NegaiShipping: Difference between revisions

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

Iris and Ash

NegaiShipping (Japanese: サトアイ SatoAi) is the belief that Ash Ketchum and Iris belong in a romantic relationship. Currently, it is the main pairing of the Best Wishes series, along with Template:S.

Evidence

Iris's hints

• Enter Iris and Axew!

Iris blushes slightly upon meeting Ash and throughout most of the episode. Later on, after Pikachu and Axew are stolen by Team Rocket, Ash jumps up and falls down to the ground. Iris immediately jumps down from the tree, asking if Ash is all right, rather than trying to save the Pokémon. Iris also later thanks Ash for saving Axew, even though it was Oshawott who saved him. Iris tells Ash that because of his actions she has started to change her view of him and she starts traveling with him.

• A Sandile Gusher of Change!

Iris and Ash spend the majority of the episode arguing. During a rescue of some Pokémon, however, Ash loses his grip on a bridge made of Sandile, but Iris is there to grab his wrist, keeping hold of him as the Sandile righten themselves to safety. Afterward, the two look to each other and smile, having silently reconciled their differences. It is to be noted, however, they shared this look a moment later with the main Sandile; ultimately, it means, "A job well done."

• The Battle Club and Tepig's Choice!

Iris marvels at how Ash saved and treated the Tepig before capturing it.

• Triple Leaders, Team Threats!

During Ash's gym battle with Cilan, Chili, and Cress, while the brothers' fans stayed on one side of the arena to cheer on the Gym Leaders, Iris stays on the opposing side and quite blatantly gazes at Ash with a look that could easily be interpreted as attraction or cool admiration (among others, both positive and negative, given she's been calling him a "kid" up until now, and not kindly).

• Dreams by the Yard Full!

After Ash beats Cilan, Iris is impressed with Ash's performance and whispers his name while watching him celebrate. After Ash receives his badge from Cilan, he shows off to Iris who quickly criticizes him. After this, Cilan asks Ash if he and Iris are traveling together. Iris yells that they aren't and runs off. Later, once Cilan has formally joined Ash's travel party, Ash and Cilan are on their way to leave Striaton City. As Ash wonders where Iris is, she appears from a tree, surprising him. After being asked by Ash to join him and Cilan on their journey, she is overjoyed and excitedly accepts his invitation.

• The Bloom Is on Axew!

During the battle between Iris and Cilan, Iris seems to pay just as much attention to Ash as the battle at hand. Most of the time she and Ash argue over battle strategies and why she isn't battling him. Iris was too busy arguing to tell Axew how to counterattack, and it ended up taking a SolarBeam at close range. Throughout the episode Iris is surprised that Ash wants to battle her so much.

• A Rival Battle for Club Champ!

When Trip was leaving after he "canceled" the request to battle, She took up for Ash and helped convince Trip to change his mind. Iris blatantly gazes at Ash with a look that could easily be interpreted as attraction or cool admiration for the second time, during his battle with Trip. When Ash is losing the battle to Trip she looks deeply concerned for him. She is so concerned that she heavily criticizes Ash, calling him a kid, for not knowing the ability of Trip's Frillish.

• BW015

Iris grabs Ash's shoulder in an affectionate way when asking Lenora what type of Trainer he is. She is also very concerned about Ash's depressed attitude after he lost the gym battle.

• BW020

When Ash and Pikachu fall into a hole and get separated from the group, Iris is willing to use her Excadrill to try and find them. Even though Excadrill doesn't listen to her, Iris doesn't hesitate to ask it for help, unlike in The Bloom is on Axew! when Ash is the one to finally convince her to use it to rescue Axew. Later, Iris again shows a look of concern when Ash battles Sandile, knowing that Pikachu was at a disadvantage.

• BW022

When Ash jumps in the path of Lampent's Shadow Ball to protect Venipede, Iris screams his name. After he gets hit, she rushes to his side and holds on to his arm.

Ash's hints

• Enter Iris and Axew!

Ash seems a little disappointed when Iris was missing the morning after their meeting.

• Dreams by the Yard Full!

After his battle with Cilan, Ash happily shows his badge to Iris and asks her opinion. Iris criticizes Ash for his choices in battle and he is upset, not expecting that answer from her. Also, Ash seems to be upset when Iris declares that he and she are not traveling together and takes off on her own.

• The Bloom Is on Axew!

Ash is annoyed that Iris would not battle him and that she battled Cilan instead. He continuously asks her for a battle throughout the episode.

Other hints

• Cilan has noted on several different occasions that Ash and Iris give off an interesting flavor when they are together and has also pointed out their similarities. This usually causes them to lash out at him aggressively in disagreement.
• Ash's Oshawott has a crush on Iris's Emolga. This could be a sign that Ash may have a crush on Iris, since Professor Oak and Brock have said in the past that Pokémon represent the feelings of their masters and when two Pokémon fall in love, there is a good chance the Trainers will too. This is similar to how fans relate PearlShipping and LagomorphShipping to each other. It is to be pointed out that Oshawott developed this crush before Iris caught Emolga. The claim has also been refuted at various points during the series, so the feelings of the Pokémon are not always definitive to the feelings of the Trainers.

Similarities

• Both Ash and Iris own Pokémon that do not reside within a Poké Ball: Ash's Pikachu and Iris's Axew.
• Both have at times shown an impulsive nature, especially when protecting their Pokémon.
• Both Ash and Iris have owned Pokémon that have refused to obey them at one point (Ash's Pikachu, Charizard and Primeape and Iris's Excadrill).
• Ash and Iris are the only main characters in the series to own a Dragon-type Pokémon (Ash's Gible and Iris's Axew).
  • Coincidentally, both Gible and Axew have trouble executing a certain Dragon-type move at first, Draco Meteor and Dragon Rage, respectively.
  • Also, Gible and Axew are both part of a three-stage evolutionary line that retain the same type throughout their evolution.
• Both Ash and Iris own Pokémon that were recently hatched from eggs: Ash's Scraggy and Iris's Axew.
• Both Ash and Iris own Pokémon that have revealed that their primary goal is to reach their final evolutionary stage (Ash's Butterfree and Iris's Axew).
  • Coincidentally, both Butterfree and Axew are part of a three-stage evolutionary line.
  • Also, both Pokémon were raised from and expressed this goal in their first evolutionary stage.
• Ash and Iris both own an Electric-type rodent Pokémon (Ash's Pikachu and Iris's Emolga).
  • Both Pokémon also store electricity in the sacs on their cheeks.
• Ash and Iris are the only main characters in the series to own a Pokémon that knows the move Attract (Ash's Snivy and Iris's Emolga).
  • Coincidentally, both Snivy and Emolga are female.

Name origin

• Negai is from the Japanese characters 願い (negai) to mean 'wish' (in terms of 'desire,' 'prayer,' or 'request'). It is used as an alternate name over Template:S, after the title of the Japanese series "Best Wishes."

Alternate names

• AaIL - stands for Ash and Iris Love
• サトアイ SatoAi - meaning Satoshi and Iris (ai being the phonetic pronunciation of the long i sound)

External links

NegaiShipping World

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This article is part of Project Shipping, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each couple in Pokémon.