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AdvanceShipping is the het ship between Ash Ketchum and May from the Pokémon fandom.
Canon[]
Hoenn[]
May is happy when Ash agrees to travel with her.
[AG1] After Ash accidentally destroyed May's bicycle (like he had done with Misty's), she is initially angry, but when she sees Ash sleeping next to Pikachu after taking care of him all night she forgives him, and begins to like him. Later, May asks Ash to let her travel with him, and when he accepts, she is visibly satisfied.
When the duo arrives in May's hometown, she goes to great lengths to ensure that Ash doesn't discover that her father is the Gym Leader, perhaps for fear that he will start treating her differently. When May asks him to lunch, Ash immediately accepts, stopping his search for information on the gym. During the meal, Ash and May chat amiably and Ash becomes May's mentor, explaining how to capture and fight with Pokémon. When Ash decides to spy on Team Magma's actions, May refuses to be left alone and accompanies him, despite the danger.
When Ash discovered the truth about May's father, he didn't get angry with her.
When Team Rocket steals May's Torchic, the girl falls prey to despair; Ash crouches next to her and tells her not to worry, promising her to recover Torchic, which he does. When May's little brother Max expresses his desire to travel with Ash and May, neither of them seem happy, a sign that perhaps they wanted to travel together alone.
When she gets hungry, May asks Ash where their food was; when the boy replies that he has not thought about it, and declares that to deal with these things, first was his friend Brock, May gets offended and apologizes in a sarcastic tone for not being a useful travel companion. The three later met Brock, and he noted a great similarity between Ash and May. When a group of Taillow are about to attack Ash and his friends, Ash stands in front of May to protect her.
When May decides to become a Pokémon Coordinator, Ash is the first to give her unconditional support. During Ash's first gym battle, she is visibly very anxious, and after his victory she holds her hands together, and has a big smile on her face.
When Ash and May discover that Max could be in danger because of Team Aqua, May is very worried and only recovers when Ash comforts her. This is the first of many scenes in which May seeks comfort and reassurance from Ash, even though she could very well get it from Brock or someone else. This is a sign of the great trust May has in him.
May poses in bikini in front of Ash.
[AG18] Ash, May, Brock, and Max end up in a deserted town where they need to take a boat or ferry to reach the island, where Ash's next Gym battle will take place. After some searching, they manage to locate the harbor, only to find it also deserted. May exclaims that at least they found the beach. Ash is annoyed by this and says it doesn't do any good if they miss a boat anyway. After hearing Ash burst out that he was really looking forward to his next Gym battle, May says determined that she will find a boat. While looking, May looks towards the sea and thinks that Ash should not have used such a rude tone with her.
[AG19] When the group arrives on the island, May decides to get in a bikini as soon as she arrives on the beach. However, instead of running down to swim, she poses in front of Ash and his brother and asks what they think. Ash seems to be embarrassed by the situation.
[AG32] Ash and May eat some snacks together on the deck of a large "ghost ship." Ash is watching May with a small smile on his face. His smile gets larger when he sees that she enjoys the food that was provided for them. The implication is that he likes the sight of May when she is happy.
[AG35] Drew, May's rival, criticizes his abomination as a coordinator, and Ash immediately begins to defend her clearly angry. After May loses her first Pokémon Contest, Ash blames himself for his defeat. He says: "It's my fault, I wish I'd spent more time with May, teaching her." Later, May cries backstage and even though everyone tries unsuccessfully to cheer her up, Ash is the one that puts the most effort into it. Ash and May seem to hold, much to each other's competitions.
May asks Ash for a battle, and although surprised he accepts. Before they can begin, however, a former coordinator Julie, suggests May to fight against her and the girl accepts. During the battle, Ash seems to cheer for May, and when he loses Ash he seems worried about her and her Skitty. Later, Team Rocket tries to steal Numel and Ash and his friends try to stop them with the result that May ends up trapped by Team Rocket's car and Max is very worried. Ash promises that they will save May by swearing it to himself. When May falls off a cliff and can barely hold on to a branch to save herself, Ash is visibly worried about her and promises to save her. While everyone else is holding the rope, Ash descends into the chasm, and grabs the girl's hand. Both are brought to safety, but even though everyone has collaborated Ash is the one who risked the most to save May. When May decides to interrupt their journey to heal a wounded Swablu, Ash tells her: "You will take all the time you need to help your friend," even if it takes a long time to get to the next gym. Also, when Max talks about May's past crush, she immediately silences him, perhaps not wanting Ash to know about it.
