If there is one question Pokémon fans have been asking since the series got its start, it is where Ash Ketchum's father has been. This question has only grown more intriguing with each new series and game Pokémon has released. While there is plenty of speculation as to where Ash's father is and what he's doing while his 10-year-old son runs loose across each region, it appears fans may finally get a more concrete answer in the upcoming Pokémon The Movie: Coco. The film has a focus on father-and-child relationships, and because of this, Ash is expected to speak about his long-missing father.
Throughout the entire story, there has been little to no mention of Ash's father, leaving fans with nothing but threads to grasp at. Many fans assume he also grew up in Pallet Town, like Ash. Some Pokémon fans believe that Ash's dad is dead or that he and Ash's mother separated some time before Ash's journey started. He never appears at Ash's home in Pallet town or in any of the retellings of the beginning of Ash's Pokémon journey.
Fans may finally have some answers coming in the new movie, Pokémon The Movie: Coco, also know as Pokémon The Movie: Secrets of The Jungle. The twenty-third movie in the series places Ash in Okoya Forest, where he meets a child being raised by the Pokémon Zarude. There isn't much detail yet about the plot of the film, which released in Japan on December 25 and is set to come to the U.S. in 2021. According to Serebii, the story focuses on what parent-and-child relationships look like and how this differs from character to character.
Pokémon Fans Might Learn More About Ash's Father In The New Movie
Given the story is about children's relationships with their parents, Pokémon The Movie: Coco might offer fans an understanding of Ash's view of his life's role models and how they may have shaped his Pokémon journey. Thanks to a translation of the movie's novelization by Dogasu on Twitter, it appears Ash's father once encouraged Ash's dreams and urged him to always believe in himself. This is a trait Ash relies on throughout most of the Pokémon series, and learning more about Ash's father could help fans understand his drive to become a Pokémon master. If he is following in his own absent father's footsteps, for example, it could add a level of depth and sadness to Ash's story. Fans will have to wait for the new Pokémon movie's release, however, to learn more.
While it is unlikely anything released about Ash's father will affect the rest of the series, knowing where he has been all this time would be an interesting bit of trivia for longtime fans of the series. Details about Ash's pre-journey childhood have remained few throughout the series, other than his bad habit of being late to most important events and his mother Delia's encouragement of his desire to become a Pokémon Trainer. With the release of Pokémon The Movie: Coco, Pokémon fans could finally learn more about that childhood and how Ash's father impacted his life choices.
Source: Serebii, Dogasu/Twitter