Equality Between Ash and Dawn: Right from the outset.
Some dispute that ALL female companions and their shipping with Ash are the same. In other words, ALL of the female companions are equal and have an equal chance. However, all of the Diamond and Pearl openings shown give Dawn a clear advantage just by the opening text.
The text reads:
"Now, the story of Satoshi and Hikari, and Pokémon, their meetings, adventures, and battles is about to begin!"
With ALL of the non-DP openings, this text only reads "Now, the story of Satoshi" without including any other character. High Touch isn't the only DP opening to include the story of both "Satoshi and Hikari", ALL of the Japanese Diamond and Pearl openings have both of them. It's subtle but effective hints that add strength to Pearlshipping.
What does this mean? First off, no other female companion has their name here, so Hikari is already more important than the all the others. No, Dawn is the only companion EVER to have their name here.
Don't you think that if Serena was going to end up with Ash they would at least put HER name there? This can apply to anyone else that might end up with Ash.
This is clearly not the case. From the surface, it means Dawn is also, like Ash, the main hero.
Ash and Dawn as a duo are the main heroes, which means together they are the main hero of Pokémon. Remember how no other companion can relate? Stating that it's all about Ash and Dawn was predestination, they already knew it was going to be about the two. Dawn being the only female companion to be a main means that she is the most important with Ash and to Ash. This is how the Japanese writers see it. Ash and Dawn were meant to be together just as their names are in the openings.