Pokemon Theory: Why Did Red Vanish (Redone) 

He is simply just journeying around the world. Happens to meet Gold on Mount Silver... Can't a guy just travel without telling the whole world what he's up to?

Red has social anxiety, so he decides not to talk, and disappears when he SHOULD talk.

You have to get permission/help from Prof. Oak to go to Mt. Silver, right? So I wonder if Oak just set it up so that Red and Gold would be there at the same time.

HIS CHARIZARD KNOWS FLY PEOPLE!

I think red was just training on mount silver which is why his levels are so high. He didn't have to train at the top he probably just got there shortly before Gold did. He doesn't talk because he doesn't in Gen 1. Once defeated he blacks out and goes back to training.

Did any one ever think maybe he got there not long before Gold did.

He stayed up in mount silver to train, realized it was getting fucking cold, went home, grew up, got leaf pregnant and went on vacation to Alola with blue.

There is one hole in your theory. If it takes so long to train to climb a mountain, how come gold could do it in a day?

He could've just gone to gamestop.

Since mew and ditto are the only Pokemon that can use transform, maybe mew transformed into red, maybe to disguise itself from thieves and maybe that's why "red" can stay up the mountain for so long.

I believe that after you beat the Elite Four again, Red reappears on top of Mt. Silver.

Here’s my theory: First, he went to Oak whom had told him about Johto, Red got determined and decided to go to Johto and beat the Gym Leaders along with the League but obviously skipped out on being the champion, after that he’d heard rumors about a Legendary Pokemon that stayed at Mt. Silver, Red being Red decided to scale the mountain and look for the Legendary Pokemon, he didn’t find anything and he sat down, disappointed. However unbeknownst to him Gold/Ethan had already came to Mt. Silver so he could challenge Red, after Red loses the fight he knows there are more regions out there to explore and train in, and he decides he isn’t the strongest trainer, after that he goes under the radar and travels across the regions while constantly training and catching Pokémon, in Unova however he hears about an Upcoming Tournament, Red decides to join it as he sees it as an opportunity to meet stronger trainers, the MC of B/W beats him in a battle, he again goes under the radar and travels across the regions while still training until him and Blue meet again, they decide to take a vacation to Alola because it’s a very tropical and relaxing region and that’s exactly what Red needs, after that Red AGAIN goes under the radar. My guess is that his next appearance will be in Gen 9.

I think that Red is still out there, catching new Pokémon, battling new people, and one day I would like to battle him.

OR!! Red was just traveling after becoming champion and searched for new pokemon and ended up in Mt Silver. After meeting the protagonist, he wanted to battle and lost...After he lost, the same thing happened to other trainers when they loose...he blacked out..."but there are many other trainers that loose and don't black out". The company decided to do something clever. Its Red, a player used for red, blue, green, and yellow. And like before, when Red lost in those games he blacks out...think of it as a 4th wall break or a little reference to the first game.

Yet no one considered that he made possibly have gone through Johto. The entire quest you made in Johto could easily have been repeated by Red BEFORE you.. He could have caught the Johto Pokemon to increase the Pokedex, He's already caught all 150 Pokemon besides Mew in a quest he generally found, well, fun. Another 100 Pokemon will not stop a determined Trainer. YES Oak gave him misinformation, but that just means there is more to the world than even the Professor knows, and wouldn't it be satisfying to experience something completely new that someone else told you otherwise didn't exist? As for why he didn't use any Johto Pokemon in his team, What was the point? He wanted to go the whole way with the very Team he'd trained from the very start, after defeating the Gym Leaders in Johto, he saw no need to defeat the Elite Four again knowing the Champion was Lance, it was no challenge to Red to beat Lance whom he'd already beaten before. The tip off to guide Red to mount silver after that long quest was likely Moltres, though no one would know that, it would be fair to assume that he thought it could be Mew, the Pokemon he was looking for, he headed up Mount Silver and reached the top, nothing there. Disappointed, Red likely gathered his thoughts before a Trainer who had taken the same steps he had in Johto approached him, he doesn't speak, not because he is being ominous, or has died, but because of the unspoken rule of Trainers. "When you make eye contact with a Trainer, you MUST Battle." There were no words to say, to each other they were simply Trainers and that is all that mattered.

But Proto what if Red went to Mount Silver Just for the Dank Memes

I think it's a combination of the first and third theory. I don't like the Red in Pokemon Origins, he was a bit too cartoony/anime protag for me to see him as a badass, so I'm not going to take his journey into account. 1. I believe RED finished the pokedex catching Mewtwo, that's why he's there in Gold/Silver. 2. He catches Mew and on his journey back realises that there are more than 150 pokemon. 3. Oak tells him about Johto. 4. He beasts himself through johto, becomes champion, but turns it down. 5. (And this is where I get kinda outlandish) He hears about a roaming legendary pokemon that WILL appear on Mt. Silver (Maybe Arceus) at a certain time. 6. He trains himself to travel/survive up on the mountain for extended periods of time. 7. Whatever he was going to catch he needed those pokemon he had. That's when "Ethan" get's to him. ... 8. He isn't successful so he travels to Hoenn, Sinnoh, and then Unova 9. The reason he in the tournament is to make sure he's still strong (???) It's a theory in progress but, eh.

