Red is the main character of the first generation Pokémon games (Pokémon: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen Versions) and the most well-known of the game's player characters. He is unique among the player characters in that he is the only one to appear in the games of a separate generation as an opponent trainer.

Background

	Red as seen in Pokémon: FireRed and LeafGreen Versions
Red
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Relatives	Mother
Debut	Pokémon: Red Version/Pokemon: Green Version

Red grew up in Pallet Town. In the game it is said that he and Blue were rivals since infancy, but one instruction manual instead says that they were best friends until Blue started acting like a bully. The adventure begins when Professor Oak calls the two to his lab. In Pokemon: Red, Green and Blue Versions, Red is allowed to choose the first starter Pokémon (out of Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur) with Blue choosing one strong against Red's Pokémon. In Pokémon: Yellow Version, Red receives a Pikachu and Blue gets an Eevee. Both Red and Blue receive a Pokédex.

Red travels through Kanto capturing Pokémon, battling other trainers, and earning Gym badges. However, he is always a step behind Blue. Red and Blue battle anytime their paths cross. Aside from the regular business of a Pokémon trainer, Red finds himself battling Team Rocket several times. At Mt. Moon, he foils their plot to steal fossils and defeats them again at Cerulean City. He saves the Pokémon Tower from them and destroys their operation at the Game Corner. Red faces their boss, Giovanni, several times in combat.

Red's goals combine when Red winds up facing Giovanni for the final gym badge needed to battle the Elite Four. Red successfully defeated Giovanni, convincing him to shut down Team Rocket and reform.

When Red reaches the Elite Four, he finds that Blue has already beaten him and become the league Champion. Red beats Blue and earns the title for himself. In FireRed and LeafGreen, Red and Blue's Pokédexes are updated by Professor Oak afterwards to include the recently-discovered Pokémon. Red and Blue journey out to the Sevii Islands to find them. There he also battled the remains of Team Rocket. Red later challenged the Elite Four and Blue again, this time with all of them having new Pokémon.

After becoming league Champion, Red gave the title up and went to a cave in Mt. Silver to train. When Gold comes to battle Red in Pokémon: Gold, Silver and Crystal Versions, he has the most powerful team of Pokémon in the game.

Pokémon Roster

Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen

The player controls Red in these games, so they have complete control over what Pokémon Red catches and which ones he uses to battle.

Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal

His roster contains the evolved forms of all three of the original starter Pokémon, as well as an unevolved Pikachu in reference to Pokémon Yellow. The Snorlax is a Pokemon that Red must fight in the original games, and Eevee is a Pokemon anyone can receive. Espeon was probably chosen, since it's one option no one really had in Red and Blue.

Pokémon Stadium 2

In Pokémon Stadium 2, Red has two teams, one for each round he battles.

Round 1

Round 2

Spin-Off Games

In Pokémon Stadium 2, Red appears as the last trainer whom players battle in the combined Gym Leader Castle.

Ash Ketchum, the anime counterpart of Red, appears is the main character of Pokémon Puzzle League. Professor Oak invites him to the Puzzle Village and he competes in the tournament there to become a "Puzzle Master".

Other Major Roles

Video Games

Red also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl under the name "Pokémon Trainer". He does not attack directly but sends out his three Pokémon - Ivysaur, Squirtle and Charizard. He has his own trophy, a trophy of his Final Smash and a sticker, as well as one trophy for each of his Pokémon.
- In "The Subspace Emissary", Red is first seen in the Ruined Zoo, where he helps to protect Lucas in a battle against the Subspace Army. Apparently his Ivysaur and Charizard had gone missing, as the only Pokémon he still had was his Squirtle. The two hunted down the remaining Pokémon, eventually finding Ivysaur in the ruins and recapturing Charizard after defeating it in battle. They also battled Wario and the Galleom. Afterwards the Galleom attempted to self-destruct to finish them off, but Lucas saved them both by destroying the Galleom's arm, and Meta Knight caught them to save them from the fall. They then joined up with the main party for the remainder of the game.

Other Media

In the Pokémon anime, Ash Ketchum is based on the character of Red. Like Red, Ash has a rival, Gary, who is based on Blue, although the battles between Ash and Gary usually result in stalemates or victories for Gary, until Ash finally defeats him in the Silver Conference. Ash is also battling Team Rocket constantly, but he never battles Giovanni and convinces him to reform. Unlike Red, Ash also has traveling companions such as Misty and Brock. Instead of the Elite Four, Ash competes in a tournament at indigo Plateau and loses. He continues to journey through Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh.
Red is featured in the Pokémon Adventures manga, being the main character of the original Red/Blue/Green arc and playing important roles in later arcs. In this arc he has both a Bulbasaur as his starter Pokémon and a rebellious Pikachu that he tames, and with the help of Blue and Green, as well as the good gym leaders such as Borck, Misty, Erika and Blaine, he defeats Team Rocket. Afterwards he wins the Pokémon League championship by defeating Blue and aids Blaine in capturing the rebellious Mewtwo. Afterwards in the Yellow arc he is challenged by Bruno of the Elite Four, but it is a trap and he is frozen by Agatha, but freed by Giovanni. He shows up to help the other trainers with the final battles against the Elite Four and defeats Bruno. In the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, he recovers from the partial paralysis caused by the freezing at Mt. Silver, and turns down the Viridian City gym leader position after winning it. He goes to Johto to battle the Mask of Ice and then is dragged off by Gold to train with him. Misty and Yellow are established as his two potential love interests. Red is once more featured on an adventure with Blue, Green and company in the FireRed/LeafGreen arc. Though the trainers are all turned into statues at the end of the arc, they are restored by Jirachi's wish near the end of the Emerald arc, leading to all of the ten Pokédex-bearing trainers uniting against Archie and his artificial Kyogre. His specialty among the Pokédex trainers is shown to be Pokémon battling.

Trivia

His official name is confirmed as Red in Gold, Silver and Crystal, although in the earlier games his name was chosen by the player.
Named after the Red Version, which was released alongside Red Version as the first Pokémon games in America.
Although the early generations seem to canonically establish Red as being a male, FireRed/LeafGreen gives the player the option of choosing gender. Red's female counterpart in this game (much like Kris, who was introduced as the female alternate to Gold in the Crystal version) is known as Leaf.

Red

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