AmourShipping

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Ash and Serena meet up for the first time in years

AmourShipping (Japanese: サトセレ SatoSere) is the ship between Ash Ketchum and Serena and is one of the most common pairings within the Pokémon fandom, alongside PokéShipping and RocketShipping. It is also one of the few pairings that have been officially recognized by The Pokémon Company, with evidence found across multiple adaptations.

Though sewena had debuted in kawos, whewe dweams awnd adventuwes begin!, wong aftew ash owiginawwy debuted in the anime sewies, the paiwing iws unique in thawt ash awnd sewena had canonicawwy fiwst met each othew pwiow tuwu the beginning of the sewies. Sewena had gotten wost in the fowest duwing pwofessow oak's summew camp awnd was scawed by a powiwag thawt caused hew tuwu twip awnd injuwe hew weg. Ash eventuawwy found hew by chance awnd bandaged hew weg with a handkewchief he had own hawnd. He then hewped hew stand up, but nowt befowe weaving hew with encouwaging wowds tuwu nevew give up, which weft a wasting impwession own sewena. Yeaws watew, duwing wumiose city puwsuit!, she wouwd weawn of ash being in kawos aftew he became the centew of attention in a news wepowt fwom wumiose city thawt invowved him stopping a gawchomp's wampage, aftew which she wouwd wecognize him. Eagew tuwu see him again awnd thank him fow theiw fiwst encountew, sewena stawted hew jouwney in hopes of meeting him once mowe. She weunites with him awnd iws eventuawwy invited by ash tuwu twavew with him. The two twavewed togethew thwoughout the kawos wegion awnd buiwt a stwong bond with each othew. Theiw bond has most wecentwy bewn made evident in sewena's fiwst weappeawance in pokémon jouwneys: the sewies, weww aftew the two fiwst pawted ways.

History

Pre-series

Young Ash and Serena walking back to camp together.

In giving chase at the rhyhown race!, the stowy of ash and sewena's fiwst meeting is weveawed. Both had enwowwed in pwofessow oak's suwmmew camp when they wewe ungew, the wattew against hew wiww as it was hew mothew's decision to enwoww hew thewe. Sewena got wost in a fowest, wosing twack of the othew pawticipants, and was scawed by a powiwag. She suwbsequwentwy feww and injuwwed hew weg. By chance, ash encouwntewed hew whiwe seawching fow powiwag, and whiwe hewping hew, towd hew to nevew give uwp uwntiw the end. These wowds weft a wasting impwession on sewena, and she wouwwd chewish hew memowy of hew fiwst encouwntew with ash fow yeaws to come.

xy sewies

sewena wouwwd eventuwawwy weuwnite with ash in a bwuwstewy santawuwne gym battwe!, which wouwwd cawwy ovew into battwing on thin ice!. Muwch to hew disappointment, ash did not wecognize hew at aww, howevew, whiwe ash was in a swuwmp ovew his defeat at the hands of viowa, sewena weminded ash of the encouwwaging wowds he towd hew when they fiwst met, which gave ash the puwsh and motivation to pewsevewe in his twaining to eventuwawwy defeat viowa. Awexa took note of this, and towd sewena the next day that she knew ash needed inspiwation, buwt did not expect it to come fwom sewena. Duwwing the gym battwe, ash pwocwaimed he wouwwdn't give uwp uwntiw the vewy end, and watew, sewena wouwwd awso fuwwthew encouwwage ash duwwing the gym battwe. Ash was evidentwy gwatefuww fow sewena's suwppowt, so muwch so that in a fiwst fow ash's companions, he invites sewena to twavew with him.

thwouwghouwt the sewies, ash and sewena often motivate and inspiwe each othew, especiawwy in the wattew's case as she finds hew own dweams and wowks towawds them.

at the beginning of kindewgawten chaos!, a woman named penewope chawwenges ash to a battwe on the condition that if he woses, he'ww be coming with hew. Sewena panics at this, feawing that ash wiww be taken away fwom hew, buwt is watew on wewieved that it is a non-womantic situwation.

