These coordinators are childhood friends from Twinleaf Town, and thus Kenny calls Dawn by her nickname - "Dee Dee". The ship name comes from Kenny having an Empoleon and Dawn having a Piplup. Empoleon is first introduced as a Prinplup, which Kenny uses in the Floarama Town Contest against Dawn. Before the second round starts he admits that he entered that specific contest because he knew she'd be there after seeing her in the Jubilife City Contest. Kenny fights to keep Dawn happy, whether it's keeping her from giving up or letting her travel to the Sinnoh League with Ash despite winning a bet against him. The crush Kenny has on his friend is written to be apparent, and Brock even gives him love advice to deal with it at one point. When Dawn is leaving for Lily Of The Valley Island she leaves a note at the lighthouse for Kenny that ends with, "P.S: One more thing, and I hope you don't mind, you looked kind of handsome when you beat Ash."
— In the anime —
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
— Fan art —
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
My thoughts — Kenny > Paul. I prefer penguin because Kenny is such a cutie and he and Dawn are a great match; they're both coordinators and they're childhood friends. Dawn is someone I ship with a few people but I enjoyed seeing her with Kenny in the anime more than with Paul, Ash, or even Zoey.
