QuestShipping

QuestShipping is the het ship between Jimmy and Marina from the Pokémon fandom.

Canon
Appearing during "The Legend of Thunder!" specials, it is heavily implied that there is mutual unspoken interest between Jimmy and Marina, despite other characters, such as Vincent and Jimmy's Typhlosion noticing and taunting Jimmy about it. During the third part when Marina is rescued, Jimmy and Marina share a knowing look, and when they part ways, Marina calls Vincent on her Pokégear to make sure he has her number.

Openings
In both the opening of Pokémon Chronicles and the Japanese opening of "Legend of Thunder," it is revealed that Jimmy and Marina had already known each other for some time, along with Vincent (sometimes called Jackson). The three went to Professor Elm's lab in New Bark Town, where they each received their initial Pokémon. Jimmy chose a Cydnaquil, while Marina preferred a Totodile, which she would later nickname Wani-Wani.

Part One
It all starts in the Johto region, after Jimmy won the battle against Shinji. he stops at a Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy heals all his Pokémon. He stays in the Center to groom Typhlosion, complimenting it on its strength. He then hears a familiar voice, and sees Marina talking on the videophone to Vincent. Her Misdreavus nicknamed Little Miss and Vincent notice Jimmy, but it takes Marina a moment to remember him. When she does, she is enthusiastic to see him again and is thrilled to see that his Cyndaquil has since evolved into a powerful Typhlosion. Marina turns to end her call with Vincent, but he pleads with her to let him speak to Jimmy first. Marina agrees, though Jimmy doesn’t appear to be enthusiastic. Vincent quietly tells Jimmy that he wants Marina to be his girlfriend and Jimmy, who also has a crush on her, shouldn't try to take her away. To avoid further embarrassment in front of his secret crush, Jimmy hangs up on him.

Taking a break in the Pokémon Center, Jimmy and Marina talk about what they have done on their journeys. Marina asks for Jimmy’s Pokégear number, but Jimmy tries to ignore her. She continues to flirt with him, though Jimmy continues to ignore her. She then suggests that he is afraid of her because he likes her. Jimmy denies this, though Typhlosion seems to think otherwise. Jimmy makes Marina change the subject, so she reveals that she wants to be a performer and battle to make people happy. Jimmy says that he battles so that he can go back and help the kids in New Bark Town raise Pokémon. Marina then reveals her fascination with Champion "Fabu-Lance", and she shows him her photo collection of her idol. Jimmy declares that being a star and battling can’t go together, so Marine challenges Jimmy to a battle to prove him wrong.

Jimmy wants to battle one-on-one, but Marina insists on using two Pokémon each. Marina sends out Pink, her Jigglypuff, while Jimmy sends out Beedrill, which Marina recognizes from when it was a Weedle. Jimmy offers Marina the first move, and she gladly accepts. Pink starts out with Sing, but it fails as the beating of Beedrill's wings blocks the sound waves before they reach its ears. Beedrill uses Agility followed by Twineedle. Pink inflates itself to rise into the air, and is able to dodge Beedrill thanks to its many dance lessons. While Marina talks about turning it into a routine, Beedrill launches a Pin Missile, which causes Pink to faint.

Next, Marina sends out Wani-Wani, her Croconaw, while Jimmy returns Beedrill and sends out Typhlosion. Marina reminds Jimmy that Typhlosion is a Fire-type and has a big disadvantage against Water Pokémon like her Wani-Wani. Jimmy declares that he likes a challenge, though Marina thinks it is more ego than anything else. As the round begins, dark thunderclouds start to roll in. Wani-Wani uses Water Gun, and Typhlosion charges into the attack without sustaining any damage. Typhlosion follows up with a Quick Attack. As Wani-Wani prepares to sidestep out the way, a thunderbolt strikes the ground nearby. With the bad weather, Jimmy calls off the match and orders the Pokémon back to the Pokémon Center. However the Pokémon go the wrong way. Typhlosion and Wani-Wani are successfully recalled, but Little Miss gets too far ahead.

