Creative Staff:
Story: Hidenori Kusaka
Art: Mato
What They Say:
Trainer Amarillo del Bosque Verde, while on the hunt for the famous Pokémon Trainer, Red, continues to gather other Trainers, Gym Leaders and even a few enemies to fight against the team known as the Elite Four! And rival Trainers Gold and Silver put aside their differences to battle Team Rocket!
Collects the original Pokémon Adventures volumes 7, 8 & 9!
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Pokémon Adventures volume 7 picks up right where Volume 6 left at. Amarillo’s battle against Lance comes to a standstill as they try every move in the deck to get an advantage. They’re both children of the Vermillion Forest and are destined to duke it with the faith of the pokémon world at stake. Both of them want to do what is best for pokémon but they each have their ideology of how to do it. Lance’s methodology can be described as an eco-terrorist who has been worn out by an unjust world and now has the power to fight back. He witnessed pokémon suffering from tragic conditions because of humanity’s greed. Amarillo is still an innocent fledgling discovering the joys of life. For her, the best way forward is one where humans and pokémon can live in harmony.
They’re not alone as Amarillo’s friends and frenemies battle against the Elite Four rages on. The battles are drawn out to be fascinating. It makes the most of how Green and Blue have been developed. They are victorious because they remain faithful to how readers expect them to act. Green’s cunning nature gives her a hand over Lorelei and fools Sabrina. Blue’s tactful mind open his eyes to beating Agatha by using the tools Koga left behind. The only battle that was disappointing was Red’s. He wins his battle because he has a genetically modified Eevee that can evolve into Vaporean, Jolteon, and Flareon at will. His battle doesn’t touch upon any of his strengths. He was supposed to be paired up with Lt Surge but he nowhere to be seen.
Kanto has been a wonderful time but it’s time to say goodbye as the journey moves to Johto with new protagonists. Even though they take up the majority of this volume, they don’t make for exciting protagonists and so much space is wasted on them. Gold is a rambunctious boy who is traveling without a goal. Wherever Gold goes, chaos is sure to follow. Anyone associated with him is in for a wild ride. And on the other hand, there is the mysterious Silver who has a secret mission. It follows the standard formula of having two rivals duke it out. Kanto hasn’t been left behind as a certain mischievous girl is behind Silver’s actions.
Each new Pokémon game brings about changes to the established rules. The only downside of this is that there is only a little taste provided in this volume. Pokémon Gold and Silver bought various quality life of improvements that are highly regarded. One of those introductions was Pokémon eggs. They land the impact with Togepi, the first Pokémon to be hatched. What should have been a sweet Pokémon turns out to be a disgrace thanks to Gold’s influence as a gambler.
In Summary:
Amarillo’s journey of trial by combat comes to a thrilling end. Most of the final battles are depicted wonderfully. But I would have like to see more done with Red’s battle with Bruno. It didn’t have the same sense of completion as Amarillo, Green, or Blue’s battles. It felt like Amarillo’s journey comes to a sudden stop as the adventure move over to Johto with new protagonists. There was still more room for Amarillo to explore the world. Luckily her journey may have ended in Kanto but she moving on to Johto for the next volume.
Johto has a tough job of living up to the legacy of Kanto and it’s not succeeding very well. There are some sections where it fails to separate itself from its predecessor. Gold and Silver are always on the run and they take any chance for any world-building along with them. It doesn’t capture the feeling of the first two volumes when Red, Green, and Blue were exploring Kanto. The Johto part of this volume needs extra oomph to seize the essence of the beauty of the Pokémon world.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packing Guide: B
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 11, 2020
MSRP: $17.99 USA / $24.99 CAN
