Gimme another famous imported-from-Japan kids anime-stylee cartoon. Do I hear a cry of Sailor Moon? (or Sailormoon to subtitled Anime purists, bless you). Yeeees? Well, you know Zoicite? She is a He. Which means...oh no! He's screwing Malachite! He's gay! Arrrgh my innocence is tarnished!! Yep, to save parents blushes all accross the western world, the dubbers kindly pencilled in tits and a ponytail.Or something. And theres more. You know Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune of the Outer Senshi? They'rrrrre Lesbians! They don't just share a close relationship, after much prodding of the anime makers, it was admitted those two are lovers. Just because american cartoons are too coy to admit reality exits and boys sometimes like boys and girls sometimes like girls, doesnt mean the Japanese have the same hangups.

"But Pokemon isnt as close to yer normal anime as Sailor Moon!!! Nothing that outlandish happens in it!!!" Cries the twerpshipper in (some of) us. Yeah? Well then, explain this one~~~~~>

Okay so Pokemon is a wee bit more kiddied up than the adventures of Serena & co, but it's still anime and it has still had an epsiode cut because it was felt the youth of America couldnt handle James tarted up as a woman and waving a pair of falsies the size of twin hot air balloons in Misty's face while spouting such sage advice as "These are too much for a ten year old like you to handle" and "They have to be at least this big to win". or so I'm told. By the way - isnt James hot? Rrrraowr.

Anyway, after that, is it such a stretch that Ash and Gary may have a teeny bit of a crush going on? And what about Misty and Prima (Who is sodding LORELI, you dubbing feckwits) eh?

You remember those romatic comedy farce thingys that the dinosaur age of the 1940s was so keen on? What happened? The two leads that you knew were just all kawaii and right for each other would run around missing each other by moments, which just prolonged the tension until they finally admitted "You know,  Petunia, I ...I....Rather like you. You're a...a.. Jolly nice girl"

Well, the same thing happens a lot to Ash and Gary. Take  Squirtle Squad for instance. It even has a comedy fall after Gary smacks Ash in the face with a door.

<~~~~Insert your own crappy lovestruck joke here.

Mistys the main good-guy character apart from Ash yeah? And she's a girl! Oh, well then, they MUST be made for each other.

Excuse me for not following the herd that chooses to bundle a the male protangonist with the female protagonist. Just because they happen to be on speaking terms.

"But Misty's been travelling with Ash for ages and they're really close friends!!!" Oh shuttup. You do realise you could say the same damn thing about Ash and Brock don't you? well then.

Also, Ash, despite having attended the "Gotta Catch About 8 Pokemon In Two Years, Then Attempt To Give Most Of Them Away And Use Only Pikachu" school of Pokemon actually cares about his Pokemon. Unlike Misty, who abuses Psyduck in just about every way under the sun, depsite the fact its done more for her than crappy staryu ever has.  Does Ash look like he finds Misty attractive right here? ~~~~~~>

Ash and Gary have been rivals for years, yeah? Then why the sudden Amnesia? "You're Gary Oak?" My ass. COME ON!!!! How big is Pallet Town? Has Ash never got into a social situation before? Have they just been holed up in their respective rooms playing with their joysticks? Ash and Gary have always known each other, always been rivals, thats the whole damn point.

Soooo...someones broken off the friendship here. getting a little too close for comfort were we lads? Perhaps in Showdown at the Poke Corral the reason theyre yelling "I'M READY!!!" at each other is to hint that they feel emotionally ready to engage in a relationship. And not because they're ready to go to the pokemon leaugue, oh nooo....

Look, trust me, I'm a top of the class media student. NONE (that is NONE) of the main characters are EVER going to get it together. And this isnt just because Palletshipping is a bit "edgy" for the US audiences taste, its because the main characters having a romantic relationship would be the kiss of doom for pokemon. the demographic its aimed at just wouldnt take to it. AND it rules out male-female relationships too, so even if the writers lost their brains and decided Ash wanted to pork Misty, they still wouldnt do it. If you want consummation, go play in the fanfic sites. Or even the AGNPH archive ::snicker::

BUT all this doesnt rule out attraction between characters, it just scuppers the chances of them having a relationship. So we can still enjoy the tender way Ash holds Gary in Battle Of The Badge. And revel in the knowledge that the dialogue was a lot more intimate in the original version... "Hold on, Gary!" ....YAY! GO SHISHI!!!!!!!

I wonder if he has a matching whip.......

Hawaiian Shirts. Why not just stick a label saying "CAMP AS A FIELD FULL OF BOYSCOUTS" on your back? Theres a certain type of man who willingly wears a hawaiian shirt  in public. And Gary is one of those men. Interesting.....

Also, note the different responses: Team Rocket, evil bad guy type people appear to boot Misty off stage, Ash doesnt bloody move. Gary appears, Ash leaps up like a mad person and gets into one of those teasing fights. Oh that Gary! But does Ash really think Gary is more of a threat than team rocket? Or did he just really, really wanna get his attention? Oooh, now let me think........

Um hello? Since when did the name Ashy Boy figure as an insult? It's so a pet name.

Besides, if you really want to hurt someone, you insult them. You just say "Hey, you're a talentless scrawny shortbus with the charisma of a sweat sock. Now feck off." or something. You do not tease them. Little boys tease little girls as a proto-chatup line. Gary teases Ash on the same principle.

Ash takes it all so damn personally too. And why? Because he loves and respects Gary. In Poke Corral he listens to some trainer advice from Gary, so you know he respects his opinion. And EVERY time Gary teases him, Ash falls over and acts like a madman. his entire central nervous system is afftected. Ladies and Gentlemen, This is love!

And who could forget in Battle of the Badge Gary wanted Ash to win? HEY! You hate someone, you revel in their misfortune. You love them, then you foil the plans of team rocket for them.

Oooh, my area of expertise since I watched it about 5 times due to dodgy scheduling on the TV.

Gary is having one long wink at ash through a large section of the scene in the living room. if that isnt flirting, what is? Oh, and for more proof, while winking, gary says something like "I could beat you with my hands tied behind my back!" we only assume hes talking about pokemon, but this is OBVIOUSLY a sexual invitation!

Ash says to gary "I thought we were going to..." without finishing his sentance. "have sex" is a more likely end to this than "battle"

They compare krabby sizes. Oh please, if this isnt a metaphor for little boys comparing their you-know-whats, what is?? You know what they say about the size of a guys krabby! and well, uh, did you SEE the size of Gary's crustacean-type pokemon? Ash is disturbed not because he thinks Gary is a better trainer, but because he thinks Gary is a catch.

And this is before we get into ash's submissive behaviour, damnit! He crouches before Gary at one point and we're supposed to believe all he wants is the location of pokemon league (which oak could tell him anyway) ??

These two are permenantly thinking about each other. I mean, yegods, remember that million dollar bet Gary had with Oak the Ash wouldnt catch any pokemon? Why was Gary talking to Oak about Ash? Why did gary care?

And if you really want to annoy Ash, mention Gary to him. It even makes him want to capture pokemon  sometimes, which is a bloody rare experience. Or even ::shock:: train them. After seeing the discrepency in Krabby sizes between him and Gary, he actually uses his in a match. Wow. Just the whisper of Gary's name guarantees sleepless nights for young Ketchum.

I think that message on the sign was meant to read "Gary was here! Ash is a hot sexy bitch!" but he bottled out. Shame really.

If we're such a threat we're getting something right then! Hah!

And its not just cos people like me repeatedly call Misty a bitch. Oh no, never.