Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Special redirects here. For the special episodes in the Pokémon anime, see List of anime specials.

VIZ Media's second edition logo

Chuang Yi logo

Pokémon Adventures (Japanese: ポケットモンスターSPECIAL Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) is a manga series authored by 日下秀憲 Hidenori Kusaka. It was illustrated by 真斗 Mato for the first nine volumes and starting from Volume 10 it has been illustrated by 山本サトシ Satoshi Yamamoto. It is published by Shogakukan under the Ladybird Comics Special series.

It is popularly known as Pokémon Special even outside of Japan, and often shortened as PokéSpe (Japanese: ポケスペ PokeSupe).

Unlike the anime—which, though drawing much inspiration from the games, does not follow them exactly—Pokémon Adventures is a mostly game-based manga, with the fifteen main characters taking their names from the main series games and their various adventures tending to stay restricted to their home region. Also unlike the anime, which has gone to great lengths to indicate the danger of a legendary Pokémon being captured, the main characters of Pokémon Adventures have captured and sometimes use their own legends, much as the player can in the games. Pokémon Adventures also contains darker elements than other media, including certain characters and some Pokémon actually dying.

On October 26, 2009, it was announced that Gakunen magazine Grade 5 and Grade 6 (at the time serializing the Diamond & Pearl chapter) would cease publication at the end of the fiscal year. In February 2012, Grade 4—which was serializing the Black & White chapter at the time—also ceased publication. Publication will continue in CoroCoro Ichiban and Pokémon Fan magazine.

Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri is quoted as stating, "This is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey." Game producer Tsunekaz Ishihara also praises the series, saying, "I want every Pokémon fan to read this comic!"

Story arcs

The various chapters of Pokémon Adventures span the five generations of Pokémon games so far. These chapters are named typically for the games they correspond to; however, the protagonists of each chapter typically also share these names.

Red, Green & Blue chapter (Volume 1~3)

File:PokemonAdventures1.png

Pokémon Adventures volume 1 (VIZ media Second edition)

Main article: Red, Green & Blue chapter (Adventures)

The first chapter of Pokémon Adventures, much like the first games, chronicles the journeys of Red and Blue across the Kanto region, conquering its eight Gyms and the Pokémon League. Later, a third Trainer, Green, comes into the plot. Together, the three defeat Team Rocket, an evil organization that uses Pokémon for illegal acts. Red also helps Blaine to capture Mewtwo and saves a young girl from wild Pokémon in Viridian Forest. In the end, as in the games, Red defeats Blue in the Pokémon League.

Yellow chapter (Volume 4~7)

Main article: Yellow chapter (Adventures)

The Yellow chapter starts two years after Red obtains his title of the Champion in the Pokémon League. Red disappears for one month after he leaves to answer a challenge from someone named Bruno. One day, Professor Oak discovers Red's Pikachu, Pika, injured at his doorstep. Soon after the arrival of Pika, a young Trainer comes into the Professor's lab. The Trainer, Yellow, claims that "he" is a friend of Red and wishes to look for him with Pika. While Professor Oak is still skeptical about Yellow, especially about "his" ability of healing and sensing Pokémon's emotions, he eventually entrusts this mission and Red's upgraded Pokédex to the young Trainer. However, this event only triggers the revelation of a larger secret as Yellow is repeatedly attacked by members of the Elite Four. When Yellow discovers that the Elite 4 base is situated at Cerise island, Yellow heads there and meets up with Blaine, Blue, Green and the Team Rocket Commanders: Sabrina, Lt. Surge, and Koga. They decide to team up to take down the Elite 4, where Red also joins them.

