Red (Pokémon)

Red
Red, as seen in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
Japanese name	Red
First appearances
Game	Pokémon Red and Blue
Anime episode	Inspiration for Ash Ketchum.
Pokémon Adventures chapter	Chap. 1, “A Glimpse of the Glow”
In-Universe Information
Preferred Pokémon type	Pokemon Battles
Occupation	Former Kanto Pokémon League Champion, later retired Pokémon trainer

Red is a name used to refer to two related, but distinct, fictional characters in the Pokémon franchise, the protagonists of the series in their respective media.

Ash Ketchum, the main character of the anime, is loosely based on Red, but is a distinct character.

Red in the video games

The literally silent protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue and its later remakes, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, has several default names, one of which is "Red". Others include "Ash" and "Jack". When he recurs as the final boss of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal and as a boss in Pokémon Stadium 2, his name is Red and he is seen in the final room in the Silver Mountain caves where he has his back to the player and is facing the wall. He remains silent throughout the entire game, only saying "...", which may be a reference toward the silent protagonist archetype, which he fits into in Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen.

In the anime

Red does not usually appear in the anime, although he was the basis for the character of Ash Ketchum. Despite this, in the episode Lights, Camerupt, Action!, Ash recalls seeing a movie about Red and his Pokémon. Red's Clefairy eats a Teddiursa's hamburger, causing its mother to furiously attack the Clefairy, as Ash (in the theater) laughs his head off. This has, so far, been the only appearance of Red in the anime. It is depicted of Red from a spinoff manga Pokémon Pocket Monsters which continued with Pokémon Pocket Monsters R-S on the journeys of Red, Clefairy and Pikachu.

Red in Pokémon Adventures

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Red is a fictional Pokémon trainer and the protagonist of the first saga. Red starts off in Pallet Town as an aspiring trainer, and gets a Bulbasaur and a Pokédex from Professor Oak. He also has a Poliwhirl which he has known since childhood that evolves into a Poliwrath, and uses these two Pokémon on his adventure. He wears a red jacket, black undershirt (white in G/S/C saga), a red and white cap, a black bandanna around his right knee (from the Yellow chapter onward), and blue jeans. Antagonists include his rival, Oak’s grandson Blue, who was granted Charmander; Green, another Pokémon trainer from Pallet Town, who stole a Squirtle from Professor Oak; and Team Rocket, an organization bent on world domination through Pokémon.

Red's journey in the Pokémon Adventures saga

Red and his Pikachu, as seen in the FireRed and LeafGreen arc of Pokémon Adventures.

While trying to catch a mischievous girl named Green who stole his gym badges (Blue in the original version), Red discovers information on Team Rocket: They are trying to clone the rarest Pokémon in the world, Mew, as part of a plan to create an unstoppable Pokémon called Mewtwo. Green wants to meet Mew and capture it for profit. She meets Mew when battling Team Rocket, but she can only snap a quick picture of it before it leaves. Eventually, Red is obliged to team up with Blue and Green in order to beat Team Rocket’s Elite, Lt. Surge, Koga, and Sabrina. After that, he saves a young girl from an attacking Dratini, and helps her catch a Pokémon of her own, a Rattata. Red faces off against the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, alone and manages to defeat him.He then goes head to head with Blue in the Pokémon League, emerges victorious, and thus attracts the attention of the Elite Four. Red does not appear often in the Yellow saga, as he has been kidnapped by the Elite Four and frozen in a block of ice. When he did finally manage to escape, rescued by Giovanni, he seeks out his allies. Yellow, the young girl he rescued two years ago, is instead the main character in this series. Even after the battle is won, Red has no idea that Yellow is actually a girl In the G/S/C saga, Red has matured quite a bit. He has also changed his black shirt into a white one, and wears his baseball cap forward now. Both Yellow and Misty seem to be interested in him romantically, making him slightly uncomfortable. Red finds out Yellow’s true gender near the end of the saga, but has been in close touch with her before then. Red’s main goal before he helps with the fight against the Mask of Ice is to find the mysterious hot springs in Mount Silver, in order to cure the numbness he still carries from the ice trap one year ago. This caused him to turn down the Viridian City Gym Leader position he was offered. In the FR/LG saga, Red teams up with Blue and Green to rescue Professor Oak, who has been kidnapped and taken to the Sevii Islands. While there, he encounters Team Rocket and the new Beast Warrior Trio, Oca, Jaguara, and Storc, as well as the evil psychic Pokémon, Deoxys. After losing disgracefully to Deoxys and Team Rocket, Mewtwo appears, and helps Red, Blue, and Green face Team Rocket and the empowered Deoxys, because Red's team of six is now critically injured,and are all on the brink of death. During the process, he temporarily trades his party Pokémon Venusaur, which is too injured to keep on fighting (since that the Pokémon Center is destroyed), for Blue’s roster Charizard, making the title of FireRed and LeafGreen (in original version). He then manages to defeat Giovanni and Deoxys once and for all,but in return was petrified by the energy blast released by the final assault against Storc and Deoxys along with Blue, Green, Yellow,and Silver.

Maturing

Over the course of the sagas, Red has gotten more mature and has changed his personality and also his clothes.

Appearance in other games

Charizard, Squirtle, the Pokémon Trainer and Ivysaur as they are depicted in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

An unnamed male Pokémon trainer who looks exactly like Red from Generation III has been confirmed as a playable character in the upcoming Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is only referred to as "Pokémon Trainer", making it unclear if it's actually supposed to be him or simply modeled after him. The trainer holds a Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard which he uses to fight the other characters directly while he stands in the background issuing commands. All of the Pokémon share the same damage meter and must be changed out during the course of the battle to prevent fatigue.^[1]

See also

• Pokémon Adventures

References

1. ^ Pokémon Trainer