Pocket Monsters: PM009 and PM010

PM009 - Pikachu Was Kidnapped!!

PM009 - Pikachu Was Kidnapped!!

Synopsis: Red and his group make their way into the heart of Celadon City which is home to a large casino, the Game Corner.  While testing their luck at the slots, Pikachu begins winning big, drawing the attention of the casino boss, Giovanni.  As Red and his crew get richer and richer, Giovanni decides to intervene and put a stop to his luck.  He orders his henchman, Hitmonlee to kidnap Pikachu.  Clefairy, in an effort to rescue Pikachu, challenges Hitmonlee to a boxing match. They fight and fight and fight.  It's all very exciting.  Clefairy is greatly overwhelmed during the battle, but eventually tricks Hitmonlee into a defeat.  Pikachu is rescued, but the monetary winnings are returned to the casino (or at least it's never mentioned again).

New Character and Pokémon Breakdown

Giovanni (Number 1)

Okay, so Pocket Monsters is strange in that there are two Giovannis.  And it's not like the case with Mewtwo where the Viridian Forest Mewtwo is retconned and an official Mewtwo takes its place.  There are actually two Giovannis.  They are twin brothers.  I'm not sure if the author just made a mistake and forgot how he depicted Giovanni in his first appearance.  Or maybe he got confused and thought that the multiple encounters with Boss Giovanni were like multiple Bug Catchers or Lasses.  Or maybe he just wanted two Giovannis?  Any way, this first one is a big tough casino owner who is very different from the Giovanni of the games.  The second will be original flavor Giovanni.

Giovanni's Hitmonlee

Maybe the reason for two Giovannis is so one can have a Hitmonlee and the other a Hitmonchan.  I really like the design and character of Hitmonlee.  Even though Hitmonlees don't have mouths, this one does.  Also, this one boxes, which is Hitmonchan's shtick.  He also wears clothes and, like Red's Machamp, can pass for a regular human character.  He's just a thuggish henchman, but he becomes another recurring character allowing us to get to know him and enjoy him as a villain.  I think Anakubo just enjoyed drawing this character, because I found myself surprised at how often I saw him and Hitmonchan.

Setting

Celadon Game Corner

Celadon City appears to be based on Las Vegas in this chapter.  Red and the gang start out in a desert and must travel far to get to the remote, casino based town.  Unlike the games, it doesn't seem to be a Rocket run enterprise (yes, Giovanni is there, but it just seems like a standard casino, with monetary prizes instead of Pokémon captives).  The whole city's economy is centered on the Game Corner and it feels as if our characters are in the real world for a vacation.

Overall Review: A-

The stories are getting more focused.  There are still gags, but each are directly related to the situation at hand.  Only one Pokémon (other than Clefairy and Pikachu) makes an appearance, and the later half of the story focuses on the boxing match.  Since I like this incarnation of Hitmonlee, I don't mind the thin plot.  But, because of the lack of English, I'm not exactly sure why everything happens the way it does.  But, it's simple and exciting.

PM010 - Big Struggle with the Powerful Opponent Venusaur!!

PM010 - Big Struggle with the Powerful Opponent Fushigibana!!

Synopsis: Traveling down a river in a lush jungle, Red encounters Green who causes him to capsize his boat, trapping him among the trees.  Pikachu sets to work on building a temporary habitat and a ship to escape from the jungle (a spaceship).  Meanwhile, threatening Grass Pokémon observe our heroes from the shadows, blending into the surroundings.  Clefairy discovers a potted plant and brings it inside the cabin.  That night, it begins to sprout and grow. The gang awakes to find an angry Venusaur that grew from the plant.  The Venusaur is revealed to belong to the Celadon Gym Leader Erika.  She fights Red with her Pokémon and after a tense battle, Clefairy is the victor.  He then blasts off in the spaceship that Pikachu built because this story is weird and random.

New Character and Pokémon Breakdown

Erika

I don't quite understand where this story is taking place.  Either Erika's gym is as large as a jungle, or she actually lives in a jungle.  She is a lot more anger-prone than her character from the games, who is a soft-spoken, laid back gardener who is at peace among the flowers.  She eventually becomes an ally to Red, but her battle style is still very fierce.

Erika's Bulbasaur/Venusaur

Here is one of those times where rapid evolution and devolution benefits the story.  When Venusaur closes its bulb, it is a Bulbasaur and when it opens it, its a Venusaur.  This is a clever usage of the two creatures and is unique to only this canon.  It spends most of attack mode in the Venusaur state.

