Can we talk about Ash’s dad? I’ve been dying to talk about Ash’s daddy with you all day. The identity of Ash’s father is one of the Pokemon universe’s biggest mysteries, and I’ve never understood why the series creators are so cagey about who this guy is. We know he exists because he’s been mentioned before in the Pokemon novels, and we’ve even seen him once before in a flashback, but Ash has never talked about him… until now.
Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle premiered on Netflix last week and finally gave us another hint about who Ash’s dad is. Secrets of the Jungle is about a boy named Koko who was abandoned in the jungle and raised by a Zarude named Dada. Koko believes himself to be a Zarude until he meets Ash and learns about humans. Koko confronts Dada and learns that he tried to return him to his family but was never able to find them. This sends Koko and Ash off on a mission to find his biological parents.
Koko is, understandably, struggling with all of this new information. Not only did he learn that he was adopted, but he’s also coming to terms with the fact that he isn’t even a Pokemon. He didn’t even know humans existed before he met Ash, and the revelation is causing him to experience a real identity crisis.
To help Koko feel understood, Ash tells him a story about his dad. “When I was little, I told some other kids about my goals, and they laughed at me,” Ash says. “But my dad told me something I never forgot. The map to your goal is inside yourself. If you give up, your dream is never going to come true. Now, being on my journey with Pikachu, I’m starting to get what he meant.” He encourages Koko not to worry about who his real parents are, and concludes by saying “I’ll tell ya, family sure can be a mystery, huh?” The filmmakers are clearly having a laugh at the fandom's obsession with Ash’s dad, but at least they’ve finally given us something to work with.
This is the most we’ve ever heard about Ash’s relationship with his dad. Before this movie, the only evidence we have that he ever had a father came from the obscure Pocket Monsters: The Animation novels where Ash’s mom Delia mentions that Ash’s dad and grandpa were off on their own adventure. In Volume 1: The Departure, Delia says “Ash’s father and grandfather are still on a journey somewhere with the aim of becoming Pokémon Masters… What an envy!” The novels were written by Takeshi Shudo, head writer of the original Pokemon series. There’s also a flashback scene from the episode ‘Strategy Begins at Home’ from Diamond & Pearl Galactic Battles where you can see Ash’s dad grooming a Rapidash.
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Beyond that, all we have is a few quotes from the creators themselves. In the commentary for Pokemon 3: The Spell of the Unknown, the producers explained that we’d learn more about Ash’s dad in season five, but that never happened. There’s also an interview with a storyboard artist from the anime who believes that Ash’s dad is a Pokemon trainer off on his own journey.
Despite the fact that Ash never speaks to his father, this scene in Secrets of the Jungle indicates that, at the very least, he has fond memories of the man. If he is a Pokemon trainer, it's hard to believe Ash has never ran into him on any of his adventures around the world. Ash has also saved the world many times and been involved in several major, newsworthy events. You’d imagine that even the most selfish father would crawl out of the woodwork when his son became famous, but for some reason, we’ve never heard a peep from this guy.
We all just want to know why Ash’s dad flaked out on the family. Is he a deadbeat? Does he care at all about his wife and son? Hearing him mentioned in Secrets of the Jungle gives me hope that we might eventually find out more about him. Even though the current series of Pokemon movies are technically in a weird alternate timeline of the main anime series, it would still be nice to finally find out who he is.