Super Smash Bros. Fighters - Pokémon series - 05-01 Pokémon Trainers Red & Leaf

 

Debut
In the Pokémon series: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green (1996)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

Boxing Ring Title: Wants to Be the Very Best

Theme Song:  Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Blue (Brawl)

Pokémon Trainers are the main protagonist in the majority of the Pokémon games. Most of their stories start out in a similar way: Upon receiving their Pokémon License, the Pokémon Trainer goes to visit their local Pokémon Professor to be given one of three starter Pokémon so they can begin their journey. Along the way, they can also attempt to catch as many Pokémon as they can, allowing them to create a powerful team that consists of at least six Pokémon.

 

A Pokémon Trainer's main goal is to defeat the eight Gym Leaders scattered throughout the region to obtain their badge. Once the Pokémon Trainer has all eight badges, they can challenge the Elite Four, a group that are considered some of the strongest trainers in the region. Defeating them allows a Pokémon Trainers to challenge the region's Pokémon Champion, and if they win, they will become the new champion!

 

Additionally, a Pokémon Trainer may run into an evil organization attempting to conquer the region. Said organization may even attempt to capture a powerful Legendary Pokémon so that they can harness its power to complete their wicked goals. The Pokémon Trainer will encounter these groups a couple of times in their journey, which leads to a final confrontation with the organization's leader.

The male Pokémon Trainer competing in Super Smash Bros. is Pokémon Trainer Red, the main protagonist of Pokémon Red & Blue, Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, as well as their remakes Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen.

In the region of Kanto at a place called Pallet Town, Red and his rival Blue have received their Pokémon Licenses! The two head to the lab of Professor Oak, Blue's Grandpa and well-known Pokémon Researcher. There, they would choose one of the three Pokémon Oak had on him: Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, with Blue choosing the one that has an advantage over Red's.

Red and Blue would also receive a receive a high-tech encyclopedia called a PokéDex, which they would use to record data on all 150 Pokémon that is said to exist in the region. Blue's sister, Daisy, would also give the two a map of the region. With that, the two set off to try and catch all the Pokémon they can, as well as become the region's champion.

During Red's journey, he would end up crossing paths with the infamous criminal organization called Team Rocket. Team Rocket's main goals are world domination and exploiting Pokémon for profit. Red would first encounter them during their fossil expedition in Mt. Moon. He also stops a Rocket Grunt in Cerulean City, who had stolen a TM (aka a Technical Machine) from one of the locals.

Later on in Celadon City, Red would find out that Team Rocket had set up a hidden base in the city's Game Corner. Red would sneak into the base and battle the grunts there, where he ends up coming face-to-face with their leader, Giovanni. Upon defeating him, Red would obtain the Silph Scope, which would allow him to explore the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. At the very top, he would rescue Mr. Fuji from three Rocket Grunts, who were holding him hostage for questioning.

Arriving at Saffron City, Red learns that Team Rocket has taken over the Silph Company Building! Red and his Pokémon would charge headfirst into the building, fighting off the various grunts and dealing with the building's confusing teleport panels. At the very top, Red once again confronts Giovanni, who was attempting to get the Silph Company President into making Master Balls for his organization, since the Master Ball is able to capture any Pokémon effortlessly. Luckily, Red and his Pokémon put a stop to that plan!

Finally, Red would confront Team Rocket for the last time in Viridian City, where he learns that Giovanni is the head of the Viridian Gym! They have their final confrontation, ending with Red and his team emerging victorious! Giovanni awards Red the Earth Badge, and then chooses to disband Team Rocket and leave for parts unknown. However, he warns Red that one day, he will return to conquer the world.

Also during Red's journey, he would cross paths with his arrogant rival Blue, who he would often clash with at certain points. At the Indigo Plateau, Red and his Pokémon would face the Elite Four and Champion Lance. However Lance informs Red that Blue had managed to defeat them a bit earlier than he did, and thus is the current Champion of the region. This would result in the two having their final confrontation to determine who would be the true champion of the region.

After a fierce battle, Red and his Pokémon would emerge victorious! Professor Oak would then personally induct them into the Hall of Fame!

In Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, the story is mostly the same, with the main difference being that Red starts out with a Pikachu, while Blue starts out with an Eevee. Additionally, Red also confronts Jessie, James, and Meowth from the anime, Pokémon the Series. He battles the trio three times in the story; first is at Mt. Moon, second is at Pokémon Tower, and the final time is at Silph Company. 

Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen has an additional story element: the Sevii Islands. Here, Red learns that an offshoot of Team Rocket - led by Rocket Admin Archer - are experimenting on forcing Pokémon to evolve via radio waves. This comes to a stop when Red defeats them and reveals he has earned the Earth Badge from Giovanni, causing Archer to realize that Giovanni has truly disbanded Team Rocket. Archer decides to retreat, but not before swearing that'll someday they'll restore Team Rocket's glory.

Regardless, Red would decide to continue his journey to catch and log the other Pokémon he missed, which would eventually result in him finding Mewtwo hiding deep within the depths of Cerulean Cave.

Three years later, the events of Pokémon Gold & Silver, Pokémon Crystal, and their remakes Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver happen. Red has become a celebrity in Kanto and Johto, thanks to him and his team disbanding Team Rocket. Still, Red chose to continue his Pokémon journey, during which he became a bit reclusive, not even contacting his mother that much anymore.

While the protagonist of the game - Ethan, Kris (Crystal only) or Lyra (HeartGolf & SoulSilver only) - occasionally hears about him, it isn't until they acquire all of the Kanto Gym Badges and visit Professor Oak to gain access to Mt. Silver that they finally meet him face-to-face. It isn't known how long he's been up on the snowy mountains, but he's still ready to challenge the player, serving as the game's strongest and toughest opponent.

An unknown amount of time later, Red re-enters public life in Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 after the conclusion of the game's plot, traveling to the Unova region to compete in the Pokémon World Tournament. The game's protagonist - Nate or Rosa - could potentially fight him at any point during the Champions Tournament bracket.

Four years later, a bit after the main events that transpired in Pokémon Sun & Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, Red and his rival-turned-friend Blue travel to Alola to run the Battle Tree there. When the game's protagonist - Elio or Selene - first arrive at the Battle Tree, Blue congratulates them on becoming Alola's champion, and then offers them a chance to battle either him or Red. Afterwards, the player can fight Red again at the Single Battle Challenge and Multi Battle Challenge, where he's either their 20th opponent (normal challenge) or their 50th opponent (super challenge).

Red has also made sparring appearances in the spin-offs, such as the mobile game Pokémon Masters EX. Red journeys to the Pasio region to compete in the Pokémon Masters League with his Charizard, Snorlax, and Pikachu. His Sync Move with Charizard is "Living Legend Blast Burn," in which he Mega Evolves his Charizard into Mega Charizard X and raises his Critical Hit rate. Snorlax's Sync Moce is "Heaviest Sleeper Normal Impact," which causes stat increasing moves to double. Pikachu's Sync Move is "Lightning-Fast Volt Tackle," which increases the power of Sync Moves by 50%.

In Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee - which takes place in an alternate retelling of the Kanto story - Red and his rival Blue have completed their adventures quite some time before the game's protagonist - Chase or Elaine - start their journey. Notably in this timeline, Red never encountered Team Rocket, and thus never stopped them, though he still managed to become a Pokémon Champion and a powerful Pokémon Trainer. Once the player has become Champion, defeated at least six Master Trainers, and has a full team of six Pokémon on them, Red shows up in front of the Pokémon League building at Indigo Plateau, where the player can challenge him to a battle.

Personality-wise, Red was initially portrayed as a spunky individual who can be a bit hotblooded and occasionally foolish, which can be seen in some early promotional art, the pages of Pokémon Craft DX, and some of his counterparts portrayals in various works. However, starting in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen, he has since been portrayed as a quiet and stoic boy who tends to sport a serious expression on his face. Regardless, Red's most notable trait is how kind and trusting he is towards his Pokémon. He's also gained a reputation for being the best Pokémon Trainer in the world, able to train Pokémon of various types compared to others who specialize in one. Only his rival Blue and a girl named Leaf have managed to get close to his skills.

