[Spoilers] Shipping Discussions

[SlytherinRayquaza]

Its because May & Drew has all the element of a Romantic Comedy !!!

Perhaps! I just love the rivals turned lovers trope and since this followed (and was really obvious) I couldn't help but ship it.

 

[pkmin3033]

In the manga they are married and have kids (or so i heard)

Are you sure you're not thinking of Jessie and James? I thought Ash had a thing for Gary's sister in the manga...

Honestly, of all the female protagonists in the anime to date, I haven't really shipped Ash with any of them. If I absolutely HAD to push him onto someone it'd be Dawn, but that's only because they had such fantastic chemistry, and she is the only one who has ever actually helped Ash evolve and mature a little as a character and in his battling style. But I was really fond of the DPPt saga, and really I liked Ash and Dawn the way they were...romance would have only got in the way of their camaraderie.

Ash has never seemed like relationship material to me...he's far too immature, and he's never really paid any attention to girls anyway. Well, once or twice, but that was mainly played for laughs or to annoy the current girl he was travelling with because she didn't like the girl in question.

 

[Solar Snivy]

There are 3 quality Ash's main Love-interest need to have--

--Outstanding Beauty

--Dynamic Interaction

--A powerful connection with main plot of anime

"Outstanding Beauty" is most important thing!
Even if there is a girl with dynamic interaction and close friendship with Ash , nobody will support her if she's not cute at all .
Example : Angie , She is the closest female friend Ash ever got but nobody support her because she's not cute at all .
If The girl has outstanding Beauty then she practically need nothing else , Specially if the protagonist has a crush on her !
Unfortunately , Serena's Beauty isn't outstanding , Specially after she cut her hair ! Majority of member voted Dawn to be prettier then Serena.
The Girl with the most Outstanding & Unique Beauty is "May" ! Unfortunately , She's the only girl Ash can never have . The only girl that can match "May''s Beauty is "Rosa".

I fail to see how Ash needs to be in love with someone beautiful, especially how that can be considered the most important quality. Misty, for example, works wonderfully with Ash, and is what I can only assume you wouldn't call beautiful. Beautiful love interests are only for catering to the fanbase.

So , Currently the Best Love-Interest for Ash would be a Female rival because she will be the lover & enemy/obstacle of Ash's dream therefore their Romantic development will play an important part of the series!

If the love interest was a rival, she would likely be constantly stepping on Ash's dreams or have a rude (like Gary) or monotone/boring personality (like Paul and Trip) causing many people to not like her. Ash, being as dense as he is, would only care about defeating her in battle, so even if she did have a crush on him, she'd never get a chance to do anything about it.

Earlier you asked about this girl:

She was going to be one of the other trainers from Pallet but was cut for some reason.

 

[Famon]

I fail to see how Ash needs to be in love with someone beautiful, especially how that can be considered the most important quality. Misty, for example, works wonderfully with Ash, and is what I can only assume you wouldn't call beautiful. Beautiful love interests are only for catering to the fanbase.

Your theory may work in Real World But not in Anime world .
In the World of Kids Anime , The Heroin as to be Cute to attract audience ! Thats how animes work.
After all , Angie has far closer friendship with Ash then any other girls of the series.
How many people supporting her ?
Only very very few people (mainly girls) support her while rest of them goes for cuties like Dawn , May or Misty.

If the love interest was a rival, she would likely be constantly stepping on Ash's dreams or have a rude (like Gary) or monotone/boring personality (like Paul and Trip) causing many people to not like her. Ash, being as dense as he is, would only care about defeating her in battle, so even if she did have a crush on him, she'd never get a chance to do anything about it.

