Pokémon Adventures
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pokémon Adventures, released in Japan as Pocket Monsters SPECIAL (ポケットモンスター SPECIAL Poketto Monsutā Supesharu?), is a Pokémon-related manga based on the video games. Satoshi Tajiri once stated that the Pocket Monsters Special series is exactly what he imagined the Pokémon world to be: "僕が伝えたかった世界に最もちかいまんがです。" (lit. "This is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey.")
The series is written by Hidenori Kusaka and illustrated by Mato for the first 9 volumes. Satoshi Yamamoto took over from Mato (who was ill at the time) and has not stopped since. The manga was translated into English in North America by VIZ Media, but publication stopped in 2001 at Volume 7. In Southeast Asia, the Singapore publisher Chuang Yi, currently translates Pokémon Adventures into English, and continues to translate new volumes to this day. Jilin Fine Arts, in collaboration with the VIZ Media Shanghai Branch, has translated the manga into Chinese. In Taiwan, it is published by Ching Win, who translates it into Mandarin and releases it in their monthly CoroCoro Comic magazine.
Contents |
[edit] Plot/Chapters
Pokémon Adventures is divided into several distinct parts, and these, in turn, are divided further into volumes and many smaller chapters. There are seven major division at present, with five of them published as manga in 24 volumes.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures
The first story is based on the Red and Blue versions of the game. It is 3 volumes long. It shows Red, the protagonist, and how he received Bulbasaur from Professor Oak. He later meets his rival Blue (who received Charmander). In his journey, he encounters con artist Green. Green’s Squirtle is the one stolen from Oak’s lab.
Red goes on to battling gyms and he manages to receive the Boulder Badge and Cascade Badge. He also teamed up with Misty (the Cerulean City gym leader) to foil the plans of Team Rocket on Mt. Moon.
Later, Oak had been kidnapped by Team Rocket, and Red, Blue and Green arrive at Saffron City to take on the elite of Team Rocket. Red’s opponent is Electric-type trainer Lt. Surge, Blue’s opponent is Poison-type ninja trainer Koga, and Green’s opponent is the Psychic gym leader of Saffron City, Sabrina. They managed to defeat Team Rocket and save Oak.
Red later battles Blue in the Pokémon League Championships and emerges victorious. Blue is second place, and Green finishes third.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: The Yellow Caballero
The next storyline is very loosely based on the Yellow version of the game, serving mainly as an original story to bridge the gap between the original adventure and the events in Johto. It is 4 volumes long.
Red has disappeared after receiving a challenge letter sent to him by Lorelei of the Elite Four. They plan to lure him to them, so as to get information on Giovanni’s whereabouts. They also needed his Earth Badge. Only Red’s Pikachu, Pika, managed to escape, Red having been encased in ice. Yellow decided to go look for Red, as Red had helped her catch a Rattata before. Yellow asked Blue to train her in the skills of battling.
Yellow, Blaine, Blue, Green, Bill, Lt. Surge, Koga and Sabrina join forces to bring down the Elite Four together. They found out that Lance’s master plan was to use the Gym Badges and create an amplifying effect at Cerise Island to power up a mysterious Legendary Pokémon and destroy all humans in the world except themselves. They felt that humans and Pokémon were not meant to coexist.
Red turned up later at Cerise island to help Surge and Bill defeat Bruno. It is also revealed that Giovanni was the one who rescued Red from his ice coffin. The trainers send their power to Yellow, and with their combined strength she manages to defeat Lance.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: Gold, Silver & Crystal
The third adventure is based on the Gold, Silver and Crystal versions of the game. It also includes the trainers from the First and Second chapters. It is 7 and a half volumes long, which is slightly longer than the first and second storylines combined.