Speaking of his Pokémon , Red's most consistent team has been Pikachu, Lapras, Snorlax, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. In Pokémon Gold & Silver - as well as Pokémon Crystal - he had an Espeon, but starting in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, he's been replaced with Lapras, and hasn't been seen since. In Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee, he drops Charizard and Blastoise for Machamp and Arcanine respectively. Pokémon Stadium has Red use Pokémon he's never been seen using since, those being Meganuim, Feraligatr, Typhlosion, Jolteon, Scizor, Tauros, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, and Dragonite.

Red's most well-known counterpart has to be none other than Ash Ketchum, the main protagonist of Pokémon the Series. Ash is a ten-year old who, while a bit inexperienced, is excited at finally becoming a Pokémon Trainer! He's a bit late heading to Professor Oak's lab, and as such is stuck with a rather disobedient Pikachu. Though Pikachu doesn't think much of him at first, it's not until Ash risked his life to save Pikachu from a flock of Spearow that the two became best friends.

Ash and Pikachu journey across the world, exploring the various regions alongside a group friends they meet along the way. During these travels, Ash challenges the region's eight gyms and obtain their badges so that he can compete in the region's tournament to become Champion. Along the way, Ash has to deal with the ever-persistent Team Rocket Trio - which consist of Jessie, James, and Meowth - who plan on snatching Pikachu for their boss, as well as any other Pokémon that catches their attention. He also tends to get wrapped up in the plots of various evil organizations, though with the help of his friends and his Pokémon, he manages to put a stop to their wicked plans. 

Another well-known counterpart of Red's would be the similarly-named Red from the ongoing manga, Pokémon Adventures. Prior to the series, Red was given Poliwag as his first Pokémon when he was a young boy. While playing by a lake, he accidentally fell into the lake and almost drowned, but luckily, Poliwag evolved into Poliwhirl in order to save his trainer! In the first chapter, Red was showing off his skills to a couple of young kids, but then overhears some Rocket Grunts talking about Mew. He manages to find his a mysterious boy battling said Pokémon with his Charmander, only to recall him back. Angered, Red tries to show him up with his Poliwhirl, only for Mew to easily best him. The boy insults Red for rushing in like that, and informs him to visit Professor Oak for help.

Inside his lab, Oak mistakes Red for a thief, which results in all of Oak's Pokémon running away. Red manages to retrieve them all except Bulbasaur, who retreats into the Viridian Gym. Both of them get attacked by a Machoke, but Red and Bulbasaur manage to defeat it with Solar Beam. Impressed by his skills, Oak gives Red a PokéDex and Bulbasaur as thanks, and asks for Red's assistance in catching all 150 Pokémon said to live in Kanto. Red agrees, and leaves for Viridian Forest. While attempting to capture a Kangaskhan, he encounters the mysterious boy again, and learns that he's the grandson of Professor Oak! He too is trying to collect all 150 Pokémon, which soon sparks a rivarly between the two as they attempt to see who can achieve this feet first. Thus, Red's adventure begins...

Personality-wise, Red is shown to be kind, heroic, and outgoing individual, if a bit slow on picking up on sensitive matters. Despite being human, he has a surprisingly capable amount of agility, and is always willing to help others out, with to without his Pokémon. He's also very skilled in Pokémon Battles, able to bring out his Pokémon's full potential in unique ways.

Debut

In the Pokémon series: Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen (2004)

In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Pokémon Crystal is the first installment in the Pokémon series that allowed you to play as a female Pokémon Trainer. In the early games, there wasn't really any difference between playing as a male or a female trainer beyond some minor dialogue changes. In Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, the one you don't pick tends to become either an important character or one of your rivals. Starting in Pokémon X & Y, the clothing and hairstyle options for your Pokémon Trainer depend on which one of the two you pick to play as.

The female Pokémon Trainer competing in Super Smash Bros. is Pokémon Trainer Leaf who debuted in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen. Her story is more-or-less the same as Red's: Leaf picks between Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, journeys throughout Kanto, fights her friend-turned-rival Blue, stops Team Rocket, etc... If you choose to play as Red, Leaf never shows up in the story, and vice-versa if you play as Leaf.

Leaf would then vanish from the series, though a character similar to her named Green would show up in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee. In this game, Green has completed her journey quite some time ago before the protagonist -  Chase or Elaine - began theirs.