You really don't watch Anime , Are you ?
Or else You would know that Rude and Jerkish girls are more popular then your caring , nice and Kind girls .
Fans may bash them but also love them for their rudeness.
Example : Erina from "Shokugeki no Soma" , A lot of Fans bash her but she's still voted as the 2nd most popular character of the series .
Or Rika from Digimon Tamer , She's still the most popular girl in Digimon despite being a rude girl who believe Digimon are just data and doesn't care about them .
Another Example , Ursula from DP Series , She's more popular then Zoey despite being a complete jerk.
Same thing work with Boys since Badboys are more popular then Nice guys.
FYI : Gary & Paul are still a better rival then Shota & Tierno ! They are also Popular characters as well.
Fans doesn't hate Trip for Rudeness , Fans hate him for receiving "Favoritism" ! Just like Fans hate Cameron.
If he was a inferior rookie who doesn't accept Ash until the League then he would have been Popular.
So even if A cute rude girl appear as Ash's rival to step on Ash's dream and rude to him , People would still love her.

 

[Lizardo]

Your theory may work in Real World But not in Anime world .
In the World of Kids Anime , The Heroin as to be Cute to attract audience ! Thats how animes work.
After all , Angie has far closer friendship with Ash then any other girls of the series.
How many people supporting her ?
Only very very few people (mainly girls) support her while rest of them goes for cuties like Dawn , May or Misty.

I would guess the bigger reason Aoi doesn't have as much of a following as Kasumi, Haruka, or Hikari is because she appeared in a grand total of five episodes, four of which were part of a single arc, that aired several years ago. The latter three were main characters who appeared in 190+ episodes each. Of course they're going to have more fans. It's worth noting that for the very brief time Aoi was actually around Morpheusshipping had a decent following, especially considering it a pairing centering around a glorified one-shot character.

And can you please ditch the elitism already? Different creators make different shows, even if they're targeting the same audiences. Watching a bunch of different anime doesn't make you an expert on the Pocket Monsters series, nor does it make you an expert on how anime works as an industry.

 

[Solar Snivy]

You really don't watch Anime , Are you ?
Or else You would know that Rude and Jerkish girls are more popular then your caring , nice and Kind girls .
Fans may bash them but also love them for their rudeness.
Example : Erina from "Shokugeki no Soma" , A lot of Fans bash her but she's still voted as the 2nd most popular character of the series .
Or Rika from Digimon Tamer , She's still the most popular girl in Digimon despite being a rude girl who believe Digimon are just data and doesn't care about them .
Another Example , Ursula from DP Series , She's more popular then Zoey despite being a complete jerk.
Same thing work with Boys since Badboys are more popular then Nice guys.
FYI : Gary & Paul are still a better rival then Shota & Tierno ! They are also Popular characters as well.
Fans doesn't hate Trip for Rudeness , Fans hate him for receiving "Favoritism" ! Just like Fans hate Cameron.
If he was a inferior rookie who doesn't accept Ash until the League then he would have been Popular.
So even if A cute rude girl appear as Ash's rival to step on Ash's dream and rude to him , People would still love her.

Yes, people would love that kind of girl, but she wouldn't work with Ash's character. All he cares about with his rivals are beating them, and the more they criticize him, the more he'd want to beat them.

 

[Famon]

Yes, people would love that kind of girl, but she wouldn't work with Ash's character. All he cares about with his rivals are beating them, and the more they criticize him, the more he'd want to beat them.

So basically any girl who compete with Ash & criticize him is Bad for him!
According to your theory , Drew and May would be the Worst Couple since Drew always criticize May & She want to beat Drew more.
Even though Drew & May are just as much as Canon as any Couple in Kids Anime! All they need is a fast forward future where they are married.
Do you know that Pallectshipping (Ash X Gary) was the 2nd most popular shipping after PokeShipping (Ash X Misty) ?
So , What do you think will happen if a similar Ash-pairing appear without the Gender-barrier ?
Also , Do you think Ash's type is sweet kind girl like Serena ? Because thats the type for weak crybaby like Mirror-Ash or Nobita (Doreamon) who needs someone Nurturing to look after them.
Ash's type is Tough , Comparative and smart girl who always compete with him and keep up with him A.K.A Rival .

 

[Solar Snivy]

So basically any girl who compete with Ash & criticize him is Bad for him!

That's not what I said. I said that all Ash cares about with his rivals is beating him. I said nothing about competing or criticizing. Compering with him is perfectly fine in anything except battles, which is exactly what rivals do.

