Popular Pokemon Theory Debunked by Manga's Creators
For nearly twenty years, fans of the Pokemon franchise have wondered whether there was a [...]
For nearly twenty years, fans of the Pokemon franchise have wondered whether there was a connection between Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokemon anime, and Red, the mute protagonist of Pokemon Red and Blue and one of the leads of the Pokemon Adventures anime. After all, Ash and Red bear a passing resemblance to one another (since Ash was modelled off of Red's original design) and even have the same signature Pokemon, Pikachu.
One popular fan theory was that Red was Ash's father, who abandoned his family before the start of the Pokemon anime began, but left Pikachu behind at Professor Oak's lab to look after his son. The theory goes that Ash's completed Pokedex actually belonged to Red, who filled it during his journey through Kanto as a child.
During San Diego Comic-Con, the Huffington Post caught up with Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto, the creators of the Pokemon Adventures manga and got a definitive answer as to whether Red and Ash were related. "The two worlds and the two mediums are different," Kusaka told the Post's Bill Bradley. "But if there were to be a link between them, Red and Ash, maybe. But I think for the fans to go with their creativity and have fun with that is one way of appreciating it."
While Kusaka and Yamamoto effectively put the kibosh on Ash and Red being related, Kusaka's comment actually gives credence to another more recent theory. Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire established that parallel universes do exist in the Pokemon universe (in fact, the games that have Mega Evolution exist in a separate universe from the ones that don't) so maybe Ash and Red are actually the same person from different timelines.
(via the Huffington Post)
