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Rare Pairings

These are the weirdest pokémon ships I support, they're so rare that I'm sure they don't even have a ship name:

- Lt. Surge x Erika: I know that they never interacted with each other on screen but they are my favorite gym leaders and I like to pair opposite personalities, they could have an interesting dynamic.

- Bruno x Karen: For basically the same reasons as above, I find these two pairings very cute even if I know they're impossible.

These are not that rare, but I don't think they have many supporters:

- Faba x Wicke: They have little moments that make me ship them.

- Lana x Sophocles: They also have little moments that make me ship them, I find both pairings really cute.

- Lance x Clair: They ruined it by making them cousins, I'll just pretend they aren't cousins :lapras:.

These are ships between pokémon that although they're not rare, people don't usually think much about them:

- Ash's Bulbasaur x Florinda's Gloom: They were adorable in that episode :bulbaWave:.

- Magearna x Volcanion: You know something was there :sneaky:.

- Wigglytuff x Chatot: From the Mistery Dungeon games, this is canon and you can't tell me othewise :ROFLMAO:.

- Mewtwo x Genesect: That fall to the earth in the movie was very suspicious :sneaky:.

- Clemont's Bunnelby x Serena's Sylveon: It was cute.

- Loudred x Sunflora: Another cute ship from the Mystery Dungeon Games.
 
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Anabel x Lucy for me (I think it's called PikeMaidenShipping and/or YinYangShipping)
I thought it would had some popularity but I can only find maybe one image of it??? I think they'd be the Battle Frontier's power couple.
Also I think CulinaryShipping (Siebold x Wallace) and IndoorClimbingShipping (Grant x Wallace) are pretty cute.
I'll ship almost anything, so my ships range anywhere from "Basically Canon" to "There's Nothing of Them".
 
lemme just write a list
zingzapshipping ash x Sophocles
collideshipping Barry x ash
Respectshipping drew x ash

ships I just start to see less and less often that I like
________ ✨ _________

z-ringshipping kiawe x ash
blueangelshipping Lana x ash
 
Crimsonvelvetshipping (May x Serena)
Respectshipping (Ash x Drew)
ChampsElyseeshipping (Misty x Serena)
Gary x Drew (I dunno what this one's called)
May x Iris (Don't know their name either)
May x Lillie (I really need to search for ship names)
Misty x Lana (I think this one is called WaterWarriorshipping?)
May x Gary (Brunetshipping I am guessing?)
Serena x Gary (Don't know this one either)

There are probably more that would count as rare pairs and which I don't remember right now lol.
 
Just a reminder to everyone around here, Bulbagarden has a shipping name list with tens of thousands of names on it if you're ever curious about the name for your rarepair! If something is unnamed please feel free to leave a reply naming it yourself!


ash x james. does this ship even have a name?
NaiveShipping - Ash & James
These are the weirdest pokémon ships I support, they're so rare that I'm sure they don't even have a ship name:

- Lt. Surge x Erika: I know that they never interacted with each other on screen but they are my favorite gym leaders and I like to pair opposite personalities, they could have an interesting dynamic.

- Bruno x Karen: For basically the same reasons as above, I find these two pairings very cute even if I know they're impossible.

These are not that rare, but I don't think they have many supporters:

- Faba x Wicke: They have little moments that make me ship them.

- Lana x Sophocles: They also have little moments that make me ship them, I find both pairings really cute.

- Lance x Clair: They ruined it by making them cousins, I'll just pretend they aren't cousins :lapras:.

These are ships between pokémon that although they're not rare, people don't usually think much about them:

- Ash's Bulbasaur x Florinda's Gloom: They were adorable in that episode :bulbaWave:.

- Magearna x Volcanion: You know something was there :sneaky:.

- Wigglytuff x Chatot: From the Mistery Dungeon games, this is canon and you can't tell me othewise :ROFLMAO:.

- Mewtwo x Genesect: That fall to the earth in the movie was very suspicious :sneaky:.

- Clemont's Bunnelby x Serena's Sylveon: It was cute.