[AG70] When Max asks her if she wants Ash or their father Norman in their Gym fight, May seems very conflicted and says, "Sure, I want dad to win ... but I don't want Ash to lose!" Max is angered that his sister will not immediately support Norman. After Ash lost a battle against Poncho, May gave him advice that the boy exploits during the rematch with Poncho. May still seems doubtful about who to support in the gym battle.
May shows more hope in Ash's victory than in her father's.
During the clash between Ash and Norman, Pikachu is hit, and May tries to help Ash by telling him to replace him. When Brock says it wouldn't be a good move, May covers her mouth with terrified hands. At several points during the battle, May looks worried and scared when Ash is losing and happy when Ash is winning. This implies that May chose to support Ash and not her father, at least subconsciously, which is externalized when after Ash's victory, May rejoices, while Max is very upset.
[AG72] Ash and May have been arguing all day when the group comes across Oscar and Andi, a young couple who believe Ash and May are in love. The two quickly deny it with similar words and gestures, which only serves to validate the opinion of Oscar and Andi in their eyes. This causes further tensions between the two, who begin to quarrel even more. Presumably due to the embarrassment caused by them by Oscar and Andi. Meanwhile, Jessie and James have also been arguing and decide to have a double battle with Ash and May, girls vs boys. After the battle, Ash and May shyly apologize to each other for their argument, before the sunset.
Ash takes May by the hand.
[AG73] When May gets taken by a Skarmory in the Forbidden Forest, a territory populated by Grass Pokémon, Ash once again goes to save her despite warnings that the area is dangerous because of the ferocious Grass Pokémon. Ash arrives just a time to save May from the Pokémon that were about to attack her, after which he grabs her by the hand and runs off with her. The two hold hands the entire way.
Ash and May with their Bulbasaur.
When they meet, Ash and May's Bulbasaur show signs of mutual appreciation, (a ship called VineShipping). During the episode, May makes several comments about how the two Bulbasaurs are a great team. When Ash returns his Bulbasaur to Professor Oak, he caresses May's Bulbasaur on the head with his liana. Their relationship or very close friendship, supports Advanceshipping, since, according to some experts, Pokémon will represent or imitate the feelings of their trainers, and that when two Pokémon fall in love, there is a good possibility that will also happen to their trainers.
When May is sullen on a bench for losing a Contest, Ash goes to console her, succeeding. Ash is known for being reckless and irascible and he is not one who apologizes easily. Despite this, he almost always appears sweet and protective of May. For her part, May always shows great concern for Ash when he is in danger, showing far more worry than his other traveling companions.
When Harley, an opponent of May, embarrassed her during a Contest and she lost focus, Ash encouraged her by helping her achieve victory. After her victory, May thanks Ash, declaring that if it hadn't been for him she would have lost. Ash responds in the negative, telling May that her victory is all thanks to her. This shows a sweet side on both sides, not wanting to to allow the other to feel like they did not do that much.
[AG108] May keeps Ash's hat with her when he is missing during a blizzard. She continues to hold it for as long as Ash is missing, almost like a lifeline, as she frantically hopes to find him soon.
Ash saves May from Donphan.
When a Donphan assails May, Ash tries to protect her by ordering Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but the electrical attacks have no effect on the Pokemon. Seeing this, Ash takes her in his arms in a flying tackle to get her out of the Donphan's path, putting himself in danger of protect May. Later, Ash and May are separated from the group, and when she thinks she could be alone with Ash in the woods forever, she blushes. In the end, May loses the chance to take the ferry that would take her to the place where she would play her last contest, and she begins to cry in despair. To comfort her, Ash puts his hands on her shoulders and stares intently into her eyes, proposing she go alone while he searches for her little brother. May is moved, but refuses Ash's offer and tells him that she has promised her mother to look after Max. She recovers and suggests going to look for Max and Brock. Touched by her selflessness, Ash agrees.
As soon as May finishes talking to Drew, Ash gives her an ice cream, telling her he thought he she would want a dessert. This shows the care Ash has for May and it could even be that he wanted to do something for her, because he was jealous of Drew.
Jirachi Wish Maker[]
May sings to Max the lullaby that their mother used to sing for them. While doing this, Ash stares at her and smiles. On one of the nights in which May folds a tongue on the wish maker star she looks towards Ash, seemingly anxious. this could imply that May's desire involves Ash. In the chaos, May forgets to fold down the last tongue on the wish maker. She gasps in shock and despair when it is finally mentioned to her.
