Like many people, I grew up with the Pokemon anime. And even to this day, I can still enjoy it well enough, but it's obviously aimed at a much younger audience, and at times it not only limits my enjoyment, but I feel it limits the stories it can tell. Well, the answer to this plight was the Pokemon Adventure manga series. If the anime is aimed towards 6 year olds, the manga is aimed more towards a young teen audience, and it really helps.

Now, I'm not going to say this is a story for everyone. If you have no nostalgia towards Pokemon, no real connection to the franchise, at best this is a decent manga aimed towards a younger audience than most manga readers are used to. While it's aimed at an older audience than the anime, it's still not particularly aimed towards late teens. However, if you do have a connection with the franchise, this is definitely worth checking out, as it arguably one of the best ways to experience Pokemon.

So the Pokemon Adventures manga is a retelling of the games, so most of the time it follows the major moments within the games. Most of the time, but not always. It uses the games as a template for the story, but weaves it's own events in, establishing a greater variety of characters and encounters. Speaking of characters, that's one of the most unique parts of this manga. Each arc is based on one of the series of games, so you have the Red/Blue arc, the Yellow arc, etc. And each arc focuses on a different set of characters. This minor detail avoids one of the major pitfalls of series that go on for a long stretch of time, namely massive power creep and characters inexplicably needing to learn the same things over and over (hi Ash). And not only that, but each arc's characters are rather unique. While early on the characters greatly resemble the original archetypes from the TV series, the later arcs have characters with much more diverse personalities, even including aspiring comedians and pokemon directors as main cast.

The other main strength of the series is how it portrays battles. Battles in this series are dangerous for the trainer. Taking on a crime boss like Giovanni is not just a matter of pokemon battling each other, but the trainers themselves being in the thick of combat, where targeting the trainer is fair game. Trainers can act as bait in a darkened room to lure the attack away from his pokemon in order to provide an opening. The battles are much more intense than just simply a trainer giving orders to a Pokemon.

Now this series isn't perfect. First up, some arcs are noticeably less interesting than others. Particularly the remake arcs (Firered/Leafgreen and Heartgold/Soulsilver) leave a bit to be desired. Also, as I stated, while it's not aimed towards the same audience as the anime, it's still aimed for a younger audience than most manga. And every so often, plot points can get a bit silly. But for anyone who wanted more from the anime or just more Pokemon, CHECK THIS SERIES OUT! You will not regret it.