Red Eyes: The Pinchers Boss Who Wins All but Mt. Sorbet

He opens the game by blasting the hero out of the sky and leaves with a hostage. Red Eyes is one of the bosses of the Pokémon Pinchers, the gang snatching up Pokémon across the Oblivia region in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs. He's the first high-ranking member of the organization the player runs into, and the hardest to catch out: almost all of his operations succeed. It takes reaching the summit of Mt. Sorbet for one of his plans to finally slip through his fingers.

Contents

• The Scarlet Boss, the First High-Ranker in Your Way
• The Opening Scene: A Plasma Blast and a Hostage
• Big Booker Bridge, Daybreak Ruins, Faldera: Three Jobs Done
• Mt. Sorbet: One on One, and One Defeat Too Many
• After the Ending: A Fake Plan, a Real Battle, a Helmet Returned
• Red Eyes at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Scarlet Boss, the First High-Ranker in Your Way

The Pokémon Pinchers have several bosses, and Red Eyes is the first of them the player meets. He introduces himself as the gang's scarlet boss, a phrase that announces both his rank and his code color in one go.

The character is haughty and confident to the point of arrogance. He calls his own grunts idiots and mocks the Rangers as a bunch of kids, though that never stops him from owning up to a defeat when one comes.

His code name also gives away his specialty: he's a devotee of Fire-type Pokémon. Above him stands Purple Eyes, while Blue Eyes, whom he calls his partner, holds the same rank as he does.

The Opening Scene: A Plasma Blast and a Hostage

Red Eyes appears in the very sequence that opens the game, high in the sky aboard his Z.Z. Flyer. The aircraft's plasma blast hits the hero, who is thrown off and tumbles toward the sea in full view of their team.

He doesn't let the opportunity slip: the Ranger teammate still standing is taken prisoner on the spot. The prisoner isn't a trophy but a bargaining chip, and he'll hold that chip in reserve for a good part of the adventure.

The scene sets the character's tone for the rest of the game. He mocks the Rangers' uniform, red goggles and yellow scarf, which he likens to a party costume, before offering them a skydive without a parachute.

Big Booker Bridge, Daybreak Ruins, Faldera: Three Jobs Done

His first move is sabotage. He blows up part of the Big Booker Bridge to slow the hero down, and the gamble pays off: the crossing only becomes passable again once Raikou has been found.

When the Rangers arrest Blue Eyes and try to make her talk, he plays the trump card he's been holding since the opening. He demands to trade his hostage for his partner, at the Daybreak Ruins east of Tilt Village, with one condition: the Ranger and no one else. The exchange does take place, but he uses it to spring a trap on the Rangers and snatches the Emblem from the Involith of Entei.

On Faldera Island, he aims higher. The Emblems his men have gathered unlock the monument guarding the slumber of Moltres, placed there by the hero of ancient times; his grunts just have to hold off the Rangers long enough for the bird to wake. When the Rangers break through to him anyway, he sends out his Charizard and slips away, mission accomplished.

🔥 The Charizard he sends out at the volcano has its own section: browse our collection for Charizard.

Mt. Sorbet: One on One, and One Defeat Too Many

On Mt. Sorbet, the Rangers catch him in the act of awakening Articuno and throw his organization's track record in his face: Pokémon stolen and then resold, Legendaries roused from their sleep just to cause trouble, and residents living in fear. His answer fits in a single sentence: he does what he has to do.

His men then suggest overwhelming the Rangers by unleashing all their Pokémon at once. He flatly refuses, on the grounds that the Pinchers were loners to begin with and that a decisive battle is settled fairly, one on one. It's the only rule the game ever shows him holding to, and it's not up for negotiation.

He loses. Having owned up to only one failure before — already against this same Ranger — he declares himself disgraced and leaves without a word to his grunts, who are left at a loss. The source records both versions of his exit: he resigns, and Purple Eyes fires him after this defeat.

After the Ending: A Fake Plan, a Real Battle, a Helmet Returned

Once the main adventure is over, the player meets him again on Mt. Sorbet, where he has summoned them by radio — a device he clearly has no idea how to switch on or off. He starts by faking a new evil plan, purely to get the battle he's after.

The pretext doesn't hold up for long. Worried about the fate of the three Legendary birds, he went to see where they had flown from and brought back a helmet, the last piece of the Golden Armor. He first claims he wants to sell it, then admits the money story was a joke: he simply wants no one to ever hear about that armor again.

The duel is fought with his Blaziken, and he loses again. He hands back the helmet and says he has given up the Control Gauntlets before setting off for other lands. He also leaves the Rangers the fragments of the Entei and Suicune monuments, along with the missing piece of intel: Purple Eyes used Raikou's to break Zapdos's seal, then threw it away near Layuda Island.

Red Eyes at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Red Eyes in Pokémon?
  He's one of the bosses of the Pokémon Pinchers, the organization snatching up Pokémon across the Oblivia region in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs. He's the first high-ranking member of the group the player meets, calls himself the scarlet boss and uses Fire-type Pokémon.
• Which Pokémon does Red Eyes send into battle?
  A Charizard at the Faldera Island volcano, then a Blaziken in the final showdown on Mt. Sorbet, after the main adventure is over. His code name already gave it away: he's a Fire-type devotee.
• What happens at the Daybreak Ruins?
  Red Eyes forces an exchange there: the Ranger teammate he's been holding since the opening scene for Blue Eyes, whom the Rangers have arrested. The exchange goes ahead, but he uses it to trap his opponents and leaves with the Emblem from Entei's Involith.
• Why does Red Eyes leave the Pokémon Pinchers?
  His defeat at the summit of Mt. Sorbet ends his winning streak. He considers himself disgraced and leaves without a word to his grunts; the source also states that Purple Eyes, his superior, fires him after this failure.
• Is Red Eyes still an enemy after the end of the game?
  No. He summons the Rangers to Mt. Sorbet by faking a new plan, purely to land one last battle. Once beaten, he hands back the Golden Armor's helmet, says he has given up the Control Gauntlets and leaves; he no longer acts as an antagonist.

In short

Red Eyes is the antagonist Guardian Signs takes seriously from start to finish. He blasts the hero out of the sky in the opening scene, sabotages the Big Booker Bridge, traps the Rangers during a hostage exchange and awakens Moltres: his list of successes is longer than his list of failures. His downfall doesn't come from a blunder but from an opponent who has become better than him, and he's the first to say so. He then hands back the Golden Armor's helmet and stops acting as an antagonist, without disowning an ounce of his arrogance.