As Jimmy and Marina chase after Little Miss, the source of the thunderstorm is revealed to be the Miracle Crystal. Under the control of Attila, Hun, and a mecha, it is now attracting Electric Pokémon from all over the area. There is no sign of Raikou yet, but Hun tells Attila that making trouble with the Pokémon will make it more likely for Raikou to turn up. A Raichu tries to stop them, but an electric blast from the crystal quickly defeats it and the other Pokémon. Attila continues to grab the attracted Pokémon with the mecha's robotic claws. Little Miss, Jimmy, and Marina come upon the scene as a different, yellow-colored thundercloud appears in the distance. The legendary Raikou appears from the yellow thundercloud in a burst of lightning, and its arrival is welcomed by Attila and Hun. Jimmy checks his Pokédex for details, and he is surprised to see a living legend. Raikou leaps down from a mountain summit and rescues the Electric Pokémon with grace. Attila tries to grab Raikou, but it leaps into the air. Raikou retaliates with a Thunderbolt that is sucked into the crystal. Though it keeps attacking, the powerful Electric attacks are just sent right back at Raikou. As Hun points out, the more Raikou fights, the stronger Team Rocket get. Raikou collapses, but before Attila can capture it, Jimmy runs forward, telling them to stop. He sends out Typhlosion, while Attila sends out Skarmory and Hun sends out Steelix. Hun warns Jimmy to leave or be destroyed. Marina calls out to her friend, but Jimmy ignores it. Jimmy sternly warns Team Rocket to let Raikou go or they’ll have to deal with him.

Part Two
The tense exchange of words between Attila and Hun against Jimmy erupts into a battle. Skarmory begins with Fury Attack while Typhlosion responds with Flamethrower. Steelix counters with Sandstorm, stopping the Flamethrower as well as inflicting damage on Typhlosion. After Jimmy gives some words of encouragement, Typhlosion endures the Sandstorm and starts making its way over to Steelix, but is hit by Skarmory's Steel Wing. With Typhlosion defeated, Attila uses the crystal to further weaken Raikou. After seeing Raikou in even more excruciating pain, Marina and Little Miss enter the battle. Steelix goes to use Bite, but Little Miss uses Perish Song. While Skarmory and Steelix are incapacitated by Little Miss, Attila returns his attention to Raikou. Jimmy sends out Beedrill, who destroys the mecha's claws with Pin Missile. With no means to capture Raikou, Attila orders a retreat. Team Rocket create a smokescreen and escape.

Raikou turns to leave, but Jimmy calls after it and offers help. Raikou hits Jimmy with an electric bolt, throwing him back. Jimmy gets back up again, narrowly missing another attack. The two stare each other down, until Jimmy makes a step forward. Raikou goes to shock him again, but is countered by a blast of flame from Typhlosion. Marina worries herself trying to stop Jimmy since she believed he would let himself be electrocuted on purpose, but Jimmy assures Raikou that they want to help it, promising that it can trust him. Raikou then collapses.

Back at the Pokémon Center, Professor Elm tells Marina that there is a danger that Raikou will become withdrawn, depressed and not heal properly because it is in captivity. Marina decides that singing it a song may help, and while Professor Elm admits that that isn't a bad idea, he tells her that the important thing is to set it free as soon as it is healed. News of Raikou spreads, but Chansey guards the door to the operation ward so that only Jimmy is allowed to watch Nurse Joy treat the Legendary Pokémon. Meanwhile, Team Rocket work on repairing their machine.

