How they first met: They met when Ash first visited Sinnoh. Paul was a surly 14 year old challenging the Sinnoh League for the first time and Ash was a cheerful 19 year old wandering trainer. As Ash never traveled with Dawn in this AU, he and Paul just happened to meet in Hearthome City and Paul decided that challenging this older trainer would be a good warm up before he took on Fantina. It was an intense battle but it didn’t go well for Paul. After he won, Ash tried to give some advice to Paul, but the younger trainer just brushed him off, leaving Ash confused and concerned for the very moody teen. They saw each other a few more times later on after Ash befriends Dawn (who in this AU is a direct rival of Paul’s) but most meetings were pretty similar. They don’t actually end up properly getting to know each other until Ash returns to Sinnoh over a decade later.
Where their first date was: They had their first date about four months after Ash returns to Sinnoh. Prior to this, the two had been spending a good amount of time together since Ash had started babysitting Emery while Paul was busy with his Elite Four job. Over time, they began to develop feelings for each other, but it took a while for either to actually act on those feelings. Ash was the one to ask Paul out, just for a simple dinner out, but he was so nervous during the meal he kept making increasingly awkward small-talk in the hopes of trying to bond further with Paul. Meanwhile Paul was pulling the silent treatment because he was too busy trying to figure out if he had feelings for Ash or not. It was an awkward first date for sure, but it was the first step in their relationship and they now look back on it with embarrassed but fond memories.
When they had their first kiss: They had their first kiss on their fifth date, about three months or so after their awkward first date. They were walking home from catching a classical music concert in Sunnyshore (Paul’s idea, Ash discovered he actually really liked certain kinds of classical music after that). It was evening and gently snowing, the streetlamps casting everything in a golden glow. There were a few other couples out and about all huddled close to each other and Ash felt a bit left out so he sidled up close to Paul and linked their arms together. When Paul didn’t seem to mind they walked like that a bit further until they were at the point they usually split up to return to their own houses. Ash moved to unlink his arm from Paul’s, but the other man hesitated, so, without really thinking, Ash leaned in for a kiss and Paul reciprocated. They stood there in a bit of awkward silence afterwords before Ash made some vague ‘Catch you later, haha!’ farewell and headed off.
Who cooks: Both are pretty good cooks, but have different styles, so the agreement is whoever is home and able to cook, cooks. Since Paul has the busier job and the longer commute, Ash usually cooks. He learned to cook on the road (Brock taught him the basics) and picked up a lot of different recipes from around the world on his travels, so his meals are always eclectic and sound like they might be weird but end up being really tasty. They have a regular ‘Kantonian Takeout’ night each week though as Ash can get homesick for his home region’s food.
Who proposed: Paul, about a year and a half after they started dating on Emery’s 6th birthday. She had wanted her dad and his boyfriend to get married for a while now, so after she had opened all her presents, Paul handed her one last card. On the card was written, “As a special treat for the birthday girl, a little Starly told me she wanted her parents to be together for ever.” Right after she finished reading the note out loud, Paul got down on one knee and popped the question. Emery still considers it her best birthday present ever. (It turned out later that Reggie had helped his little brother come up with the idea.)
The dominate one: Ash is the more flexible of the two, so he usually ends up going with Paul’s lead since he’d be fine either way, but he has some things he’s quite stubborn about that he won’t comprise on. So Paul is usually more dominant in that he’s the one making decisions, but Ash is one of the few who can get Paul to do what he wants so it’s a bit of a tossup.
Their favorite pastime together: Paul still likes to test his skills against Ash in pokémon battles, though he’s a lot better at taking criticism and advice now than when he was younger. After they have a battle, or if they don’t feel like battling, they like to spend time with and take care of their pokémon together. Their teams have grown very close over the years so their pokémon are just as much family as their kids are. Otherwise, they might team up at the Battle Frontier or catch an evening show in Jubilife (which is where Ash works at the Trainer School.)
Who kissed who first: Ash initiated the kiss, but they kissed each other at the same time.
Who is the flirt: Neither of them are very flirty, but sometimes Ash likes to try out cheesy or silly pick up lines to see if he can get a reaction from Paul. He considers his flirting a success if he gets a laugh out of his husband.
Who is the romantic: Paul is the more romantic one, but only by a little margin. He’s, perhaps surprisingly, very heartfelt and gentle when he wants to be and finds satisfaction in all the little things he can do to make Ash happy, be it making them packed lunches for tomorrow or finding someone to look after the kids (when they were younger) so they could have a night in, just the two of them. Ash can certainly be romantic as well, but he tends to make larger gestures, setting up dates, buying flowers, that sort of thing.
Who wakes up first: Paul tends to be a more early riser. Even after all these years Ash still sleeps in and through all his alarms. He needs the most powerful alarm of all ‘husband telling him he’ll be late for work’ to ensure he wakes up in an instant.
Who comforts who the most: Ash is more open with his emotions and expressing his frustration or sadness, so Paul tends to more frequently offer support when Ash needs it. At the same time, while Paul is more withdrawn in how he expresses himself, Ash is really good at reading him so he knows when his husband needs support and comforting and Paul doesn’t mind showing his more vulnerable side if Ash is the one comforting him.
