Who is Ash's Father?
Posted 24 June 2009
Who is Ash’s father? This is a question that has confounded those in the pokémon fandom that follow the anime at all for the shows entire run. Now, it is pretty common that a show or series will never really explain what happened to the other spouse. However, when you get hundreds of episodes into a series, you’d think it would have come up. Really, there are three generally excepted theories on who Ash’s father is. The possibilities are: Giovanni, Professor Oak, and Mr. Ketchum.
Mr. Ketchum
It was said in Episode 2 of the pokémon anime that Ash’s father had left on a journey and never returned. It had taken him much longer than Ash to get to Viridian City, and that really can be interpreted that Ash had already surpassed his father. Obviously, Delia Ketchum could be referring to her husband, which may or may not be Ash’s actual genetic father. Regardless, Delia did have some relationship with Ash’s father. The theory would be that at some point Mr. Ketchum and Delia became married. They had Ash, and then soon thereafter, Mr. Ketchum left on a pokémon journey and never returned. Perhaps he died some horrible death on a Mount Moon cliff, perhaps he was too ashamed to return home from being a dismal failure. Regardless, this seems highly likely and we should remember that great characters do not beget great parents.
Giovanni
It was stated in Pokémon Live! that Delia Ketchum was formerly of Giovanni’s gang, in fact dating him. Eventually she got out of the “bad group” and had Ash, though the time period in between is not stated. Perhaps she realized she was pregnant and left Giovanni’s gang in order to raise her son properly. Perhaps. Some people draw a parallel to Silver of the games, as he is believed to be Giovanni’s son. However, we must remember that the anime and games are separate interpretations of Satoshi Tajiri’s vision of the pokémon world. (In fact, Tajiri believes the Special manga is the canon that best expresses his original vision). So it could be quite true that Pokémon Live doesn’t apply to anime canon at all and that this whole theory is moot.
Professor Oak
The last theory was first perpetuated by Pokemopolis. Have you ever noticed that about every time Ash calls or visits home in Pallet, Professor Oak is always at his mother’s house? Have you noticed that frequently when Ash calls Professor Oak, Delia is not far away? In Episode 18, Professor Oak and Delia went to Acapulco together. A tad strange, isn’t it? Also, notice that Ash is named after a tree, an ash tree. The Oak Family is named after oak trees. Both of these trees are common in deciduous forests throughout the world. Coincidence? I think not. It would make sense though. About every time in the anime that Ash encounters one, the other is not far behind. It seems too coincidental that for whatever reason, Delia would be at Oak’s or Oak’s at Delia whenever Ash called. This one, actually makes the most sense in my opinion. It could also give Gary a very good reason to dislike Ash. They are roughly the same age, and yet Ash is Gary’s uncle. Regardless, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that, if they weren’t sleeping together 10-15 years ago, they are now.