- Hey Pokemon Masters.
Bird Keeper Toby here.
And Valentine's Day is coming up.
Maybe you're with someone.
Maybe you're not.
Happy Valentine's Day, either way.
And, actually, if you
do find yourself single,
I made a video about being single
over on my vlogging channel,
which I will leave a link to
on the top of the description.
But that's not why you're here.
You're here for Pokemon.
And, historically, my videos
about romance in Pokemon,
or specifically shipping,
have done reasonably well on the channel.
Shipping is a fascinating
part of the community to me,
because it's like theorising,
but just around this
one specific subject of
which characters do you
think are gonna fall in love.
Of course, I've done
videos on Amourshipping,
which was a very popular
ship back in the X and Y days
about Ash and Serena from the show.
Today's video, just as a
special for Valentine's Day,
is actually gonna be about a Pokemon ship
that's incredibly old,
but has recently resurfaced
thanks to more evidence
popping up in Pokemon Sun and Moon.
And that is called Nameless-shipping.
And whatever you think of this pairing,
whatever you think of shipping
in terms of Pokemon theories
and that kind of thing,
I ask only for your respect
in the comments below.
So, let's get into it.
Nameless-shipping is the romantic pairing
of the player character
from Generation One games
and your rival, Blue.
Of course, it's called Nameless-shipping
because they can be any name.
They can be Red or Green
or Blue or Buttface.
Cute little pet name.
But the quote unquote "canon"
name for these characters
are Red and Blue.
And, canonically, Red tends to be a boy.
However, that gets a
little more complicated
when we look at the remakes.
I'll talk about that in a moment.
But the reason it's important
to address canon first off is,
when you're talking about
player characters in Pokemon,
canon is kind of a very loose term.
Because any name is the canon name.
And, with some player characters,
the choices that you make
completely change your backstory.
For example, May and Brendan
are both canonical characters
in the Pokemon world.
But which one is Norman's child
and which one is Professor Birch's child?
That is entirely up to you, the player,
to make the decision about.
And, speaking of picking
an in-game gender,
Red, who shows up in Pokemon Sun and Moon,
could just as easily be Leaf
from the Generation One remake.
So, it's really entirely up
to you how you view the ship.
The true ship isn't between
Red and Blue or Leaf and Blue.
It's between the player
character and Blue, your rival.
So, it's really up to you
how you view this ship.
I think some people see Red is
the more canonical version
of the player character
because he reappears in later games.
For example, in Gold and Silver
on the top of Mount Silver
or in the Black and White World Tournament
and now in Sun and Moon.
And he appears as Red and not as Leaf.
And their manga
counterparts, Red and Leaf,
are two separate characters.
But, then again, so are all
of the different player characters.
Even though, like I said
earlier on with May and Brendan,
they can take on the
same role in the game.
As I say, it's all up to you.
Point is we're looking
at these two characters
here that are interchangeable.
So, what's the evidence that there's
some kind of romantic relationship
between the player
character and your rival?
Stereotypically, your rival, Buttface,
is just generally kind of rude to you.
Smell ya later, loser.
You're not gonna be as great as me.
These are the attitudes and sentiments
of your rival in the Generation One games.
That said, and one of the reasons
shipping is such a controversial topic
when it comes to Pokemon,
is a lot of these
characters are pretty young.
And that kind of playful rudeness
is kind of what you'd
expect from a younger person
who doesn't necessarily know how to
express their feelings properly.
It's a very stereotypical kid thing to do.
People also like this pairing
because both characters
have similar ambitions,
trying to complete the Pokedex
and become the greatest Pokemon Trainer.
But, also, let's face
it, their relationship
is an intense one that stretches back
from way before the games even start.
You grew up next door to this person.
So, it's kind of like the
whole neighbour dynamic.
And this is something that, again,
has been referenced in
other Pokemon shippings.
For example, Brendan and May.
We've got these two technically
interchangeable characters
who live next door to each other
who are about the same age.
I'm pretty sure my mum
made a comment about it
back when she played Omega Ruby.
- Should go over and introduce yourself.
- Got a new neighbour.
- We have a son just
about the same age as you.
