Ash Ketchum

Ash ketchum is Vergil's father. He is absent during Vergil's childhood, and vergil has never met him. Misty struggles to raise Vergil (and cole up to a point) alone, and this is why Vergil thinks bad of his father. During the series, Ash will make an appearance and will deeply affect the series.

Initially, Ash started his journey when he was ten years old with Misty and Brock. Lugia and Ho oh realized his potential from the beginning, and during his first day Ho oh appeared to him, and unbeknownst to everyone, blessed him with eternal happiness. Imbued with Ash's strong aura, the blessing took the form of eternal youth. Ash spent more than ten years after that living as a ten years old boy, never losing his childish innocence and happiness.

However, a few years before Vergil was born, Ho oh fell victim to the curse. This caused the blessing imposed on Ash to lift, and he started ageing rapidly. Then both he and the people around him realized something was odd all these years, and finally found the reason for it. Ash was still connected to Ho oh though, and he felt the consequences of Ho oh getting corrupted too. Dreams and feelings overhwlmed him, and he felt like he was losing his mind. Eventually, a group of the his friends assembled to defeat ho oh, consisting of Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary Oak.

Ho oh was protected by its dog trio servants, so each trainer took on one of them. Ash, being the strongest of them, took on Ho oh, but was defeated as ho oh was the curse was getting more and more into him. With the three dogs destroyed, Brock, Gary and Misty took on Ho oh too. The only one still having fight was Misty though, who remained standing last and eventually defeated Ho oh on an epic battle. Ash was freed, Johto received a big hit by losing its legendary pokemon guardians, but on the other hand the area lost one of the cursed pokemon as well. This was not enough though to stop Johto's descent to the curse, which was almost uninhabitable at some point. Ash started seeing Misty romantically from that point on.

After that Misty and Brock were offered to join the elite 4, and both did for a while. Misty was the first to drop out of that merely a year later, when her relationship with Ash blossomed and she got pregnant. Initially fearing for Ash's reaction, since living as a child for so long he might not be ready to start a family. Ash proved to be mature though, and asked her to move in together, operate the Cerulean city Gym and have their family there. For a couple of years, things went well. Then Ash started going on trips more and more, until things with Misty became tense. During a fight, Ash admitted that his true happiness lies with his travels, and family life doesn't suite him. While this was partially true, Ho oh's special ability came to be, and it regenerated from its ashes. As it grew in power once more, so did its dark grip over Ash. in the end, Ash and Misty broke up, and Ash continued his journey, staying away from his friends like Brock, and his family, feeling ashamed.During his absense all these years, he travels to many areas, and now  being more mature, becomes champion in ever championship he encounters, but never participates in the Kanto championship again.

Ash makes a comeback in the story. Greeted as a hero, he offers to create an alliance that will clean Kanto of the curse and defeat all legendary pokemon that have succumbed to it. Such an initiative inspires people, especially when it comes from the champion of ten regions, and many join his cause. He is not well received by his son though, now a semi-prominent figure in Kanto, and his old friend, and now governor of the whole northwestern Kanto, Brock, mostly due to his absense during Misty's death. Ash makes no excuses to his son, saying that he was, and is, a terrible father, and Vergil has every right to hate him. Initially though, they both agree to side with him as this alliance has lots of potential. Vergil also travels to places and recruits even more pople for this alliance.
Over time though, Vergil and Ash's relationship gets better, mainly due to Ash being totally supportive of Vergil's sexuality, and the fact that he offers to become the parent he never was and should have been. He offers to take Vergil and cole travelling and meet the whole world together. Ash also says that while the love for his travels was stronger than the love for his family, and that makes him a terrible father, he loved his family too. And his dream is to travel the world with Vergil, and Cole.During the decisive battle, it is revealed that ho oh has been resurrected, and Ash has turned into a dark trainer mostly due to his connection to Ho oh, but also because Pikachu succumbed to the curse, and Ash's vision of the world changed in order to be with Pikachu again. The whole mission proves to be a trap, carefully staged by Ash to gather and ultimately kill the strongest trainers in Kanto, as well as turn Lugia, Mew and Mewtwo to the dark side, paving the way for Kanto's ultimate fall by weakening Arceus, who was already fighting for his safety against Necrozma and Giratina.