The cuddler: Ash is pretty cuddly, but the real answer here is Pikachu, who loves to fall asleep on Paul’s lap and even sometimes steals Ash’s spot cuddling Paul in bed.
The big spoon: Paul usually, since he’s the taller one. Ash sometimes likes to be the big spoon if Paul is in a rough patch though.
Tag: ash ketchum
Brokenshipping pls
How they first met: Dawn grew fond of spending time in the Distortion World after she initially visited it while facing down Team Galactic, enjoying just getting away from it all to a quiet place where she knew could be alone. She would usually bring a Thermos of tea and a book and find some nice spot by an inverted waterfall and read. It was during one of these visits that the even that caused the Legendary pokémon to revert to their human forms (if they had one) occurred. Now, Dawn was used to occasionally encountering Giratina on her visits to their realm but the two usually just left each other alone. So, when she saw Giratina heading her way and seeming to be in distress, Dawn knew something big was up. Giratina barely made it to her platform before turning back into Jeshir (who he himself is an old deity, but that’s a story for another day.) Obviously, Dawn was incredibly shocked that this ancient being had just turned into what looked like a unconscious human man in front of her eyes, but in this situation, her rational nature came in handy. She shoved all her questions to the back of her head and focused on getting him out of the Distortion World and to medical care. Later on, once his identity was established, she agreed to vouch for him (being Champion, she had the clout to do so). She was very eager to learn about him, and he grew interested in getting to know her as well. It was the start of a strange but beautiful relationship.
Where their first date was: It took a long time for Dawn to realize her feelings towards the old god were romantic, as is typical for her. Jeshir understood this and took things as slowly as he could, but eventually he got a bit fed up waiting for Dawn to try and figure things out on her own, so he directly asked her out. They had gone to this café many times in the past, but this was the first time he framed it in the context of a specifically romantic date. Dawn was hesitant to just go on a date out of the blue, but Jeshir’s rational was that if she thought of it as a date beforehand, then she could decide if she liked the idea of them being a romantic item: if she did like it, then it would be their official first date, if she didn’t like it, then it would just be another of their regular outings as friends. This plan seems to have worked, since by the end of their time at the café, they were walking back to Dawn’s house hand in hand and Dawn felt secure and confident in her newly realized romantic feelings.
When they had their first kiss: They had their first kiss after their first official date. After Jeshir walked Dawn home, she turned around before opening the door and gave him a quick peck on the lips, which shocked him greatly. It had been a very impulsive move for Dawn, so she used his shock to just head inside before seeing how he reacted and before he could see how flushed the action made her.
Who cooks: Dawn is the better cook, since Jeshir never learned, being a deity who doesn’t need to eat, but Dawn is also the busier one and rarely has time to cook for her family, so when Jeshir first moved in with her, he made it his mission to learn to cook so he could do something nice for his girlfriend. He’s gotten pretty good at it over the years (the way he tells it, he was always a good cook), so now he always makes sure to come home from his volunteer job at a local history museum (being an ancient being has its perks in the field of history and archaeology) to cook dinner for his wife and daughter and any guests they might have that evening (usually Ash and Paul’s family). After Tanith leaves to go on her journey, Jeshir is sad he can’t cook for her anymore, so he starts inviting the Rozanov-Ketchum’s over even more. The four them are turning into a group of middle aged parents with empty nests, haha.
Who proposed: Dawn proposed. Jeshir always talked about Dawn spending the rest of her life at his side, but as always he let her take the relationship at her own pace, so he waited for her to decide if she wanted marriage or not. Either way, he was happy just being with her. Dawn herself didn’t really think of marriage either until after Tanith was born. She realized that seeing as they had a family now, it might make more sense if they were married as well. She wanted to at least make the proposal romantic, so after some advice from Lucas, she took her partner to one of their favorite date spots – the lighthouse overlooking the sea – and asked him to marry her. No need for rings or anything fancy, just a promise of the commitment they already knew they had.
The dominate one: Jeshir for sure. At first especially, Dawn is less confident in her preferences and lets him take the lead as she trusts him, but later on when she is more comfortable with what she likes, she grows more bold as well, which always pleases her husband. The two end up being both quite….. bold and experimental.
Their favorite pastime together: They are definitely more of a quiet couple, so perhaps echoing the circumstances leading up to their first meeting, one of their favorite things to do together is go for a walk out to a local park or further out into nature (and even sometimes the Distortion World) and have a picnic and just relax together. Sometimes it’s just the two of them, but they often bring Tanith along as well.
Who kissed who first: Dawn kissed Jeshir.
Who is the flirt: Jeshir 100%. Dawn is horrible at flirting and much prefers direct declarations and gestures of love. That said, she’s also terrible at recognizing when someone’s flirting with her as well, so Jeshir doesn’t flirt with her much since he knows it will probably go over her head or confuse her.
Who is the romantic: Again, probably Jeshir, but Dawn has her moments as well. She usually likes to surprise him by sneaking a bit of time off work (hard to do when she’s the Champion after all) and arranging some kind of date for the two of them. Jeshir is much more domestic (not that he’d ever admit it!). He loves to cook for her and pamper her – back and foot rubs, bubble baths, cuddles all evening long…. the works. He’s a very affectionate husband and that shows in all the little romantic gestures he does for his wife.
