Pokemon Special: Recap, Edition One
Jun. 5th, 2010 02:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elementalheroThe first of many, I hope! (as in, I hope I don't forget about this and quit doing it like I do to everything else, ever.)
First, I wanted to get out some personal thoughts on Pokemon in general. You see, I never actually played the first generation games, and I wasn't allowed to watch the anime. I always felt really behind all my friends, and so, being the dogged young child I was, I got into it via any means and media I could - guidebooks, the first two movies, discussions with my friends at lunch, etc. The only games I have real nostalgia for, in that I actually had the experience of playing them, are the Generation 2 games, Gold and Silver (I had Silver). Thus, for me, there is an aspect about the first set of games, which are the ones everyone remembers, that I feel kind of left out about. I wasn't even aware of most of the actual events of the PLOT of the Gen 1 games until I started reading this manga back in October of last year. So this was a new experience even for me, despite me having previous knowledge of and liking for Pokemon as a franchise.
Second, some background info on the manga and games themselves:
This manga, titled Pokemon Special in Japan, Pokemon Adventures in America, and hereafter referred to as PokeSpe or PS if I'm really lazy, has been stated (on record) by the creator of the games themselves to best match the vision of the world he was trying to create. So, although PokeSpe canon is different and separate from game canon, it is the closest to "canon" of all the different published/visual media based on the games. I found that pretty interesting. It started serialization in 1997, the same year Red and Green came out in Japan.
Yes, Red and Green. The original games in Japan were Red and Green. Then, a third game was made with updated programming and better-looking sprites, called Blue. When the games came to America, they were coded with Blue's engine and good sprites, and called Red and Blue (why? who knows?) The reason this is so important is that the manga characters are based on the game protagonists, and the name changes of the games from Japan to America resulted in two characters' names being flopped to match when the manga was exported to America as well. This results in headaches for everyone when they get them confused.
I think I've given enough background info to start. Let's go!
Chapter 1: Vs. Mew (American title: A Glimpse of the Glow)
We start the first chapter in Pallet Town, where a bunch of kids are trying to capture a Nidorino. For some reason, though, all their Pokeballs just bounce off. Suddenly, some really adorable kid shows up and tells them you have to weaken a Pokemon before you can catch it (seriously, even we know that, and we don't live in the Pokemon universe e__e stupid kids), and proceeds to demonstrate with his Poliwhirl. All the kids are super impressed, and we learn the newcomer's name: Red.
Red narrates the usual spiel given at the beginning of any Pokemon adaptation: in this world, there are many creatures called Pokemon that live in the lakes and the forests and the blah blah blah gotta catch them all.
The kids talk about this cool old guy named Professor Oak, and Red asserts that there is NO ONE who knows as much about Pokemon as he, Red, does, because Red is the coolest kid in Pallet Town. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of suspicious guys in black (read: Team Rocket) goose-stepping around the forest. Red decides to investigate, and finds out that they are searching for a "Phantom Pokemon" rumored to be in the area or something. He's like I HAVE TO CATCH IT, but as it turns out, Mew is not a super big fan of getting caught.
As Red is looking for Mew, he finds an ALOOF YOUNG MAN battling a ~mysterious Pokemon~ with his Charmander. After a while of having his ass handed to him, said ALOOF YOUNG MAN recalls his Charmander and goes to leave. Red tried for Mew (yeah, duh, it's Mew) and also has his ass handed to him, and Mew takes the opportunity to get the hell out of dodge.
Team Rocket charges in and finds Red having a minor Heroic BSOD about having his ass handed to him, so they leave because he is not Mew and thus they don't give a crap about him. Red then decides to shelve his pride and go get advice from Professor Oak.
Chapter 2: Vs. Bulbasaur (American title: Bulbasaur Come Home!)
Professor Oak is not home, so Red pokes around and finds an adorable Bulbasaur. In the middle of fluffing at it, Oak comes back and scares the crap out of him, so he accidentally lets all the Pokemon out of their balls like a derp. He and Oak end up tracking them all down all the way to Viridian (while Oak thinks Red was trying to steal them), all except for Bulbasaur, who hides in the Viridian City Gym. There is some well-executed but blatant-to-us-through-It-Was-His-Sled foreshadowing, via a bust of the gym leader.
