Summary
Serena, not Misty, is Ash’s true love in the Pokemon anime. Serena shows clear affection for Ash and has an implied kiss with him. Although they have romantic feelings with other partners, Ash has not shown any romantic feelings towards any of them. He values his friends, but he has never known a romantic relationship. Hopes of romance between Ash and Misty were dashed in the final episodes, as their relationship remained platonic. Serena’s potential romance with Ash is also unresolved.
Despite being one of the most fan-favorite ships in Pokemon, Ash and Misty have proven to not be one of the series’ longest-running pairings. Over the years, the anime has featured the main hero with many companions. All the girls were friends with Ash, however, none of them were as close as Serena’s potential relationship.
Pokemon began airing in Japan in 1997, followed by an English release a year later. They have a number of ships that fans have cheered for since the beginning. One of the first popular couples in the Pokemon anime series was Ash and Misty, his long-time traveling companion. Considering the age of the characters (Ash is said to be 10 in the series, each season) and the age of the original audience, it makes sense that there are no official connections at first. However, twenty-five years later, there still hasn’t been much romantic development between the series’ long-running heroes, with the exception of one particular character—Serena.
Serena is Ash’s true love in the Pokemon anime, not Mist.
Certain moments and songs from the series and related films have hinted at Misty’s romance with Ash. Mrs. Sensei was teased in the 2000 Pokemon movie, and Misty Misty meets her match! In Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands, as well as in the songs “Wife’s Song” (Pokémon: 2.BA Master) and “Crazy Makes Me Crazy” (Totally Pokémon), it is sung from the wife’s point of view and discusses her feelings. Can’t be shared openly. However, these romantic teases were not fully developed, and many hints of a romantic Ash and Misty relationship were dubbed over. Misty eventually left the scene as a regular, like May, Dawn, Iris, and finally, Serena, a new romantic “rival” from Pokémon XY of the type, to replace the other female leaders of the sixth generation series. As such, fanships are typically divided into two groups: PokéShipping (Ash and Misty) and AmourShipping (Ash and Serena).
Serena is unique among Ash’s female traveling companions as she was revealed to have met Ash earlier in the series when the two were young children. After she injured herself, he helped her at summer camp. In XY and XYZ, it is made clear that Serena has a crush on him, to the point where it is discussed by other characters as well–including Serena’s romantic rival, Mitte. While the two coaches have never been in an official relationship, an implied kiss happened when Serena’s XYZ seasons ended and the two said goodbye to each other. That gives her a leg up on Misty who has never had a kiss like this with Ash.
There is no romance for Ash Ketchum
Despite these teases and many other potential love interests along the way (Zema in Pokemon Movie 2000, Latias/Bianca in Pokemon Heroes, Mite in Pokemon XY/XYZ), Ash has never expressed any romantic feelings for any of his friends. He is known to value his friends and the time he spends together. Ash states that he sometimes misses them or carries reminders like Misty fishing. Although it’s worth mentioning that Ash has a fishing method other than Cilan, his former traveling companion, which he had no romantic relationship with.
When it was announced that Ash Ketchum would be leaving the series, many fans were hoping that he would finally settle for Ash’s romance. Those hopes grew stronger after it became clear that Misty and Ash would be reuniting for Ash’s final 13 episodes, giving them a chance to provide a capstone to their relationship. However, the series again ignored the potential romance of Ash and Misty; Their relationship in these final episodes was no more romantic than most of their relationships in the early episodes, and Misty played a relatively minor role in the finale. Even their final goodbye was sadly ordinary, finally putting the final nail in the coffin of the canonical Ash and Misty romance. Serena herself has seen her comeback in Pokemon Adventures of late, but in that episode she and Ash only see each other for a moment, and they don’t get a chance to talk, leaving their potential romance unresolved.
Serena may not be as famous as Misty in the Pokemon franchise as a whole, but she was the girl in Pokemon who came closest to expressing her feelings for Ash, and she took a step forward by revealing them, giving her more of a claim. Instead of a wife to the title.