Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures (Japanese: ポケットモンスターSPECIAL Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) is a series authored by 日下秀憲 Hidenori Kusaka. It was illustrated by 真斗 Mato for the first nine volumes and starting from 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 / ポケSP 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 twenty-one main characters taking their names from the core 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 undefined 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 ) would cease publication at the end of the fiscal year. In February 2012, Grade 4—which was serializing the at the time—also ceased publication. Publication will continue in CoroCoro Ichiban and Pokémon Fan magazine.

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

Story arcs
The various s of Pokémon Adventures span the seven 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)


The first chapter of Pokémon Adventures, much like the first games, chronicles the journeys of and  across the Kanto region, conquering its eight Gyms and the Pokémon League. Later, a third Trainer,, is added into the plot. Together, the three defeat Team Rocket, an evil organization that uses Pokémon for illegal acts. Red also helps Blaine to capture and saves  from wild Pokémon in Viridian Forest called Yellow, who appears in volumes 4-7. In the end, as in the games, Red defeats Blue in the Pokémon League.

Yellow chapter (Volume 4~7)
The Yellow chapter starts two years after obtains his title of the Champion in the Pokémon League. disappears for one month after he leaves to answer a challenge from someone named Bruno. One day, discovers Red's, Pika, injured at his doorstep. Soon after the arrival of Pika, a young Trainer comes into the Professor's lab. The Trainer,, claims that "he" is a friend of and wishes to look for him with Pika. While 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 Four 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 Four, where also joins them.

Gold, Silver & Crystal chapter (Volume 8~15)
As peace is returning to Kanto, new journeys and happenings are beginning in another region, Johto. 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,, with a from Professor Elm and Pokédex from , he stumbles upon the secret plots of the Masked Man. At the same time, sends out a "Pokémon Capture Professional,", on a journey of completing the Pokédex. She gets involved in Eusine's plans to capture 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, and. 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)
Things have just settled down in Kanto and Johto, but another new region comes on screen. This chapter is about the "rivalry" of and, 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-favoring Team Magma and sea-favoring Team Aqua. Team Aqua steals the heart component from Mr. Stone, President of Devon Corporation, while Team Magma steals the Submarine Explorer 1. 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 and.

FireRed & LeafGreen chapter (Volume 22~26)
The FRLG series continues the series featuring the characters and  as they are forced to explore the Sevii Islands to look for  who has been kidnapped by Team Rocket. Meanwhile, has finally located her parents, but as she is about to meet them, they get swallowed up by a mysterious black hole after a  attacks them. Red, Green, and Blue must locate the missing relatives with the help of former foe Lorelei, the psychic mutant and a mysterious old lady, Ultima, while defeating Team Rocket again at the same time. Back in Kanto, is seeking his parents as well, with the help of. He is soon shocked by the revelation of who his father really is. In the end,, , , , and are all petrified.

Emerald chapter (Volume 26~29)
The grand opening of the takes an unexpected twist when  appears on the scene. Now he must conquer the seven facilities in seven days. However, even with a seemingly unmatched ability in battling and access to every Pokémon has ever caught, Guile Hideout, the mysterious stranger that attacks Noland and is seeking, may be more of a worry than they first thought, especially if he catches Jirachi first.

Diamond & Pearl chapter (Volume 30~38)
An important family from the region of Sinnoh sends their latest descendant on a special mission with two bodyguards. Platinum instead meets with and, 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)
This chapter follows Lady Berlitz as she enters the  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, and  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)
Three years after the events of the Emerald chapter, Team Rocket has been revived once more in an attempt to bring back their long-lost leader, Giovanni. Silver, enraged by this, sets out to stop the team his father once led. Elsewhere, Gold gets into a battle with the Mythical Pokémon Arceus.

Black & White chapter (Volume 43~51)
This chapter follows 's journey across the Unova region, with the dream of conquering the Pokémon League and become the Pokémon Champion. He is joined by, who runs the BW Agency and whose dream is to raise the best Pokémon actor out there.

