Pokemon Corner

Pokemon Go came out last week and since then you could say that the Pokemon franchise as a whole is made stronger for it as it seems to have gotten people back in to Pokemon who were more than likely done with it. It also seems to have brought back the roots of Pokemon Games which was the ability to get people interacting with each other. Meanwhile on my end I've decided to talk about my favorite incarnations of the franchise and their strengths and weaknesses and hopefully you as the reader will gain an understanding of them and hopefully want to pick one of them up yourself.

Pokemon Handheld 

"Simple, Straightforward, and Easily Accessible."

The handheld games for Pokemon are essentially the mainstream of the Pokemon media and their most popular and consistent thing. Each game starts out pretty much the same with only a few deviations: you play as a ten year old who is just starting out his/her journey, you get a Pokemon from a Professor, a Pokedex, etc. What makes it work/sells it is that usually a lot of work is put into everything else like the Pokemon or the world itself and usually each title starts off in a new region with new Pokemon meaning a different experience. You can also trade and battle with other players in real life which has always been a thing with Pokemon, fostering friendship with people which is why the games are on handhelds and not consoles. If there was one thing I would say is a flaw of these games is that they do feel a bit similar in a lot of aspects and the character that is your rival is never as interesting as the rival in Pokemon Gold and Silver. It, like other games also requires you to have the suspension of disbelief that you as the player are able to battle and beat top tier trainers after only having Pokemon for a few months when other trainers have been battling for year. There is also a sometimes lack of tension and the games, at least from my perspective have been getting easier over time. However, the handheld games have always been a good starting point for anyone.

Pokemon Colosseum

"They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore."

Pokemon Colosseum is one of those rare leaps that the Pokemon takes every now and then.It's the story a teenager named Wes who goes through the Orre region to capture Shadow Pokemon, Pokemon who have had their hearts closed off by a group known as Cipher and armed with their latest Snag Machine and a girl who can identify the aura Shadow Pokemon give off, Wes seeks to take down the organization and help all the Pokemon affected by them.

PC is such a change from the normal games that it's hard to not like it on those grounds alone. Even years after it and it's sequel Gale of Darkness came out we don't have a story quite like this or a region. Wes is a one of a kind trainer in his own right, starting out an Espeon and Umbreon as well as being noticeably older than the ten year old you start off with in the major title games. One thing I think that hurt the game mostly was that outside of the towns there wasn't much to do or many side stories if any at all. The world and the characters themselves are all unique enough but what really sold it was the danger element. Maybe it was because Wes was older or the fact that Pokemon at times were willing to attack trainers, or even just the sheer scale of the game, but PC always had a danger element that other games just never reached.

Anime

"Hit and Miss But When It's Good, It's Good."

Like the games, the anime is a good way to get into the franchise but unlike the games it has more problems but it has some strengths that the game doesn't. The anime is about Ash Ketchum, a young boy who dreams of becoming a Pokemon Master and his journey to achieve said dream. With his trusty Pikachu, Ash travels throughout the world of Pokemon, meeting new friends, catching Pokemon, battling gym leaders, and learning exactly what it means to be a Pokemon Master. This series has a problem with how it frames itself. The anime is designed with the idea that every new region is designed to introduce new viewers to the series and since Ash is the main character he kind of forgets certain things so he can learn them again so the audience can know it. At it's best it can be easily justified such as Ash checking his Pokedex for a Pokemon he's already seen while at worst Ash will act in a way totally contradicting his experience. The series also has a problem explaining time as despite the amount of time that has passed outside the anime, Ash is still ten years old, the same age as when he started. They go a step further by not actually mentioning how much time passes between seasons. Another problem is in how the anime kind of goes out of it's way to make Ash lose a league, most notably the Unova and Sinnoh Leagues. However, one thing that I honestly can't take away from the anime is the ever improving battle scenes as well as the battles themselves. The games are more set in actual rules set by the game making it so it's possible to win such as the level system and type chart. While the anime has a type chart, the idea of levels left the series before the first Pokemon League and Ash as well as others have shown skills in overcoming type advantages through skill and creativity. The anime is the most real version of a Pokemon battle.It also has a degree of humor about itself and the comedy is very "get your feet wet into anime but not seriously." The anime isn't perfect and you can easily find things to hate with last season being one of the most disliked seasons ever, but when it's good it's good. I'd recommend starting from the beginning or starting with Diamond and Pearl.

Manga

"EXACTLY WHAT IT SHOULD BE!"

The Pokemon Special Manga or Pokemon Adventures series is in my opinion the best thing about Pokemon and the best incarnation of it as a whole. Pokemon Creator Satoshi Tajiri said "This is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey." and Game Producer Ishihara said he wanted every Pokemon Fan to read it. The series is essentially a manga adaptation of the game with a protagonist of that game taking the name of the game itself so for the first run, Red, Blue, and Green, those were the names of our three protagonists. It really does flesh out the games on a better level, RBG goes more in detail on the creation of Mewtwo, the Pokedex, and it isn't just these ten year old kids who are aware of Team Rocket as various Gym Leaders also oppose them.If I would say there was one weakness to the series as a whole is that you rarely see these characters again when their story is done but luckily each of them will show up in one form or another, like Red is in the most stories but they are his own and I would be lying if I said they were all gems. However, like the games, each installment doesn't require you to know what's going in other installments to follow most of the time. I also want to talk about the blood. One thing the anime and video games never really got was the sense of danger, especially when it came to battling criminals who want to stop you from thwarting their plans.In this series, humans and Pokemon alike are attacked by Pokemon in battle and there is rarely a big distance between Pokemon and Trainer in sanctioned battles. There is a scene where Red gets jumped by the Elite Four and has injuries that still cause him pain to the point where he has to go to a special hot spring to heal. It also explains some things in the game like why Blue is the Viridian Gym Leader in the Gold and Silver Games. If you want a series to help you get into Pokemon I highly recommend this series.

Electric Tale of Pikachu

"Pokemon Origins for Ash Ketchum"

This series is sort of an abridged version of the anime but it only goes up to a certain point. With that in mind you'd think there wouldn't be a lot of differences but it's actually the exact opposite. Ash comes off as relatively competent as a trainer but still has a lot to learn and he finds Pikachu under his house. Where the manga fleshes out the games, I feel this series fleshed out the world of Pokemon better. It's revealed here that you can't just quit school to become a trainer, you can only take a certain amount of leave to travel and there is even an issue where Ash, Misty, and Brock stop traveling to get jobs for money. We see that there are Pokemon like a giant Haunter who was worshiped as a god and started terrorizing humans and Pokemon when he was no longer being worshiped. There is more going into the community too as Ash and Misty hear about the Pokemon Ditto from Duplica who tells them where she caught hers. The action is also played up really well as well but not in an over the top way but the art for some of the Pokemon makes them look more real in comparison to the more cartoonish look of the anime and manga. If this series had one problem is that it was not only too short but like Pokemon Origins, it never really delved into all the battles or as many stories as it could have; Ash only has three gym battles throughout the entire run that we see but he does qualify for the Pokemon League. If you were a fan of the anime or were looking for something more serious, I'd give this a read but I wouldn't put it over the manga.