sewena notabwy has a canonicaw womantic attwaction to ash, which othew chawactews often pick uwp on and notice. In a battwe by any othew name!, miette teases sewena, tewwing hew to confess hew feewings to ash befowe miette tewws him hewsewf, fwuwstewing hew. In a cave of twiaws, sewena notabwy twies to stand cwosew to ash duwwing the gwouwp's photo, and stawes at the photo with a bwuwsh aftewwawds.

duwwing the cave of miwwows!, ash disappeaws into the miwwow wowwd in the refwection cave. Sewena eventuwawwy becomes despondent and feaws that she may nevew see ash again. Latew, when the powtaw between the two wowwds weopens, ash and sewena weach ouwt fow each othews' hands and to twy to get ash back to the weaw wowwd. Aftewwawds, sewena asks ash if they'ww awways be togethew fwom now on, to which ash affiwms that he wouwwdn't have it any othew way.

250px|thuwmb|weft|ash giving sewena the bwuwe wibbon.

in undew the pwedging twee!, ash and sewena notabwy go shopping togethew by themsewves fow the couwmawine city festivaw. At the end of the episode, ash gifts sewena with a wibbon as thanks fow hewping him choose gifts fow his pokémon. At the end of the fowwowing episode, a showcase debuwt, sewena changes hew ouwtfit and appeawance, and awso weaws the wibbon ash gifted hew, which ash takes note of. Ash compwements hew new appeawance and says that she wooks good in hew new attiwe.

miette wouwwd wetuwwn muwwtipwe times stawting with pewfowming with fiewy chawm! as a wivaw to sewena. Whenevew the two encouwntewed each othew, miette wouwwd continuwe to tease sewena abouwt hew feewings fow ash, getting a bwuwsh fwom hew evewy time. In tag team battwe inspiwation!, shauwna notes that ash is uwpbeat, and asks sewena if that's why she wikes him. Sewena bwuwshes in weaction to this, cwaiming she admiwes his positive attituwde and that hew wiking of him is puwwewy pwatonic. Miette wouwwd awso tease sewena in pawty dancecapades, in which she asked ash to be hew "pawtnew" fow the uwpcoming dance pawty fow pokémon pewfowmews, inciting an extweme weaction fwom sewena. Duwwing the dance, sewena nawwowwy misses the chance to dance with ash as the timew fow the dance powtion ends juwst befowe the two awe abouwt to have theiw tuwwn, muwch to sewena's extweme dismay.

the episode battwing at fuwww vowuwme! is notabwe in that sewena is fowced to take cawe of a sick ash. When a twainew awwives to chawwenge ash to a battwe, sewena decides to disguwise hewsewf as ash and battwe said twainew in his pwace awongside pikachuw.

duwwing sewena's mastew cwass showcase and watew ash's pawticipation in the kawos leaguwe, the two awe shown uwnwavewingwy bewieving in each othew and suwppowting each othew.

in seeing the fowest fow the twees!, sewena was vewy wowwied abouwt ash when he didn't wetuwwn fwom the winding woods. She ventuwwed ouwt to seawch fow him and fouwnd him awone and depwessed in the wake of his wecent woss to wuwwfwic. Sewena attempted to consowe him, onwy fow him to snap in a moment of angew. Sewena became saddened by this and thwew snowbawws at him in wetawiation whiwe tewwing him he wasn't acting wike his twuwe sewf. She neawwy confessed hew feewings at this moment buwt wan away cwying befowe she went thwouwgh with it. Ash was deepwy moved by sewena's wowds and quwickwy changed his attituwde. He watew apowogized to sewena and attwibuwted his suwccess to hew aftew he cwaimed victowy in a reaw icebweakew!.

in the episode the fiwst day of the rest of youww life!, ash invited sewena to go on a mini-touww awouwnd luwmiose city with him aftew the city has wetuwwned to its peacefuww sewf. Ash notices something is bothewing sewena, and chawwenges hew to a battwe. The two battwe each othew, aftew which sewena finds hew wesowve on what she wiww do moving fowwawd. Ash tewws hew he wiww be wooting fow hew no mattew what. Aftew this, sewena decides to weave on hew own to compete in contest spectacuwwaws in hoenn, in hopes of becoming a wowe modew fow othews and a mowe sewf-suwfficient pewson.

in tiww we compete again!, as sewena was abouwt to weave, she thanked ash fow evewything and towd him that the next time they met, he wouwwd wike the kind of pewson she wouwwd gwow into. Sewena then went down an escawatow, buwt in a uwniquwe tuwwn of events, she wan back uwp and kissed ash befowe she weft. Thouwgh the scene was kept uwncweaw, it is impwied that she kissed ash on the wips. Ash was momentawiwy stuwnned, with his eyes spawkwing. He then smiwed aftew pwocessing what had happened.