Black 2 & White 2 chapter (Volume 52~?)
is a seemingly normal boy enrolled in the Aspertia City Trainer's School. However, he is actually a member of the International Police who aims to find the remaining members of Team Plasma that was defeated two years ago. Unbeknownst to him, the new student,, happens to be a former member of Team Plasma.

X & Y chapter (Volume ?~?)
, a boy who won a Pokémon Tournament as a child, has become depressed due to bad experiences with the paparazzi and the public speaking bad about him. Although his friends, , , and try to get him back to normal, he refuses to listen to them. Meanwhile, Team Flare is aiming to capture both 's Mega Ring and the Legendary Pokémon and  to power their ultimate weapon.

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire chapter (Volume ?~?)
When danger approaches Hoenn,, , and are asked to learn about Mega Evolution to prevent the impending disaster in ten days.

English translations
Pokémon Adventures has been licensed for English translation by three different companies: VIZ Media, located in, Chuang Yi, located in , and Shogakukan Asia, also located in Singapore.

VIZ Media
Beginning in September 1999, Pokémon Adventures was translated into English and published in the United States by VIZ Media. Originally, the series was available as a series of monthly single issues, a popular format at the time, and the rounds were later released in the more traditional graphic novel format, beginning from in April 2000. Publication ceased in 2003 after the concluded with. 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 re-releasing the series beginning from. Rather than just reissue the previous translations, VIZ Media 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, containing some of the same dialogue and all the same titles for the rounds, as well as a lack of nicknames for 's or 's Pokémon (although Red's Pokémon receive nicknames in later volumes). In addition, these second editions contain edits not found in the first edition, such as the editing of '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.

Following the second edition of, VIZ Media has begun to release volumes which are new to North America, beginning with in August 2010. While continuing the format of the second editions, there are some edits in the new-to-American audience volumes, like editing a scene of 's mother slapping her in into a glare and editing the scene of Norman punching  into him dropping Ruby due to lightning in. VIZ Media took a break in publication following the release of in August 2011, which concluded the  (The Last Battle XIV was moved to the end of Volume 14). They resumed production of the series with in March 2013.

In July 2010, it was announced that the would be published concurrently with the  as a "second series" called Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl/Platinum, with  published as the first volume of the second series. This second series releases one new volume triannually and began publication in February 2011. Continuing this trend, in August 2013 VIZ Media began to release the as a separately numbered series, Pokémon Adventures: HeartGold & SoulSilver, consisting of  and  as volumes one and two. Since the is numbered separately from the, the first four rounds of  (PS457-PS460) were moved to the end of  to keep the rounds organised by chapter.

Beginning in July 2011, VIZ Media began publishing the magazine version of the. Since the rounds were not collected in volume format in Japan at the time of publication, they were released as a series of mini-volumes, titled Pokémon Black and White and billed as a "Pokémon Adventures special edition". Starting from July 2013, VIZ Media started releasing the regular volume versions as a series called Pokémon Adventures: Black & White, allowing readers the choice between the magazine version and the volume version.

In March 2013, VIZ launched the app for the iPad. It allowed users to buy digital copies of children's manga and American comics. Pokémon Adventures is among those included on the app. So far, only Volumes 1-14 and Diamond and Pearl/Platinum Volumes 1-4 have been made available. These same volumes have also been released on the Kindle and Nook eBook stores as well.

In July 2018, Viz announced their plans to release the regular volumes for the entire series digitally on both their website's regular digital platform as well as Kindle, ComiXology, iBooks, Nook and GooglePlay with volumes 1-7 initially available, while the rest of storyline were released between August to December 2018 with both October and December having multiple saga releases which was completed on December 25, 2018.

VIZ Media's translations of Pokémon Adventures are available in, , , , , and South Africa. They are also imported into other countries.