Erika's Grass Pokémon: Oddish, Exeggutor, Tangela, Gloom, Bellsprout

I'm unclear as to whether these are actually owned by Erika, but she does watch over them in the jungle.  They are always upset with people invading their territory.  And Exeggutor is a dinky little Pokémon, despite being a fully-evolved tree.

Setting

Celadon Gym(?)

Clearly, this is a huge sprawling jungle.  It may even be the Pokémon Jungle from the TCG.  But Erika is fought here, which makes me feel as if this is her entire Gym.  I wouldn't put it past this manga to place an entire jungle into a building.

The House That Pikachu Built

Apparently, Pikachu is a skilled carpenter and welder.  Out of the trees, he builds a cabin and a rocket ship.  I don't know where this ability comes from or if this is supposed to reference anything.  It's just a bit of character development.

Overall Review: A-

Once again, we get another straightforward story.  My biggest issue with it is the existence of the rocket ship.  It seems utterly disconnected from everything else in the tale.  I do enjoy the Little Shop of Horrors-esque tale involving Venusaur and the humor is in service of the story once more.  The reason I'm rating these stories so highly is because I know they'll get weirder and disjointed soon, so I'm enjoying myself while the stories bear some semblance to the games.

Card of the Day: Base Set Venusaur

Venusaur #15 (Base Set)

HP:  100   Retreat Cost:  2   Weakness:  Fire   Resistance:  None

100 HP is great, but a Retreat Cost of 2 on a Stage 2 Pokémon?  That's impressive, especially considering how bulky Venusaur is as well as his versatile special power.

Pokémon Power:  Energy Trans

The evolved forms of the three starters each have a unique ability related to their specific Energy Type.  Venusaur can move any Grass Energy among the player's Pokémon in play.  This means, he can protect energy from being lost by moving them to a stable Pokémon, or, as is often the case, he can move all of the necessary Energy cards to the attacking Pokémon, satisfying their full attack costs (you know, if they require Grass or Colorless).  Many combos can be used with this method, including fueling Charizard's Energy Burn, or stripping a Pokémon of it's energy that would normally be discarded with a Scoop Up or Pokémon Center.

Solarbeam (4G):  60

60 damage without any drawbacks on a 4 Energy attack is wonderful, and with Energy Trans, there is very little chance that Venusaur would not be able to use this attack.  He can easily smash a Poliwrath, Gyarados, or a Dugtrio in one blow, but most of the other likely opponents will withstand at least one of these attacks.

Strategies Against Venusaur

Fire is your friend.  Charizard, Ninetales, and Arcanine will all be able to take a hit (and take Venusaur down in one fell swoop).  Even a lowly Magmar can manage a win.  But otherwise, you had better hope you aren't weak against Grass.

Ivysaur Overview:

HP:  60   Retreat Cost:  1   Weakness:  Fire   Resistance:  None

The best strategy to use would be a Poisonpowder attack first, followed by Vine Whip repeatedly.  This makes Ivysaur a slightly better version of Tangela, as long as you're willing to wait for an evolution.  The Colorless Energy cost for Vine Whip implies that Ivsaur could provide adequate support for a dual-typed deck that can't bother waiting for it to evolve into Venusaur.  I could see it supporting a Beedrill or Nidoking quite well.  C+

Bulbasaur Overview:

HP:  40   Retreat Cost:  1   Weakness:  Fire   Resistance:  None

Waiting for two Energy cards to build the first attack is not great, especially when there is only 40 HP to play with.  Leech Seed at least has the bonus of healing Bulbasaur slowly, buying it some time.  But, unless your opponent is only attacking with 10 damage at a time, the extra health won't be much of a factor.  It's safer on the bench.  D

Sample Venusaur Deck

To aptly play your Venusaur, you'll want enough Pokémon that will benefit from the multiple Grass Energy's floating around.  With Ivysaur, Tangela, and Beedrill, there will be a nonstop barrage of Poison.  And several Scoop Ups and Pokémon Centers can ensure your Pokémon stay healthy without suffering the Energy payment.  And the Chansey can stall if there are any Fire opponents.

2 - Venusaur

3 - Ivysaur

4 - Bulbasaur

4 - Tangela

2 - Beedrill

2 - Kakuna

4 - Weedle

2 - Chansey

4 - Scoop Up

4 - Pokémon Center

4 - Bill

3 - Pokémon Breeder

2 - Professor Oak

20 - Grass Energy

Final Grade: A

Venusaur is rightfully one of the strongest powerhouses in the Base Set.  Energy Trans can be helpful in so many decks that it almost seems like a broken power.  Fortunately, Base Set is filled with broken cards, so playing with Venusaur can still provide an adequate challenge at times.  But wait until you see what Charizard and Blastoise are up to.

