Gary X Misty - Tumblr Posts

Not to bash on anyone's ships, or anything, but there is one ship dynamic that I simply can't stand, and that's "Main character's overly competitive and arrogant rival x The main character's supportive girl(best)friend".

Like, okay, I'm not as familiar with as many shows and anime as I would like to be, but in the media I've consumed, these ships don't make any sense! These two characters will barely interact, and when they do they mostly talk about the main character, and yet people will act like they've been connected at the hip! Not only that, but most of the time, the fan art, fanfics, and other fan works of these will have the two other characters treat the main character like dirt! Even if those characters' most kind and tender moments were towards the main character!

Can someone please try to explain what the interest in these ships comes from?!