Pokémon: Ash and Dawn’s Relationship Explained (Do They Get Married?)

Since ‘Pokémon’s creation in 1996, the characters have been celebrated and enjoyed by fans worldwide. Typically, fandoms participate in “shipping wars,” or online discourse on which characters should end up with which. Throughout ‘Pokémon’s’ runtime, Ash and Dawn shipping has been one of the most popular ones. It even has its own name, “PearlShipping,” because most of the duo’s interactions take place in the Diamond and Pear arc of the anime. These interactions have left many fans wondering what the relationship between Ash and Dawn is. Let’s explore this ship and find out if they get married later on.

Ash is incredibly oblivious

In typical anime protagonist fashion, Ash is clueless when it comes to love and flirting. This is partly to be expected because Ash is a 10-year-old boy in every Pokémon series. It’s normal for him to be oblivious. 

At the same time, he’s still slow to pick up on hints from girls who clearly like him. Even when the people around him realize what’s going on, Ash is none the wiser. This makes it difficult for any romance to happen between Ash and another person. 

Dawn’s feelings toward Ash

If Misty is the friend you make over years and years of companionship, Dawn is the kind of friend you make over 2 days but your personalities just magically “click.” This is the kind of friendship Ash has with Dawn too. There are hardly any disagreements between them. Even when they occasionally bicker, they can’t stand to stay mad at each other for a long time. For example, when Dawn’s bike got destroyed by Pikachu, she didn’t tell Ash immediately. She only told him much later and wasn’t upset at them for it. Additionally, Dawn has been described as a “female version of Ash.” She seems to be just as excitable and oblivious as him. In the anime, Lyra attempts to get them interested in each other. 

Lyra tells Dawn all about how amazing Ash is, and Dawn expresses her admiration for him. She also tells Ash about how Dawn is great and “top of the heap.” Ash thinks that this is about the contest and agrees. Lyra and Brock, who were standing nearby, realized that this went over both of their heads. They’re both similar to the point of both being very oblivious to the romantic implications that Lyra was trying to get at.  Dawn admires Ash for what he has achieved as a Pokémon trainer. Dawn also expresses respect for how Ash treats Pokémon with love and respect. 

Dawn has been shown to dress up in a cheerleader’s outfit to support Ash in his Gym Battles. Overall, it seems like she is his biggest supporter and wants to see him succeed. When either one of them accomplishes something or does something exciting, they tend to high-five each other to show their camaraderie. They part from each other on good terms and are always happy to see each other when they reunite. 

Dawn and Kenny

Dawn has expressed some interest in her childhood friend and rival, Kenny. Dawn and Kenny have interesting chemistry, with Kenny constantly teasing her with embarrassing stories from their childhood. Despite this, he cares about Dawn and checks up on her when she gets seriously upset. In ‘Four Roads Diverged In a Pokémon Port!,’ Kenny confesses to having a crush on Dawn. After this, Kenny challenged Ash to a battle. He stated that if he won, he wanted Dawn to go on a journey with him.  Although he ended up winning in the end, Dawn told him that she would go with Ash to the Lily of the Valley Conference, saying that he was “handsome while defeating Ash.” She also told him that if they shared the same dream, they were bound to be reunited again. 

Ash’s feelings toward Dawn

Ash became Dawn’s best friend almost immediately after meeting her. In her presence, Ash takes on a more mature and mentoring role. His expertise as a Pokémon trainer helped further Dawn’s lifelong dream as a Pokémon coordinator. She set out with a clear goal in mind, but she was still very inexperienced when she met Ash and fought him. With his help, she quickly picked up on what to do and improved rapidly. This is why their relationship is more like that of a mentor and his student than anything romantic. 

PokeShipping

You can’t talk about ships in ‘Pokémon’ without talking about the most popular ship, PokeShipping. PokeShipping is the ship between Ash and Misty. Unlike Dawn, Misty canonically has feelings for Ash. One of the storyboarders for the Pokémon anime has said that both Misty and Ash like each other, but they haven’t realized it yet. 

‘Pokémon’s relationship with romance

It’s difficult to have explicit romance in ‘Pokémon’ because it’s first and foremost a show aimed at children aged 6 – 11. Kids can have crushes, too, but it wouldn’t be acceptable to have two 10-year-olds marry.  Seeing as Ash has been 10 for the entire run of Pokémon, and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon, it’s best to enjoy your favorite Pokémon ships and let other fans enjoy theirs. There’s no harm in it. Although PearlShipping isn’t canon, that doesn’t mean you can’t like the sweet moments between Ash and Dawn and interpret them however you like. 

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