- Loudred x Sunflora: Another cute ship from the Mystery Dungeon Games.
Surprise surprise!
CultureShockShipping - Lt. Surge & Erika
DelilahShipping - Bruno & Karen

And just for reference
WickedFabalousShipping - Faba & Wicke
SparkSurferShipping - Sophocles & Lana
BlackthornShipping/DragonShipping - Lance & Clair
SolarShipping - Bulbasaur & Gloom (but this pairing is only a generic for any Bulbasaur and Gloom; Bulbasaur & Gloom (Ash's & Florinda's) is unnamed)
SteamPoweredShipping - Magearna & Volcanion
GuildShipping - Chatot & Wigglytuff
DNAShipping - Genesect & Mewtwo
FleurrhShipping - Bunnelby & Sylveon (Clemont's & Serena (XY)'s)
OhMyGoshShipping - Loudred & Sunflora
LeonxSonia
RaihanxSonia
BunnelbyxSylveon
LionheartShipping - Leon & Sonia
DragonLilyShipping - Raihan & Sonia
FleurrhShipping - Bunnelby & Sylveon (Clemont's & Serena (XY)'s) (but this is only for these two specific Pokemon; Bunnelby & Sylveon as a generic pairing is unnamed)
Crimsonvelvetshipping (May x Serena)
Respectshipping (Ash x Drew)
ChampsElyseeshipping (Misty x Serena)
Gary x Drew (I dunno what this one's called)
May x Iris (Don't know their name either)
May x Lillie (I really need to search for ship names)
Misty x Lana (I think this one is called WaterWarriorshipping?)
May x Gary (Brunetshipping I am guessing?)
Serena x Gary (Don't know this one either)

There are probably more that would count as rare pairs and which I don't remember right now lol.
ArroganceShipping/RedThreadShipping - Drew & Gary
1000WishesShipping - Iris & May
SpringLilyShipping - Lillie & May
WaterWarriorShipping - Lana & Misty
BrunettShipping - Gary & May
RivalcrushShipping - Gary & Serena (XY)
 
Am going through another Wallace/Nessa (SynchronizedSwimmingShipping) phase and I am very okay with this because I love this ship.

ALSO Wallace/Nurse Joy omg I don't know why but I just...... love them

And as always, I love SabotageShipping (Wallace/Winona/Steven)
 
I can never remember all the rarepairs that I like off the top of my head. ^^; That's not to say I don't have any though...
  • CopyShipping (Todd/Duplica)
    Nope, no idea why. This is a total nevermet but over time it's somehow ended up in my top five ships. I just think they'd balance each other out, being two slightly eccentric yet overall kindhearted people. They can practice their fun niche hobbies together. If I have to be the captain of this ship alone then so be it dang it >:(

  • SingleStepShipping (Misty/Sakura)
    Again, I seem to be the only one representing this one, which makes me sad since they're actually good friends in the few episodes Sakura was in. I always thought it was somewhat touching that they could relate to each other re: their family troubles with their sisters, and the expectations put on them.

  • ThirdwheelShipping (Brock/Tracey)
    Would totally be besties. Would totally make Ash and Misty cringe. That's all.

  • AshyboyShipping (Gary/Duplica)
    This one's about 99.5% platonic to me (I just don't have the heart to multiship :cry:) but I do think they would get along, especially since it's possibly implied that they've at least met before. Also that ship name just makes me lol.

  • SabotageShipping (Wallace/Winona/Steven)
    Torchic is a bad influence!!! :lapras: kidding, of course. Though it's true that they introduced me to the concept, and nowadays I just can't seem to separate those three in my mind anymore.

  • TimelessPromiseShipping (Goh/Horace)
    I'm a little hesitant to even call this one a rarepair anymore - it seems to be slowly moving up in the world now that Horace has gotten more screentime - so that's why it's not closer to the top of the list. But I still don't see it very often, and I was there way back in 2020 when it was basically just me alone cheering for them on the sidelines... so... I'll put it here anyway. These two are very sweet and are probably #2 on my aforementioned top 5 these days.

  • RogueShipping (Wes/Cail)
    I don't know either. I replayed Colosseum when I was 13-14 or so, and for whatever reason I got briefly obsessed with this ship during that playthrough LOL. I still think it could be kinda cute though.
I feel like I've probably got more than these, but either 1. I wouldn't have much to say about them or 2. sometimes I have a hard time judging if something is actually a rarepair these days, or if it's just sort of uncommon to see (e.g. like, Sacred or ColdCoffee or something).
 