Gold, Silver & Crystal chapter (Volume 8~15)

Main article: Gold, Silver & Crystal chapter (Adventures)

As peace is returning to Kanto, new journeys and happenings are beginning in another region, Johto. Gold was enjoying his normal life with his family Pokémon, who have been with him since birth, until he ran into a Pokémon thief at Professor Elm's lab. As he goes on a journey of chasing the thief, Silver, with a Cyndaquil from Professor Elm and Pokédex from Professor Oak, he stumbles upon the secret plots of the Masked Man. At the same time, Professor Oak sends out a "Pokémon Capture Professional," Crystal, on a journey of completing the Pokédex. She gets involved in Eusine's plans to capture Suicune and tries to do so herself. Soon after, she also gets involved with the plots of Masked Man, who is apparently after the two legendary Pokémon, Lugia and Ho-Oh. The more shocking revelation follows: this Masked Man is actually one of the 8 Gym Leaders of the Johto area!

Ruby & Sapphire chapter (Volume 15~22)

Main article: Ruby & Sapphire chapter (Adventures)

Things have just settled down in Kanto and Johto, but another new region comes on screen. This chapter is about the "rivalry" of Ruby and Sapphire, who are trying to conquer all the Pokémon Contests and Gyms in Hoenn respectively within the span of 80 days. Just like their counterparts in Kanto and Johto, they encounter two evil organizations, the land-loving Team Magma and sea-loving Team Aqua. Team Aqua steals the Heart component from Mr. Stone, President of Devon Corporation while Team Magma steals the Kaien I. Team Aqua destroys the volcano using the Grand Meteor, disrupting the balance of nature. Sapphire picks up a piece of the Grand Meteor and keeps it, but not for long, as soon she and Ruby clash with the leaders Maxie and Archie as the two new Pokédex Holders attempt to quell the two titans Groudon and Kyogre!

FireRed & LeafGreen chapter (Volume 22~26)

Main article: FireRed & LeafGreen chapter (Adventures)

The FRLG series continues the series featuring the characters Red and Blue as they are forced to explore the Sevii Islands to look for Professor Oak who has been kidnapped by Team Rocket. Meanwhile, Green has finally located her parents, but as she is about to meet them, they get swallowed up by a mysterious black hole after a Deoxys attacks them. Red, Green, and Blue must locate the missing relatives with the help of former foe Lorelei, the psychic mutant Mewtwo and a mysterious old lady, Kimberly, while defeating Team Rocket again at the same time. Back in Kanto, Silver is seeking his parents as well, with the help of Yellow. He is soon shocked by the revelation of who his father really is: Giovanni!

Emerald chapter (Volume 26~29)

Main article: Emerald chapter (Adventures)

The grand opening of the Battle Frontier takes an unexpected twist when Emerald appears on the scene. Now he must conquer the seven facilities in seven days. With a seemingly unmatched ability at battles and access to every Pokémon Crystal has ever caught, the mysterious stranger that attacks Noland and is seeking Jirachi, Guile Hideout, may be more of a worry, especially if he catches Jirachi first...

Diamond & Pearl chapter (Volume 30~38)

Main article: Diamond & Pearl chapter (Adventures)

An important family from the region of Sinnoh sends their latest descendant Platinum on a special mission with two bodyguards. Platinum instead meets with Diamond and Pearl, who coincidentally match the description given to her (two boys in scarves, one in red, the other in green). They join her, believing she is the tour guide of a trip to Mt. Coronet they won as a prize in a comedy contest. But these misunderstandings mark the start of their Pokémon journeys.

Platinum chapter (Volume 38~40)

Main article: Platinum chapter (Adventures)

This chapter follows Lady Platinum Berlitz as she enters the Battle Frontier to gather information on the mysterious Distortion World so she can rescue two very important people. Joining Platinum is Looker, member of the International Police, who aims to investigate the villainous Team Galactic.

Meanwhile, Diamond and Pearl set off with Sinnoh Pokémon Association Chairman and Dr. Footstep to find the Legendary and Rare Pokémon of Sinnoh using Charon's stolen notebook on Legendary Pokémon.

HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter (Volume 41~43)

Main article: HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter (Adventures)

The chapter stars Gold and Silver and started in the April 2010 issue of Grade 4 magazine and in the May 2010 issue of Corocoro Ichiban.