According to your theory , Drew and May would be the Worst Couple since Drew always criticize May & She want to beat Drew more.

I was talking about Ash, not May. Are you suggesting that Ash and May have the exact same thoughts and personalities? Because this is clearly not the case.

Do you know that Pallectshipping (Ash X Gary) was the 2nd most popular shipping after PokeShipping (Ash X Misty) ?
So , What do you think will happen if a similar Ash-pairing appear without the Gender-barrier ?

Ash was not nearly as dense back then, and even if he was, he was ten.

Also , Do you think Ash's type is sweet kind girl like Serena ? Because thats the type for weak crybaby like Mirror-Ash or Nobita (Doreamon) who needs someone Nurturing to look after them.

Ash's type is like Misty. Someone who bickers and criticizes him, but travels with him constantly enough to care for him. Also doesn't battle him often. And Misty's relationship with him was realistic for his age. He's older now, so that type of relationship doesn't quite work now, like Ash and Iris.

Ash's type is Tough , Comparative and smart girl who always compete with him and keep up with him A.K.A Rival .

When has Ash ever showed a sign of liking a rival? His denseness and competitiveness get in the way of any romantic interaction with a rival.



Anyway, are there any Twinleafshippers here? (DawnxBarry)

 

[Famon]

That's not what I said. I said that all Ash cares about with his rivals is beating him. I said nothing about competing or criticizing. Compering with him is perfectly fine in anything except battles, which is exactly what rivals do.


I was talking about Ash, not May. Are you suggesting that Ash and May have the exact same thoughts and personalities? Because this is clearly not the case.


Ash was not nearly as dense back then, and even if he was, he was ten.


Ash's type is like Misty. Someone who bickers and criticizes him, but travels with him constantly enough to care for him. Also doesn't battle him often. And Misty's relationship with him was realistic for his age. He's older now, so that type of relationship doesn't quite work now, like Ash and Iris.


When has Ash ever showed a sign of liking a rival? His denseness and competitiveness get in the way of any romantic interaction with a rival.



Anyway, are there any Twinleafshippers here? (DawnxBarry)

Have you really watched Pokemon Because--

--1) Ash doesn't just care about beating his rival , He also respect them and likes to be friends with them as shown with Cassy , Morrison , Berry , Shota etc etc ! The Main reason Ash wanted to beat Gary & Paul So much because theu usually insults him so he want to change their mind But that doesn't mean he just wants to beat them.

--2) Because May wants to beat Drew just as much as Ash wanted to beat Gary & Paul ! But that doesn't mean neither Ash & May can feel anything for their rival.

--3) Ash is Still 10 and he still dense ! When did he got older ?

--4) Ash haven't aged yet so he isn't older! Also Misty isn't only Ash's type , Angie was also Ash's type and she was Ash's Summer camp rival .

--5) When Did Ash shown sign of Hating them ? Ash's denseness and Competitiveness get in the way of all Romantic interaction he can have with ANYONE , Not Just his rival .
At least , Rivals can grow close to him and has better chance of make him fall for them.

 

[Solar Snivy]

Obviously I not going to convince you, and you're entitled to your own opinion, but can you PLEASE stop posting it so often? I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that you want a rival, or tsundere, or harem, to appear in the anime.

--3) Ash is Still 10 and he still dense ! When did he got older ?

Sure, they said he's still ten, and he is still dense, but he has clearly gotten older. He's taller, and his voice is deeper. He's definitely gotten older physically, just not mentally. So he's still oblivious to Serena's crush, which she makes really obvious, if you ask me.

 

[Famon]

Got an Update--

Spoiler:

Honestly , I don't think Serena is the right choice since she lacks chemistry .
It would be unfair to Misty & dedicated Pokeshipper if the Anime just hand her over to Ash.
She was great at the 1st episode but suddenly changed in 3rd episode.
I guess , It probably because Amourshipping was handled by a woman So she handle it from a Girls point of view when the male character is a male.
From Ash's character and mentality , Girly Girls aren't really right for him.
Ash's type seem like Feminine Looking girl with Tomboyish personality.
Someone who dress like this-

Obviously I not going to convince you, and you're entitled to your own opinion, but can you PLEASE stop posting it so often? I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that you want a rival, or tsundere, or harem, to appear in the anime.