She's currently searching for Mewtwo and hopes to catch it for herself. Unfortunately for her, by the time she heads for Cerulean Cave, the player has already caught Mewtwo. Upon learning that, she challenges the player to a battle for the ownership of Mewtwo, though despite her efforts she ends up losing. With a bit of reluctance, she gives the player the Mewtwonite X and Mewtwonite Y stones she found, then attempts to capture the player by tossing Poké Balls at them so that she can have Mewtwo indirectly. When that inevitably fails, she tells the player to consider joining her before running off. Afterwards, Green can be found at Cerulean City, where she can be fought once a day.

Leaf finally makes her return in the mobile spin-off game, Pokémon Masters EX. She journeys to the Pasio region to compete in the tournament with her Eevee and Venusaur. Her Sync move with her Eevee is "Endless Possibilities Extreme Evoboost," which increases her move gauge to whatever Eevee's current move level is, as well as sharply raising the Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed, and Accuracy of all allied sync pairs. Meanwhile, her Sync move with her Venusaur is "Tenacious Frenzy Plant," in which she Mega Evolves Venusaur into Mega Venusaur. If her foes are poisoned or badly poisoned, Venusaur's power increases.

Personality-wise, Pokémon Masters EX portrays her as a cheerful and kind-hearted girl. She admires her Venusaur, who looks out for her, her team, and others, which gives Leaf the determination to do her best to protect her friends. She's also pretty concerned about the well being of her Eevee. When wondering if whether or not she or Eevee should be the one to choose what Eevee evolves to, she settles on letting Eevee decide whenever the time comes. She also seems to be into arts and craft, as shown by her wanting to make a flower crown for her Eevee to wear.

If one considers Green the same character as Leaf, then Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee portrays her as a very determined, if somewhat eccentric, girl who wants to obtain Mewtwo at almost any cost.

When it comes to her Pokémon team, Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee have her with Clefable, Gengar, Victreebel, Ninetails, Kangaskahn, and Blastoise. Pokémon Masters EX gives her an Eevee and switches out Blastoise with Venusaur.

While Leaf never appeared in the animated adaption Pokémon the Series, she did get a counterpart named Green in the ongoing manga, Pokémon Adventures. Prior to the series, five-year old Green was kidnapped by a bird Pokémon called Ho-Oh, on the orders of the mysterious Masked Man. She was taken to a secret hideout and was trained alongside other masked children. During her time there, she met a boy named Silver and learned about Pokémon evolution. Eventually, the two would make their escape and go their separate ways. Flash-forward a couple of years, and Green learns that she's from Pallet Town, and that two other boys - Red and Blue - have just begun their Pokémon journey. Frustrated, she breaks into Professor Oak's lab and steals a Squirtle to start her own journey.

Green makes her proper debut in the 15th chapter "Wartortle Wars," where she scams Red of his money by selling him fake items. This results in him hunting her down, resulting in a Pokémon Battle between the two, which she loses. Red manages to reclaim his money, but later finds out that she managed to steal his Gym Badges in return!

Later on, she manages to steal a data disk from Team Rock, which contains information about the Legendary Pokémon Mew, though this causes the criminal organization to target her. During her escape, she manages to cross paths with Red yet again, during which Red reluctantly teams up with her to find Mew. Her Ditto, Ditty, disguises itself as Mew to try and fool Team Rocket, which works for a little while. When the two finally find Mew, Team Rocket manages to catch up to them and attempt to obtain Mew! However, Mew manages to easily defeat Team Rocket and escapes. Content on at least obtaining pictures of Mew to sell to the newspapers, Green returns Red's badges as thanks before leaving, starting an on-again-off-again friendship between the two.

Personality-wise, Green is quite cunning and quick-witted, usually able to talk herself out of a tight situation. Her Ditto, Ditty, definitely helps her out with this, due to its ability to shapeshift, allowing her to don many disguises.She also held no problem manipulating others to get what she wants, though she eventually stops doing that as she grows closer to Red, Blue, and Yellow. Green is also quite knowledgeable on Pokémon Evolution, due to her time under the Masked Man. Speaking of which, Green initially held a massive fear of bird-like Pokémon, due to Ho-Oh kidnapping her during her youth, though she eventually gets over it.