Pallet Town

Bulbapedia Article (All images borrowed from Bulbapedia)

Overview

 Pallet Town Theme Music

Ah, Pallet Town.  The starting point of every young Pokémon trainer in the late '90s.  While the layout is simple, it provides a charming atmosphere and suggests that a great journey is about to unfold.

We meet all of our key players here.  Red (or Ash or Satoshi) begins in his room for a quick chance to play his SNES and then is given his mother's blessing to go off on a journey (because Stand By Me is playing on television, and those boys don't encounter any horror whatsoever).  Next door, at the Oak residence, young Daisy (or May or Nanami) is checking out the Town Map while her brother Blue/Green (or Gary or Shigeru) is off at Professor Oak's lab awaiting his first Pokémon.  But Oak (or Orchid or Okido) won't show up until you try to leave town.

Oak's Theme Music

Where was he before this moment?  Since the only other way in/out of town is the south beach, I'll assume he just rode in on a Lapras, despite arranging to meet Red and Blue at the lab.  At any rate, you wind up at the lab (after Oak catches a Pikachu in the Yellow version) and from there you can select your first Pokémon.

Laboratory Theme Music

But who shall you choose?  Let's weigh our options:

Bulbasaur - Lv. 5 - Red/Green/Blue

Bulbasaur presents one of the easiest options of the four choices, since it can easily handle Pewter Gym and Cerulean Gym early on.  It does have trouble in Viridian Forest, however.  But, as with all of the RBY starters, Bulbasaur and its evolutions will become a strong main fighter throughout the game filling the grass slot on the team nicely.  And a Leech Seed/PoisonPowder combo is always great.

Charmander - Lv. 5 - Red/Green/Blue

Charmander is a popular choice, due to it's ability to become Charizard, but it will encounter the hardest obstacles in the early game.  Viridian Forest will be fine, but Petwer Gym, Mt. Moon, and Cerulean Gym will give it hassle.  But all of that persistence will pay off once Charizard is able to crush nearly anything in its path later on.  Plus, Fire types are rarer to come by.

Squirtle - Lv. 5 - Red/Green/Blue

Squirtle is the other popular choice for players.  It's more reliable that Bulbasaur as it's not only strong during the beginning, but it continues to be strong up until the final gyms as well.  In speed runs, Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise is often the sole Pokémon that gets the player through the game.  When I first got the Blue version of the game, Squirtle was my first choice.

Pikachu - Lv. 5 - Yellow

If you're playing the Yellow version, you are stuck with a Pikachu that doesn't evolve, which isn't great in terms of strategy.  The kid in me loves this choice though, and I recently tracked down a used copy of Yellow just so I could have him as my main team partner.  Although the unevolved Pikachu won't get stronger until Generation II, it still is a fun choice.  But Pewter Gym will give you trouble.

After making your selection, your adorable jerk of a rival challenges you to your first fight.  It shouldn't be too difficult, but it is a great way to suddenly learn the basics of this new world.

Rival's Theme Music

And with that, you're off!  Eventually you'll return to deliver a package, pick up your Pokédex and grab the Town Map from Daisy, but basically everything that needs to be done in Pallet Town is done.  Why you are in charge of chronicling all the species in the world is anybody's guess, but it's going to be a fun challenge!

Other Thoughts

- The grassy areas on the sides of Pallet Town have become the stuff of legends.  They are tantalizingly close and look as if they hold many secrets.  I would have liked to have seen some of the rumors become true, as an unlockable bonus after beating the game.  We could finally have a field to catch an extra Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle or even a Mew!

- When the Yellow version was made, it mades some changes to reflect the anime's storyline, but I would have liked to have seen some additions from the mangas as well.  Instead of only having a Pikachu to start with, I would have liked a choice that featured a Clefairy and Jigglypuff as well (like in Pokémon Pocket Monsters and Magical Pokémon Journey).  Those three characters always go together in my mind.  Also, Nidoran and their secondary evolved forms seem to roam around Pallet Town in the manga versions.

- Oak's lab in the anime serves as a Pokémon sanctuary for his proteges' extra Pokémon   It would have been nice to expand the area beside the building to visit those other Pokémon which were not being carried in the player's party.

- Overall, Pallet Town is a lovely beginning to the game and entire franchise.  It's simple.  It's quaint.  And it fills me with great joy every time I return.