While Red himself does not appear in the anime, his counterpart, introduced in the first episode, is the anime's main character, Ash Ketchum. Like Red, Ash is from Pallet Town, on a journey to become a Pokémon Master. Unlike Red, Ash's journey did not end with Kanto, and Ash has continued through every other region introduced in the main series games, as well as the Orange Archipelago south of Kanto, taking the place of the player characters of Generation II during Johto, and being joined by the anime counterparts of May and Dawn during the Hoenn and Sinnoh sagas. Instead of starting with one of the standard three Kanto starters, however, Ash began his journey with aPikachu, inspiring Pokémon Yellow's creation, as well as causing some to consider Red and Ash to be the same person, most especially due to Red owning one as well.

Red is known throughout Kanto and Johto as the Champion from Pallet Town, as well as for his defeat of Team Rocket in Kanto during his quest. He is the final opponent in the Generation II games Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, their Generation IV remakes Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, and Pokémon Stadium 2.

Red is introduced as a curious 11-year-old boy from Pallet Town in the instruction manuals of Red, Green, and Blue, having gained an interest in Pokémon after his best friend, Blue, stopped playing with him and became a bully. His adventure begins one day when Professor Oak calls the two to his lab for a choice of a starter Pokémon, the last three Pokémon Oak owns. Blue challenges Red to a battle immediately, to test out his new Pokémon, thinking he will easily beat Red.

After Red has journeyed to Viridian City to the north and taken a package back to Oak in Pallet, Oak gives Red and Blue each a Pokédex with which to record data on all known Pokémon in the Kanto region. From here, Red and Blue journey across Kanto, collecting Pokémon to build up their teams, and defeating each of theGym Leaders in turn, with Blue always one step ahead, showing up from time to time to impede Red's progress. Red also comes across a gang of Pokémon thieves,Team Rocket, several times through his journey, defeating a group of Team Rocket Grunts who are trying to steal fossils from Mt. Moon, a member who is running the Nugget Bridge challenge to recruit for the organization on Route 24, and another lone member who has stolen a TM from a family in Cerulean City. Eventually, Red uncovers a plot by Team Rocket, infiltrating their hideout beneath the Celadon Game Corner and encountering their boss, Giovanni. Defeating him and ousting Team Rocket from Celadon, Red uses the Silph Scope that Giovanni leaves behind to battle Ghost-type Pokémon and save Mr. Fuji in the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town, who is being held hostage by a trio of Grunts. Red soon journeys into Saffron City in the heart of Kanto to find it overrun by Team Rocket, who is attempting to take the recently-invented Master Ball from the Silph Co. President, and defeats Giovanni again, ending the group's plots for the time being.

With seven badges in hand, Red encounters Giovanni for the final timeo this time as the Leader of the Viridian Gym, his final obstacle before the Elite Four of the Indigo Plateau. Red defeats him in battle, earning his eighth and final badgeo the Earth Badgeo and causing Giovanni to realize that he has no chance at reviving Team Rocket if he cannot defeat Red. He disbands the organization, promising to go into solo training to better himself.

Making it through Victory Road and finally to the Indigo Plateau, Red defeats the Elite Four and discovers, to his surprise, that Blue has defeated them before him and is the Champion. Red defeats Blue in the final battle, becoming the Champion himself, but then continues his training, rather than staying at the Indigo Plateau. Encountering an offshoot of Team Rocket in the southern Sevii Islands, lead by Executive Archer, Red reveals with his Earth Badge that Giovanni has disbanded the organization, and, though defeated, the group there intends to revive Team Rocket and bring Giovanni back, having already made plans to force Pokémon to evolve with radio waves. Red continues as a wandering Trainer, eventually making his way to the caves of Mt. Silver, where he trains his Pokémon alone.

Eventually, Ethan, Kris, or Lyra arrives at Mt. Silver and challenges Red, identified only as a Pokémon Trainer. If defeated, Red vanishes from Mt. Silver, and returns every time the Elite Four is defeated again by the player of Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, or SoulSilver.

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