That evening, as Raikou sleeps, Marina tries to cheer Jimmy up. She hands Jimmy a drink while he continues to watch Raikou’s progress. Suddenly, a man barges in and demands to see Raikou. Marina becomes enamored with him and asks his name, but then Officer Jenny leads another man to them. The first man is Eugene and the second is Kudo, and they appear to know each other. Marina is more interested in Eugene's cape, which Eugene informs her that no one is permitted to touch. Eugene explains that Raikou is a Legendary Pokémon, making it unique and extraordinary. While it cannot be captured, man has always tried to capture that which they cannot have. Since Raikou can control thunderstorms and lightning, men have always hunted it to capture it and harness its power; because of this, Raikou does not trust humans. Kudo says that Raikou thinks that all humans are the same, but Jimmy believes that it can sense who its friends and enemies are. Officer Jenny reveals that Team Rocket are behind the latest attack on Raikou, and Eugene personally assigns himself the role of protecting it.

Raikou, after recovering, leaves the laboratory and goes into battle. Soon appears in front of Attila and Hun, who introduce themselves as its new masters. Raikou replies with another lightning bolt to the crystal, which just powers it up even more. Hun sends out Steelix to agitate Raikou into inadvertently giving more electricity to the crystal, which then sends out electricity everywhere. Next, Steelix uses Dig and causes serious damage to Raikou. Suddenly, Eugene's car appears and Jimmy gets out.

After Jimmy demands that they stop attacking Raikou, Attila explains to him that they aren't doing anything that he didn't do with his Typhlosion. Jimmy disagrees, telling them to fight Raikou fairly. Hun tells Jimmy that one doesn't come to rule the world by fighting fairly. Jimmy tells them that what they're doing is wrong, but they respond that they're simply acting like all Pokémon Trainers. Jimmy tells them that they don't understand Pokémon Trainers at all. He declares that battling is about self-improvement and the love of the contest, and not to steal the powers of a noble and legendary creature. Jimmy then exclaims that he refuses to let Team Rocket take Raikou.

As the Raikou jumps into battle, it is hit by the crystal's electricity. But before anyone can release a Pokémon, Steelix uses Rock Throw on Jimmy and Marina. One large rock is heading straight for them, yet before they are hit, a beam from somewhere destroys it. Looking to where the beam came from, they see a Meganium standing besides its caped Trainer, their childhood friend Vincent, who has come to save them. Vincent orders Meganium to use Solar Beam, but it barely leaves a mark on Steelix. Hun orders Steelix to retaliate with Crunch, which Meganium and Vincent narrowly avoid. Steelix lashes at the trio with an Iron Tail and follows up with a Rock Throw. Eugene goes to save them, but the falling Rock Throw prevents him from doing so.

Meanwhile, Raikou has collapsed from Miracle Crystal’s rebounded electric attacks. Attila then activates the capture bubble. The wall of purple energy slowly swells and causes extreme pain to Raikou as soon as it is trapped inside. Typhlosion blasts the bubble with a Flamethrower, which concerns Hun, who explains that the system is only designed to absorb electricity—it doesn't know how to handle any other form of energy. As Typhlosion begins to push the bubble back, Little Miss and Meganium join in with Psybeam and Solar Beam respectively. Steelix tries to use Iron Tail to knock everyone out of the way, but the capture bubble explodes. Attila quickly grabs Raikou with his mecha’s claws and puts it into the cargo hold. Team Rocket quickly fly off, but with Marina trapped inside with Raikou. Jimmy is worried when he learns that Marina was captured along with Raikou, although he was not racked with panic like Vincent.

Raikou tries to blow its way out, but the walls are non-conductive. It then tries tackling the walls, but they are too strong for that to work either. Marina tries to calm Raikou down and promises to find a way out. During its rampage, Raikou scrapes away a piece of the floor. Marina sees some wires and yanks them apart, which makes the door open. They are too high up for Marina to be able to safely escape, but since Raikou can make the jump, she encourages it to free itself. Attila activates the emergency override, but Raikou escapes before the door closes. The engines of the aircraft begin to fail as well, causing it to lose altitude. As Team Rocket prepare to get Raikou back, it watches as they move away with Marina still trapped.

Part Three
Vincent panics while Jimmy tries to think of a new plan. Eugene tells him that the first rule of any rescue operation is to remain calm. Jimmy decides to try contacting Marina using Vincent's Pokégear. They call her and have a brief but frantic exchange of words before Attila crushes Marina's Pokégear in his hand. Eugene suggests that they use the call log data to locate Marina.