If I want then I can tell "DBZ Fan" to stop posting about Misty just because he want her back ! I'm not doing that.

Sure, they said he's still ten, and he is still dense, but he has clearly gotten older. He's taller, and his voice is deeper. He's definitely gotten older physically, just not mentally. So he's still oblivious to Serena's crush, which she makes really obvious, if you ask me.

Ash didn't change physically , He still look as tall as Original/AG Ash with Different eye! Even Serena is taller then him.
Ash just simply got Shorter in BW Series But he came back to his original size in XY.

 

[machomuu]

I'm not a Pokeshipper by any means (I'm more one who sees love at first sight a'la Disney to be the one true form of love), but to be fair, Misty and Ash did have what could be considered Pokeshipping hints even in the Japanese version (the episodes with Rudy as well as Pok?mon the Movie 2000 are particularly notorious in that regard). Certainly there's more chance at them getting together than Amourshipping happening despite it being forced down our throats (let's face it, Ash is very oblivious to Serena's feelings and probably wouldn't even care if a guy hits on her and doesn't seem to view her any more than as a friend. At least with Misty, there are times Ash actually seems to act jealous when other guys come near her).

That being said, I'm doubtful they'll leave that soon. Ash still has to go for the Kalos League before its time for them to go. Then again, XY did avert the whole "the protagonists cannot change their appearances for a long period of time while in the middle of a saga" with Serena's shame-induced haircut (I'm sorry, but that really doesn't work as a dramatic scene. I didn't like May's crying at the Kanto Grand Festival, yet I'd even take that over how Serena handled her first loss. Crying's one thing, but cutting your own hair?!).

Gonna reply to this here since it seems a lot closer to this thread than that.

Regarding her hair, this was actually a clever trope/nod that they pulled. The trope, in question, is a character cutting their hair once they've made a major paradigm or developmental shift. Examples include Avatar's Zuko, Ranma 1/2's Akane, and Final Fantasy IV's Princess Garnet (to cover the cartoon-anime-game gambit). It's meant to signify change in the character, often significantly. The cleverness here is that the haircut is actually a means to advertise the different hairstyles and customization in general in the game, and this is why Serena specifically is the one to do this. So really, it's not breaking a trend, just staying true to the source material. The trend wasn't all that stalwart, anyway.

And as for Ash and Misty, the English version was a lot more pushy about their relationship. There are a lot of examples, but "Misty's Song" is easily, easily the most blatant example of this. To which I'll say, yeah, there were definitely intended implications of their having some sort of feelings for each other (or, at least Misty for Ash). Makes sense; at the time, Misty was "The Girl" and Ash was the protagonist. Misty was supposed to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time and, had the team not decided that the females aesthetic variance brought something to the show, she probably would still be with him today, in probably the same romantic position.

But in terms of them getting together? That was pretty unlikely all along. It was and is definitely one of those relationships that has banter and implications but doesn't really amount to anything. Same with May, Dawn, and Iris (Ash's 10, after all, so Iris isn't out of the safety zone). As for Serena...well...that's a different story. I don't follow XY so I can't say, but despite the odd blush-blush from reticent Serena every now and again, more than likely it won't amount to anything. On Ash's end, at least. I think.

Serena's an odd bird since this is probably the most they've pushed romance with the main character since the beginning of the series, and similarly this is also the most we've seen them place emphasis on the female character and her backstory since around that same time. Which made sense, considering, again, Misty (and Brock, for that matter) was supposed to be in the series from beginning to end, but for a character that would supposedly start and end with Kalos, well...This is especially odd because Serena's character archetype isn't really seen in Pokemon, and the last time an OLM series introduced a similar character (...actually, thinking about it, the character I have in mind and Serena, as well as their relationship with the main character, are eerily...scarily similar) she married him. She's an oddity. If she leaves, that'll likely be that, but the amount of emphasis placed on her as a character does raise an eyebrow or two.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Gonna reply to this here since it seems a lot closer to this thread than that.