Destiny Deoxys[]
May calm Ash.
Ash gets angry when a boy named Tory Lund makes him fall to the ground and tries to beat him (he had previously lost a battle because of Tory) but May throws herself on him, putting her hands on his shoulders and begging him to calm down. Ash is surprised by the contact and pleading, and quickly does as she asks.
Lucario and the Mystery of Mew[]
May holds Ash.
During the party, Ash appears to very much want to dance but is forced to sit on the throne while May dances with another man. When the group has to recover their Pokemon from Mew, Ash is very worried about Pikachu, and May approaches him and tries to reassure him, but she can't and seems surprised. When Ash got angry with Lucario, May immediately joined him in the lake and squeezed his arm, trying to stop him from getting into trouble. Later, May tells Ash to dry off before catching a cold, showing concern for him.
Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea[]
Ash and May go swimming and are surrounded by a pack of Luvdisc, the Pokémon that symbolizes love and they start swimming between them. It is said that every couple that meets this Pokémon is destined to have a loving relationship that will never end. The Manaphy who identified May as his mother seems to be sympathetic to Ash at certain times, and certainly prefers him over Jack Walker and the other males in the group. This subtly implies that Manaphy may have chosen or sees Ash as his "father" because of May's feelings. Jackie Walker declares that it is Ash who is the one with the major bond with May, outclassing her brother, and asks him to separate May and Manaphy, since the latter must be free in nature. When Manaphy disappears, May begins to sob, heartbroken. Ash looks at her with a pained expression and shining eyes. When Jack enters the Temple, Ash warns him that it is too dangerous. However, when May enters the Temple in order to follow Manaphy, Ash instinctively runs after her, presumably because he can't stand the thought of her being in danger.
Ash puts May safe, without thinking of himself.
As Samiya's temple is flooded by water, Ash finds an escape capsule belonging to Phantom, telling May that she must get inside of it. While he roughly pulls her towards the capsule, highlighting his urgency to get her to safety, he is also incredibly gentle with May when placing her in it. He places them in the capsule so that they will survive in the event that his plan to return the crystal fails. He asks Pikachu to "take care of the two of them", referring to May and Manaphy. May is visibly shocked by this and reaches out to Ash as he closes the capsule door. He tells them to wait while he puts the crystal back. Anguished, May calls after Ash with eyes full of tears. May continues to pray for Ash's safety and is almost brought to tears by the thought that he may not return; Manaphy then puts May's heart in contact with Ash's by using the move heart swap. Thanks to this, the drowning Ash recovers and returns the crystal, saving Samiya. After the temple re-emerges at the surface, May leaves the capsule, initially thrilled that the temple was saved and acknowledging that it was thanks to Ash. Her happiness, however, is quickly replaced by the sadness and fear that Ash will not return. When she sees him again, she is very happy.
Kanto[]
May decides she wants to continue traveling with Ash, and after the end of their trip to Hoenn joins him in Pallet Town, not knowing that there are Pokemon Contests held in Kanto too. This implies that she put the possibility of being with Ash before her dream. When May shows up at their home, Delia Ash 's mother recognizes her immediately, even though she has never seen her before. This implies that Ash has talked to her a lot about May. When May discovers that Max had the same idea as her, she looks surprised and angry; a sign that she probably wanted to travel with Ash alone and that Max had ruined her plans again.
When May takes the stage for her first contest in Kanto, Ash is the only one of her three travel companions to incite her. Ash always seems to be emotionally involved with May's contests and always helps her train for them. Although he unconditionally supports all his friends, Ash seems to take May's contests much more to heart than he will with Dawn's (except when the latter is eliminated twice in succession in the preliminary round, but this probably due to concern for his friend's emotional state).
May tries to wake up Ash.
When May hears the sounds produced by the ghost Pokémon, she gets scared and goes to Ash and tries to wake him, although Brock can be woken up just as easily and being a gym leader, is arguably more experienced, May doesn't even try. This implies once again that when she is afraid, May seeks out Ash to reassure her and protect her.
May and Max fall from a bridge but manages to hold on. Ash only calls out to May. Once again May calls out to Ash for help, even though Brock is also present. With Brock's assistance, Ash rescues both her and Max. May only thanks Ash even though Brock helped.
