In volume 3 of the Pokémon manga we see many plot points start to resolve towards a satisfying climax, friends from unlikely places come together to fight the Rocket Gang and Red faces off against Mewtwo!
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118: Pokémon Adventures vol. 3
Chapters 28 to 40, 'Peace of Mime' and 'A Charizard… and a Champion'
Story by Hidenori Kusaka
Art by Mato
English Translation by Kaori Inoue
Lettering and touch up by Wayne Truman
Continuing from the last chapter, Red's Pikachu uses the substitute move that makes the doppelganger Pikachu break through the barrier, meanwhile Gary's Golduck uses a psychic power to find a Mr.Mime responsible for the barrier and so they defeat it.
Both Pokémon trainers, Green, Red and Blue head to the Silph building to fight Team Rocket, but the three are separated and trapped, Koga fights Gary using a Grimer disguised as armor, Red is trapped in an electrified room, powered by a captured Zapdos, he fights Lt. Surge who has special electric proof underwear. Green fights Sabrina under an illusionary veil and uses her Horsea's smoke screen to black it out, whilst using her scope to see through to Sabrina.
Red uses his Ivysaur's Razor leaves to cut Lt.Surge's suit before cutting the cables attached to Zapdos. Surge is electrocuted by calling forth Zapdos' Thunder Shock. Koga is defeated with the Help of Red but Sabrina proves to be a challenge for Green; since Sabrina has personal psychic powers, she is able to predict Green's thoughts and actions. But eventually Sabrina is defeated by the song of Green's Jigglypuff.
The fight is resolved when the Rocket gang flees the chaos of the Silph building and all the good Gym leaders join forces to surround them. Sabrina returns for one last final round but with Red's Ivysaur having evolved into Venusaur this results in all three of the starter Pokémon at their full power joining forces, combining water, fire, and earth to defeat the legendary bird Pokémon and Sabrina.
In chapters 34 and 35, the incredibly destructive clone of Mew, Mewtwo, is on the loose. Red intends to capture Mewtwo but is helped by Blaine, the man who helped create Mewtwo and is bonded by DNA with the Monster. Red is told that if it feels outnumbered it will create tornados, in a one-on-one fight however Mewtwo is just as strong and capable of throwing down physically. Blaine breaks through the tornado and weakens Mewtwo but it costs Blaine an injury towards himself. Red seemingly goes against Blaine's advice and unleashes all his Pokémon on Mewtwo. Mewtwo summons another tornado. But the battle ends with Pikachu entering the eye of the storm, concealing a cheeky gift that is key to Mewtwo's capture. Afterwards, Red gets the final badge from Giovanni, and avenges all the Pokémon that was hurt by the Rocket gang.
Concluding the volume, we have a mini-tournament arc where the trainers enter the Pokémon League, Red and Blue settle their differences and show each other how they have grown. But not before a mysterious figure from the past settles the score mid-tournament and Green is given a chance for redemption. And that concludes the first plot arc of Pokémon Adventures.
Differences and Comparisons to other Media:
· Although the Pokémon Golduck and Psyduck can use select psychic moves they are not in fact Psychic Pokémon, they are often believed to be a double elemental type of water and psychic but, they are just a water type. A reason why people believe this is due to other media such as the anime, trading card game and the manga showing them capable of using psychic power.
· Like the Anime series and the videogame, Sabrina is not just a user of Psychic Pokémon but she also has Psychic powers of her own.
· In the source material (the 1996 Pokémon Gameboy game) Sabrina uses a Venomoth in battle, although it has a psychic move it is only a poison and bug type. A possible reason as to why she uses this Pokémon could be to demonstrate the common "macabre moth motif" Adding to a theme of connecting to sprits of the deceased, with the moth being a symbol for the after-life and the transformation between death and rebirth. The "death's head" moth has added to this aesthetic/motif thanks to Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker referencing it in their works 'The Sphinx' and 'Dracula', A moth also appears in 'The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris. According to Kristen. M Stanton of Uniguide, The Japanese use moths to depict wandering spirits.
· The Gym badges that Red collects are milestones for progress within the original 1996 videogame. And as mentioned in the manga, holding a badge result in Pokémon of a certain level obeying your commands as well as boosting their stats and allowing them to learn moves from hidden machines depending on the badge itself. Only by collecting all badges can the highest level and legendary Pokémon obey you.
· Mewtwo made his first appearance in the anime alongside Mew through the first shot of the anime opening, a shot that would be imitated in the first movie as he flees Giovanni and flies in the air. He would make his canonical appearance in episode 63. Where Giovanni has him cloaked in a mysterious armor and uses him to fight trainers competing for his gym badge. Gary, a.k.a. Blue loses to Giovanni because of Mewtwo. Ash does not battle Mewtwo or Giovanni for reasons that are explained in the tie in movie. Instead, Giovanni allows Team Rocket's Jessie and James to take over as gym leaders only to have Ash defeat them for the badge. Where as in the manga, our hero defeats Giovanni after capturing Mewtwo.
· Mew does not speak in his first appearance of the anime (episode 63) nor the game, he would however be shown later to speak telepathically in the first movie and throughout his appearances in the Super Smash Bros. Videogames, specifically the sequel to the original, Super Smash Bros: Melee
References:
· The quote from "the Greek" that Gary mentions is "Give me a long enough lever and I can move the world." This is from the great mathematician, engineer, physicist, and philosopher Archimedes, in context the quote is a boast showing off one's understanding of physics. On another note, Archimedes once discovered how to measure the volume of an object and determine its composition by learning about water displacement. Legend says he was taking a bath at the time and cried "Eureka" taking to the streets naked in excitement at the discovery.
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