Kanto’s Leading Lady: The Origin of Let’s Go!’s Green/Blue

Written By NatAttack862 .

And So It Begins

It all started with this cover for the Red, Green, and Blue strategy guide. Though there were no plans to integrate the female character into Red/Green/Blue (https://x.com/super_32x/status/269844962118610945), the character would have a long history with Pokémon. This character’s design, would serve as the basis for Green in Pokémon Adventures, would be the inspiration for Leaf in FireRed/LeafGreen, and would officially be used for the Let’s Go! iteration of Green.

This unnamed, unplanned character from this promotional material would become Green (a.k.a. Blue). Though she would not be playable or encounterable until Let’s Go!, this character does have a long history with the franchise. Be it Pokémon Adventures, the basis for Leaf in the first Kanto remakes, her appearance in Let’s Go!, and the confusion behind her name, Green’s a character that fans will either have heard of or encountered in some capacity.

This is a brief overview of the character going over her appearances as well as clarifying why she’s known as Green in some areas and Blue in others.

What’s in a Name: Green or Blue?

If you aren’t aware of the history of the release for the first generation, namely Red, Green, and Blue, the names for your character, your rival, and what would eventually become a leading lady in the manga and Kanto games, they all have official names. However, what players got internationally is different than what was released in Japan. Japan first got Red and Green back in February of 1996. Blue would be released not too long after as a sort of enhanced version of the two. Internationally, players would get Red and Blue, which ran similar to Japan’s version of Blue.

Because of this, the official name of your rival will depend on your region. In Japan, he’ll be known as Green Oak. Outside of Japan, he’s primarily known as Blue Oak. This will also apply to his manga counterpart depending on the region.

When the manga came around, where this female character would debut, she ended up getting the name Blue from Pokémon Blue in Japan. With it being an updated third version, prior to the release Pokémon Yellow, it would make sense that she got her name from it. However, since Pokémon Green did not release outside of Japan, and Green Oak’s name officially being Blue outside of Japan, her name would be Green.

Red, the (male) player character for Red/Blue/Green/Yellow and FireRed/LeafGreen would keep Red as his official name. In the games, manga, and spinoff anime. And though Ash may use elements from Red (ex. they’re from Kanto and are rivals with Professor Oak’s grandson), they are essentially two separate characters.

Note: I will be referring to her as Green going forward for simplicity’s sake and is what I’m more familiar with.

First Official Appearance: Pokémon Adventures/Special

Thoufgh she would not make her officail video game debut until 2018, Green would officially debut in Pokémon Adventures (a.k.a. Pokémon Special). Appearing in the Red/Green/Blue, Yellow, Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, FireRed/LeafGreen, HeartGold/SoulSilver, and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arcs, she’s spent a lot of time in the spotlight. And since this was her first appearance, this would be where the confusion behind her name started.

Her Kanto starter would be Blastoise, and she’s also use the likes of Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff, Granbull, Horsea and Clefable (as well as a few others). She would start off as a sort of adversary of Red, but they, along with the rest of the PokéDex holders, would become friends. She is seen as resourceful, quick witted, and a master of disguise. As well as knowing a few different characters prior to the main events of the manga. Namely Silver, who she knew from childhood after they had been abducted by the Masked Man, as well as Yellow, who she knew was a girl before the rest of the Kanto and Johto crew did.

Her personal journey involves finding her parents and getting back at the man who kidnapped her and Silver when she was younger. And as a PokéDex holder, she has her own title/codename. For Green, she’s dubbed “The Evolver”. Green is also the eldest PokéDex holders (along with Red), being twenty when the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc starts.

Pokémon Adventures has the more developed version of this character. Which is fair since the manga has been going on for almost twenty years now.

FireRed/LeafGreen: Are Green and Leaf the Same?

Officially, it’s never been stated that Leaf, the female protagonist for FireRed and LeafGreen, is Green. However, Leaf does take some inspiration from Green, namely in her design. So even if they aren’t the same character officially, Green had influence over Leaf’s conception.

The only time the two characters are officially connected in any way, would be in the FireRed/LeafGreen arc of Pokémon Adventures, where Green wears the exact outfit Leaf does. However, due to the manga having it’s own separate canon, this official connection only applies to the manga. As such, Green and Leaf are stuck in “are they the same character?” limbo for the games.

That said, if someone wanted to consider Green and Leaf as the same person, no one is stopping them.

Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee: Green’s Official Game Debut

If you don’t consider FireRed/LeafGreen as Green’s official debut, her official debut would be in the Let’s Go games. She, along with Red and Blue Oak would be NPCs that will appear at different points in the game. Blue pops up every now and then during the main game and you’ll battle him one at Silph Co. and again when you beat the the Elite Four, the latter being done daily through the Viridian Gym. Red can be challenged after you beat six Master trainers and can be challenged daily outside of the Indigo League.

You’ll first encounter her in Cerulean Cave after you’ve caught Mewtwo and an NPC at the entrance tells you that she went it. Going back in, you’ll find her where Mewtwo was and battle her. Defeating her will get you both of Mewtwo’s Mega Stones and she can be challenged again outside of the bicycle shop in Cerulean City. Clefable and Blastoise are two members of her team that she shares with her manga counterpart, with the latter being the final evolution of the starter she uses in the strategy guide/promotional material.

Spinoffs? Anime?

Green doesn’t technically appear in any of the spinoffs, unless you want to count Leaf in Pokémon Masters EX. This gatcha mobile game involves 3 v 3 battles with each character having one Pokémon per unit and is going on five years as of this post. A unit will consist of one Pokémon, however, each individual character can have multiple units. Leaf, for example, has four units: her base unit, her Lodge unit, her Neo Champion unit, and her Sygna Suit unit, which consist of, Eevee, Clefable, Moltres, and Venasaur respectively. Leaf would also be used as an alt for Pokémon Trainer (Red) in the Super Smash Bros franchise.

As for the anime, she hasn’t appeared in the main anime , but she has appeared in Pokémon Evolutions, an eight episode series honoring Pokémon’s twenty-fifth anniversary. She would appear in the eighth and final episode, The Discovery.

In Summary

The history of Green is pretty neat. Starting off as an unused character concept, she would evolve, becoming her own character through the manga and later the games. Her character is an interesting bit of Pokémon history, if a pinch confusing when it comes to her name. What are your thoughts on this character?

Further Reading

Bulbapedia

These are the pages for Leaf and both of Green’s two prominent appearances. Just know that Leaf’s page does state that Green and Leaf have never been confirmed as “cross-canon counterparts”, but will include Green as a counterpart in her bio. I will assume that this was done since Leaf is inspired by and linked to Green (and by extent both taking inspiration from the unnamed girl in the promo), even if they aren’t officially counterparts.

Serebii

Tweets

Both of these are in Japanese, so will need to be translated (it should offer to translate it, but if it doesn’t Google Translate does translate/confirm what the Bulbapedia page states). These are in regards to the plans (or lack there of) behind the unnamed trainer that would later go on to be Green, and the thought process behind Leaf/the female protagonist’s design.

NatAttack862 .
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