For many Pokémon fans, their favorite aspect of the franchise remains the original games. However, a good number of fans also adore the original animated series, starring Ash Ketchum and his best friend Pikachu. Though somber at times, the first Pokémon animated series is usually very lighthearted and often hilarious. However, for fans wanting a more realistic (and even darker) take on the Pokémon world, the Pokémon Adventures manga is a perfect choice.
Even more so than the games and the anime, the manga deals with themes relating to abuse, death, and corruption. Despite how intense the manga (especially in the later arcs) can be, it is nevertheless one of the most intriguing and action-packed aspects of the entire franchise, and a treat for any Pokémon fan. Many iconic Pokémon Trainers from the games and anime alike are featured in each arc, alongside their own unique teams. What is more, many of these Trainers are even more powerful and fleshed-out as characters compared to their other media counterparts.
7
Like in the Anime, Professor Oak Was Once a Renowned Trainer
Oak Returns to the Fight in the Pokémon League
Professor Oak is a central figure throughout the Pokémon media, even acting as a sort of father figure to Ash Ketchum in the original anime. Like his animated counterpart, Professor Oak was once a powerful Trainer in his youth. In fact, he was once able to become the Indigo League Champion, defeating his former friend and rival Agatha in battle. By the time Red meets him, Professor Oak is now a famous Pokémon Researcher, and the renowned creator of the Pokédex. Though he can be found throughout Kanto (and even beyond), Professor Oak tends to stay at his Lab, where some of the local children believe he is a rather odd and even mean individual.
As seen at the end of the original arc, Professor Oak even returns as a challenger in the Pokémon League, and goes up against the trouble-making heroine Green. Acting as “Dr. O”, Professor Oak is shown to be a bit ruthless, using a whole team of bird Pokémon against his opponent, knowing how terrified she is of avian Pokémon. Despite defeating her, Professor Oak forgives Green for stealing one of his starter Pokémon, seeing how it has grown into a strong and content Blastoise, and encourages her to become a proper Trainer with her own Pokédex. Oak appears in many other arcs, and has used other strong Pokémon, such as Fearow, as well as his trusted Kangaskhan when duty calls.
6
Agatha Is Part of the Villainous Elite Four
A Fearsome Master of the Ghost-type
Throughout the media, Agatha, a famous member of the Kanto Elite Four, is also noted to have grown up alongside Professor Oak. As revealed in the spin-off game Pokémon Masters EX, Oak was a bright and friendly child, while Agatha was reserved and often bitter. However, Agatha grew to care for her childhood friend and rival as they grew stronger as Trainers together, though the Ghost-type master would feel betrayed by Oak when he decided to retire from battling. In the present day, Agatha has grown cold towards her former friend, and is now a feared Trainer who believes that the main role for a Pokémon is a fighter.
Similarly, Agatha’s counterpart in the manga became upset when Oak decided that he wished to work on the creation of the Pokédex instead of continuing his battling career. Agatha later grew to hate anyone associated with Oak, and even became disdainful of humanity as a whole. She joins forces with the other members of the Elite Four, hoping to assist with their goal of eradicating other human beings. Aside from being one of the heroes’ toughest opponents, Agatha also leads armies of Ghost-types to try and destroy cities, and is even revealed to have been controlling the groups of Pokémon belonging to her allies.
5
Lance Is the Main Antagonist of the Yellow Arc
Lance Seeks To Destroy Humanity
In the Yellow arc of Pokémon Adventures, Lance is the overarching antagonist that Yellow and her allies must face. At a young age, Lance witnessed countless Pokémon becoming badly poisoned or even perishing due to the pollution that humans brought about. However, he was able to rescue a few Pokémon, including a Dratini and a Magikarp. In the present day, Lance has grown into an extraordinary Dragon-type master, with his partner Dragonite and Gyarados being his most renowned fighters even after adding several new allies to his roster. His goal is to destroy humanity, save for those he believes to be kind to Pokémon.
Just like Yellow, Lance grew up in the Viridian Forest, and has gained supernatural abilities. His power as a Trainer and as one from the forest has allowed him to connect with countless Pokémon, even hypnotizing them if the Dragon-type master so wishes. Aside from being the one to destroy Vermilion City, Lance also collected the Gym Badges in order to harness the power of the Badge Energy Amplifier, hoping to summon the Legendary Pokémon Lugia. However, his plans fell through thanks to Yellow, his narrative foil.
4
Yellow Has Supernatural Psychic Powers
An Empathetic Trainer That Hates To See Pokémon Injured
Though she is technically from Viridian City, Yellow tends to call the Viridian Forest her home instead. Being a Trainer raised alongside the natural beauty of the woods and the Pokémon who live there, Yellow has gained psychic abilities that make her a force for any Trainer to reckon with. Yellow’s abilities are extraordinary to say the least, and range from reading the emotions of Pokémon to even being able to heal their injuries. A rather naive Trainer, Yellow initially loathes the idea of Pokémon Evolution, and even cries when one of her beloved Pokémon, Ratty, evolves into a Raticate.
