Welcome to the world of Pokemon! I'm not Professor Oak, but I will try to introduce you to the world of Pokemon.
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| Yeah right, as if you didn't already know what I'm talking about. |
The setting is a world where fantastic creatures called pokemon exist. Pokemon come in a myriad of colors and shapes, some people use them to battle others as pets. Pokemon also have types (like Fire, Water, Grass and a lot more) and each type has weaknesses and resistances. In the world of pokemon trainers go on a journey through the land and catch all pokémon, beat Gym Leaders, trainers specialized on one type of pokemon, and earn badges. Then they go challenge the Pokémon League and become champions. This is the base of every pokemon game in the main series. Yes, every each of them. And they're awesome.
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| I know you find them awesome since they came out! You can't fool the God of Procrastination! |
Pokemon Adventures setting is the same, but the plot is very different from the one of the games. Each of the arcs cover a generation of games, and as such, it's still coming out as we speak. The main characters of the arcs are based on the game main character and also the rivals too, so I'll introduce the characters and plot for the first 2 arcs of the manga, covering the first generation.
The Characters (I'll be using the original names, so there will be two names switched from the english version) :
Red - Red has been depicted many times in media, but they always come close to the same depiction. Red is a tallented trainer, a master in combat making Oak call him The Fighter, he is very straight forward, and believes in his pokemon with all his being. Eventually becomes the Kanto Pokemon League Champion, and defeats Team Rocket. His first pokémon was a Poliwag and Oak gives him a Bulbasaur. Do not associate with Ash from the anime. Never.
Green - Professor Oak's grandson. He's also a very tallented trainer, but unlike Red, he trusts power above everything. He has great skill in leveling pokemon, making Oak call him The Trainer. Eventually becomes more aknowledging of Red's ways of training, and joins him multiple times against the enemys that appear in the story. His first pokemon was a Charmander given by his grandfather.
Blue - Blue is depicted as a tricky girl, stealing Squirtle from Oak's lab in the beggining of the series. Uses a lot of tricks to get what she wants, but deep inside she is also kind hearted person like her companions Red and Green. Kidnapped from Pallet Town by a giant bird Pokemon, she searches it for some reason. Oak calls her The Evolver, as he has knack for evolving pokemon, despite in the begginng she doesn't evolve any of them so the enemies fall in a sense of security.
Yellow - A young trainer from Viridian Forest. She first appears in the story learning how to catch pokemon from Red, and later appears as the main character from the yellow arc. With the help of Pika, Red's Pikachu, she searches for the missing Red after a challenge he accepted from Bruno of the Elite Four. She has the strange ability of understanding Pokémon and is capable of healing them without any help, making Oak call her The Healer. Her first pokemon was a Ratatta that Red helped her to catch.
Professor Oak - The authority in pokémon studies. He is the one who gives the pokedexes to the main characters. In this manga he was a previous Pokemon League Champion.
Giovanni - Giovanni is the villain of the first arc. Like in the game he is the leader of Team Rocket and Viridian's Gym Leader. He tries to use them for profit. Takes a new page in life after being defeated by Red.
Lance - Lance is the main villain for the second arc. Lance has the same abilities of Yellow and tries to create an Utopia for pokemon, as he sees that they suffer at hands of humans.
Just by the description of the characters there are lot of differences from the game story. In the game the only evil identity is Team Rocket (and of course Giovanni), but in this manga they don't go that way. Even some Gym Leaders, that represent how a trainer must be in the games, in this plot turn to the wrong side, using their power and allying themselves with Team Rocket for their own gain, and some repent and aid the main characters. The elite 4 is also an evil identity in this story, trying to destroy humans to make a perfect world for pokemon to live in. The story is fast paced, never having a dull moment. The fights are made that the trainer is also in the middle of the battle, so his live is also at risk.
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Red being tortured by an electabuzz. You don't see this in the anime. Red took it like a man. I don't want to talk about Ash.
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Some pokemon get serious injury, an example is Koga's Arbok being decapitaded, Pika's appearing all hurt in the beggining of the Yellow arc, and some pokémon even die. There's also some weird moments when Ghastly manipulate pokemon corpses to fight.
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| Decapitated pokemon and corpsees. What? |
Then at the end of the arc, it changes for the Gold and Silver arc, with new main characters and plot, with appearences from the previous main characters.
If you're a fan of the Pokemon world I strongly reccomend this to you. It's a nice take on the feeling of the games. It tries to keep it's target audience, kids, while trying to captivate a little more older audience. I personally liked it.
Art - 3/5 - It's not the best art in the world, but it suits the theme. The style of the pokémon is also a little bit different from the other media.
Plot - 3/5 - It's very similar to the games with some little twists, and is not something that will make you go wow, but it's still enjoyable.
Excitement - 4/5 - Once you start it's hard to stop, you take a liking to the way the characters have their own mindsets and how the fights are portrayed.
Characters - 3/5 - The characters are very stereotyped, and sometimes you feel that you have seen too much like them. You can still love them, but they're on an average level.
Pokemon Adventures reach Level 13/20.
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