Pokémon’s best battle of all time hinges on an unforgettable twist

“Aura farming” has recently become an annoyingly popular term to describe supposedly effortless attention-seeking, but as far as the Pokémon games go, the real king of aura was introduced exactly at the start of the series, and he’s still unmatched.

This specific character has the distinction of being not just a beloved protagonist, but also the coolest and toughest opponent that you will face in the games. I’m talking about Red, the main character of the Gen 1 and 3 games, and the final battle against him in the Gen 2 games and their Gen 4 remakes is still unmatched decades later.

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal marked a massive shift away from their predecessors, despite running on the same portable console. The games improved visually, with better sprites and more fluidity, but the major changes were in the gameplay itself. We got two new types (dark and steel), the Special stat split, held items, gender, breeding, and even a night/day cycle that blew my mind as a kid. But the biggest revolution was the endgame content. When you beat the Elite Four in Gen 2, you unlock the Kanto region from Gen 1 and can freely explore it, battling the gym leaders again. And of course, if you are strutting around Kanto claiming to be the best, sooner or later you’ll have to face the real best.

Playing Pokémon Gold on my Game Boy Color was the first time I realized the scope that a video game could achieve. These sequels felt like true extensions of their predecessors, as they recognized the existence of that world and connected to it. Going back to Kanto for the first time is an unbelievable experience that every Pokémon gamer who played the first two Gens remembers and cherishes. Just as we all remember the summit of Mt. Silver.

After beating all the Kanto gym leaders, Prof. Oak gives you the Rock Climb TM and lets you access the top of the mountain, literally and figuratively. The first time I headed to the area, I wondered what could be there. Maybe an ultra-rare legendary Pokémon? I played this back in 2000, folks, and while Serebii was already around, the internet was still a vast and mysterious landscape for me. (Which is to say that I didn’t know how to find a walkthrough.) When I finally got to the top of Mt. Silver, the game blew my mind again, just like it did for every other kid. Today, it’s impossible to even imagine the sense of shock that we felt.

Here he is. Alone on the peak of freaking mountain. Red doesn’t say a word, remaining silent as he was as the protagonist of the game. The battle simply starts, no warning, no time to save or prepare. Red opens with a Pikachu, cute. A reference to the anime and the game Pokémon Yellow, but hardly a threat… wait, what do you mean level 81???

Red is the strongest trainer in the Pokémon games until Gen 4. His team is so overleveled that any casual player like I was, who knows nothing of EVs and IVs and barely remembers the types’ weaknesses, will be blown off the top of Mt. Silver quickly. And his aura doesn’t just come from the power of his team. This is the same trainer who, after becoming the champion of Kanto, simply walked away, seeking unmatched strength. When you visit Red’s mom in Pallet Town, she says she hasn’t heard from him in a long time. He’s so focused on training, away from civilization, that he left all his worldly attachments behind. He’s Pokémon’s equivalent of a kensei, a sword saint, a warrior who transcends the mortal realm through mastery and discipline.

Image: Nintendo/The Pokémon Company

I am not ashamed to admit that it took me ten years to beat him. I never cleared his challenge on my copy of Pokémon Gold, and then I fell off the games for a while, until Gen 4’s Heart Gold and Soul Silver pulled me back in. When I got to the summit of Mt. Silver again, I was ready, armed with a balanced team of powerful Pokémon, knowledge of the technical aspects of battling, and plenty of online guides.

Red still kicked my butt a few times. His team got even better in Gen 4, but even after I finally blew away that damn level 88 Pikachu (the highest-level Pokémon owned by an NPC until Gen 8), Red’s aura was untouched. Even with 10 years of preparation and all the knowledge of thousands of players at my fingertips, I couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down my spine every time I saw Red’s sprite waiting for battle.

This moment stands the test of time due to the shock of discovering that the hero of the first game (whom you spent countless hours controlling) is the final boss of the sequel. It’s powerful because of the impact of seeing how high-level his Pokémon are. (Usually, your own team will need to be only around level 50 to beat the game.) The somber silence of the character speaks volumes: Red is so cool that he doesn’t need any lines. The location is another factor that makes this sequence so great: Red literally stands at the top of the world. All these elements come together to make this the best battle, and, in my opinion, the best moment, in the Pokémon games.

Image: Nintendo/The Pokémon Company

Red’s appearance as the final challenge was the perfect culmination of Gen 2. These sequels managed to make their world feel endless, thanks to the depth of their mechanics and something that’s become commonplace today: adding endgame content. After exploring Kanto again, beating gym leaders old and new, and catching a whole new Pokédex, it’s like the games kept telling you “wait, there is still more to do.” That final battle wasn’t just a passing of the torch, but also a testament to Pokémon’s philosophy of giving fans something that is both new and familiar at the same time. That’s a lot of words to say that Red’s aura is still unmatched.

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