Delia Ketchum
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| Delia Ketchum ハナコ Hanako | |
 Delia Ketchum | |
| Age | 29 (novel) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Eye color | Black*, Amber* |
| Hair color | Auburn*, Mahogany* |
| Hometown | Pallet Town |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | Ash, Unknown husband/boyfriend (EP002), Unknown father-in-law (EP002) |
| Anime debut | Pokémon - I Choose You! |
| English voice actor | Veronica Taylor (4Kids) Sarah Natochenny (TPCi) |
| Japanese voice actor | Masami Toyoshima |
Delia Ketchum (Japanese: ハナコ Hanako), also known as Mrs. Ketchum (Japanese: ママさん Mama-san) is Ash's mother in the Pokémon anime.
History
According to Takeshi Shudō's novelization, she runs Pallet Town's only restaurant, Pallet House, which she inherited from her mother. When she was younger, she dreamed of becoming both a model and a Pokémon Trainer, but abandoned those dreams to run the restaurant after Ash was born.
Delia made her debut in Pokémon, I Choose You!, telling Ash that he should get to bed for his big day tomorrow. She was then seen in front of Professor Oak's Laboratory with a small group of people from Pallet Town, cheering Ash on as he walked out with Pikachu. She was shown to be very sad that her little boy was growing up, but quickly put it aside to tell him everything that she had packed in his backpack for his journey. When she unintentionally insulted Pikachu, who was already upset at getting Ash for a Trainer, he used his ThunderShock and shocked the entire group.
She was seen again in the the next episode when Ash decided to call her while waiting for his Pikachu to be healed by Nurse Joy. She seemed to be surprised that he was already in Viridian. She also mentioned his father, saying it took him four days to get there when he began his Pokémon Journey. Also mentioning his father would be proud of him, she commented that he was the apple of his eye. When he continued to shoot down her words of encouragement, she became angry and scolded him by telling him that he can do anything he set his mind to.
Character
Delia Ketchum is a relatively reserved woman. Despite striking some as unintelligent, she was once a student of Professor Oak, along with Spencer Hale, possibly indicating intelligence normally unthought of her.
She lives in Pallet Town with Mimey, a Mr. Mime, which she befriended in It's Mr. Mime Time. She was seen taking care of it while Ash was participating in the Ever Grande Conference. Delia also traveled with Ash to the Unova region in In The Shadow of Zekrom!.
Her husband was mentioned in Pokémon Emergency! as a Trainer still on his journey. However, he has yet to appear onscreen.
Brock once commented that she would make a great Pokémon Trainer because of her perseverance.
She is usually a quiet, cheerful woman, but when angered, she makes it known, not caring who she is talking to, once telling Entei he should be ashamed of himself in Spell of the Unown.
Pokémon
This listing is of Delia's Pokémon in the anime:
 Mimey |
Voice actors
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In the manga
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Delia appears briefly in the manga series, The Electric Tale of Pikachu, which is based on the anime.
In Pikachu, I See You!, she and Ash discover Pikachu under the floorboards of their house, chewing on the wiring to eat the electricity. Later, she gives Ash a tearful farewell as he leaves on his Pokémon Trainer's journey.
Trivia
- In Pokémon Live!, it is stated that Delia dated Giovanni and was in his gang, but took a better route in life when she met Ash's father, though this might not be the case in the anime.
- In the English dub, Delia and Ash have always shared the same voice actress, even after The Pokémon Company International changed all of the character's voice actors. Originally, both mother and son were voiced by Veronica Taylor. Since the voice actor switch, both have been voiced by Sarah Natochenny.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ハナコ Hanako | From 花子. Means flower child. Also often used as an example female name, similar to Jane Doe in English. |
| English, All-European | Delia Ketchum | May be a reference to Dahlia, a flower. Ketchum is a pun on "Gotta Catch 'em all" the original slogan of the franchise. |
| Korean | 영자 Yeongja | |
| Chinese | 花子 Huāzǐ | Same as 花子 Hanako. |
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
