stretch of KaSUmi and SatoSHI). Naturally, since Ash/Misty is the main and obvious shipping of the entire series, the name of the shipping changed to cover the whole fandom: Pokéshipping.
Then something upset the perfect balance of all the “canon” shipping. Misty left to stay in Cerulean City. Her bike was fixed and thus her fake reason for sticking around Ash was gone. She would either have to tell him how she felt about him or leave. The writers couldn’t risk anyone getting together due to Japan’s culture, the continuity of the show, and possibly opposing shippings. The show would lose popularity if anyone ever hooked up, and so Misty had no choice but to return home.
The resulting plot was this: Viewers were made solidly aware of Misty’s infatuation with Ash. It became airtight canon. But Ash was either oblivious to Misty’s emotional tangle or chose to ignore it. The former reason is more likely, especially when taking Ash’s chronic immaturity into account. Misty, claiming that she finally knew how Ash felt about her, dejectedly made her way back home with no new boyfriend.
The Real Battle Begins
(or: Gasp! Evidence!)
The female hero of the Hoenn region games came along, dubbed May in the animé, and began to travel with Ash in Misty’s stead. She and Ash had several hints to point toward the new Advanceshipping. But like every other “hint” in Pokémon, it could be easily tossed aside and ignored. Romantic hints in fandom are few and far between, but when they occur, their bearing on any shipping is hardly worth anything.
This said, any shipping in Pokémon is very poorly evidenced and barely existent. At the same time, however, every shipping is fun and exciting to watch develop (or simply to hope for more hints).
Later, the same thing happened again, and Dawn began traveling with Ash, bringing about the Pearlshippers in the same manner as the Advanceshippers. May was given a more solid relationship in Drew when she began traveling with him, which was a crowning hint for the Contestshippers. Truth be told, I stopped watching the animé early on in the Johto episodes, so I’m only speculating some of the facts here.
Meanwhile (I was never sure when), there were the Hosos or Chronicles Episodes. These typically focused on Misty, who would sometimes have Tracey visiting her for the duration of the episodes. This brought about Orangeshipping and the episodes gave their own little collection of poorly executed hints. But, gauging them in the same dismal light of the rest of the ships, Orangeshipping isn’t entirely crazy. None of the ships are crazy as long as the characters involved have connected on some level.
Throughout the entire series, Gary has been Ash’s main rival. They’ve known each other since they were babies and were actually best friends. But apparently as soon as they set off for their Pokémon journeys, Gary turned into an enormous jerk. Gradually it’s revealed that he’s actually a nice guy who wanted to push Ash to try his hardest, and he and Ash become friends again, however begrudging.
Also throughout the series, Ash has feels the need to do everything Gary does, or at least travel wherever he does. The primary reason Ash travels to the Hoenn and Sinnoh reagions is because he heard Gary was going to. His reason for tailing Gary is unclear, but many Palletshippers take it as their favorite hint. Of course, this can also be taken as evidence for their strong friendship.
But ignoring sexes and genders, almost every hint can be taken as a hint toward a strong friendship. Likewise, almost every hint can be taken as a hint toward a romantic relationship. Japan barely has a problem with sexual orientation, at least in animés, so the mature approach in this matter is to consider every ship, even if it’s homosexual. This is plausible for Pokémon because of James and his tendency to cross-dress. (Fun fact: Statistically, most male transvestites are straight.)
My Personal Stake
(or: something I’ve had to say a million times)
I’m using this example because I know it way too well. This is the one part of the document I don’t care if you ignore, as long as you get the general gist of it. One doesn’t have to like Orangeshipping to agree.
You can’t say hints for Orangeshipping don’t count when hints of the exact same variety for Pokéshipping do. There are probably plenty of examples in the Misty seasons where Ash is mistaken as her boyfriend. I know they blush and disagree with the accuser. This is because most fans of the show can agree that they liked each other at the time. (Some people can even choose to believe they didn’t or that it wasn’t mutual, but personally I think Ash and Misty liked each other for quite a while, including these instances.)
