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OrangeShipping is the het ship between Misty and Tracey from the Pokémon fandom.
Canon[]
Tracey is a Pokémon spotter who currently works as Professor Oak's assistant. Misty is currently a leader of the Cerulean Gym. Both are Ash's former traveling companions through the Orange Archipelago. After parting ways so that Misty can go back with Brock in place of Tracey around the Johto region, Misty and Tracey meet up again and relive their adventures starting in Pokémon Chronicles.
Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands[]
Misty and Tracey meet for the first time in the episode "The Lost Lapras". Tracey is a vocal fan of Professor Oak, and after realizing that Ash knows him quite well, decides to join the group in the hopes of meeting his idol. At first, Misty didn't like the thought of a complete stranger simply inviting himself to their group, but soon they develop a great friendship while traveling the Orange Islands.
In "Fit on the Tide", Arriving at Mikan Island, the group learns that there is also a Pokémon Gym there. There, Tracey and her friends meet their Gym Leader, Cissy. Misty seemed annoyed, even jealous, that Tracey was drawing pictures of Cissy.
In "Bye Bye Psyduck", Marina asks Misty why Psyduck cannot swim, since she found it flailing in the water. Misty claims that it was because it was a rare breed. Marina then suggests that they battle each other to see which is the most powerful Water Pokémon Trainer, and Misty agrees. For the first time ever, Tracey witnesses Misty battling against another Trainer. Misty's battling skills leave a very good impression on Tracey.
In the episode "In the Pink", Tracey discusses how unusual it is that Togepi doesn't seem to know any attacks. Misty agrees, telling Tracey she's tried to teach Togepi Headbutt but got nowhere. Tracey identifies the island as Pinkan Island based on the whirlpools and sheer cliffs. They climb the cliffs and see a pink Rhyhorn. Tracey decides to observe and sketch it, and Ash, in order to prove to Misty that he knows what he is doing, races up to the Rhyhorn, who promptly knocks him away. Misty comments how much Tracey knows about Pokémon and then tells Ash, "He knows a lot more than you do." In an almost jealous reaction. The group is then pursued by the Rhyhorn and cornered by some steep cliffs. Misty took shelter in Tracey's arms when the Rhyhorn threatened to charge them and Ash off a cliff. However, Togepi uses Metronome and Teleports them away.
In "The Mystery Menace", there was a mysterious monster that was terrorizing an entire city in the sewers. It turns out that Ash was holding the flashlight and Misty and Tracey are there too. Ash asks if everyone is alright, then Misty notices that Togepi is missing. When they spot Togepi at the end of the path, Misty picks it up; but the creature suddenly appears, grabs Togepi, and pulls it and Misty underwater. Tracey expresses concern about Misty when she gets kidnapped by the so-called "sewer monster".
In "Misty Meets Her Match", Misty rescues a girl who later turns out to be Mahri. As the group works together to bring her over to the island, a young man observes and is impressed by Misty's actions. As Lapras and the ship both arrive, the young man, who later introduces himself as Rudy, arrives to embrace Mahri, who is revealed to be his sister, and thank Misty for rescuing her by offering flowers. Rudy hands Togepi to Ash, and then dances with Misty. He compliments her and asks if she could train the other Trainers at his Gym, leaving the group awestruck. Misty is flattered by all the attention Rudy gives to her. When Rudy invites Misty to dinner, Tracey is somewhat disappointed that she would rather leave with Rudy than spend time with him and Ash.
In the episode "Pokémon Double Trouble", Tracey and his friends meet Luana, the final member of the Orange Crew, and a local hotelier whose hotel includes a workout Gym and an indoor Pokémon stadium. Tracey and his friends are invited to stay in her hotel's most exquisite suite free of charge, and they agree on a Double Battle, to be held the next day, for the final Orange League Badge. Tracey then comments, "This works out perfectly. Ash can have his battle and we can have a good time." By "we" he means himself and Misty.
In "The Rivalry Revival", the season finale of Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands, Tracey announces that Oak is going to let him be his assistant at the lab, explaining that Ash taught him to always go for what he really wanted. Misty is happy for him but also wished that he would come with her to the Johto region.
Pokémon Chronicles[]
In "A Date with Delcatty", Tracey has brought Misty another batch of Professor Oak's Pokémon food. Just as Tracey is explaining that Professor Oak was pleased with the reaction from Horsea and Starmie, Casey appears at the door. Casey explains that she is in town for that night's baseball game and then goes into the Team's song. Misty stops her mid-way through, and then introduces her to Tracey. Casey asks if Tracey is her boyfriend, but Misty pushes her aside and asks why everyone she introduces him to comes to that conclusion.
After Misty receives a letter from Georgio, she states she would like Tracey to come with her so she would feel more safe. However, Daisy stated that Misty couldn't go anywhere because she needed to do her chores. Misty then asks Tracey nicely if he could do her chores for her and that Casey would accompany her. Tracey, not being able to say no to her, agrees.
Other seasons[]
Prior to "The Scheme Team" in Ruby and Sapphire Series, Tracey's Marill produced an Egg. Tracey gave the Egg to Misty, which later hatched into an Azurill. In The Right Place and The Right Mime, he tagged teamed with Misty using the parent and child Pokémon to fire a double Water Gun attack at Team Rocket.
In "The Dream Continues!", the season finale of Pokémon Black & White: Adventures in Unova and Beyond, when Ash asks Professor Oak if Tracey was around, Professor Oak informs Ash that Tracey was at the Cerulean Gym with Misty. Professor Oak's exact words were "As fate would have it, Misty invited him to the Cerulean Gym." Also, when Ash remembers all his friends until Unova's, Tracey shows up after Misty in Ash's fantasies.
Fanon[]
OrangeShipping is one of the most popular ships. There are many who will contend that the Orange Islands (the only series at present in which Tracey was part of the main cast) was more suggestive to a romantic relationship between Ash and Misty, and will state that Tracey even hinted at the relationship itself. Other people believe differently.
Misty and Tracey only meet again after the Johto League, when she receives word that she needs to return home to the Cerulean Gym. Though no longer traveling in the main cast, there are a series of side-episodes called Hosos which give details about Misty's activities as a Gym Leader. With Tracey and Misty now being allowed to interact with each other much more easily due to proximity, their friendship has been allowed to grow, and it is these episodes which many shippers will use to argue the plausibility of a romantic relationship developing between them.
This ship usually has few rival ships like PokéShipping (Ash x Misty), GymShipping (Brock x Misty) and DanceShipping (Rudy x Misty) on Misty's side and ReplacementShipping (Tracey x May) and MikanShipping (Tracey x Cissy) on Tracey's side.
Fandom[]
FAN FICTION
- Misty/Tracey tag on AO3
- Misty & Tracey tag on AO3
- Tracey/Misty tag on FanFiction.net
Trivia[]
- The ship name comes from Orange Islands, the location where Misty and Tracey were travelling.
- In the English version of Luvdisc is a Many Splendored Thing!, Ken Gates, the Pokémon main narrator, notably shoots down the possibility of OrangeShipping. When mentioning that love was in the air, he states afterword, "No, it's not between Misty and Tracey." None of this was ever mentioned in the original Japanese version of the anime. Some fans see this as proof of the former English dub studios 4Kids's preference for PokéShipping and that it may have considered OrangeShipping a threat.