Regarding her hair, this was actually a clever trope/nod that they pulled. The trope, in question, is a character cutting their hair once they've made a major paradigm or developmental shift. Examples include Avatar's Zuko, Ranma 1/2's Akane, and Final Fantasy IV's Princess Garnet (to cover the cartoon-anime-game gambit). It's meant to signify change in the character, often significantly. The cleverness here is that the haircut is actually a means to advertise the different hairstyles and customization in general in the game, and this is why Serena specifically is the one to do this. So really, it's not breaking a trend, just staying true to the source material. The trend wasn't all that stalwart, anyway.

And as for Ash and Misty, the English version was a lot more pushy about their relationship. There are a lot of examples, but "Misty's Song" is easily, easily the most blatant example of this. To which I'll say, yeah, there were definitely intended implications of their having some sort of feelings for each other (or, at least Misty for Ash). Makes sense; at the time, Misty was "The Girl" and Ash was the protagonist. Misty was supposed to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time and, had the team not decided that the females aesthetic variance brought something to the show, she probably would still be with him today, in probably the same romantic position.

But in terms of them getting together? That was pretty unlikely all along. It was and is definitely one of those relationships that has banter and implications but doesn't really amount to anything. Same with May, Dawn, and Iris (Ash's 10, after all, so Iris isn't out of the safety zone). As for Serena...well...that's a different story. I don't follow XY so I can't say, but despite the odd blush-blush from reticent Serena every now and again, more than likely it won't amount to anything. On Ash's end, at least. I think.

Serena's an odd bird since this is probably the most they've pushed romance with the main character since the beginning of the series, and similarly this is also the most we've seen them place emphasis on the female character and her backstory since around that same time. Which made sense, considering, again, Misty (and Brock, for that matter) was supposed to be in the series from beginning to end, but for a character that would supposedly start and end with Kalos, well...This is especially odd because Serena's character archetype isn't really seen in Pokemon, and the last time an OLM series introduced a similar character (...actually, thinking about it, the character I have in mind and Serena, as well as their relationship with the main character, are eerily...scarily similar) she married him. She's an oddity. If she leaves, that'll likely be that, but the amount of emphasis placed on her as a character does raise an eyebrow or two.

Maybe, but Misty's still the more likely between her and Serena. Yes, the dub added in some hints, but the Japanese version wasn't devoid of Pokeshipping hints anyways (just what other Pokeshippers stated anyways. Personally, I don't ship anyone in Pok?mon). Besides, just because they're currently 10 doesn't mean they can't get together in the future. Remember, Lan Hikari and Mayl Sakura were schoolkids during most of Mega Man Battle Network, at least Ash and Misty's age give or take, yet in the confirmed conclusion of the franchise, they actually get together and get married, and this is despite Lan having at least one other girl who crushed on him. If they wanted Serena to be "the one" who gets together with Ash, I'm pretty sure Ash would have actually reciprocated Serena's feelings, more than in a just friends manner, especially in the Date episode where despite the name of the episode it wasn't even an actual date and nothing really changed in their relationship or gone to the next level. There's literally nothing on Amourshipping that even remotely suggests that the ship will amount to anything more than a one-sided crush on Serena's part. Pokeshipping at least had hints from both parties. And considering this is most likely to be Pok?mon's last series in the Anime thanks to the horrid ratings, if the writers wanted Serena to be "the one" for Ash, they would have officially made them an actual couple, NOT have Ash be completely oblivious even during a date episode and come out of it with their relationship completely unchanged from before.