Anyway, there have been two or three times in the Chronicles Episodes where Tracey was mistaken as Misty’s boyfriend. Same thing happens: one or both of them blush and disagree. “It’s not the same because Misty’s eyebrows weren’t up as high. She didn’t freak out the same way. They just think Tracey looks good with her.” I’ve heard all of these excuses, and they are silly.
First of all, the writers have probably changed quite a bit since the times of Ash and Misty. Either they’re actually different people or they changed a little inside, as people often do. They’ll do things differently, even more artistically or subtle than in the past. They’d want everything to improve, as is the case with most long-term projects.
Second, like I said before, the hints in the entire show for any ship are wish-washy. If the Orangeshipping hint for mistaken boyfriend doesn’t count, I have to argue that the Pokéshipping hint of the same incident doesn’t count either.
Third, why can’t Orangeshipping be the new canon? The writers wouldn’t make Misty and Tracey hang out all the time if it didn’t mean something, especially with all the hints they get. And again, if those hints don’t count, than neither do any others for any other ship. You need to be fair about these things.
Give Peace a Chance
(or: what I’ve really been wanting to say)
Keeping everything I’ve said in consideration, why is anyone fighting? Why are people all over the world drawing hateful and hurtful pictures? Pictures of the shippings themselves are of course, just fine. But I’ve seen artists’ self-portraits of themselves throwing a tantrum over how much they hate certain shippings, all because they happen to oppose their favorite. I’ve seen pictures of dead stick figures, labeled as “yaoi-shippers” or “cracked-shippers.” More than a few people write fanfiction and draw pictures to bash Tracey for no discernable reason beyond the fact that they don’t like him and that “he should stay away from Misty.” What the hell is all this?
The solution is simple: ignore artworks and fanfiction that includes shippings you don’t like. If someone flames you for liking a certain shipping, then tell them the same thing: ignore it if you don’t like it.
I’m not saying “stop making your fan art and fanfiction.” That’s totally ridiculous, and you need to create whatever makes you happy. I don’t care if you make works of a pairing that hundreds of other fans hate. You should make it because anyone who flames you is the one who is wrong.
Here are some things you can do to make yourself look a little more mature, make yourself seem like a better person: draw or write whatever pairing you want, draw or write pairings you don’t like because it’s funny (but don’t say how much you actually hate it; just say you don’t agree with it and that it was a joke), and please don’t draw the Shippings Wars themselves. This means drawing anyone (including yourself) yelling at or hurting other shippers (physically or otherwise) or drawing characters of conflicting shippings being physically hurt. Or example, if Ash and Misty are being cute and together, don’t draw May or Dawn or Gary or whoever in the background getting run over by a bulldozer. It’s not funny, and it’s not nice.
There are so many other things I haven’t seen-and yes, I’ve unfortunately seen all I mentioned above-that could be out there and could be created. It’s not that difficult to not make something or not say something. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Everyone heard that a million times when they were little. Now that we’re older and suppostedly more mature, why can’t anyone remember? I know it’s a children’s show, but do we all have to be so childish about it?
Don’t go assuming that only unpopular ships or bad artists are the culprits I’m addressing here. Some of the most popular Pokéshippers are guilty of these things. They make amazing artworks and yet act like spoiled brats. They act like their shipping is being prosecuted or hated, but it never is. Palletshippers, Orangeshippers, Advanceshippers, etc. are not going to speak up and tell you they don’t like Pokéshipping because it’s the most popular pairing with Ash or Misty. The other ships know they’re the odd ones out, even if at the best of times, it seems like the opposing ships are more canon than Pokéshipping. They’ll never say anything because they know how hurtful it can be to be the ones who are actually prosecuted.
Ships should unite fans, not frustrate them. I shouldn’t even have to be writing this. I love Pokémon, so when I see fans desecrating any aspect of it, even if I agree with their opinion, it makes me sad.
Don’t be afraid to comment. I said what I needed to get out of my system, and so I feel much better from it. If there’s anything I missed, please tell me. If there’s anything you want to add, I want to hear it. If you disagree, tell me why. If you agree, let me know. Just as long as the message gets out there.