Silver investigates a series of incidents that appear to be the work of a revived Team Rocket. A few weeks later, Gold faces an enraged Arceus in battle.

Black & White chapter (Volume 43~?)

Main article: Black & White chapter (Adventures)

This chapter follows Black's journey across the Unova region, with the dream of conquering the Pokémon League and become the Pokémon Champion. He is joined by White, who runs the BW Agency and whose dream is to raise the best Pokémon actor out there.

English translations

Pokémon Adventures has been licensed for English translation by two different companies: VIZ Media, located in the United States, and Chuang Yi, located in Singapore.

VIZ Media

Beginning in July 2000, Pokémon Adventures was translated into English and published in the United States by VIZ Media. However, publication ceased in 2003 after the Yellow arc concluded with Volume 7. These translations read from left-to-right with the artwork in reverse from the original version, to conform with the style of North American comics and other Japanese manga published at the time. Other content, such as the route maps at the end of every volume, was omitted as well. Samples from this translation of Pokémon Adventures can be found in the The Best of Pokémon Adventures volumes, which were both published in 2006.

In June 2009, VIZ Media began rereleasing the series beginning from Volume 1. Rather than just reissue the previous translations, VIZ Media has opted for a "second edition" - these volumes feature a new translation, with the right-to-left artwork and all of the content omitted from the previous translation restored. However, the new translation still follows closely to the original translation, not including any nicknames for Red or Green like in the original Japanese version (although Red's Pokémon receive nicknames in later volumes), as well as still containing some dialogue from the original releases. In addition, these second editions contain edits not found in the first edition, such as the editing of Green's battle with Sabrina in A Little Kadabra'll Do It to remove the scene of Green hiding Poké Balls in her top and the recoloring of Jynx to match its current color of purple. They also include edits in the new-to-American audience volumes, like editing a scene of Crys' mother slapping her in volume 11 into a glare.

Following the second edition of Volume 7, VIZ Media has begun to release volumes which are new to North America, beginning with Volume 8 in August 2010. Viz took a break in publication following the publication of Volume 14 in August 2011. They will resume production of the series with Volume 15 in March 2013.

In July 2010, it was announced that the Diamond & Pearl arc would be published concurrently with the Gold, Silver & Crystal arc as a "second series" called Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl/Platinum, with Volume 30 published as the first volume of the second series. This second series releases one new volume triannually and began publication in February 2011. In addition to the rounds from the Diamond & Pearl arc, VIZ Media is also publishing rounds from the Black & White arc as a third series, Pokémon Black and White, beginning in July 2011. As these rounds are not currently published in volume format in Japan, the rounds are gathered directly from the magazine publication of Pokémon Adventures.

VIZ Media's translations of Pokémon Adventures are available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.

Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi, a manga company based in Singapore, has been translating Pokémon Adventures into English since Volume 1 in May 2000. Unlike VIZ Media, Chuang Yi's publishing of Pokémon Adventures has never been paused or ceased. Chuang Yi's translations of Pokémon Adventures are printed in a left-to-right format with artwork in reverse from the original version.

Chuang Yi's translations of Pokémon Adventures are available in Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

International translations

Pokémon Adventures has been translated into many languages for publication around the world.

Pokémon Adventures (Traditional Mandarin: 神奇寶貝特別篇, Simplified Mandarin: 神奇宝贝特别篇, Cantonese: 寵物小精靈特別篇) has been translated into Chinese. Both 神奇寶貝特別篇 and 寵物小精靈特別篇 are translated by 青文出版集團 Chingwin Publishing Group, while 神奇宝贝特别篇 is translated by 吉林出版集团 Jilin Publishing Group. Due to trademark issues, Jilin has renamed the manga to 精灵宝可梦特别篇 (Mandarin) starting from the DP chapter.