Can you cover a theory about why Oak claims to have completed the Pokedex with all the Pokemon, yet only has 149 confirmed in Kanto? Why is he unaware of other regions and the Pokemon that inhabit them? Does this have something to do with the supposed war that divided each region from one another?

I remember hearing another theory that he disappeared to Mt.Silver because he kept getting challenged by other trainers, as he was the champion. The high level pokemon would of kept most people out. In those 2 years he could of just been doing what he loves, catching all the pokemon (new ones in jhoto)

and now Red is returning in sun and moon :-)

Honestly... I just think Red is travelling the world trying to see all the world's pokemon.

Now Red and Blue are in Alola. Go figure.

THAT "BUT PROTO" THING, IS LIKE HEARING SOMEONE SCRATCH A CHALK BOARD...

Hey Proto - In the last two days the algorithm started to recommend me your videos again out of nowhere. I'm subscribed for years and at one point I stopped getting video upload notifications from you. But two days ago I started getting tons of recommendations again from your videos :)

I am an optimist, no matter how negative I may seem when I tell the truth. So how about this? Red was at the top of Mt. Silver when Ethan arrived. Red noticed that Ethan had all the badges, even the Elite Four completion one. So Red decided to battle him. The ".................." was because we couldn't hear them over the wind and hail. After the battle, Red climbed down the other side of Mount Silver - the side that goes off the map - and left into another region. Or maybe he just use Fly to go away. He was wearing short sleeves because, well, we all know that Red/Ash isn't super smart, based off the comics and TV show, so he probably just didn't know it would be cold. And we know about all these new regions because Red is a pioneer, and tells the guy with the camera - the one who records the Pokémon adventures in-game, whoever is broadcasting the game onto the screen - about the regions. So camera-guy goes to the new regions, and we get the adventures there. This is my theory.

Don't tell Red, we now have even MORE.

He jumped off the peek and fell to his death as suicide or he slipped off and his ghost is there standing like Michael myers

He’s in a different dimension catching pokemon

i disagree with all three answers I believe red caught all the pokemon in Johto after being lied to by oak an wanted to expand on the info of pokemon in the pokeworld to prove to oak that there is more out there than just 151 pokemon in the world. I think red still wants to catch mew and he just travels up to mount silver but leaves when he can't handle it Red might have a house where he is staying until he can fully catch Mew before he leaves for the next region. He might have trained hard enough to survive that type of weather just so he can try and catch Mew. After realizing that Mew is just a another myth of pokemon he gave up hope and left Johto for good while trying to prove Professor Oak wrong with what he believes the amount of pokemon are in the region. Hell Red might be on a mission to prove oak wrong and get the amount of credibility that the so called professor has to his name. We might have met Red in another game with out even knowing it for crying out loud he might be Professor Sycamore and we don't even know it. It make for a good logical idea for a Pokemon Theory Video how else does that explain the fact that when you meet Professor Sycamore in X and Y. You manage to receive either a Squirtle, Bulbasaur, or Chamander as your second starter pokemon that you get in the game.. This might be more of a big question to address to calm some peoples questions.

Holy crap proto u keep getting better and better at these.

Red vanished because he wanted to find mew on mt silver. It states that red got so caught up in this that he stayed there for 2 years without any contact with people. Personally, I don't think that red gotten insane when he found out there were more pokemon, in fact he would try to catch them all for he has a lot of determination. Although him not talking, there is nothing wrong with red for as we see in sun and moon blue treats red normally, not as if he has some mental illness. Red being in sun and moon also reveals that red didn't vanish but he came back in the future by realising mew wasn't there. As a conclusion for him being quiet, I think that being on mt silver for over 2 years made him anti social however now he is trying to be social again by going to events and hanging out with blue.

Red disappeared because he ventured out into the world so he could see it all.

My thoughts on this is that once Red actually found out that there are more than 151 Pokèmon in the world instead of going crazy, like you suggest, he instead restarts his journey to complete the dex. Which would explain his appearance throughout the regions, attempting to "catch them all" or "be the very best" At least, that's just a theory...