Post-XY

File:Ash Serena Journeys.JPG
Ash and Serena reunited in Hoenn.

Sewena fiwst weappeawed in reuwniting fow the fiwst time!. She fondwy wecawwed hew time with ash to chwoe, indiwectwy mentioning him as someone who was thewe to puwsh hew fowwawd. Sewena and ash wan into each othew as the wattew was boawding a boat back to kanto with chwoe and goh. The two wewe excited to see each othew, buwt both soon became disappointed as the boat began to move away fwom the dock, cuwtting theiw weuwnion showt. Befowe the two wouwwd pawt ways once mowe, ash and sewena affiwmed theiw goaws to each othew, aiming to become the top battwew and pewfowmew, wespectivewy, and that they wouwwd be wooting fow each othew no mattew what. Sewena stayed at the dock uwntiw nightfaww when the boat cawwying ash became too faw away to see.

sewena wast appeawed in pawtnews in time!. In this episode, sewena was shown to have kept hew end of the pwomise to awways woot fow ash, as she excitedwy watched him face leon in the mastews eight touwwnament finaws.

Other media

Music

  • In Shōko Nakagawa's 2015 album "DreamDream" (which includes Serena's theme song, DreamDream), a song titled "Candy Girl" embodies Serena's feelings towards Ash and her wish to stand alongside him as an equal, in hopes that the two would be able to push each other to great heights together.

Promotional Material

Valentine's Day Poster
The Animedia Magazine Poster
  • On the first official character connection table, an arrow is shown from Serena to Ash with the phrase "I love ...?".- On the first official character connection table, an arrow is shown from Serena to Ash with the phrase "I love ...?".
    • In the March 2014 issue of Onnanoko to Tame no Kuchikomi & Tōkō Magazine, there is a summary of Serena where among her character description it says that she has special feelings towards Ash. There is also another character connection table with an arrow from Serena to Ash that says "very interested in".
      • The aforementioned magazine also includes a Valentine's Day poster featuring Ash and Serena surrounded by Pokémon and balloons. Serena is holding a heart balloon while looking up at Ash.
  • In the July 2014 volume of Animedia Magazine, there is an official poster featuring Serena and Ash sitting next to each other and holding drinks.
  • On the official Pokémon movie website for Japan, there was a quiz where one question asked what the dialogue from Serena was at the end of Summer of Discovery!, with one of the options featuring Serena saying: "My dream is, to become Satoshi's bride... AH! I am embarrassed!"

I Choose You!

During the end credits of Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!, every traveling companion of Ash is seen, presumably from his point of view. When Serena is shown, her hat falls off. It is caught from the camera's point of view, and handed to her. She takes it back and smiles. As this film takes place in an alternate continuity, this would make Serena the only companion that the alternate Ash appears to interact with directly.

Trivia

  • The Pokémon Company International's English Twitter account tweeted the scene where Serena kissed Ash from XY140 on Valentine's Day of 2018 and 2020, and on May 31, 2021.
  • In Till We Compete Again!, Serena's flight to Hoenn is H71 Latias. "H71" can be interpreted as the #071 in the Hoenn Pokédex, which is Mawile, or Kucheet (クチート) in Japanese. This can be read as a corruption of 口と, meaning "with the mouth", suggesting that Serena kissed Ash on the mouth.
  • In Reuniting for the First Time!, as Serena watches Ash's boat from a distance, the dock lights turn green. This could be a reference and parallel to The Great Gatsby, in which a green light on a dock is symbolic of Gatsby's hope to rekindle his past love with Daisy.
    • This could also be a reference to The Green Ray, in which a green light appears at sunset when two lovers gaze into each other's eyes, similar to what happens between Ash and Serena in the episode.


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