Oh, here we go.
- No it's not...
They're, like, 11.
It's not...
Well, it can be...
I don't know.
I think, for a lot of people,
some of the best evidence for this ship
goes way back to the TV show.
And, I know, oh my goodness.
We're crossing canons.
The TV show is just a
parallel of the events
that happen in the game.
Well, no, we certainly
can't take direct evidence.
We can take a look at that
story and the way it plays out,
because the stories do
share a lot of similarities.
Especially in the
dynamics between Trainers.
And there is a very common shipping,
called Palletshipping, between
Ash and his rival Gary,
who are the TV show counterparts
of these characters.
Well, hey, Ashy boy.
There are a number of
key moments on the show
that support Palletshipping.
There's actually a whole
Bulbapedia article page about it.
I think maybe one of the
ones worth highlighting more
is that Brock in the show
has a certain reaction
to whenever the name of
Professor Ivy is mentioned.
Brock goes blue and completely shuts down
because he doesn't want to talk about
his rejected love from her.
And, in one of the episodes,
Ash does the exact same thing
when Gary's name is mentioned.
Pretty interesting.
Apparently, there are even more hints
in the Japanese original dub that
were cut out in the English version.
But, anyway, that's just that.
The point is, if the characters
do share those traits
with their video game counterparts,
then that could be used as evidence
for a potential shipping between
the player character and Blue.
Like I say, though, shipping
is a pretty controversial one,
even when it comes to the
more mainstream ships.
For example, in the show, Ash
and Misty or Ash and Serena.
And, in fact, Veronica Taylor,
the voice actress for Ash Ketchum,
who is also, her voice is
the outro of my videos,
has said publicly that
she doesn't think that Ash
is really that interested
in Misty because,
at that age, he's more interested
in just catching Pokemon.
In order to truly tell, we need to see
the characters as being older.
And, in the case of Ash and Gary,
or, rather, their video game counterparts,
we do now see them as older.
And this is why, apparently,
the Internet seems to be
more interested in the ship lately.
It's because Red and Blue
appear in Pokemon Sun and Moon
as older versions of themselves.
And the speculation is that
the reason they are in Alola
is because they're on their honeymoon.
That's not my theory.
That's someone else's.
But it's out there on the Internet.
And people feel very
passionately about it.
And I can kind of see why.
For example, in the past times
where we've seen the relationships
between Red, Leaf, and Blue,
there has been that child-like rudeness.
Now there appears to be mutual admiration
between the two characters.
That rudeness appears very toned down
in the dialogue of Sun and Moon.
But, again, it's all very speculative.
And you really do have to
pick and choose evidence
from every single canon.
Again, looking at the
manga canon, for example,
in Pokemon Adventures manga, for example,
like I said earlier, some of the
player characters are separated.
And Leaf is separated from Red
as two separate characters.
And Leaf does show an interest in Blue.
Calling him cute.
There's a bunch of other things.
There's a whole group of
different Bulbapedia articles
you can check out on shipping.
But you know this is just a
fun Valentine's special
video about shipping.
I don't, in particular,
support any one ship
in the Pokemon world.
Again, I'm more obsessed
with just catching Pokemon.
That said, maybe you're into shipping.
Maybe you're not.
Let me know your thoughts,
respectfully and kindly,
in the comments below.
What do you think of this ship?
Also, as a kind of subquestion to you,
do you think, if gender
options were available
in the Generation One games,
we would have seen Leaf on
the top of Mount Silver,
as well as Red?
Maybe Leaf would be appearing
in Alola at the Battle Tree.
I'd love to know what
you think about that.
And how they'd work that dynamic in.
I think that could be really cool.
Anyway, I just feel like flying away now.
So, soar high, Pokemon Masters.
And, if you wanna check out my video
on relationships from my vlogging channel,
I'll leave a link to
that on screen right now.
A special thank you to
my patreons of the month,
especially my big patreons of the month,
John D. Gotlitch and Joey Pals.
Thank you.
- [Ash Ketchum] This is Ash Ketchum.
You just watched a video
by Bird Keeper Toby.
That makes you a Pokemon Master.