Over the course of her training and alliance with Green and Blue, Yellow soon proves herself to be the hero that the Kanto region needs during Red’s mysterious absence, and teams up with his Pikachu, Pika, when all seems lost. Yellow, famous for her empathy, absolutely loathes the thought of a Pokémon becoming injured, and has thus created a unique style of battling that allows her to avoid hurting her opponents unless absolutely necessary. Unlike many other Trainers in the Pokémon Adventures manga, Yellow does not have a direct anime or game counterpart. However, it can be stated that she is a female version of the player character in Pokémon Yellow, as well as a character created in the spirit of the classic video game itself. After all, not only does Yellow work alongside a Pikachu, she is directly in-tune with her Pokémon’s feelings, just like what the player character in Pokémon Yellow must be.
3
Green Comes From a Troubled Past
The Pokémon Trainer Matures Greatly Over Time
Green, also known as Blue in the original Japanese version of Pokémon Adventures, is based off of the first designs for the Lass Trainer class of the Generation I games, and an unused female protagonist for the same era. However, it would not be until Generation III, via Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, that Green would truly have a game counterpart in the form of Leaf. Whereas Leaf is shown to have had a happy childhood and a more honest personality, Green was kidnapped by a mind-controlled Ho-Oh when she was very young and forced to become one of the villainous Masked Man’s Masked Children. After escaping the clutches of the Masked Man alongside Silver, Green became more cunning, likely as a means to survive.
Though she appeared as a thief many times in the original arc, the rise of Team Rocket allowed Green to become a true hero. She continued to mature over the course of the manga, and by the time the FireRed & LeafGreen arc had rolled around, Green was no longer a troublemaker nor a thief, but retained her quick mind and clever battling tactics. In the FireRed & LeafGreen arc, aside from being one of the main heroes to rise up against the revived Team Rocket and Deoxys, Green is also the one to raise Red’s spirits after the legendary hero falls into despair. She also travels with her old friend to the Hoenn region to assist their allies after Maxie and Archie begin to stir up trouble once more, even revealing that Green’s Blastoise and Red’s Venusaur are now capable of Mega Evolving.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
2
Blue Evolves Into a Legendary Figure in Kanto
Blue Learns to Truly Battle Alongside His Team
In the games and the anime (both via animated special episodes and Gary Oak, his original anime counterpart), Blue (also known as Green in the original Japanese version of the manga) is energetic and arrogant. However, in Pokémon Adventures, Blue is a much calmer, albeit aloof, individual. Like his other counterparts, Blue is also quite haughty and very proud of his skills as a Trainer, even at the start of his journey. Blue views every battle almost like a puzzle that must be solved, and goes into almost every fight with a keen eye and a sense of intelligence that warns him to exit the battle if things might not bode well.
Blue and Red are eternal rivals, though at the start of Red’s journey as a true Pokémon Trainer, they do not get along at all. However, when the two are forced to work together in order to stop Team Rocket for the first time, Blue begins to respect his rival. As noted by his grandfather, Professor Oak, meeting Red has allowed Blue to try and become friends with his Pokémon, instead of just viewing them as battling allies. Blue becomes an even more extraordinary battler over the course of the entire manga, even assisting X of the Kalos region in his battle against Team Flare by Mega Evolving his Charizard into Mega Charizard Y.
1
Red Is the Original Pokémon Hero
Red Becomes a One-Of-A-Kind Trainer Over Time
In the games and some versions of him in the animated specials, Red, the very first Pokémon protagonist, is showcased as a quiet yet friendly boy who loves anything to do with Pokémon, but will quickly put a hold on an upcoming Gym Battle if someone is in trouble. This sense of justice lives on as well within Red of the Pokémon Adventures world, though their personalities are rather different. Whereas his game counterpart is more thoughtful, Red is initially a very impulsive Trainer, not thinking first if he should enter a battle or not. However, after meeting Blue, and becoming the hero the region needs during Team Rocket’s reign, Red learns to become more thoughtful, but remains the same compassionate individual with remarkable battling abilities. Like the other heroes of the Pokémon Adventures world, Red has a unique title, his being “Fighter” in honor of his extraordinary powers relating to how he works alongside Pokémon in battles.
Red is a supporting hero in the Yellow arc, but regains his role as the manga’s main hero during the events of the FireRed & LeafGreen arc. When Giovanni returns and gains control of the Mythical Pokémon, Deoxys, Red is called upon to save the world, but the road to becoming such an exceptional figure is not as easy as one may think, as Red initially loses the fight and loses hope. However, thanks to his friends, Red is able to rise up and, together with Mewtwo, is able to end Giovanni’s newest reign of terror. Years later, an older Red arrives in the Hoenn region alongside his longtime friend Green, using his Mega Venusaur against Archie and Maxie’s Mega Evolved partner Pokémon.
Pokémon
- Release Date
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1997 – 2023
- Network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- Directors
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Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Ooga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makoto Sokuza, Bjarne Heuser, Naoki Murata, Kenichi Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano
- Writers
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Junki Takegami, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hideki Sonoda, Yukiyoshi Ôhashi, Yuka Miyata, Takeshi Shudo, Shouji Yonemura, Shinzo Fujita, Michihiro Tsuchiya, Deko Akao, Reiko Yoshida, Aya Matsui, Junichi Fujisaku
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Rica Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
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Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
