Shipping:AltoShipping

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AltoShipping (Japanese: サトラティ SatoLati) is the belief that Ash Ketchum and belong in a romantic relationship. It comes from the movie, Pokémon Heroes, and is named after its setting, Alto Mare. However, some Ash and supporters also choose to use this name for their Ship instead, though officially, the proper name for the couple of Ash and Bianca is MareShipping (Japanese: サトカノ SatoKano).

Hints between Ash and Latias
The following are hints which some AltoShippers believe supports the idea of Ash and Latias a couple. None of these points have been proven by Pokémon, so none of these hints are conclusive.


 * In the scene when Latias is attacked by and Oakley, Ash comes without his friends  and  (as he would usually bring them along) to help Latias and protect her. Ash soon helps Latias escape from Annie and Oakley's Pokémon.
 * When Ash enters the Secret Garden, he meets Latias there in a human guise, which is identical to Bianca. Then, suddenly, Ash is attacked by, Latias's brother. Latios is about to deliver the final blow when Latias runs out and protects Ash from being attacked any further.
 * After Latias (disguised as Bianca) and Lorenzo have stopped Bianca and Latios from attacking Ash, Latias takes Ash's hand, sits him on a swing, walks around and pushes off on the swing and stands on the swing while Ash sits on it. After Latias reveals her true appearance, Ash falls off the swing and faceplants on the stone floor. Latias picks him up to see if he is okay, he is, and she is very happy and starts flying close circles around Ash. The next shot is Lorenzo saying that Latias must have taken a liking to Ash.
 * When Latias grabs Ash's hat, Ash does not get mad at Latias, but rather just chases her playfully around to try and get it back, unlike the episode in the series where a stole Ash's hat and severely ticked him off.
 * In the part of the movie where Latias looks for help, since Annie and Oakley have captured Latios, she specifically goes to Ash. She even slips into her human guise and hugs Ash, and cries on him when she asks for his help.
 * When Ash is attacked by the, he jumps off his water vehicle and lands underwater, an already frightened Latias bravely checks Ash to make sure he is safe.
 * After Latias lifts the unconscious Ash up from underwater, she holds him in her arms, and Ash thanks her, to which she happily blushes. Ash then spends a moment smiling softly at her as she carries him along the water surface.
 * After Latios passes away, Latias stirs in Ash's arms. After they get Latios' Soul Dew, Ash takes her back into his arms and calmly comforts her.
 * At the end of the movie when Ash is about to leave, a beret-less "Bianca" runs up to Ash, wordlessly gives him a picture, takes her time kissing him on the cheek, and runs away. While it seems the movie purposefully left her identity an open question, many fans argue it was more likely to be Latias. This is because she didn't speak a word, wasn't wearing a hat, and because Latias had showed interest in and interacted with Ash orders of magnitude more than Bianca did, throughout the movie.

Hints between Ash and Bianca
AltoShipping is also uncommonly referred to as the relationship between Ash and Bianca, though noted above, its official name is MareShipping. There are some factors contributing to the belief of this pairing.
 * Ash initially thinks it is Bianca first when Latias approached him, even after he knew Latias often took her form. Therefore, he may have been looking forward to Bianca being there.
 * Ash and Bianca become friends after she realizes that Ash wasn't harming Latios at all.
 * When Ash sees Bianca and Lorenzo in trouble, Ash cries, "Bianca! And Lorenzo." He says Bianca's name first and with more shock, showing that he cares about her.
 * Bianca's hat is left on the easel. It's possible Bianca tried to look like Latias in her human guise by leaving her hat there so that Ash wouldn't think it was Bianca who kissed him.
 * When Ash is handed the picture of him and Pikachu, it is thought by supporters to be Bianca, because Latias isn't known to be able to draw, and it's unusual for anyone to give away someone else's art. However, Pokémon themselves might not hold the same concepts of ownership, and is impossible to say if Latias would not give Ash something that wasn't hers, or if the sketch wasn't done for or by Latias, making it hers to give away, regardless. Another possibility is that Bianca made the artwork and had Latias deliver it. Whether the kiss was expected or not would be another question.