Do you prefer a remarkable Ash-father or a unremarkable Ash-father

[KrspaceT]

The two great divides in the father of Ash debate is between the 'Great Trainer' and 'Guy who makes Ash in Kanto look good'. Two different author camps have leaned in both directions, and 20 years and the most recent references being in ICY and Koko of the guy....what's the preference of the watchers?

I personally can go either way myself, each having stuff I like and don't like. (I just dislike the Giovanni and Oak theories).

 

[Emmy]

I prefer my headcanon of Ash's father being a talented Trainer whose path to glory was cut short tragically by his untimely death and Ash tries to become a Master to bring his father's dream to fruition.

 

[ii kanji]

I thought I hated the idea of him being a waste of space until the speculation started around how he might be made out to be super inspiring in Koko, which made me realise that I hate that more. Unless he's dead*, we're left to assume that Hanako did all the heavy lifting in bringing Satoshi up. I would worry that if he is some world champion type character, then his professional success might be used as a handwave to excuse him of his sorely neglected parental responsibilities, which I am not at all ok with.

Better that he's a deadbeat.


*If he's properly dead it's even worse, because how in so many years has neither Hanako nor Satoshi mentioned it, despite ample opportune moments to do so? No thank you.

 

[KrspaceT]

I thought I hated the idea of him being a waste of space until the speculation started around how he might be made out to be super inspiring in Koko, which made me realise that I hate that more. Unless he's dead*, we're left to assume that Hanako did all the heavy lifting in bringing Satoshi up. I would worry that if he is some world champion type character, then his professional success might be used as a handwave to excuse him of his sorely neglected parental responsibilities, which I am not at all ok with.

Better that he's a deadbeat.


*If he's properly dead it's even worse, because how in so many years has neither Hanako nor Satoshi mentioned it, despite ample opportune moments to do so? No thank you.

I've only heard bits and drags of Koko Ash dad stuff, mind expanding it beyond 'Ash mentioned the guy?'

(...and I can relate. I've honestly grown to almost Draco in leather Pants the MHA Meta Liberation Army because I keep seeing them be used as new ways to go WOE TO THE QUIRKLESS...)

 

[Islander Princess]

I actually prefer to take the unremarkable route. I feel like if he was such a great trainer, people would probably be familiar with him and make some kind of connection when meeting Ash. I also agree with @ii kanji that his father being successful being used as a reasonable excuse for him ditching Ash and Delia doesn't sit right with me.

Also, with so many other main characters missing fathers (I know it's based off of the games, but still) I kind of just headcanon that deadbeat dads are an unfortunate but common occurrence in the Pokémon world.

 

[Daren]

Honestly, I prefer him as a mediocre trainer who didn't make the cut and abandoned his family. It would explain why there was so little mention of him throughout the series.

Not sure if Koko/I Choose You say anything to contradict that, though.

 

[Emmy]

Not sure if Koko/I Choose You say anything to contradict that, though.

For what it's worth if anyone is interested...



(Minor Koko spoilers obviously.)

 

[ii kanji]

I've only heard bits and drags of Koko Ash dad stuff, mind expanding it beyond 'Ash mentioned the guy?'

I only know what @Dogasu wrote in his review:

The "Satoshi talks about his dad" thing is basically just him saying something along the lines of "When I was little a bunch of the other kids would make fun of me because of my dream. But my papa told me that the map that leads to my dream is within me and that if I give up, my dream won't come true." And that's it! There was no mention of where his dad is now, no flashback showing his dad's face, none of that. Just two or three lines of dialogue, pretty much exactly as I predicted.

So it's pretty non-committal. What irked me was the expansive discussion beforehand that it might be something much more than this lol

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

They can’t possibly introduce him as a well accomplished trainer and make it convincing when nobody, not even his son, ever once mentioned his feats, saw him on a tournament or recognized the kid. It’s just too much for my suspension of disbelief.

