#dexholder

Oh yeah another manga panel coloring lol these are fun

i like "obscure" pokespe pairings i guess- while i was experimenting, this happened. eh, it's probably not that abnormal to ship your favorite characters together

These chapters introduce us to more wonderful side characters, starting with Misty! She’s caught in a tough battle with a rampaging Gyarados, but fortunately, Red arrives just in time to aid her. His Bulbasaur, being a plant, is practically immune to Gyarados’s water attacks, leading to this very cute panel:

I feel a little… “eh” about Misty being used as a damsel in distress here. To be fair, I think it’s more that Red seems to believe he’s more capable than Misty, not that the creators think Misty is incapable. I just don’t really care much for Red in these early chapters – he’s a bit too cocky for my taste, but I take comfort in the fact that he grows out of it soon.

In any case, Red and Misty decide to team up, and we get this exchange:

I don’t know who on the translation or localization team thought this was a good idea, but I’d like to have a little chat with them. It just feels like a weird thing to say.

Finally, Red and Misty are able to capture the Gyarados and, after a conversation with Prof. Oak, they learn that this Pokémon’s rampage was probably caused by Team Rocket. They race off to Mt. Moon together to stop Team Rocket’s nefarious plans.

Also, we get another close up of some Pokeballs. I’ve always wondered why Misty keeps both a Staryu and a Starmie. Is there an advantage to having an unevolved Pokémon on her team?

Pikachu lights the way in Mt. Moon, and he rides on Red’s hat! Adorable!!

While we’re on the topic of strange translation choices, Koga (though we don’t know his name at the time) taunts Red and Misty by saying, “Well. If it isn’t Tom Sawyer and Little Becky in the cave,” referencing American author Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

I’m a bad student, so I never read this book. I also know that this was probably just a throwaway line, but it does imply that Mark Twain and his works exist in the Pokémon universe, and I find that hilarious. Someone should re-write classic works of literature set in the Pokémon world. Pride & Prejudice where Elizabeth and Darcy are rival trainers. I need it now.

Moving right along, Red and Misty narrowly escape from Team Rocket, and they return to Misty’s home in Cerulean City to recover.

I’m noticing that the female gym leaders in the Kanto region (Misty, Erika, and Sabrina) all seem to have some kind of social status, whereas the men are just. Some dudes. It’s clear that gym leaders get a lot of benefits (financial or otherwise) from their positions, but it seems like the women get to live it up more than their male counterparts. And you know what? Good for them!

When Red learns that Cerulean City has a gym leader, he immediately wants to challenge “him.” Misty takes him to the gym. There, she reveals that she in fact is the gym leader Red is looking for and causes Red to seriously reassess his sexism.

This scene also reminds me a lot of the first exchange between Sokka and Suki in Avatar: The Last Airbender. “There were no men. We ambushed you!”

Red and Misty battle it out until Misty finally admits how frustrated she’s been with Red’s lack of drive for training. They come to an agreement, and a few days later, Red leaves with a Cascade Badge from Misty.

The next chapter introduces us to Bill. I really don’t have a lot to say about him at this point in the story, but he’s definitely one of my favorite “non-trainer” characters. He highlights one of my favorite things about Pokémon Adventures: the way the series expands on characters with even the smallest roles. In the Pokémon games, Bill is just some guy – a genius for sure, but he doesn’t have much plot significance. In this manga, he gets the chance to be a developed character, and sometimes even a hero in his own right.