Pokémon Adventures was translated into European French by Glénat under the title Pokémon: La Grande Adventure!. This translated version was based on the original Japanese, however, the artwork was printed in reverse order in a left-to-right reading format for purposes of publication in France. Glénat suddenly had to interrupt this edition due to copyright issues, before the release of volume 7, the closing volume of the Yellow chapter.
The Black and White chapter has been translated for France by Kurokawa since 2011. This translation respect the original reading format (right-to-left).

Pokémon Adventures has been translated into German by Egmont Manga & Anime, however, only the first three volumes were released. In the German version, the names of characters such as Professor Oak and Lt. Surge were renamed to their German names from the games and anime. Additionally, Red and Blue were renamed to "Ash" and "Gary" to match the anime.

The first fifteen chapters of Pokémon Adventures (Greek: Pokémon Περιπέτειες) were translated into Greek by Modern Times. The fifteen chapters were published over five books, with the first book titled Pokémon Adventures: The Best Trainer (Greek: Pokémon Περιπέτειες: Ο Καλύτερος Εκπαιδευτής).

Pokémon Adventures (포켓몬스터 스페셜 Pokémon Special) is translated into Korean by 대원씨아이 Daewon C.I, which released up to Volume 39 to date.

In Poland, the first volume's worth of chapters was translated into Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica and published in four monthly issues. The Polish version uses the English "Pokémon Adventures" name. Due to the low popularity of the series in Poland, the series was quickly discontinued and the monthly issues were never collected in a bound volume.

Pokémon Adventures was translated into Latin American Spanish by Toukan Manga. The Latin American translation was based on VIZ Media's English translation.

In Thailand, Pokémon Adventures (โปเกมอนสเปเชียล) is translated and published by Nation Edutainment (เนชั่น เอ็ดดูเทนเมนท์).

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  神奇寶貝特別篇 volume 3 in traditional Mandarin (Taiwan).

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  Pokémon Adventures volume 3 in German

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  Pokémon Περιπέτειες issue #2 in Greek

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  포켓몬스터 스페셜 volume 1 in Korean

• Polish Adventures Volume 1.png

  Issue #1: Tajemniczy Mew in Polish

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  Issues of Pokémon Adventures and Magical Pokémon Journey in Latin American Spanish

Trivia

• A large amount of the art in Pokémon Adventures is based on the original concept works from the games. For example:
  • In the Red, Green, and Blue chapter, Charmander is drawn with spikes on its back.
  • Hitmonlee has legs that can stretch like springs in the Yellow chapter.
  • Green's character design appears to be based on a Ken Sugimori illustration of Red, Blue and an unnamed, unused female Trainer.
  • Brock's Graveler is seen floating like Geodude instead of having feet.
• Throughout the series, almost every protagonist starts out with a Pokémon other than the traditional starter Pokémon that are chosen in the games, except Emerald and White. However, each protagonist eventually gets one, near the start of the chapter.
• In some instances, the Fire type is referred to as Flame.
• In some instances, the Ground type is referred to as Earth.
• Pokémon are sized different than in the games, as a Voltorb may be larger than an Electrode. Pokémon such as Electabuzz, Ho-Oh, and Lugia are shown to be larger than in the games, and some Pokémon are smaller, such as La Glace, Pryce's newly hatched Lapras.
• The starters given to characters based on the male protagonists in the games appear to cycle through Grass (Red and Diamond), Fire (Gold and Black), and Water (Ruby).
  • This also applies to characters based off the female protagonists in the games, which cycle through Water (Green and Platinum), Grass (Crystal and White), and Fire (Sapphire)
• Every three chapters so far roughly adds up to a total of fourteen volumes. These fourteen volumes fit the generation of games that the chapters take place, with the exception of the Red, Green & Blue chapter , the Yellow chapter and the Gold, Silver & Crystal chapter which is spread over two generations.

See also

• List of rounds in Pokémon Adventures
• List of Pokémon Adventures volumes

External links

• Official Japanese site
• VIZ Media, English-language publishers of Pokémon Adventures in the USA
• Chuang Yi, English-language publishers of Pokémon Adventures in Singapore

This article is part of Project Manga, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each series of Pokémon manga.