Chuang Yi
Chuang Yi, a manga company based in, translated Pokémon Adventures into English since in May 2000. The first seven volumes used VIZ Media's translation, though after VIZ Media stopped their first edition in 2003 at, Chuang Yi continued to translate the series on their own. As the first seven volumes were based on the flipped edition by VIZ Media, Chuang Yi continued to publish the series in a flipped format, lasting from to. Their final volume,, was published in the original right-to-left reading format. Their translation of the manga stopped when Chuang Yi went under.

Chuang Yi's translations of Pokémon Adventures were available in, , , , and. They were also available in and  through.

Shogakukan Asia
Beginning in July 2014, a new publisher, Shogakukan Asia, has picked up the license for Pokémon manga, including Pokémon Adventures, in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries. They first published Pokémon Adventures volume 42 in August 2014. The volumes were published in the original right-to-left reading format.

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

Chinese
Pokémon Adventures is currently being translated into by two publishers. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, (青文出版集團) handles the translation of the series into Traditional Mandarin and Cantonese under the title  and  respectively. The manga was formerly serialized in CoroCoro of Taiwan before its cancellation in January 2015, but continues to publish volumes.

In Mainland China, the series is currently being translated by Jilin Publishing Group (吉林出版集团) under the title. Before the DP chapter, the series was formerly named, but was renamed due to trademark issues. All the early volumes have now been republished under the new name as of 2014. Initially, the series was translated by China Light Industry Press (轻工业出版社) and known as for seven volumes, before Jilin Publishing took over in the 2000s.



Finnish
On July 25, 2014, publisher Pauna Media started publishing the  and the  under the combined title Pokémon Adventures: Red, Blue & Green. The seven volumes of these story arcs were initially scheduled to be released monthly. The Finnish version is based on and translated from the Japanese version. The names of moves, most characters, and Pokémon, however, will be in English by request of English licensors.

This means that and  follow the English naming as well instead of the original Japanese. Even though the translation is based on the Japanese version, the graphics are based on VIZ Media's second English version, with certain Finnish sound effects added. The edits made to the graphics remain in this version, despite the company's earlier statement on not censoring the series. Pauna Media has plans to release the entire series.

European French
Pokémon Adventures was translated into by  under the title . 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. Each volume was initially split into two monthly issues by Glénat, and were later republished in their original volume presentation. Glénat suddenly had to interrupt this edition due to copyright issues, before the release of, the closing volume of the.

Since 2011, the has been translated for France by Kurokawa. This translation respects the original reading format (right-to-left) and is based directly on the magazine version of Pokémon Adventures. As the title Pokémon: La Grande Adventure! was still trademarked by Glénat, the is published with the title .

In April 2014, it was announced by Kurokawa that they would be rereleasing the and the  in a set of three omnibus volumes, beginning on June 12, 2014 with volume one. This release, while continuing to use the "Pokémon: La Grande Aventure!" name, features an entirely new translation more faithful to the original Japanese version and consistent with Kurokawa's release of the. In this edition, Red, Blue and Green are named Rouge, Bleu and Verte, which translate to the same colours in French. Blue and Green's names are switched, as in the English version (Bleu is the male character and Verte is the female character), likely due to the fact that there was no Green version released in France.

In 2015, upon completion of the, Kurokawa has begun a French translation of the in the same format. Similarly, in commemoration of the release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Kurokawa has begun an omnibus release of the original, previously unissued in France. After that, it continues with the launch the launch of in 2016.

German
Pokémon Adventures has been translated into by. However, only the first three volumes were released. In the German version, the names of characters such as and Lt. Surge were renamed to their German names from the games and anime. Additionally, and  were renamed to "" and "" to match the.

Since October 2013, Panini Comics has released eight volumes of the under the title . In May 2015, Panini Comics started releasing translated Japanese mini-volumes of the under the title . Beginning in January 2016, it started releasing volumes of Pokémon Adventures, these volumes combine the with the.

