>>51415288I think the theory that Ash/Red was Giovanni's son also was popular in Japan. In FR/LG a Team Rocket grunt first thinks that the player character is Givoanni's child but then remembers that Giovanni's child has red hair. I don't know whether Silver was planned as Giovanni's son in gen 2 or not but it's clear that this line establishes Silver as the son and debunks the whole Red being Giovanni's son thing. It doesn't debunk Ash being Giovanni's son but I think we can assume that Ash isn't Ash's son unless the anime producers decide something differently. And Giovanni seems to become less and less important again. Silver didn't appear in the anime directly but he appeared in the opening of the special The legend of thunder. This special seems to be canon to the anime. Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny appear in it and the two Team Rocket members behave like non-Jesse non-James non-Grunts Team Rocket members in the anime and Marine the Kris counterpart having cameos in the anime.
