"Wedding!
" is a Pokémon: The Series fanfic by Dryuu. It is a Shipping fic, specifically of Advanceshipping (Ash x May).
Set some time after the Unova League, Ash Ketchum finds out that a friend of his is going to get married. For a reason he himself couldn't understand (because he's Oblivious to Love as usual), Ash has an urge to stop the ceremony. He soon learns the awkward truth and now has to deal with the consequences. Hilarity Ensues.
It currently stands at 14 chapters, and seems to be on an indefinite hiatus note .
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: May at first confuses Unova for Anova until Ash corrects her.
- Attention Whore: Since Charizard is not native to Hoenn, he becomes an instant tourist attraction the whole time Ash and May are in Mauville City. And Charizard's ego is so big that he relishes in the limelight he's given.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- The whole story was set into motion because Ash learns May is going to get married. He takes Charizard to the venue where the wedding is going to take place, interrupts the ceremony, and learns that the wedding is between two complete strangers (to him).
- Ash still plans to crash the actual wedding where May is going to be. Ash is someone who knows next to nothing about love or associated subjects, including a little matter called age of consent: May's not going to get married because she wasn't of the right age yet! He finally finds out when May herself confronted him for his actions.
- Beta Couple:
- Brock and Misty got a Relationship Upgrade of their own offscreen.
- The bride and groom of the two separate weddings the plot revolves around, Chris & Elise and Wallace & Winona. It was pointed out that even though they're gym leaders (and thus, celebrities) the latter pair somehow got overshadowed by Ash's antics, although they don't hold that against him (or May).
- Big "WHAT?!": The reactions from Ash's friends and Caroline when Ash and May returned from Mauville City, with a baby. They soon learn that it was actually a baby Pokémon.
- Brick Joke:
- Charizard not being native to Hoenn. First it somehow clued May in to who the wedding crasher was before her parents could find out, later it's shown that Ash's Charizard has become a tourist attraction.
- Caroline, knowing the situation between Ash and May, and supportive of it even, still sends Max to accompany them when the two go off on their own, with Caroline calling her son a "buffer". This confuses Max since he has no idea what she meant (nor does anyone else). It takes Max several chapters to figure it out.
- Chick Magnet: May is not amused that her new boyfriend suddenly attracted the attention of many female shopkeepers.
- Continuity Nod: Wattson bemoans the fact that Ash has bested him again. The first time it happened was during their official Gym match in Advanced Generation which was a Curb-Stomp Battle in Ash's favor.
- Date Peepers: Brock, Max, Misty, and Dawn all eavesdrop on Ash and May's big confessions.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: May is not exactly forgiving of Ash for the whole incident. Once she finds out the motive behind those actions, she softens her demeanor. Eventually, it all melts once they have their Relationship Upgrade.
- Demoted to Extra: Pikachu of all Pokémon. In Ash's hurry to get to Hoenn he somehow forgot to bring his partner. Later, because of his refusal to go into a Pokéball, Pikachu can't use the Pokémon Transfer, so he gets stuck back in Unova while the rest of the team get to go to Hoenn.
- The Dreaded: Norman for reasons obvious to the story's plot, Played for Laughs. Caroline's the only one who can keep him in check.
- Earth Drift: The author went by the logic that the distance between the various regions are the same as the ones they're a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of. This meant that when Charizard flew off from Johto to Unova and then to Hoenn, it was either he crossed the Pokéworld equivalent of the Pacific twice, or he made a round-the-world trip, both of which are treated in-universe as impressive feats.
- Everyone Has Standards: Caroline may show subtle support for the focal couple's growing relationship, but she still draws the line at some things: she refuses to let Ash and May to go off on their own together (having Max accompany them), and was just as horrified as everyone was when the two returned from Mauville City with a baby in tow.
- First-Episode Twist: May was never actually going to get married. It was all a massive misunderstanding on Ash's part.
- I "Uh" You, Too: Remember that supposedly unrelated other wedding in the beginning? The words Ash blurted out are enough to tell May (when she sees a video of it) that he sees her as more than just a friend. By contrast, May gives a more straightforward Love Confession.
- I Was Just Joking: Upon first hearing of the incident, May ponders that it was actually something of a romantic gesture, and says out loud that she wouldn't mind something like that happening on her own wedding. This earns her a weird look from her parents that May had to retract her words.
- Motive Misidentification:
- May meets Elise, the bride of the ceremony that Ash almost ruined, and comes to the conclusion that the latter is out for revenge. However, what Elise really wanted was to show May a video of Ash during the ceremony in question.
- When May makes her confession, the others notice that Misty is uncomfortable, and mistake it as a sign of jealousy. Misty had to clarify that she was worried for May's sake, because she believes May is going to experience the same heartache Misty did.
- Mythology Gag:
- Wallace and Winona are the actual groom- and bride-to-be, respectively. Out of left-field for those accustomed to them in the games or the anime, but not from readers of Pokémon Adventures, where they are a couple.
- After Wattson accepts "defeat", he gave Ash a Pokémon egg as a prize. In the games, Hoenn's Pokémon Daycare is located just outside Mauville City.
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: From Ash when May wondered where Dawn picked up the whole "Princess of Hoenn" idea in the first place. May doesn't notice, but Caroline did.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Ash becomes infamous for crashing a wedding. His friends wouldn't let him hear the end of it as a result.
- Overused Running Gag: Ash has gotten used to Charizard repeatedly roasting him that, as soon as he opens the door to the cell where the dragon was contained, he immediately sidesteps out of the way of the Flamethrower.
- Relationship Upgrade: As expected of a Shipping fanfic, Ash and May get together roughly by the halfway point.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Why would Elise want to help Ash and May (the one who almost ruined her big day and the "motive" for his actions, respectively) get together? So that someone can rein him in and curb his impulses. That way, he won't be ruining any other wedding ceremonies in the future.
- Smart Ball:
- Ash correctly guesses the identity of the groom just before they are about to meet, because of a Sherlock Scan. Wallace, the groom in question, was impressed.
- Zig-zagged. Ash somehow solves a lightbulb puzzle that Wattson, its very own creator, hasn't even solved yet. Ash admits afterwards (only to May) that the way he solved it was actually just a lucky fluke. However, the fact that he manages to solve it for a second time due to an oversight that Wattson didn't know, is still a smart move on its own.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ash gets a lot of flak from his friends for his rash actions.