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

Italian
Pokémon Adventures () was translated into by Planet Manga, a subsidiary of Panini Comics. The first ten monthly issues were translated into Italian, based on VIZ Media's first edition. The project was abandoned after the fifteenth round.

In autumn 2013, Italian manga publishers J-Pop and GP Manga announced at the comic book convention that they would be publishing the  of the Pokémon Adventures manga in Italian with the title . This release is based on VIZ Media's mini volumes of the magazine version. The first Italian volume was released on August 27, 2014. J-Pop then started to publish the Pokémon Adventures saga from the very beginning with the title , releasing the and the  in three volumes in November 2016 and the  in autumn 2017. The has been released in October 2018.

Korean
Pokémon Adventures (포켓몬스터 스페셜 Pokémon Special) is translated into by 대원씨아이 , which has released up to  to date.

Malaysian
In, Pokémon Adventures is translated as  under Chuang Yi's license.

Polish
In, the 's worth of chapters was translated into Polish by 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.

Brazilian Portuguese
In August 2014, Panini Comics began releasing the of the Pokémon Adventures manga in, beginning with. Panini has stated that if the series is successful, they will continue into other story arcs of the manga. The was released in November 2016, the  was released in April 2017 and the  was released in January 2018

European Spanish
In, Norma Editorial has acquired the complete license of the manga. Due to the length of the series (52 volumes at the time of announcing the license) and due to different story arcs often starting and ending partway through volumes, Norma Editorial has opted for an omnibus format which groups rounds by chapter, including two simultaneous numbering systems (each volume is numbered based on its position in the entire series as well as numbered based on which chapter the book collects).

Norma Editorial's translation of Pokémon Adventures retains the original right-to-left reading format. New volumes are expected to be released monthly, beginning with Volume 1 on October 29, 2015. For their first releases, Norma Editorial will be alternating between the and the.

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

In 2015, Panini Comics Mexico announced that they would be publishing Pokémon Adventures in Latin America. They will begin publishing the in 2016.

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

Vietnamese
In, Pokémon Adventures is published by Kim Đồng Publishing House, one of the largest manga publishers in Vietnam. The Vietnamese translation is based directly on the Japanese version &mdash; the trademarked romanizations of Japanese names are used for Pokémon, character and location names, although move names are translated into Vietnamese language.

Kim Đồng Publishing House's first edition of Pokémon Adventures began in 2003 and ran from through, after which the series was discontinued due to Kim Đồng's Japanese partner cancelling their contract. This edition was published in a left-to-right format with reversed artwork.

In late 2014, Kim Đồng renegotiated the rights to the Pokémon Adventures series; however, a series of delays resulted in the release of the first volume to be pushed back from a projected January 2015 release date until April 6, 2015. Volume 2 was planned to be released on April 20 but has been delayed since then, after receiving complaints about some translated terms from readers. This volume was finally released on August 24, and subsequent volumes are scheduled to follow every two weeks on Mondays. Kim Đồng's second edition of Pokémon Adventures are published in the original right-to-left reading format.

Trivia

 * A large amount of the art in Pokémon Adventures is based on the original concept works from the games. For example:
 * In the, Charmander is drawn with spikes on its back.
 * Hitmonlee has legs that can stretch like springs in the Yellow chapter.
 * Green's character design is based on a Ken Sugimori illustration of, and an unnamed 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, , and . However, each protagonist eventually gets one, usually near the start of the chapter.
 * In some instances in the translated version, the Fire type is referred to as Flame and the Ground type is referred to as Earth.
 * The starters of each region that are given to characters based on the male protagonists in the games cycle through Grass (, and ), Fire (,  and ), and Water ( and ).
 * This also applies to characters based on the female protagonists in the games, which cycle through Water (, and ), Grass (,  and ), and Fire . Currently, the only exception to this rule is, who has yet to own any of the starters.
 * In PSs2, it is mentioned by Red that in the Adventures manga Pokémon have different names in different locations, this references the names Pokémon are given in different languages, like  being called Lizardon (switched around in the Japanese version).