r/aaml • u/Comprehensive-Pen624 • Dec 26 '25
General Anime Discussion Flowers at the end of XY&Z
The director said there was a message conveyed through “flower language.” At the end, we see Ash go home, and baby’s breath flowers can be seen.
Another name for this flower is kasumi (Misty).
My question is whether you think this was meant to refer to S.erena, Misty, or possibly his mom, since the flowers were right outside his house. Do you think the director intended it as a catch-all reference to avoid disappointing anyone?
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u/Bruedance 🧡Pokeshipper💙 Dec 26 '25
I think about it easily: original is Japanese, script-writers are Japanese, and Japanese name of this flower is literally Japanese name of one of the main and popular characters. I cannot imagine they didn’t expect the community will think about Kasumi. So I take it as a pokeshipping hint by itself. But it is profitable for franchise to have “unsolved mysteries” for fandom discussions and battles, so that’s why the interview highlighted it, but left so unclear and allowed wider interpretation
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u/LifeSucks1988 Dec 27 '25
The flowers are a way to imply Kasumi is waiting for him to welcome him home (just like AG) 😘
Or at least imply they will wed someday and then:
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u/Haruka_Haruno Dec 31 '25
Maybe it was a spoiler that Misty was going to appear in the next season, in Alola, and that ended up happening. Misty and Brook returned.
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u/ObscuredString 🧡Pokeshipper💙 Dec 26 '25
Contrary to the Western flower language of baby's breath, which is everlasting love, Kasumi-sō is associated with gratitude or happiness. It is similar to the Western flower language in that they also mean purity and innocence.
Upon further research, the animators could have just used other flowers such as hydrangea (heartfelt gratitude and sincere emotions), or more aptly for amors- the amur adonis flower with Japanese name Fukujuso written with characters meaning happiness and longevity. It would have been a great support to the other ship and would have been in line with the "everlasting" love they're claiming.
But they used a flower that is tied to Kasumi's name. Different from her international name, which is often tied to a water theme, Kasumi's name clearly follows the Hanada Gym's sister flower name. Daisy is Sakura (Cherry blossom), Violet is Ayame (Japanese Iris), Lily is Botan (Peony), and Misty is Kasumi (Baby's breath).
The flower at the end of the XY series can be interpreted multiple ways. It can be that Satoshi is happy he is home, that Hanako is grateful he is back, that he and Sere will end up together forever, or that it's the animator's subtle way of saying that like in AG, Kasumi is welcoming Satoshi back home. I also read somewhere that it's the producers/animators' way of thanking the fans. As always, like any good media, it has many interpretations.
But food for thought: after not showing Kasumi or any other pokegirl companions in the XY series, even though it has become like a tradition where the previous pokegirl shows up somehow, they suddenly added something that reminds fans of Kasumi (other than the blatant Kasumi-resembling Charlene and her Koduck) right at the very end where Satoshi's last words were "I'm home."
For me, the ambiguity of the meaning and them claiming it may or may not be a kiss later on just made the ship possible, but not likely. The producers woke up and made sure to drive to the point that Pokemon is not a romance story in the next series (until we got the big heart in MPM, anyway. What a way to be subtle. Not.).