While everyone knows that Pikachu is the mascot of Pokemon, there is another character within the series who has silently been lurking across the generations. Starting off as the main character of the first generation of Pokemon Red & Blue, Trainer Red has gone on to serve as a powerful secret boss in several later games. Red has been an opponent in Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Stadium 2, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black 2, White 2, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon, Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee.
Like every Pokemon Trainer, Red can only use six Pokemon on a team, but that doesn't mean he's only got a half-dozen to choose between. Throughout his many iterations, he has actually kept a pretty consistent team. There are the nine most common mainstays, and then another eight or nine that have made surprising appearances (typically in Stadium 2, where Red really went wild with his lineup). Our list will take a keen eye toward those more traditional of teammates, factoring in not just raw statistical strength but popularity, brand appeal, competitive viability, and more.
Updated March 2, 2022 by Quinton O'Connor: Previously, this article centered on analyzing Red's team from a purely strength-based perspective. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it's even more fun to take a gander at his go-to pals in a more nuanced manner, taking multiple factors into consideration for a more well-rounded (if, at times, still unsurprising) list. Hopefully, you'll agree!
9 Machamp
There's a lot of confusion over what universe the Let's Go games take place in. Ostensibly, the Red you face at the conclusion of the postgame is more or less the same guy you played as in the originals, but enough differs plot-wise that one has to wonder if this Red's lineup is reflective, at least in part, of a different journey altogether.
In any case, Machamp. He kicks off our list with four arms and forearms, as the old joke goes. Machamp is mighty, no doubt about it, making the most of his sole appearance in the 2018 Kanto retreads. But he's always been something of a jobber elsewhere, right? He gets stuff done… Until he doesn't. He's the lowest man on the totem pole at the Big Leagues, which is still fairly impressive in its own right, but Machamp plushies don't exactly sell out every night.
8 Venusaur
Venusaur is surely Red's Grass-type mainstay. It pops up in virtually every battle as the grassy representative of Kanto's starter trio; one way or another, Red eventually gets his hands on all three. (Is Pokemon Yellow the ultimate canonical first-generation representation? The mind wanders.)
Venusaur has never really been as popular a Pokemon as its first form of Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur memes are real, even after all these years. Ash's Bulbasaur never did evolve in the anime, which has likely contributed to this poor pal's second-fiddle stature in the eyes of the fandom. It's not quite the terror on the competitive battlefield that most of the rest of the group, either.
7 Espeon
Espeon appears on Red’s team in Pokemon Silver, Gold, and Crystal, as well as Round 2 of the Kanto Gym Leader Castle. This is the Psychic-type evolution of Eevee, of course, and a lithe purple friend.
Espeon can sweep her foes with just the right setup; such a Special Attack stat won't go to waste. She's one of the fan-favorite "Eeveelutions," a cross-generational representative of the Eevee collective, if you will. Unfortunately, her low defensive stats mean she can't take a hit. More to the point, the amount of years that have passed since the original Johto games — and the relative obscurity of Pokemon Stadium 2 — prevents her from forming a well-known bond with Red.
6 Arcanine
Arcanine is more commonly associated with Blue, and for good reason. Not only is there an Arcanine on many of Red's rival's team compositions, but Blue's anime counterpart of Gary just loves the fire pupper. Who cna blame him, really?
Something happens in the Let's Go universe, because suddenly Red's rocking Arcanine as if he's always been there. Unlike Machamp, the other Let's Go newcomer, Arcanine has a very high measure of popularity among the fandom. Anime and manga stories are more kind to the dog as well; the number of times Arcanine is knocked out as a plot point is significantly slimmer.
5 Snorlax
You're kind of supposed to catch Snorlax in Red & Blue, you know. And in Yellow. And FireRed & LeafGreen. Basically, if you're playing as Red, it's assumed that you catch Snorlax. There are even two of them in Kanto, both sprawled out just waiting to be awoken, so if you miss your chance the first time around you can make up for it in style.
It stands to reason, then, that the relatable sleepy Snorlax is usually in Red's battle party. Fans love him because humans love sleep; the connection couldn't be more apparent. When "millennials" came of age, Snorlax t-shirts flew off the shelves. But the shirts have been piling up a bit since, at least relative to the rest of the list.
As you can see, our requirements for ranking are serious business.
4 Lapras
Has anyone ever regarded Red as a "Water-type Trainer"? Probably not. But there is something to be said for the oddity that he has not one, but two, Water Pokemon in many of his parties. Lapras forges a clear connection with Red's anime self, Ash, during the anime's Orange Islands arc. In the games, there's nothing so cleanly defined; he just sort of felt like using one.
And that's fair. Lapras is gorgeous. Surfing on any other Pokemon just kind of misses the point by comparison. But when players think of Kanto, we tend to think of that other Water-type Pokemon in Red's arsenal more. The one that, had Red decided to diversify his team, would not be nixed in favor of something like a Ground-type replacement.
3 Blastoise
We're talking about Blastoise, of course. Statistically tank-like and full of 90s kid appeal, the Hydro-Pumping turtle has always embodied rebelliousness better than almost every other media turtle superstar in existence. (The adolescent ninja dudes kind of win the category.)
People love Blastoise about as well as they love Squirtle, which gives the heavily-armored blue tortoise an edge over Venusaur. Everyone knows Squirtle becomes Blastoise, and few seem to lament it. (Poor Wartortle, though.) Lots of old-school Kanto save files, at least those that will still load in 2022, have Blue's final fighter as Blastoise because we went with Charmander at the time. Even still, Blastoise is more than capable of filling our head with thoughts of Red as well.
2 Pikachu
If there's a single shocker here, pun intended, it's putting Pikachu in the runner-up rank. Ask ten million people if they can name just one Pokemon, and among the millions who can, Pikachu is the likeliest reply, yes? Pikachu is the emblem, the unyielding champion of popular opinion, the never-ending best friend to Ash Ketchum and arguably Red's first and foremost by default.
But is he, truly? When Red & Blue took the globe by storm, where was Pikachu? His timeless appeal didn't truly click until several months later, when the anime firmly established the electric rodent as the formal ambassador to the Pokemon universe. In battle, Pikachu has become Red's final, his highest-leveled friend, his zappy little trump card. But in so many hearts, even now, he's not quite the goes-together-like-salt-and-pepper one might think he'd be.
1 Charizard
That is, of course, because Charizard exists. Charizard has recently made waves again for being Champion Leon's biggest noisemaker, but this disassociation with Red has somehow only strengthened their ties. Sword & Shield, after all, introduced everyone to Gigantamax Charizard — it is as if 2019 called 1996 and gave the whole "hold my beer" speech. Gigantamax Charizard is a coolness beast, an icon of epic, a dank dang Pokemon.
Red's Charizard is what started it all, so it's nigh-impossible to shake the bond even in this new world order where some upstart named Leon has tried to steal the show. Red embodies power in all his post-Kanto cameos; he's the literal mountain's peak in the Johto games, for goodness' sake. Charizard, too, embodies power. The raging fire, the wings of fury, the dinosaur to end all dinosaurs? That's Charizard. The sight of them, the pair, facing down tough odds together, has inspired more fan art than one could ever hope to sift through.