It features the protagonists Gold, Silver and Crystal, and is centered mostly around the Johto region. In accordance with the games, Team Rocket tries to make a comeback, but instead of being defeated before Gold reaches the Pokémon League (as it happens in the game), Team Rocket actually attacks the League. Also, the main goal in the story is not for Gold or Crystal to collect all the badges, but for Gold, it is to get Totodile back from Silver (who stole it), and for Crystal, it is to complete the Johto Pokédex.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: The Fourth Chapter
The Fourth Chapter is based on the Ruby and Sapphire versions of the game. It is also 7 and a half volumes long. It features Ruby and Sapphire, and their bet to each other: 80 days for Ruby (a Pokémon coordinator, though that title is never mentioned outside the anime) to win all the Contest Ribbons in Hoenn, and for Sapphire, a powerful trainer in her own right, to battle all the Gym Leaders for the 8 badges.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: FireRed & LeafGreen
The next story, returning to Red, Blue, and Green, is loosely based on the Sevii Islands portion of the FireRed and LeafGreen versions of the game. The plot consists of Team Rocket trying to capture Deoxys, and Red, Blue and Green’s efforts to stop them.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: Battle Frontier
This story is based on the Emerald version of the game. It features Emerald, who is hired by Crystal and Professor Oak to catch Jirachi in seven days before it is captured by someone else. He also trying accomplish his dream, to challenge the seven facilities of Battle Frontier and conquer them. In the process, Emerald had met with the other two Hoenn Pokedex holder, Ruby and Sapphire. Currently, he is on his way to rescue Jirachi, which had been captured by someone called Guile Hideout.
[edit] Pokémon Adventures: Diamond & Pearl
The latest installment, detailing the adventures of two Pokémon Comedians in Sinnoh who accompany the heiress of the house of Berlitz on her journeys due to a mix-up.
[edit] Main characters
- Red - The first protagonist and champion of the 9th Pokémon League. Initially shown as a rash young trainer, he has matured over the course of the series. He has a Venusaur, Gyarados, Snorlax, Pikachu, Poliwrath and an Aerodactyl. He specializes in Pokémon Battles.
- Blue (known as Green in Japan) - Main rival of Red. Now, they get along pretty well. He had the starter Pokémon Charmander, now a Charizard. He excels at training Pokémon, even those that are not his.
- Green (known as Blue in Japan) - A girl who stole a Squirtle from Professor Oak. She is a friend of Yellow’s and deceived Red into buying fake items. Now a friend of Red. Has a past with Silver. Her Squirtle has since evolved into a Blastoise. She excels at evolving Pokémon.
- Yellow - The second protagonist. Yellow has a rare magical power to heal Pokémon, a trait seen only in special individuals from the Viridian Forest area. She disguised herself as a boy on a mission to save Red. She also has a magical power to read Pokémon’s minds, which is also from the Viridian Forest. She always sleep after uses her ability due to her ability use up a lot of her energy. During her adventures, she borrowed Red’s Pikachu. She now has her own Pikachu, a female named Chuchu.
- Gold - The good-hearted, if somewhat perverse, hero of the Gold & Silver saga. The third protagonist. Very rash, even more so than Red. He had the Pokémon Cyndaquil, now a Typhlosion, and is capable at hatching Pokémon.
- Silver - Gold’s rival, and the son of Team Rocket leader Giovanni. Has a past with Green. He had the starter Pokémon Totodile (stolen, like Green’s Squirtle) now a Feraligatr. He specializes in trading Pokémon.
- Crystal - An expert Capturer. She has caught every non-legendary Pokémon for Professor Oak (she got the legendary Pokémon’s data with the help of the 1st generation trainers). She had a Chikorita for a starter Pokémon, which is now a Meganium.
- Ruby - Protagonist of The Fourth Chapter, and Gym Leader Norman’s son. He hates Pokémon battles and prefers to compete in Pokémon Contests, as a result of what had happened to him and Sapphire when they were young. Ruby received the starter Pokémon Mudkip, now a Swampert.
- Sapphire - Daughter of Professor Birch and Ruby’s rival. She is very wild, and often dresses in clothes made of leaves. She loves battling and thinks Pokémon Coordinators (like Ruby) are prissy, as a result of what had happened to her and Ruby when they were young. She had Torchic for a starter Pokémon, now a Blaziken.
- Wally (called Mitsuru in Japanese) - first appears in The Fourth Chapter. He’s a sickly young boy with a respiratory problem whose parents didn’t want him training Pokémon. However, Ruby lends Wally his Ralts, Ruru, and with it he captures a Kecleon. He later obtains other green-colour Pokémon, namely Cacturne, Roselia, Treecko (from Professor Birch), and Flygon (from Norman). Norman enlists Wally to help him awaken the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, because it is needed to stop Kyogre and Groudon from fighting and destroying the world. Norman decided to give Wally special training, which he rejected back at Petalburg. During the training, Ralts evolves into a Kirlia and Treecko evolves into a Grovyle. While awakening Rayquaza, Grovyle was blown away. Wally sports an extra green vest in addition to his outfit in the games. The 20th Volume clarifies that Wally is not actually an official PokéDex holder; Professor Birch was merely lending him Emerald’s PokéDex. However, most fans still view Wally as the tenth main character, as Yellow did not have her own PokéDex, either.
