Shipping:SapphirePearlShipping

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SapphirePearlShipping (Japanese: ヒカハル HikaHaru or ハルヒカ HaruHika) is the belief that and  belong in a romantic relationship. The name comes from prior to revealing that "Pearl" is the  instead of the  and associating it with May's, Sapphire.

The Ship's initial reason for being somewhat popular is that fans believed they would be cute together, since they are the female protagonists of the and  sagas of the, based on the female player characters of Hoenn and Sinnoh. It was originally supported as a nevermet shipping until the characters crossed paths in the anime, giving more substance beyond the usual, "nevermet" reasons. Its popularity grew from there.

Dawn's hints

 * A Full Course Tag Battle!
 * Dawn is excited about seeing May for the first time.
 * When the two girls finally meet, they hit it off right away, and Dawn is very enthusiastic to learn about May's adventures in Johto.
 * Dawn is constantly fascinated with May's Pokémon, seeming to find them cute as well as strong.
 * In the Japanese version of the episode, Hikari (Dawn) refers to Haruka (May) as "Haruka-san", showing great respect, and adding to the already solid evidence that Hikari idolizes Haruka.
 * In the English version, when May becomes overly fired up after the gang and staff learn Team Rocket stole the restaurant's food, Dawn cries out in dismay, "What happened to our princess?!" while weeping.


 * Staging A Heroes Welcome
 * After May finishes brushing Dawn's hair, she says, "No need to worry! Not with pretty hair." This compliment makes Dawn blush.
 * When May encourages her to have a great time during the Contest and winks at her, Dawn's eyes shimmer as she replies softly, "Okay."

May's hints

 * A Full Course Tag Battle!
 * When the girls first meet, Dawn gives May a bunch of compliments and May blushes.


 * All through their arc, May is willing to help Dawn in many ways, becoming a close friend of hers.

Other hints

 * In A Full Course Tag Battle!, Dawn's Piplup seems to look up to May's Blaziken when the two battle together similarly to how Dawn idolizes May.

Similarities

 * They both are s with blue eyes.
 * Both of their starter Pokémon are based on birds. They are also both bird-like Pokémon who never acquire, during their evolutionary lines, the Flying type.
 * Their  made cameo appearances in Giratina and the Sky Warrior, battling against each other.
 * Both have been in a Double Battle where their partner used a.
 * Both have decided to travel to another region after leaving in order to compete in Pokémon Contests. Notably, each went to the region that debuted in the previous generation of their own. May, who is from Hoenn, decided to travel to Johto in Home is Where the Start Is!; and Dawn, who is from Sinnoh, decided to go to Hoenn in SS024.
 * Later, Dawn was last seen deciding to travel to Johto, where May is, for the Wallace Cup.