Attila and Hun land their aircraft once again and reactivate the Miracle Crystal in a bid to lure Raikou. Having seen the dark clouds reappear, Eugene, Jimmy, and Vincent drive cross-country towards the crystal. When they arrive, Vincent demands to see Marina, who is tied up but otherwise okay. Jimmy tells them to let Marina and Raikou go, but Eugene realizes that since Team Rocket has activated the crystal, they must not have Raikou. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning hits the crystal, and it seems that Raikou is planning to attack from outside of the crystal's range. Raikou is stronger than ever, but the group is right in the line of fire.

As electricity reflects off of the crystal and fires everywhere, Marina falls from the cliff she was on, but is rescued by Jimmy's Beedrill. Attila releases Skarmory to attack Beedrill with Steel Wing, which causes it to drop Marina. Both Jimmy and Vincent run to catch her, but Vincent trips and lands on his face, with Marina landing on top of him. Jimmy ensures that Marina is okay, having a cute moment between both, but Vincent interrupts their private moment to remind them that he is the one that Marina fell on. Hun then cuts in by ordering Steelix to use Iron Tail. Just as Eugene is about to send in his own Pokemon to save them, Raikou leaps in and attacks Steelix head-on. Raikou then attacks Attila's mecha, tearing the control panel apart. Attila jumps out of the way and he has Skarmory swoop down with a Sky Attack. Raikou chews through a final wire before running away as the control panel explodes, blasting Skarmory back. The purple glow around the Miracle Crystal disappears.

Raikou finally destroys the crystal once and for all, forcing the villains to retreat. After Raikou moves away, Jimmy and Marina decide to continue their adventures with Vincent, while Eugene goes off on his own.

Endings
In one of the Japan-only exclusive endings, it is seen that Jimmy would go separate ways apart from Marina and Vincent. In one of the scenes, Jimmy is seen blushing as he gets a call from Marina on his PokéGear.

Fanon
This ship is one of the most popular ships in the Pokémon anime, especially among nostalgia fans. This ship started to be popular since the premiere of "The Legend of Thunder". Fans quickly noticed how Jimmy, unlike Ash, proved to be a sentimental protagonist with his partner Marina. In one of the scenes, Jimmy blushes and does not admit that he likes Marina, and much more when Marina tries her best engaging him in conversation and also when Vincent provokes Jimmy that he would take Marina as his girlfriend.

In the special and its respective Japanese ending, it is seen that Jimmy and Marina have mutual unspoken feelings for each other. Also, fans see that Marina is Jimmy's only love interest and the two are not oblivious of love, unlike Ash at it's time. These are the factors that made it the most popular ship of all, overshadowing almost all Ash's ships of it's time such as PokéShipping (Ash x Misty), NegaiShipping (Ash x Iris), AdvanceShipping (Ash x May) and being on par with PearlShipping (Ash x Dawn).

However, as time went on, despite the many signs that this ship would become canon, with the arrival of the XY series, QuestShipping is overshadowed by the more-popular AmourShipping (Ash x Serena). Added to the fact that Jimmy and Marina are never heard from again in the anime and that Jimmy did not become the main character of the main anime, this ship was losing fans little by little. Despite this, it still has fans supporting it, since according to them, this ship is still superior to all Ash's ships, which is qualified as oblivious for love, while Jimmy is not.

In terms of fictions, although there are fanarts and fanfictions of this ship in some platforms and social networks, there are none in Archive of Our Own. As for rivalries, this ship has no rivals. Not even BackShipping (Vincent x Marina) is a match for it.

Fandom

 * Jimmy/Marina tag on FanFiction.net

Variations

 * NewBarkShipping — the ship between Ethan and Kris, their game counterparts.
 * MangaQuestShipping — the ship between Gold and Crystal, their manga counterparts.