 

[machomuu]

Maybe, but Misty's still the more likely between her and Serena. Yes, the dub added in some hints, but the Japanese version wasn't devoid of Pokeshipping hints anyways (just what other Pokeshippers stated anyways. Personally, I don't ship anyone in Pokémon). Besides, just because they're currently 10 doesn't mean they can't get together in the future. Remember, Lan Hikari and Mayl Sakura were schoolkids during most of Mega Man Battle Network, at least Ash and Misty's age give or take, yet in the confirmed conclusion of the franchise, they actually get together and get married, and this is despite Lan having at least one other girl who crushed on him. If they wanted Serena to be "the one" who gets together with Ash, I'm pretty sure Ash would have actually reciprocated Serena's feelings, more than in a just friends manner, especially in the Date episode where despite the name of the episode it wasn't even an actual date and nothing really changed in their relationship or gone to the next level. There's literally nothing on Amourshipping that even remotely suggests that the ship will amount to anything more than a one-sided crush on Serena's part. Pokeshipping at least had hints from both parties. And considering this is most likely to be Pokémon's last series in the Anime thanks to the horrid ratings, if the writers wanted Serena to be "the one" for Ash, they would have officially made them an actual couple, NOT have Ash be completely oblivious even during a date episode and come out of it with their relationship completely unchanged from before.

Archetypes pretty much. As I said before, Misty was originally supposed to be the one girl, so those romantic interactions were to be expected. But considering that that changed, I'd say it's less significant because the original intent of these interactions has become less stable. And in terms of Ash's response, I partially attribute it to that. The other part, however, I attribute to his character having been more expressive back then. He really was hot-blooded and he really was hard-headed, it teemed from his character. Since then, he's been toned down a fair deal.

And as far as Ash responding goes, that's pretty simple, it goes along with Ash's archetype. If he wasn't oblivious to suggestive advances, he wouldn't be the hot-blooded, hard-headed character that is so commonly used as the main character in anime. And, to support this, I'll jump us over to another anime by the same studio called Inazuma Eleven. In Inazuma Eleven, Endou gets setup on a date with a girl from his childhood who isn't all too dissimilar from Serena. This date doesn't happen in the game, so it's clear that OLM came up with the episode themselves. In this date, the main character (Endou), who is the same archetype as Ash, himself, is completely unresponsive to the atmosphere of the whole date. Because that wouldn't fit his character.

It's pretty common in anime for the MC to be completely unresponsive to the advances of the other but then end up getting together with them in the end. Plus, I think this idea that 10 year old Ash will get together with any of the girls is a stretch. It wouldn't work until they absolutely knew that they wanted the show to be over, because even they get some mileage out of shipping being a thing. It would be very unprofitable for them to pick an official girl, because they certainly make money off of people's shipping debates.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Archetypes pretty much. As I said before, Misty was originally supposed to be the one girl, so those romantic interactions were to be expected. But considering that that changed, I'd say it's less significant because the original intent of these interactions has become less stable. And in terms of Ash's response, I partially attribute it to that. The other part, however, I attribute to his character having been more expressive back then. He really was hot-blooded and he really was hard-headed, it teemed from his character. Since then, he's been toned down a fair deal.

And as far as Ash responding goes, that's pretty simple, it goes along with Ash's archetype. If he wasn't oblivious to suggestive advances, he wouldn't be the hot-blooded, hard-headed character that is so commonly used as the main character in anime. And, to support this, I'll jump us over to another anime by the same studio called Inazuma Eleven. In Inazuma Eleven, Endou gets setup on a date with a girl from his childhood who isn't all too dissimilar from Serena. This date doesn't happen in the game, so it's clear that OLM came up with the episode themselves. In this date, the main character (Endou), who is the same archetype as Ash, himself, is completely unresponsive to the atmosphere of the whole date. Because that wouldn't fit his character.

It's pretty common in anime for the MC to be completely unresponsive to the advances of the other but then end up getting together with them in the end. Plus, I think this idea that 10 year old Ash will get together with any of the girls is a stretch. It wouldn't work until they absolutely knew that they wanted the show to be over, because even they get some mileage out of shipping being a thing. It would be very unprofitable for them to pick an official girl, because they certainly make money off of people's shipping debates.