The plan was simple. While they initially had enough strong trainers to storm Saffron and take it back from the forces of Darkness, during the battles some wormholes opened, bringing in the corrupted ultra beasts and Ho oh, who were eventually too much for the trainers and Lugia to handle.

During the plan's execution, Ash finally reveals the plan to Vergil, and defeats him easily in battle. He then kills several other trainers, and offers Vergil to become a dark trainer too. He says that all he has told him over the previous time was true, and once everyone accepts the darkness, the world will be safe once more and peace will prevail. Vergil escapes with the help of Jessie and James, while Brock holds Ash back. With Vergil's escape, the other forces manage to find out about Ash's betrayal, which causes some of them to manage to survive. Brock's fate is left unknown after this battle.With the secret out, Ash, with the help of corrupted Ho oh, establishes a connection to everyone's mind, and ooffers to each and every one of them to join the darkness and become dark trainers, or die then and there. He explains his dream od a totally cursed kanto, where all live in peace. Although most trainers choose to fight, there are some that join the dark forces, boosting the overall dark forces very much. As Vergil is escaping, Ash sends cursed Pikachu after him to catch him. Also, Jessie and James are intercepted by Giovanni and his true seconds in command, Butch and Cassidy. Giovanni explains that he sides with Ash, because of his love with Ash's mother, who is also there. He then leaves to fight a strong gym leader that was close to escaping. Before he does, he orders Cassidy to kill jessie and James, but capture the boy as Ash wants him. Surprisingly, both Jessie and James defeat Butch and Casidy, who end up dead. Vergil's pokemon are still defeated by Ash, and Cole takes up Pikachu, who has hunted them up to that point to bring them back. Finally Cole defeats Pikachu, and kills it. This incures Ash's wrath. Jessie and James, using their connection within team rocket help save many lives. Most of team Rocket refuse to follow Ash, and they keep their territory west from Saffron. The rest of Kanto doesn't have the same luck though and falls into Ash's control, while the free areas consist of the areas north of Pallet, viridian and pewter.

After this, Ash and the rest of the dark forces, also having some elite 4 and gym leaders, decide to revive the pokemon league. Ho oh's holy fire is used to light the bonfire, which is cursed fire, and essentially means that anyone who wished to enter the league would have to embrace the holliness of the fire, and become a dark trainer. However, Vergil and others manage to find Moltres, the only legendary bird not cursed, and take its own holy fire, then add it to the bonfire. This allows trainers that are not dark to join the championship too. In the championship, the final battles take place. There is a rule that trainers registered in the championship can not be harmed outside it, so since non dark trainers can also join, this becomes their only chance at survivng and fighting the dark forces at the same time.
Ash faces Cole in the semifinals, and wins. Despite the fact that he has a grudge against him for killing Pikachu, but Vergil intervenes, and asks that Ash doesn't kill Cole, and he won't kill his own father, Giovanni, if he wins. Ash agrees, but one one more condition. That if Vergil loses to wither Giovanni, or Ash in the finals, he will accept to become a dark trainer, both him and Cole. Vergil accepts, despite Cole protesting, preferring to die than risk become a monster. Vergil loses in the end, and all of Ash's pokemon are dead. Ash pleads with Vergil to kill him, but vergil doesn't do it. He says that without his pokemon, Ash is now powerless and not dangerous. Vergil says that he won't become a monster and kill his own father in cold blood, but he will sentence him to the worst ngihtmare, something even worse than death. He will live in a world rid of darkness, hated by his family and friends, with no pokemon of his own. The world is the opposite of what he wanted. No friends, all his pokemon dead, due to his fault, and wherever he goes people hate him. A world hostile to him.