 

[Galactic_V]

Satoshi's father is pretty much as abstract as the goal of Pokemon Master. There was a single mention of him in Episode 02, then Hikada revealed he could be introduced some day if the writers felt like it, and now at the movie Koko.

If I have to guess I'd say it doesn't matter whether he's remarkable or not lol, he'll be only in the case the plot demands. As for my headcanon, I have none, though I used to like the idea of Sakaki being the father, so I'll go with that xD

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Here’s my opinion.

When Ash was born his father left him in order to be a trainer. He eventually became Kanto’s champion when Ash beat the Kanto Elite 4. He’s basically the equivalent of Red on Mount Silver, the final boss that no one knows about.

 

[Bulbabrain]

I mean, the first question i want to ask is what qualifies as remarkable? Ash has succeeded a lot, beaten a darkrai no one else had and even won the alola championship. But there's also the fact that one guy in a filler episode was considered remarkable by his hometown because he placed in the second round of the unova league.

Frankly, ash being the son of someone notorious, but not necessarily a famous or remarkable trainer, is pretty interesting to me. I still remember that one episode where he was mistaken for the guy who sealed up the odd well, as well as that oneshot that had him at odds with his buisnessman dad who wanted to stop pokemon training. Usually when his dad is a famous trainer, its used to set up a divide, either for not being there when ash was around or to act as a bad guy who criticizes ash's training, but i think paul or oc trainers might work better as an ash training critic. Make ash's dad someone suceesfl or notorius, hell, make him a villain as long as he isnt giovanni, but dont make him a successful trainer.

 

[DynoStretch]

I always had him pegged as a deadbeat type. He left to go become a Pokemon champion to make his son proud, but couldn't make it due to some traumatizing reason, and was too ashamed to show himself to his family or even explain why he doesn't make contact with them. I imagine he still sends money to Delia though.

 

[Hidden Mew]

If Ash's father was a noteworthy trainer, I think it would have been brought up at some point during the original series. Either he would have been recognized as the son of a famous/well regarded trainer or his father would have been brought up in a conversation, like maybe how well he did during his first Pokemon League or something like that. I don't have a lot of theories about Ash's father, but I doubt that he's dead. Even that would have warranted him coming up at some point too for either Ash or Delia. I can't really see him as a deadbeat father either. It would kind of explain why he isn't brought up in conversation, but it would also feel like an easy answer. Granted, at this point, I don't know if they could give a satisfying answer about who Ash's father is or where he has been all this time. Having to work far away from his home might be a possibility.

Personally, I'm in the camp of Ash already has Professor Kukui as his Alolan Dad, so the topic of Ash's father beyond that feels rather moot to me at this point.

 

[dawn dusk]

SM108 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

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Tapu Fini has shown to be able to make water clocks out of water and bridge the world of the living with the world of the dead using mist.

I guess this episode proves that Ash's father is still alive and killing him would be contrary to this episode.

 

[KrspaceT]

SM108 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

I guess this episode proves that Ash's father is still alive and killing him would be contrary to this episode.

There is also the option that Ash....just doesn't care. He doesn't hate his dad and want to strangle him (like some fanfics), and he doesn't admire or adore or love him to want closure. He's just a fact of life....maybe.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I don't think that episode necessarily proves anything either. It honestly would have been kind of a weird way to introduce Ash's father when there were never any sign that he was dead or more importantly that Ash missed him. The same could apply to Mallow's mother since her sudden tragic backstory came right out of nowhere. It was already too sudden for Mallow to have lost her mother, so doing the same thing with Ash's father would have been even worse in that regard.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Unremarkable but alive.

 

[Glitchipedia]

I don't think he's necessarily some champion-level trainer, but that doesn't automatically make him an unsuccessful deadbeat. No, I reckon he's out there looking for something and just hasn't found it yet. It's possible Professor Oak even put him up to it.

 

[Emmy]

It would be funny if the writers just decided to have Ash's father show up causally one day back home and it's treated as totally normal and without any fanfare. Y'know, like he's a travelling parent who returns back home every once in a while (not unlike Ash).

I wonder how the fandom would react.