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Pokemon Red Blue RBY Kanto Gen 1 adventure archivePokémon Red / BlueGUIDES
Pokémon Red / Blue / Characters

Kanto Trainers, first partners and Team Rocket

Meet Red, Oak, the rival and Kanto's major Trainers, with artwork labelled to its original release era.

Edition covered

International Game Boy Red and Blue, released in 1998 in North America and Australia and 1999 in Europe. The series began with Japanese Red and Green in 1996; the international pair uses revised graphics from Japanese Blue. Yellow, FireRed/LeafGreen and Let's Go have different encounters or mechanics. Cartridge linking uses a Game Link Cable; the 3DS Virtual Console editions use local wireless.

5 characters · one picture per entry · open a picture for full size.

Character directory

Ken Sugimori's early Red and Green-era artwork of Red, the international games' player character.
Player character

Red

The young Trainer you name at the beginning travels from Pallet Town to the Pokémon League. His team and first partner are chosen by the player.

Original Red and Green-era Professor Oak artwork by Ken Sugimori.
Researcher and mentor

Professor Oak

Oak gives the first partner Pokémon and later the Pokédex. His aides offer useful rewards for reaching collection milestones.

Original Red and Blue-era rival artwork, with Eevee; it does not prescribe his Red/Blue starter choice.
Recurring rival

Blue

Oak's grandson chooses the first partner with a type advantage over yours. Later encounters reward a balanced team rather than reliance on one attacker.

Brock's original Red and Blue-era artwork by Ken Sugimori.
Pewter Gym Leader

Brock

The first Gym Leader uses Geodude and Onix. Their Rock/Ground typing makes Water and Grass attacks useful early answers.

Giovanni's original trainer sprite
Team Rocket leader

Giovanni

Giovanni directs Team Rocket's operations in Kanto. His encounters connect the criminal storyline with the final Gym challenge.

Quick notes

  • The Trainer and the professor. Red is the player character's established name, but the original opening lets you enter a different one.
  • Build around the first partner, not only the rival. Bulbasaur is Grass/Poison, Charmander begins as Fire and Squirtle is Water.
  • Leaders test types; Team Rocket blocks progress. Kanto's eight Gym Leaders are Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, Erika, Koga, Sabrina, Blaine and Giovanni.
FIELD NOTE

Early illustrations can differ from later anime and remake designs; the artwork captions identify the era instead of silently substituting newer costumes.

Picture details

Game artwork belongs to its respective rights holders.

References