HatThiefShipping: (Ash/Aipom) you all should've seen that coming. Anyone who's looked at my polls, quiz questions, or forums I've posted knows I'm a MAJOR HatThiefShipper. Ash and Aipom are just so adorable, and to me they're meant for each other. Aipom always teases Ash by taking his hat and running around with it, and as Brock said in "Borroing on Bad Faith", "It's Aipom showing affection for Ash whether he likes it or not." It's also her way of showing her feelings for him because when she does this, she's usually just playing around with him. The only time she did this when she wasn't trying play around with Ash was in "Aipom and Circumstance" when she became jealous of Ash and Pikachu's close bond, causing her to pull Ash to the ground, take his hat, and run away with it in anger. Later on in the episode when Ash found her she had taken a crown from a village, and when Ash tried to get Aipom to come to him she once again became jealous and angry when she saw Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, causing her that time to run away with the crown. Later on when Ash found Pikachu and Aipom who were hiding from villagers that had been chasing after Aipom to get the crown from her, Aipom was very scared and she hugged Ash who then promised her if she became the king of the village he'd stay with her the whole year. Max reminded Ash the gang was really close to the battle pyramid and Ash said "Hey we can't just go and leave one of the family behind." When Aipom heard Ash say this, she smiled because she realized just how much Ash cared about her. After the gang finally got crown off Aipom, Ash hugged her and told her "Please stop doing crazy stuff." Aipom then blushed as Ash laughed. That episode really proves just how much Aipom loves Ash. An episode that proves just how much Ash cares about Aipom is "Borrowing on Bad Faith" when Jessie wanted to use Aipom for an unofficial Pokémon Contest, but Ash originally wouldn't let her until Jessie reminded that she saved Aipom's life. During the Contest, Ash was shown being very annoyed by Aipom, but in his mind he was worried that Aipom might leave him to go with Jessie. Later on after Jessie won she and Team Rocket stole the bananas, and Aipom began chasing after the balloon, causing Jessie and Ash to think Aipom wanted to go with Jessie, and this made Ash sad until Dawn and Brock pointed out Aipom was only after Team Rocket because they had bananas. At the end of the episode, Ash told Aipom she needed to calm down because of all the trouble she caused, but Ash soon forgave Aipom After Dawn said she believed Aipom liked Contests more than Gym battles, Ash replied "Nah. Aipom loves battling in the Gyms. Go ahead and tell 'em, Aipom." Aipom then took Ash's hat and made him chase her around again. So, Ash may get annoyed by Aipom from time to time, but when push comes shove he really does care about her a lot.