Bulbasaur doesn't want to go back with Oak because he's scared and it's his first time out of the Pokeball. Red makes an adorable speech, but is interrupted by an attack by a wild Machoke, which apparently just lives in the gym (it very well could, because the leader is never around).
He and Bulbasaur defeat it.
Professor Oak is forced to admit they are cute together, and allows Red to keep Bulbasaur, and gives him a Pokedex so he can go out and become the greatest trainer ever and also do his field work for him. XD
Chapter 3: Vs. Kangaskhan (American title: The Secret of Kangaskhan)
Red, Bulbasaur, and Poliwhirl head off to the Viridian Forest. Meanwhile, the ALOOF YOUNG MAN is training his Charmander in the forest by standing around looking badass, listening for movement, and then having Charmander lash out at whatever moves. Of course this means that he's going to eventually hit someone, and that someone is of course Red's Poliwhirl, which pisses Red off. Aloof Young Man is kind of smirky when he apologizes-except-not-really, and Red challenges him to...having his face punched in. (wait...kids actually utilize normal physical violence in this series? WHAT?)
Aloof Young Man easily blocks Red's punch because he is too badass for this shit, and Red recognizes him from Chapter 1. Before they can follow up on this, the Pokemon that Aloof Young Man was waiting for finally appears: Kangaskhan.
Aloof Young Man is super excited (Red just looks like he might have a heart attack):
Turns out, Aloof Young Man also has a Pokedex! When Red asks about it, he reveals that he's also Professor Oak's grandson! ZOHMAIGAWD, I NEVER THOUGHT. He then proceeds to roast the ever-loving shit out of Kangaskhan, but no matter what he does, she knocks the Pokeball away every time. Red notices something off about the way she's moving and protecting her belly, and realizes that she's got a baby, and is attempting to protect it. He calls Aloof Young Man off, and investigates. The baby had been attacked by a Poison-type Pokemon, and is sick, so Red offers an Antidote and makes sure the baby is okay. Aloof Young Man pouts and grumbles that he could have caught Kangaskhan if Red hadn't butted in, but Red asserts that it's not really winning if one's opponent is at a disadvantage.
AYm tries to escape from Red and his adorable moe fluff of adorable, but Red persists in askign his name. We finally learn AYM's name:
Yup. Green. Not Blue. Green.
I figure I'll do a few chapters every couple days. What do you guys think? I'll also have meta discussions, too. :D?
First, I wanted to get out some personal thoughts on Pokemon in general. You see, I never actually played the first generation games, and I wasn't allowed to watch the anime. I always felt really behind all my friends, and so, being the dogged young child I was, I got into it via any means and media I could - guidebooks, the first two movies, discussions with my friends at lunch, etc. The only games I have real nostalgia for, in that I actually had the experience of playing them, are the Generation 2 games, Gold and Silver (I had Silver). Thus, for me, there is an aspect about the first set of games, which are the ones everyone remembers, that I feel kind of left out about. I wasn't even aware of most of the actual events of the PLOT of the Gen 1 games until I started reading this manga back in October of last year. So this was a new experience even for me, despite me having previous knowledge of and liking for Pokemon as a franchise.
Second, some background info on the manga and games themselves:
This manga, titled Pokemon Special in Japan, Pokemon Adventures in America, and hereafter referred to as PokeSpe or PS if I'm really lazy, has been stated (on record) by the creator of the games themselves to best match the vision of the world he was trying to create. So, although PokeSpe canon is different and separate from game canon, it is the closest to "canon" of all the different published/visual media based on the games. I found that pretty interesting. It started serialization in 1997, the same year Red and Green came out in Japan.
Yes, Red and Green. The original games in Japan were Red and Green. Then, a third game was made with updated programming and better-looking sprites, called Blue. When the games came to America, they were coded with Blue's engine and good sprites, and called Red and Blue (why? who knows?) The reason this is so important is that the manga characters are based on the game protagonists, and the name changes of the games from Japan to America resulted in two characters' names being flopped to match when the manga was exported to America as well. This results in headaches for everyone when they get them confused.
I think I've given enough background info to start. Let's go!
Chapter 1: Vs. Mew (American title: A Glimpse of the Glow)
We start the first chapter in Pallet Town, where a bunch of kids are trying to capture a Nidorino. For some reason, though, all their Pokeballs just bounce off. Suddenly, some really adorable kid shows up and tells them you have to weaken a Pokemon before you can catch it (seriously, even we know that, and we don't live in the Pokemon universe e__e stupid kids), and proceeds to demonstrate with his Poliwhirl. All the kids are super impressed, and we learn the newcomer's name: Red.
