PalletShipping

This article is about shipping. As hints and evidence for ships are mostly speculation, this page may contain personal points of view.

PalletShipping (Japanese: シゲサト Shigesato or サトシゲ Satoshige) is one of the various names given to the Ash/Gary coupling supported by many fans of the Pokémon anime. It can also refer to the manga characters Red and Green (and by extension their game counterparts Red and Blue) but this would instead be called グリレ Gurire or レグリ Reguri in Japanese.

Hints

In the anime

The following list of summaries of scene in episodes of the Pokémon Anime that Palletshippers believe to be valid proof of a possible romantic relationship between Gary and Ash. many of these points have been debated and anti-Palletshippers call them off as nothing. However Palletshippers have strong beliefs that these are valid proof of the ship.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

File:Ashluvsgary.jpg

Ash cradles Gary In 'Battle of the Badge' after finding Gary wounded in the last Gym

• Battle of the Badge!

Ash and the gang find Gary and his cheerleaders wounded in the final Kanto gym and while Brock goes crazy about the wounded girls Ash exclaims Gary's name and runs over to him and cradles him and seems truly worried about his ‘hated' rival. Gary tells Ash what happens right there in Ash's arms. Later in the same episode after Gary seems to have recovered a bit Ash is battling Team Rocket and Gary seems rather worried about him when he gets shocked; he's also spouting some encouraging words to Ash which is a rare event considering he is almost always taunting Ash. Gary is also the one who leaps in to tackle Meowth; making sure that Ash gets the badge from the gym. The final bit in this episode is the very end when Gary actually compliments Ash saying that he is a decent trainer.

• Showdown at the Poké Corral

This episode takes place shortly after Battle of The Badge when Ash and Gary meet up at Professor Oak's lab. Ash had originally traveled there to speak to Professor Oak about the Indigo Pokémon League but upon realizing Gary is there Ash completely forgets about asking Oak and instead runs to Gary who he takes by the shoulders and shakes while pleading for Gary to tell him the Information about the league when he could have just as easily have asked the Professor. After a bit of normal rivalry arguing they stop and finally admit that both of their training techniques are good and end up just hanging out; walking around the Professor's ranch like friends and chatting about their Pokémon. In this episode Gary also winks at Ash a few times and they end up battling Team Rocket together in perfect union without a second thought.

• A Rivalry Revival

After a battle with Gary in the episode A Tents Situation Gary has left and Misty inquires if Ash would like to know where Gary is going. Ash acts as if he doesn't care and exclaims "Why should I care!?" but then later goes to Professor Oak's lab and asks him where Gary is going. Upon finding out that Gary is going to the Johto Region he apparently bases his decision on going to Johto on Gary's decision and follows Gary's footsteps to Johto in the very next episode.

• Power Play

At the beginning of this episode Ash and the Gang stumble across Gary battling a trainer who has a strong looking Alakazam. Gary uses his Umbreon to defeat the Alakazam and Ash gets all pumped, sliding down a rather steep cliff to get to Gary as he begins to walk off. Ash momentarily gets Gary's attention and asks for a battle and Gary refuses. Ash seems genuinely hurt by being rejected by Gary. Even if it was just a battle. Later that very night Ash is still seemingly hurt and angered by the rejection and claims that he'll stuff his face until he meets up with Gary again so that he'll have plenty of strength. After saying this the lights of the whole town go off and Ash and company agree to go to the Power plant to see what has caused the power outage on request of Nurse Joy who is worried that she wont be able to care for any wounded Pokémon that may come in. When they reach the Power Plant Team Rocket is behind the power outage and they have to figure out a way to get the power back on once Team Rocket is defeated. The answer to the power problem is opening the secondary water ducts to get the power running again but to do so a handle must be turned. The gang and Gary (who showed up after seeing Ash and the gang run by his camp) find the handle that need to be turned but it's stuck tight. Ash, Misty, Brock, and some of their Pokémon are all trying to turn the handle while Gary watches and then suddenly decides to help by putting his hands on Ash's and pulling the handle with them. Towards then end of this episode when the power has returned to the city Gary starts to depart when Ash calls Gary's name in almost a wistful sort of way as if he didn't want him to leave. Gary stops and tells Ash that he did a good job getting the power back on and that next time they meet they will battle. Ash is overjoyed as he watches Gary walk away. Another somewhat suggestive theme of this episode if the seemingly romantic music playing in the background during the last scene between Ash and Gary.

