Fans of the Pokemon franchise are all too familiar with its usual suspects. Despite the game's featuring their own sets of characters, the anime series' mainstays, Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, James, and co., are all just about household names nowadays.

While many players flock behind characters like Pikachu and Jigglypuff for their cuteness, other characters like Wobbuffet and James have gained popularity for being simply relatable, if not stylish. That being said, one of the characters that has remained a complete Poke-mystery since the franchise's inception, Ash Ketchum's father, continues to remain shrouded in secrecy.

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As per the official Pokemon anime series, Ash Ketchum lived with his mother Delia Ketchum, until departing on his Pokemon-research journey at the age of 10. While Delia herself has received a fair amount of character development since the series' start, Ash's father has never been established, let alone acknowledged. While many fans have speculated as to Ash's family, and whether or not his father might even be alive, one recent theory looks to somewhere rather... nefarious.

In a simple Reddit post, u/Sneklover24 highlights the theory that Ash's "real parents" have been Team Rocket all along. More specifically, that Team Rocket's President Giovanni is actually Ash's father, and that he hired the bumbling trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, to perpetually fail to "steal Pikachu" in an indirect attempt to keep watch over his son. This theory has little direct or substantial evidence to support it, but it does track quite nicely with the existing details of the Pokemon anime.

First and foremost, Giovanni is a figure who's always in hiding. His general lack of presence makes him an easy target for such a theory, but at the same time, explains why he's rarely spoken of. Giovanni, Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym, and President of Team Rocket, is surrounded by controversy. As an official figure in the Poke-world, and a literal crime boss, it would be understandable that Ash's mom wouldn't want to bring him up around her son.

Then there's the matter of the classic Team Rocket Trio. Jessie, James, and Meowth, effectively live in a nonstop attempt at capturing Ash's Pikachu (and sometimes other Pokemon). Especially given that they're adults, one might have expected them to succeed by now, yet there they are, continuing to chase Pikachu. This theory asserts that this is on purpose. Whether or not Jessie and co. are intentionally bumbling is up for debate, but some fans insist that Giovanni simply hired the people he knew would never succeed. What better way to secretly keep watch over his son than by sending the two most good-hearted bad-guy wannabes in all of Kanto? If anything, that's fatherly love.

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