- Emerald is the newest main character, and he initially did not have any Pokémon, but later was joined by a Sudowoodo and Dusclops. He also carries a concealed gun as a tool to calm Pokémon. Emerald was hired by Crystal to compete in the Battle Frontier to protect the legendary Pokémon, Jirachi, from an evil man named Guild Hideout. Emerald also stole a Sceptile from the Battle Factory. This Sceptile was none other than the same Grovyle which was blown away from Sky Pillar while awakening Rayquaza. Emerald uses Pokémon that Crystal owns in each attraction, excluding the Battle Factory. He also apparently has a connection to the legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias.
- Diamond is a new character from Sinnoh with a gluttonus and rather dim-witted personality, though has been shown to sometimes show charisma in desperate situations.. He is a Pokémon Comedian and a very good friend of Pearl. He has a Munchlax and a Turtwig (mistakenly given to him by Berlitz), and because of a mix-up he thinks that if he escorts Berlitz to Mt. Tengan, he’ll win a prize.
- Pearl is a new character from Sinnoh with a hasty personality and has a habit of butting into conversations and exploding with rage if someone doesn't give him eye contact. He is a Pokémon Comedian (like his friend Diamond) and he has a Chatot and a Chimchar (mistakenly given to him by Berlitz), and because of a mix-up he thinks that if he escorts Berlitz to Mt. Tengan, he’ll win a prize.
- (Ms.) Berlitz is a new character from Sinnoh, she is the descendent of a very wealthy and important family, and she has to travel to Mt. Tengan as part of a ritual. She receives three Pokédexes, three Pokétches and the three starters (Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup) from Professor Rowan to give to her partners. She owns the Piplup and a Ponyta. Her given name is unknown.
[edit] Important antagonists
The Elite Four is an organization made up of the 4 greatest Pokémon masters in Kanto: Lance, Agatha, Lorelei and Bruno. They are one of the few people who have beaten Red before. They use Dragon, Ghost, Ice and Fighting type Pokémon respectively. The Elite Four believe that humans cannot co-exist with Pokémon, and are trying to rid the world of humans (though Bruno is not really aggressive, and is instead manipulated by Agatha). Lance plans to accomplish this with the help of a giant bird Pokémon, later revealed to be Lugia.
In Hoenn, however, the Elite Four were the past winners of the Pokémon League, led by the Champion Steven.
Team Rocket is an organization which plots to gain wealth and power and uses rare Pokémon in their plans to do so. In Pokémon Adventures “Rocket” is revealed to be an acronym for “Raid On the City, Knock out... Evil Tasks”. It is headed by the former Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni. After Yellow’s battle with Lance of the Elite Four in Volume 7, Team Rocket is officially disbanded by its leader. However, in The Third Chapter, it has been revived as NEO Team Rocket by a man with ice powers, the Mask of Ice, (later revealed to be Pryce, the gym leader of Mahogany Town), who seeks to capture Celebi, a Pokémon that can travel through time.
Team Aqua is a criminal group dressed in Blue that plots to expand the seas at any cost. To accomplish their goal, they are trying to awaken Kyogre, a legendary Pokémon, with the help of the Blue Orb. The group is the arch-enemy of Team Magma. Team Aqua is lead by Archie.
Team Magma is a criminal group dressed in red that plots to expand the land at any cost. To accomplish their goal, they are trying to awaken Groudon, a legendary Pokémon, with the help of the Red Orb. Team Magma is the arch-enemy of Team Aqua. Team Magma is lead by Maxie.
Giovanni is the formal gym leader of the Viridian Gym. He was the head of an evil organisation called Team Rocket, which was disbanded in the aftermath of the Elite Four's defeat. He returns from his trip to Hoenn in FireRed/LeafGreen saga. Later it was found out that his motive was to find his long-lost son, Silver, using the powers of Deoxys. He leads a team of powerful trainers called The Beast Trio. He proved a worthy opponent by putting up a great fight using his Deoxys against Red’s Mewtwo in a 1-on-1 battle.
[edit] External links
- Archive of Viz Kids’ Pokémon Adventures website
- Serebii - Fansite with information about the manga (including synopses) as well as the anime, movies, etc.
- Pokémon Adventures 8 Petition After Pokémon Adventures volume 7, they cancelled Pokémon Adventure, but there are people trying to revive it. Go here for more information.
- [1]- A Pokémon forum which has full scans of several volumes of the manga.
- Chuang Yi - Pokémon Adventures in Singapore.