• A Claim to Fame!

Ash arrives at the Silver Contest and upon getting there realizes that Gary is participating in the Conference as well and seems somewhat bothered by that fact. During the night, Ash cannot seem to sleep while he's thinking about Gary and the Conference and decides to take a walk where he bumps into Gary and the two of them actually end up sitting by a lake under a starlit sky where the two of them talk for a while. Gary give Ash some very professional sounding advice and Ash inquires if he is alright. Later they agree that they are friends and Gary uses what Palletshippers believe to be a pet-name and calls him "Ashy". Later in the same episode Gary is also the one who says that Ash should be the one to carry the Silver Conference torch.

• Can't Beat the Heat!

In this episode Ash actually beats Gary in a battle of the Silver Conference. However, Professor Oak and Delia (Ash's mother) are watching the battle and Professor Oak says that even though Gary would never admit it; Ash is his most important friend; Delia agrees that Ash is the same way in that aspect. After the battle Gary tells Ash to meet him and ends up giving Ash half of a PokéBall which they each carried half of throughout their entire journey. The two of them then hold hands.

• Gotta Catch Ya Later!

In this episode Ash and Gary say their final goodbyes before Gary leaves to go do his research. Ash also decides to give Gary back his half of the PokéBall back before they part. Gary takes the small part of the PokéBall and says he'll take good care of it. Later Ash is sitting around thinking about how all of his friends are gone then decides he wants to be like Gary and get a whole new start by going to Hoenn; basing yet another one of his important life decisions on being like Gary.

• The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing

In this episode Ash is feeling rather down about losing a battle when he receives a letter from Gary. He imagines himself standing and talking with Gary in response to the letter. After doing so Ash becomes less bummed about losing the Battle and gets a burst of determination and decides to work hard and try again. Professor Oak also makes a comment about how Gary is a medicine for Ash at times like these.

• Home is Where the Start is

In this episode Ash runs into Gary and his Electrivire. Gary greets him by calling him that famous pet-name; "Ashy-boy" and Ash asks for a battle. Gary agrees but says not right at the moment that Electrivire is too tired from battling Team Rocket and that they can battle later at Professor Oak's lab. They do indeed battle and Gary wins; telling Ash that even though he won the Battle Frontier that there are many trainers and Pokémon that he doesn't know about in Sinnoh and that the world is a big place. He then says goodbye and says he's heading back to Sinnoh. Ash takes Gary's word into deep thought and makes the decision to follow Gary to Sinnoh; basing yet another traveling decision on something about Gary. Ash leaves for Sinnoh the very next day. Many Palletshippers believe that Ash's decision is based on his possible love/interest in Gary.

In the video games

Most PalletShippers agree that there is little to no evidence for the ship in the video game series. However, the rival makes an interesting comment to the main character on the S.S. Anne regarding catching Pokémon -- "New types are everywhere. Search around in grassy areas!" This line is a classic example of dodge.

Alternate names

Although the most widely-used name for this coupling is "PalletShipping", others do exist. Some of them are:

ShigeSato: The original (Japanese) name for this ship, using the Japanese convention of combining the names of two characters, with the dominant character being first.

SatoShige: A much less-common variant on ShigeSato, used by those who believe Ash (Satoshi) to be dominant over Gary (Shigeru).

ShiShi or ShiShiShipper: From Satoshi and Shigeru. Some use this ship name degradingly (In a similar manner to the use of Gaki or GakiShipper), while some PalletShippers use it to indicate that they merely like the pairing without caring about evidence.

FoeShipper: Very uncommon. Probably not in use at all.