Appraisalshipping (Volo/Adaman)

I don’t know how it started… at first I made a joke about it to make a friend angry but… now I actually ship it for real.

Dreamgirlshipping (Serena/Lisia)

randomly found it and liked it… that’s really it for that one.
 
Not sure if it already has an official name yet since I've been out of the shipping naming game for so long, but I like to think of Colza/Arezu as a canon pair on top of being a rarepair. Both are met in Jubilife Village, both take care of plant life in their respective way (Colza runs a farmfield, while Arezu is the warden of the Hisuian Lilligant in Crimson Mirelands), and since taking care of plants likely require trimming some of them, I like to think she would give him suggestions on how to trim the plants without hurting them.
 
Pokémon Ranger was how I got into Pokémon in the first place. Recently I replayed the first one (my first ever Pokémon game), and I've found myself shipping Joel, Cameron, and Spenser. They were on a team together in their years before being put in charge of their respective Ranger Bases, which leaves a lot of fanfiction potential for developing their relationships and exploring their past years together. Joel and Spenser are longtime rivals, and I think having them being balanced by Cameron's more laid back and less competitive nature would cause them all to have a very fascinating dynamic. Currently I'm trying to push through my writer's block by writing about them. It's slow going.

I haven't seen a ship name for the three yet, though I know one exists for all four of the Ranger Base leaders.
 
I'm one of like five people who ships Volo/Cogita. I see people insist they're related but the game never treats them like they are, and they don't talk to each other like relatives. I know they look exactly alike but since the game never draws a familial line between them then I have to assume that's just how their people look.
 
It feels like I'm one of the very few people who stan the underrated male protag x female protag ships in the games, particularly those from Generation VII onwards...
EclipseShipping - Elio & Selene
LGPEShipping - Chase & Elaine
GalarShipping - Victor & Gloria (GloryWinnerShipping is much better IMHO)
GreatestTreasureShipping - Florian & Juliana
To see that my favourite hero x heroine ship GalarShipping getting the 'twin siblings' headcanon commonplace... I honestly feel turned off to the point that I actually hate that headcanon. Plus, I even started seeing a few peeps doing the same with GreatestTreasureShipping. EclipseShipping and LGPEShipping are mostly ignored for the most part (most especially the latter).

As someone who loves the game male protag x female protag ships in general, I find myself willing to promote these underrated ones. To be frank, I have already written lots of fanfiction about GalarShipping (and thus, I have already made my own headcanons on them), and at least one fanfic about both EclipseShipping and LGPEShipping. As for GreatestTreasureShipping, I have been considering to write one myself and post it sometime soon.
 
JasmineXVolkner is one of my favorites. I find it weird it’s not called lighthouseshipping. Instead it’s like AshXJasmine. Instead, it’s AlexandrianShipping. Shipping Ash with every gym leader is boring. Jasmine and Volkner seem like an interesting pairing. Volkner’s this bored guy while Jasmine is always caring though a little nervous. JasmineXVolkner is cute and I like that. That’s one reason why I ship it instead of the more popular IgnitionShipping (FlintXVolkner)
 
I've been playing B2W2 this week, and it's reminded me of my old fondness for the rarepairs of Rosa/Yancy (LightPinkShipping) and Nate/Curtis (PresenceShipping).

I totally get why the actual pairings from the games are more popular (and I like them too!), but... well c'mon, they would've been just as cute, no? It's also not like it couldn't happen either, since Yancy and Curtis can both be seen on TV regardless of the player character's gender. It's moreso one of those "but what if!" kind of nevermets.
 
JasmineXVolkner is one of my favorites. I find it weird it’s not called lighthouseshipping. Instead it’s like AshXJasmine. Instead, it’s AlexandrianShipping. Shipping Ash with every gym leader is boring. Jasmine and Volkner seem like an interesting pairing. Volkner’s this bored guy while Jasmine is always caring though a little nervous. JasmineXVolkner is cute and I like that. That’s one reason why I ship it instead of the more popular IgnitionShipping (FlintXVolkner)
This is one of my personal favorite pairs too and for that reason. I’d be curious to know how well they’d get along in the anime if they met.
 
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