In Super Smash Bros., Pokémon Trainer is a three-in-one character. Pokémon Trainers Red and Leaf don't really fight the opponents directly; instead, they use their Pokémon - Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard - to battle for them! Time for Red and Leaf to show why they're considered Battle Legends.

Pokémon Trainer will always start the battle out with Squirtle, though you have the option of changing which of the three Pokémon will fight first by selecting the image of the Pokémon in the Character Select Screen.

Special Moves

Down Special: Pokémon Change 

Pokémon Trainer switches one of his Pokémon out for the other. Assuming that Squirtle is the current one fighting, the order is as follows: Squirtle to Ivysaur, Ivysaur to Charizard, and Charizard to Squirtle.

There's a two second delay after Pokémon Trainer switches out his Pokémon, so don't think you can rapidly switch between them. Additionally, all three Pokémon share the amount of damage they've taken between them, so keep that in mind.

While not called that in the Pokémon games, it is inspired by the ability to switch between Pokémon during a battle throughout the series. As switching takes up the user's turn, the benefits of switching in a Pokémon to face a target it is effective against must be weighed against the risks of being hit hard, setup on, or simply out-predicted by the opponent. Switching can also heal minor status effects such as confusion, but is unable to heal major ones like poison.

The Pokémon all sharing battle damage is unique to Super Smash Bros.

Final Smash: Triple Finish

Pokémon Trainer shouts "Take that, Triple Finish!" while sending out all three of his Pokémon to use their strongest attacks on the opponents!

With their combined might, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard ensure the foe they hit won't be able to escape, dealing impressive damage to their opponents before blasting them away! If the move misses... well, the "It's super effective!" text box will look pretty silly being there.

Triple Finish is unique to Super Smash Bros., but may have inspired the Triple Battle Format introduced in "Pokémon Black & White."

The text "It's super effective!" tends to pop up when an attack hits a Pokémon who's weak to it. (Example: Squirtle's Water Type move, Hydro Pump, hitting the Fire Type Charizard) In Super Smash Bros., it'll display this even if the Pokémon or opponent isn't weak to/resists/neutral to the Water, Grass, and Fire move, or even if it misses as previously mentioned.

Additional Notes

When it comes to Red's alternate colors, he has ones that reference Ethan's appearance in Pokémon Gold & Silver, Lucas from Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, and Calem from Pokémon X & Y.

When it comes to Leaf's alternate colors, she has ones that references May's appearance in Pokémon Emerald, Hilda from Pokémon Black & White, and Selene's appearance from Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.

In the Japanese magazine Official Fan Book of Pocket Monsters, where Game Freak gave an early teaser about the then-upcoming Pokémon Gold & Silver, Red is referred to as "Satoshi," suggesting that it was originally gonna be his official name. In addition to the fact that the creator of the Pokémon series name is Satoshi Tajiri, Ash Ketchum from Pokémon the Series is also called "Satoshi" in Japan. If this was kept, it's likely Red's name over here would've become "Ash."

Speaking of names, Ken Sugimori - art designer for Pokémon - confirmed in a tweet that Leaf initially didn't have a name. It would remain that way until the unveiling of her collectible Koboyashi figure in 2019, as well as her return in the mobile game Pokémon Masters EX, both of which refer to her as Leaf. However, her appearance in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee refer to her as "Green," which has caused debates if the two are the same character or not.

When it comes to the starter Pokémon, early artwork and promotional material associated Red with the Bulbasaur line, but nowadays he's associated with the Charmander line. Likewise, Leaf was associated with the Squirtle line, but is now associated with the Bulbasaur line.

Leaf was intended to debut in the first installments of the series, Pokémon Red & Blue, but was scrapped for unknown reason. The only remnants of this initial plan is a unique piece of art that shows her standing alongside Red, Blue, and the three Starter Pokémon; a starring role in some of the pages of the book Pokémon Craft DX, and the character Green from Pokémon Adventures using her scrapped design during the manga's early story arcs.

Leaf has different idle animations, taunts, and even victory animations compared to Red. Not that this really matters or anything, just something to note.

Pokémon Trainer's Boxing Ring Title, "Wants to Be the Very Best" comes from the very first line from the iconic Theme Song for the first season of Pokémon the Series: The Beginning.