Even if Ash remains the protagonist of certain future Pokemon films or other media, his story will remain incomplete if his father’s identity is left unexplored in the show. His father doesn’t need to be a Pokemon master or even a known character of importance, but to leave Ash essentially back where he started lacks the emotional catharsis an ending this significant should have. It’s not as though the series hasn’t toyed with the question of Ash’s absent father figure; he is mentioned briefly on several occasions. If Ash’s journey is truly to come to an end, the possibility that half of his immediate family could be ignored and undeveloped for good feels deeply dissatisfying.
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What Is Known About Ash Ketchum’s Father
Information about the Ketchum family has remained surprisingly sparse despite the long run of the Pokemon TV series. Pokemon storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka was quoted in an interview saying that the character of Ash’s father was not a major priority for the show’s writers. Ash’s father is known to be a Pokemon trainer, presumably from Pallet Town, and the same goes for Ash’s grandfather. Both elder Ketchums went on Pokemon journeys similar to Ash, but their whereabouts and accomplishments have remained a mystery.
In Takeshi Shudo’s Pocket Monsters: The Animation novelization, there is a little bit more clarification on where Ash Ketchum’s dad might be. There is a brief mention that Ash’s father left on his Pokemon journey after Ash was born and didn’t keep in contact, but that is hardly a complete story. The book gives the explanation that Ash’s father did not register his name like Pokemon trainers are supposed to, and as a result, left no way of locating him unless he chooses to make himself known. This make’s Ash’s father sound like little more than a self-centered absentee, but Ash’s own memories of his father conflict with this reading of events.
Ash brings up his father in Pokemon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, describing his father’s support for his dream to become a Pokemon Trainer. While the TV show’s continuity is separate from that of film and print Pokemon media, these mentions do serve to bring some much-needed context to a relatively unknown figure in the story.
The Case For Revealing Ash Ketchum’s Father In The Pokemon TV Series
Ash’s perpetual state as a 10-year-old on his Pokemon journey made sense in service of maintaining the childish heart of the series, but there is something existential about the idea that Ash’s father and grandfather are somehow still doing the same. The claim that his father has seemingly been on a never-ending journey that Ash’s mother not only accepted but supported, feels almost like a cover by Ash’s mother to describe his father’s passing or cruel abandonment.
Despite the tenuous nature of Ash’s father’s absence, both of these potential spins on the story feel too dark to serve as an explanation, given how bright and joyful the Pokemon TV series is at heart. The possibility of Ash visiting the grave of his father or acknowledging his hypothetical passing also feels somewhat out of place with Ash’s journey as a character. There has not been a meaningful build up of information or even allusions to the possibility of Ash’s father being dead. Without a clear answer though, the series feeling emotionally incomplete and all fans can do is fill in the gaps themselves.
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The Reasons Ash’s Father May Never Be Revealed
There are some legitimate reasons for Ash’s father not to be included, though. Despite the ways it could serve as an emotional endpoint for Ash Ketchum, the lack of development or consistent allusions to Ash’s father could make the reveal feel hollow. If Ash’s father is truly just a random man that has been out adventuring this whole time, it might be more frustrating than fulfilling. It would feel unearned if he simply popped into existence at a convenient moment rather than appearing for a well-considered narrative purpose. The appearance of Ash’s father would have to be built up in a mini-arc to not feel like a complete 180 pivot from the show’s consistent and active choice to sideline his father’s circumstances for so long.
While some kind of reveal is far from impossible, it will be difficult to overcome the narrative inertia working against it, however emotionally satisfying it might be. Whether it’s an understated reveal that Ash’s father is simply a random Pokemon trainer, or if he has secretly been another character this whole time, no answer feels entirely satisfying. In the absence of even a dissatisfying canon answer, fans have taken to theorizing potential fathers as unlikely as the Team Rocket leader Giovanni and even the TV anime’s narrator.
The emotions are high from fans of all ages at such a major turning point in the history of the Pokemon TV series. There are likely to be more than a few callbacks and loose ends tied up for series favorites, but at the end of the day, Ash will be where he always has been, at the center of it all. Fans may never see him look a day over 10, but that is all the more reason that Ash’s story of childhood adventure and independence, should end in a home more complete than the one he left behind. However the show runners handle Ash’s final moments, fans should keep tissues on hand.
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