Red narrates the usual spiel given at the beginning of any Pokemon adaptation: in this world, there are many creatures called Pokemon that live in the lakes and the forests and the blah blah blah gotta catch them all.
The kids talk about this cool old guy named Professor Oak, and Red asserts that there is NO ONE who knows as much about Pokemon as he, Red, does, because Red is the coolest kid in Pallet Town. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of suspicious guys in black (read: Team Rocket) goose-stepping around the forest. Red decides to investigate, and finds out that they are searching for a "Phantom Pokemon" rumored to be in the area or something. He's like I HAVE TO CATCH IT, but as it turns out, Mew is not a super big fan of getting caught.
As Red is looking for Mew, he finds an ALOOF YOUNG MAN battling a ~mysterious Pokemon~ with his Charmander. After a while of having his ass handed to him, said ALOOF YOUNG MAN recalls his Charmander and goes to leave. Red tried for Mew (yeah, duh, it's Mew) and also has his ass handed to him, and Mew takes the opportunity to get the hell out of dodge.
Team Rocket charges in and finds Red having a minor Heroic BSOD about having his ass handed to him, so they leave because he is not Mew and thus they don't give a crap about him. Red then decides to shelve his pride and go get advice from Professor Oak.
Chapter 2: Vs. Bulbasaur (American title: Bulbasaur Come Home!)
Professor Oak is not home, so Red pokes around and finds an adorable Bulbasaur. In the middle of fluffing at it, Oak comes back and scares the crap out of him, so he accidentally lets all the Pokemon out of their balls like a derp. He and Oak end up tracking them all down all the way to Viridian (while Oak thinks Red was trying to steal them), all except for Bulbasaur, who hides in the Viridian City Gym. There is some well-executed but blatant-to-us-through-It-Was-His-Sled foreshadowing, via a bust of the gym leader.
Bulbasaur doesn't want to go back with Oak because he's scared and it's his first time out of the Pokeball. Red makes an adorable speech, but is interrupted by an attack by a wild Machoke, which apparently just lives in the gym (it very well could, because the leader is never around).
He and Bulbasaur defeat it.
Professor Oak is forced to admit they are cute together, and allows Red to keep Bulbasaur, and gives him a Pokedex so he can go out and become the greatest trainer ever and also do his field work for him. XD
Chapter 3: Vs. Kangaskhan (American title: The Secret of Kangaskhan)
Red, Bulbasaur, and Poliwhirl head off to the Viridian Forest. Meanwhile, the ALOOF YOUNG MAN is training his Charmander in the forest by standing around looking badass, listening for movement, and then having Charmander lash out at whatever moves. Of course this means that he's going to eventually hit someone, and that someone is of course Red's Poliwhirl, which pisses Red off. Aloof Young Man is kind of smirky when he apologizes-except-not-really, and Red challenges him to...having his face punched in. (wait...kids actually utilize normal physical violence in this series? WHAT?)
Aloof Young Man easily blocks Red's punch because he is too badass for this shit, and Red recognizes him from Chapter 1. Before they can follow up on this, the Pokemon that Aloof Young Man was waiting for finally appears: Kangaskhan.
Aloof Young Man is super excited (Red just looks like he might have a heart attack):
Turns out, Aloof Young Man also has a Pokedex! When Red asks about it, he reveals that he's also Professor Oak's grandson! ZOHMAIGAWD, I NEVER THOUGHT. He then proceeds to roast the ever-loving shit out of Kangaskhan, but no matter what he does, she knocks the Pokeball away every time. Red notices something off about the way she's moving and protecting her belly, and realizes that she's got a baby, and is attempting to protect it. He calls Aloof Young Man off, and investigates. The baby had been attacked by a Poison-type Pokemon, and is sick, so Red offers an Antidote and makes sure the baby is okay. Aloof Young Man pouts and grumbles that he could have caught Kangaskhan if Red hadn't butted in, but Red asserts that it's not really winning if one's opponent is at a disadvantage.
AYm tries to escape from Red and his adorable moe fluff of adorable, but Red persists in askign his name. We finally learn AYM's name:
Yup. Green. Not Blue. Green.
I figure I'll do a few chapters every couple days. What do you guys think? I'll also have meta discussions, too. :D?