Maybe so, but the fact of the matter is that Amourshipping does NOT sell well. In fact, Amourshipping doesn't even have that many fans (people who have gone to doushinjis have verified this, and I even posted a Tumblr post verifying this claim in great detail), so they're definitely not going to end up going together. You're more likely to find fans of Pokeshipping than Amourshipping, anyhow.

Not to mention most times you described them, they generally learn about their love interests love for them nearing the end (and in the case of Goku with Chi Chi, he wasn't even aware of what a marriage actually was until she told him outright), something that Ash has YET to accomplish. Who knows, maybe next year, after the Kalos league and they end the anime franchise, things might change, but right now, there's absolutely nothing pointing to Ash actually entering a relationship with Serena or even crushing on her. He doesn't even seem to react with jealousy regarding any guys coming near Serena, while with Misty, he actually did react with something that can be interpreted as jealousy at least.

And for the record, I'm not saying they get together when they're ten. Obviously they're underage, but they could at least try to actually HAVE Ash react in a manner to Serena that isn't just friends if they wanted to really push Amourshipping. The closest they've ever got to pushing it as canon was in that date episode, and even that turned out to just be false advertising, absolutely no change at all, meaning it was pointless. They can always do a time skip, anyways. That's what Mega Man Battle Network did with Lan and Mayl in the end of the series.

 

[Famon]

It would be very unprofitable for them to pick an official girl, because they certainly make money off of people's shipping debates.

But Isn't this equally unprofitable to focus on One Main girl per series.
I mean , The Anime could just try to focus on 2 girl in one series ! One is traveling companion while another one is a rival.
Off course , Most anime with Underdog protagonist has a Love-triangle where the hero has a crush on someone he can't have.
Example : Doreamon (Nobita , Shizuka & Dekisugi).
Actually , Anime with Underdog Protagonist are better when the hero crushing on someone far above him.
In that case , It might have been better if Ash had a crush on a girl he can't have ! Specially Original Ash who did got attracted to cute girl like Giselle .
Honestly , If Current Ash is from the original universe then I don't think he's immune from Girls charm ! He never get attracted girls because his standard is just so freaking high that only Giselle can match it.
Unless off course if Original Ash died with Misty when the blimp crashed on Tangelo Island (Orange league).

PS : If Ash developed real crush on May then it would be powerful & exciting Love-triangle Because May already seem to fallen for Drew.

Maybe so, but the fact of the matter is that Amourshipping does NOT sell well. In fact, Amourshipping doesn't even have that many fans (people who have gone to doushinjis have verified this, and I even posted a Tumblr post verifying this claim in great detail), so they're definitely not going to end up going together. You're more likely to find fans of Pokeshipping than Amourshipping, anyhow.

Actually , Amourshipping does have Fans !
Also , I don't think Doushiniji is any actual prove because a lot of popular and canon couple doesn't have Doushiniji.
Most Doushiniji is about bunch of random guys R***** a popular anime heroin.

 

[Advanceshipper]

Here I am, still shipping Ash and May after all these years. I'm personally fine with Amourshipping, though I'm not ok with Contestshipping or Pokeshipping b/c of the verbal abuse Drew heaped on May and Misty piled on Ash.

 

[Famon]

Here I am, still shipping Ash and May after all these years. I'm personally fine with Amourshipping, though I'm not ok with Contestshipping or Pokeshipping b/c of the verbal abuse Drew heaped on May and Misty piled on Ash.

Unfortunately ,Pokeani Head-writer Atsuhiro Tomioka is completely against Advanceshipping as he prefer Conterestshipping .
Want proof ???
Every episode that shown May & Drew as Couple were written by Atsuhiro Tomioka !
So Unless the producers step in , He won't let Advanceshipping to be Canon.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

What do you think of crossover ships? Here's a list of them.

https://shipping.bulbagarden.net/side/crossover.html

 

[Master of Memes]

Opposites attract guys. Ash's gf (if he gets one) must be easy going, mature. I feel like Ash is done traveling with May, and maybe Dawn. If Ash and Serena became a couple, then it wouldn't last 4 long. If Ash gets a GF, then something will need to happen 2 change his attitude first.