I think he went there to avoid the attention and also so other trainers wouldn't try battling him to become champion. Gold just happened to find Red and Red battled him either because he had no choice or he found potential in him.

inb4 ur running out of ideas

Ur player can stand in the snow storm aswell And NPC'S stay in the same place all day

Can you tell us why Tobias has rare/legendary Pokemon in the Sinnoh League Tourny....and why he just popped up then disappeared of the face of the PokeWorld. Maybe tell us what pokemon you think he had besides Darkri and Latias. He also apperantly caught them with a regular pokeball so it seems

I actually have my own theory on why red went to mount silver, I don't think Red would just stand their and wait for mew considering he'd need to actually look for Mew, I think it's possible that Red after accomplishing all of his goals felt like he truly was the best and the only ones who could challenge him are those who do the same, gold being able to do just that could have opened reds eyes to the fact that others can indeed do what he has done so he returns in black and white, in a way being on mount silver could be seen as a sort of metaphor for just how high above Red thinks he is to everyone else in his skills.

Hm I disagree with most of these. I think, for the most part Red was just looking for a strong opponent. Since his story ended with no one else for him to face. Also I don't like using Red from origins to make a case for Red in the game.

Mt. Silver has a secret hotspring. That's how red stayed warm

Red waiting to catch mew on top of mount sliver Me: *that's some thicc patience over there*

The jokes on red, searching for mew on Mt. Silver when everybody knows that mew is in Vermillion City behind the truck.

lol can you do a theory on how the hell hitmonlee eats? cause that is weird and seems like a legit lol.

My plot armor.

and then Sun and Moon came out...

I think him vanishing could easily have been the game's way of not showing him walking away. The games do this all the time with people, simply skipping the scene of people (evil teams usually) exiting the area, but we know they probably just walked away. Same applies to Red, imo. Alternatively he warped to a pokemon center just like any player would because all his pokemon just fainted, so he's off to heal.

i have a theory So when Red battled Blue on the ST Anne Blue couldn't save his Raticate which you beat so it died before it reached the Poke Center and when you encounter him later he says "Your Pokemon Don't Look Dead" and after he said that he then said "I caught a Cubone!" and the spot the Cubone is on used to be where Raticate used to be. Anyway after Red killed Raticate people hated him.. even his Mum!, she was disappointed at Red so after Gold AKA Ethan battled Red he disappeared to Mount Silver because he was disappointed in himself too...Anyway so when he was a Mount Silver he stayed there and froze to death and died that is my theory of what happened to Red if you want a recap here is one Red killed a Raticate Blue caught a Cubone where Raticate used to be Red got hated Mum got disappointed in Red battled Ethan traveled to Mount Silver Froze to death died anyway it just my theory and you can have one too :)

I thought he was waiting for someone to finally beat him

but proto... does his vanishing just go along with the game play as he blacks/whites out after all his pokemon are defeated since he was an original protagonist and that is what happens. also that would explain why/how he is able to show up later in the games, since he just showed up at the last poke center he was at and continued on his journey.

Red might have a great grandfather who also went to Mt. Silver, but his great grandfather might have disappeared and never came back down the mountain. Red might be the last person to know about his great grandfather, so he went to Mt. Silver to find out about his great grandfather who disappeared.

Red has a Charizard to stay warm O_o

Have we forgot that Gold traversed that mountain without any winter clothes as well....

i agree mostly with the third reason..thank you for the video

Needed the Lavender Town soundtrack when Proto was talking about the "silly" idea of Red being a ghost

It's my birthday :D

proto, thank you for revisiting this theory to include the third plausible view on it. to me it makes the most sense.

3:17 Don't think you even mention that "one small thing" 3:54-3:59 Gold didn't, so why should Red have to? Red still has Pokemon that can satisfy his needs (and is it too Farfetch'd ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) to think that Pokemon don't get hail damage while outside of battle? If Gold has his leading party member follow him around outside of its Pokeball on top of Mount Silver then it doesn't take damage until battle begins). And it's not like Red had to climb up their himself; he could have a Pokemon use Rock Climb just like Gold did. 5:19 Is the tournament thing even canon? I didn't play B&W2

You can catch a level 7 Mew right outside of Misty's town... silly Red.

BUT WAIT WOT IF RED WAS NO KILL! HE IS IN THE BATTLE TREE IN SUN AND MOON (I COME FROM THE FUTURE)

Red was my favorite trainer I started to cry when he left Pokémon

Proto is our Yoshi video still being uploaded?

The 3rd explanation is what came to mind

there's a 4th. did red vanish or was he never really there to begin with?...BUM BUM BUMMMMMMMM! long theory short, gold climbed mt. silver looking for pokemon had a hallucination due to extreme exposure that resulted in a fake battle with a trainer and pokemon that didn't actually exist.

I believe that he did see a ton of a new Pokemon and stayed there but... He eventually chose to go out to that region so he could catch the other Pokemon. He then found out there was even more regions and went there ending up in the championship in the black and white games.

but proto charizards heat ...

