The AppealShipping (Dawn & Zoey) Thread

[Okido]

Because it was brought up in this beautiful thread a couple times... and because what the heck, we needed it!

Spoiler

What's your favorite thing about the pairing, what makes it better than the rest, etc.? You know the drill, appreciate these two silly Coordinators here.

Personally, a rewatch of DP I did a few years ago was what finally convinced me, since it was hard not to notice how perfectly their personalities reflected each other. (And if you know anything about yours truly, then you probably know I'm always up for a good protag/rival ship too.)

 

[Welkamo]

Gosh they’re just,,,, so cute. (And you’re right protag/rival ships are the good stuff)

Even as someone who only mostly focuses on gameverse ships, AppealShipping is probably one of my favourite wlw pairings.

 

[DawningWinds]

AppealShipping probably one of if not the first pairing I was ever really shipping and it's super nostalgic for me, and they're just... so cute? I do enjoy a good protag/rival ship as well, and I'm especially a big fan of how genuinely respectful their rivalry feels? Like it's not uncommon in Pokemon for the rival to start out as a jerkass and them and the protagonist can't stand each other (not that this dynamic of them growing to respect each other is something I dislike either), but with Appealshipping, they're certainly rivals, but they're also there for each other, like one of their first interactions is Zoey just offering to help Dawn out with her hair before. They're rivals that build both themselves and each other up right from the start rather than trying to tear each other down to be better than the other and I think it's super sweet.

 

[Fitzy3386]

My favorite thing was that strong mutual respect that never wavered. Zoey saw Dawn as a protege, and Dawn saw Zoey as a mentor, but they also still saw each other as equals. And no matter how down Dawn got, she never blamed or resented Zoey for it. Zoey saw Dawn's friends as her friends, and that was reciprocated. And they both pushed each other to be better. They made it to the final against each other, largely because of the help they got from each other.

 

[Emelie]

It's a shame that we didn't get to see more gym battles with Dawn. I think it could have resulted in some interesting development for Zoey if she noticed that Dawn was flirting with the idea of doing both gyms and contests which was something Zoey initially wanted to do but wasn't good at. I would like to see more of Zoey's vulnerable side, maybe have Dawn be the one to inspire her for once. It could have been an interesting role reversal. As a ship they feel very femme and butch so maybe they could have balanced it out a little more.

 

[mastermind lissi]

Bump, and while this isn’t my main Dawn ship, it is pretty cute! I thought of them when I heard “I kissed a girl” by Katy perry recently (the song being from dawns perspective, maybe in a slightly different universe? And they’re older. but yea. Them)