Who wakes up first: Dawn usually wakes up first, but Jeshir always wakes up when she does since he doesn’t really need sleep so can just wake up whenever he wants without feeling grogginess. Dawn, who requires at least three cups of coffee in the morning to function, resents this trait. Jeshir likes to tease her about it sometimes if she isn’t looking too murderous (usually after her second cup.)
Who comforts who the most: Jeshir usually, just since he’s so affectionate. Dawn’s work is stressful so he tends to help her unwind. All the same, he’s not had an easy life either and sometimes the weight of things can drag him down, though he hates admitting weakness, seeing himself as above such things. Dawn is not the best at being comforting, but she always tries to at least be there for her husband whenever he seems particularly distant. She knows him well enough to tell when he’s faking cheerfulness, so she always shows him that she’s there with small gestures when she senses he’s feeling down.
The cuddler: Jeshir. To the point Dawn needs to remind him to lighten up the cuddling a bit sometimes since she’s feeling smothered.
The big spoon: Jeshir. He’s a tall and fairly broad guy and Dawn fits perfectly in his arms. He likes to hug her from behind while she’s working which, while she appreciates the gesture, often gets in the way of her actual work. Dawn minds much less when he’s cuddling her in bed though.
Ash
After much deliberation, I have decided to add Ash to this AU. There are a few reasons I chose to do this and a few why it took so long. I’ll use this post to explain my reasoning and outline how he fits into this world.
My reasons: 1) While the base of this AU was originally game-verse, it has grown to encompass many anime characters, to the degree it’s a bit odd now that Ash isn’t present. 2) Ash is a sweetheart and a wonderful person and someone I am excited to work with as a character (even if this is a different version of him).
Why it took so long to add him: 1) I wasn’t sure how to fit him into this universe. It is game-based, so the protagonists of the games who are companions to Ash in the anime filled different roles and often have very different personalities from their anime-counterparts. I wasn’t sure how I could properly include Ash if his journeys just didn’t make sense in the already established context of this AU. 2) This would inevitably be an AU Ash. Like I said, while plenty of anime characters exist in this world, they are anime characters in the context of a fantasy version of the gameverse, as such, their roles are different from the anime, and sometimes their personalities are a bit different as well as a result. Since Ash is the main character of the anime, I was worried I would receive a negative reaction if I included an AU version of him who was different from his canon self. 3) I wasn’t sure exactly how he would be part of the fankid aspect of this universe specifically. Looking at all the candidates to ship him with, I found that most of them were already paired off or accounted for. I considered having him be an single father, but even then, I wasn’t sure what exactly he’d be doing as an adult – where he would live, what he job would be, etc. 4) But! After a lot of deliberation, I’ve found a way to include him that satisfies me and also adds to the development and characterization of one of my already-established fankids and her father. (…. yeah I’m talking about Emery this is now a ComaShipping blog I’ve succumbed.)
That being said, in regards to what I have currently for Ash. He’s from Pallet Town (of course) and is a few years older than Red and Blue/Gary. His initial journey is fairly similar to the anime, up through the point where he leaves for Hoenn. He travels with Misty (who is his age) and Brock, and later Tracey, throughout Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Islands. After that, he returns home for a bit rather than go abroad. This kind of plan is pretty common for young folk in this world – travel closer to home when you’re young, finish school, then go abroad when you’re in your late teens or early twenties. When he’s 18 years old, Ash decides to travel the world. He meets some of the same people he does in the canon anime, and he meets some new faces as well. He sometimes travels with others, and sometimes by himself. He’ll sleep in Pokémon Centers, camp out, or crash on a friend’s couch. It’s a nomadic lifestyle and he loves every aspect of it. Of course, he also challenges the League of whatever region he’s visiting. He has a vague goal of becoming a top trainer, but the more he thinks about it the more he’s not sure he wants a position like Champion or Gym Leader (since they’re very bureaucratic in this world). At some point, he settles in Sinnoh for a while, which is where he and Paul first grow closer. At this point, Paul was the single father of a young Emery, and Ash absolutely adored her. She was probably half the reason he stuck around long enough to form an attachment to her father, haha. Eventually (the details are still a bit hazy), Ash and Paul start a relationship, and end up getting married when Emery is around 4 or 5 years old. Ash ends up getting a job as a teacher at the local Sunnyshore Trainer School, where he teaches children how best to interact with pokémon, the basics of battling, and other kinds of hands on lessons. He also gets to be pretty good friends with the rest of the Sinnoh League who live in Sunnyshor, like Dawn, Flint, Volkner, Lucian, and Dahlia, as well as their kids. Ash still keeps in touch with his friends and family back home – especially Misty and his mother, as well as all the people he’s befriended over his travels. All in all, he’s doing very well for himself, even if he’s not quite the aspiring Pokémon Master or Chosen One he is in canon. He’s got a husband he loves, an adorable step-daughter, a great job, and tons of friends.
Pokémon Legends & Legacies 