I think that Red went the Johto on a hunch to capture the final Pokemon of Kanto, but on his arrival he found that this new region had new pokemon. With this in mind he went on a journey to capture all the pokemon in the world using the pokemon that has always been with him. I also feel that gen1-3 took place at the same time. Gold and Red just happened to both go to Mt. Silver at the same time, Red to get Mew or some pokemon he did not have to complete the pokedex, and Gold to challenge the Kanto Champion on word he was going there. Red accepted this challenge on a deal that Gold share his pokedex info on the Johto pokemon he did not capture yet. After getting all the pokemon of Johto and Kanto in his Dex he went to Hoenn to further his Dex. He was not able to get the legendary entries because another trainer named Ruby, had already gotten them. Now Red's journey is to find the trainer who had completed the dex of Hoenn to get the legendary entries he does not have. That is why you do not see Red for a few Generations which he joined that tournament on a rumon the Hoenn Champion would be there.

HE BETTER BE IN SUN AND MOON OR IM GONNA CRY AND HE DOES END UP IN IT IM GONNA CRY

" news flash!" He never disappeared! :)

Youll never be able to stay on mount silver if you dont learn to spam full restores!

As you said Red makes gis way there to find Mew, and seeing so many new species, he instead of abandoning all hope, he moves forward and recieves an update to the pokedex in order to continue his adventure in all the other regions.

My theory on why he’s up on mt silver is because he chose isolation since he’s excessively powerful so he stays up there to avoid everyone just like why MewTwo is in a cave in the original Pokémon games is probably because MewTwo knows he’s too powerful because he can destroy a city if he wanted to

no pokemon character has ever been shown being vulnerable to the elements

Imagine Red today with the knowledge that there are 721 Pokemon and mores a comin'. This guy would have a stroke.

I think the most realistic idea is that Red had been training in Mt Silver, and staying nights at the Center at the base. He could have just gotten to the peak not too long before Gold arrives and challenges him for getting up so quick. As for why Red doesn't talk, let's be honest. Game Freak probably just didn't want to write lines for a former player character who didn't have dialogue. I kinda wish they'd give us the option to actually talk like other RPGs do, but if it ain't broke, they won't fix it.

correction: 3 years later.

I read on the pokemon timeline that he went to train on mount Silver, and left Lance in charge of the Pokemon League.

BUT PROTO! Ethan was wearing shorts up there!

Actually Gold encountered Red on Mt.silver 3 years after the events of RBGY

he's on a journey looking for Mew

The way you address the comments section is really amazing... Seriously

The fact that this video was released on my birthday!

Red's last known Canon location was in Unova during the events of Black 2 and White 2.

Red actually just went to IKEA

He could be possessed by a ghost or maybe he's a zombie. It could explain why his head is always tilted even in BW2

I never got this theory, he wouldnt be crushed by the thought of more pokemon, because he got so excited when he found out mew existed

Him being a ghost is disproved in sun and moon after blue nods to his silence stating just as silent as ever

This is what I think happened, so basically after Red became champion he went to complete the Pokédex and fighting more trainers as champion. But one day Red decided to retire because he became the strongest trainer in the world so he vanished without a trace. After the news of him being missing Lance took place as champion. When Ethan beat Red he went to visit his mother and eventually invited Gold back to Mt Silver for a rematch. After that Red had the idea to travel the world like Ethan did. That explains him appearing as a challenge in the World Tournament from the Pokémon B2W2 series and eventually Alola

I like the idea of Red being a ghost. When I play Pokémon games the game is over once the Elite Four are done and over with. Gen 2 is an interesting case because it's the first that keeps going until you find Red's ghost but you don't have anything to show for it once the battle is over. he just goes away.

Good video Proto!

I worked in the mountains, air isn't "thinner" it's the exact same, it's just that there are fewer oxygen molecules at higher elevation due to gravity.

Thanks for explaining how snow works

I think Red was in the region of Sun and Moon because when the Sun and Moon trailer was released we see pics that look like Red is talking to a character in front of a Hotel looking thing.

[Red] Ah, nice, cold day today! I'm gonna grab a jacket. Oh wait I forgot I have to stay up here and wait for Gold/Ethan to beat me. Well I'm dead now.

Red was depressed and needed this isolation to think... He though he was superior to absolutly everytrainer in existence at the moment... Than, you came, and saved is life.

I don't think Red is a ghost I really don't, but multiple times in the game the game calls Red the strong silent type that is why he doesn't talk. He just doesn't talk as much as most people.

A more credible explanation would be Oak gave Red the call that there was this worthy trainer who could challenge him, and told him to meet him in Mt Silver.

After failing to catch mew he jumped off the mountain peek wear you find him and he just stands there looking for mew

Red was originally waiting in a cave

Red would climb the mountain because he enjoying using snorlax as a sled and ride all they way down.

He escaped with an escape rope