On one occasion, James tells Ash that they were helping his girlfriend (May) for the contest. It is worth noting that Ash does not deny that May is his girlfriend, yet when James had made a similar comment about Misty when he was traveling with her, Ash had vehemently denied the claim. When the group camps, May goes to look for water and Ash, instead of finding something else to do or helping Max look for firewood, offers to help May with a gentle tone he rarely uses.
While May worries about her next competition, Ash immediately volunteers to help her train. May looks at him gratefully and thanks him. After being pissed off by Harley, May quickly asks Ash for training. After May can barely get past the first round of the competition, Ash stares at her with a lot of air and says "You deserve it. You've really changed your mind, May."
Like the rest of the group, May is upset when Ash is possessed by the ghost of the king of Pokelantis. When Ash is released, he tells May, Brock and Max, "You guys are the best." May replies, "Ash, if you keep talking like this, I'll blush."
Ash and May split the bow they won in half.
Ash and May participate in the same contest and draw; there is only a a single ribbon as the organizers did not anticipate a tie. The two look into each other's eyes, nod, May throws the ribbon into the air and Ash tells his Sceptile to use Leaf Blade to split the ribbon in half. This shows that Ash and May do not need to talk to know what the other is thinking, given the strength of their bond.
When May announces that she wants to follow her rivals to Johto, while Ash intends to go to Sinnoh, Max runs away sad, because he will have to separate from Ash and Brock, and he doesn't understand why his sister has decided so, given how good Ash and May are together. In the end Ash, manages to console him and accompanies the two siblings to take the ferry. This implies that Ash wanted to avoid a difficult task for May, and that he understands that the time has come for her to do without his guidance. In the Japanese dub, Max says that he wishes Ash and May would stay together forever.
Sinnoh[]
May shows Ash his half of the ribbon.
May goes to visit Ash, Brock in Sinnoh. In the evening, Ash and May draw their halves of the ribbon they split and put it together again. May says the ribbon reminds her of the encouragement she received from Ash and how looking at it has cheered her up numerous times in Johto. She calls it her good luck charm.
Before May leaves to return to Johto, she and the rest of the group exchange greetings. She and Ash talk last, and each of them tells the other to do their best to make their dreams come true. When May speaks with Ash she puts her hand on her heart, and both have eyes that shine.
Ash and May gather the two halves of the bow.
Unova[]
Before Ash left for the Unova region, you can see that he put the ornament that May gave him when she went to visit him in Sinnoh on his desk. This implies that the gift pleases him and that he is happy to have a memory of May, or would certainly not keep it so in plain sight.
Kalos[]
After his trip to Kalos, Ash dedicates an affectionate thought to May, as he does with all his former travel companions.
Ultimate Journeys[]
Like with all his previous companions, May is shown to be watching Ash's battle against Leon in the final of the World Coronation Series. She is excited as the battle starts and shows deep concern as Pikachu is trying to beat Leon's Charizard.
May's primary dream is to travel. To see new places and meet new people. She adds Pokémon to this list once she grows to like them. Coordinating is a secondary or equal dream to her. After beating Leon and becoming monarch/world champion, Ash is surprised when Gary asks him how much closer he is to becoming a Pokémon Master. Ash later realizes that the true meaning of being a Pokémon Master is to see everything the world has to offer and to befriend Pokémon. This is nearly identical to May's dream.
General[]
In several episodes, May holds her hand over her heart when saying goodbye to or talking about Ash.
Fanon[]
AdvanceShipping is one of the most popular ships in the Pokémon fandom, and one of the three most popular ships between Ash and one of his travel companions.. Already in the first episode, May wants Ash to accompany her to the next city and the two will continue to travel together for two regions. Between the two there is a mentor-student relationship, and the two quickly bond thanks to the fact that they have similar personalities. They show in many occasions to keep after one another. Because of the Mega form Blaziken, a few fans presumed that May would have returned in the XYZ anime series to Mega evolve hers, but she didn't. The theory could of been connected to fans who were hoping that Ash and May would one day cross paths with each other, again.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Ash/May on FanFiction.Net
- May/Ash tag on AO3
- FAN ART
- AdvanceShipping tag on DeviantArt
- TUMBLR
- AdvanceShipping posts on Tumblr
Variations[]
- AdvancedDreamTeamShipping refers to the ship between Brock, Ash and May
- Advance Quartet refers to the ship between Brock, Max, Ash and May
- Asmarika refers to the ship between Rika Nonaka, Ash and May
