Review: POKEMON ADVENTURES Collector's Edition Volume 5 Is Amazing and Intense

Last month, VIZ Media released Pokémon Adventures Collector’s Edition Vol. 5. This collects volumes 13-15 of the Pokémon Adventures manga which concludes the story from Gold, Silver, and Crystal and gives us a very small peek into the adventures ahead with Ruby and Sapphire. VIZ was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to read and I freaking loved it! The manga is written by Hidenori Kusaka, and the art is by Satoshi Yamamoto. You can grab your own copy from outlets including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, local comic shops, and more.

This volume of the Collector’s Edition is absolutely incredible. It really ties together all of the stories that fans have read up to this point. It is the pay off of pay offs, and I love it. We start with the Gym leader battles which are really cool. I am a little weirded out at how Steel is such a new type that no one knows about it. The battles are a lot of fun though and then Team Rocket shows up and more crap hits the fan. The story is actually very well done as it unfolds. Is it predictable? For some of the bigger points like who the Masked Man is, yes. But that honestly didn’t kill any of the excitement for me. This is my first time reading this manga and it is a blast. I really enjoyed how things evolved.

What’s more is that we get to see the mysterious GS Ball from the anime and it’s even used. We also find out that Professor Oak’s name is Samuel. I know that fans have known that for a while, but it’s cool to see it in the manga. The way that everything ends and ties together all three stories is truly remarkable and if they could’ve ended it there, I’d say that the volume was darn well perfect.

That being said, there is a bit more to the volume, and it’s pretty good too. We get the start of the next adventure focusing on Ruby and Sapphire. I’m not sure how I feel about this fourth chapter if I’m honest. I am extremely annoyed by Ruby’s attitude, but there are a lot of things that I do appreciate. I like how they’re tying contests into the mix and I actually really like the bet made between Ruby and Sapphire where they have 80 days to finish their respective challenges. It is a little weird to me how Sapphire is this wild child. It’s both fun and annoying. Anyways, I loved the introduction of Team Aqua and can’t wait to see how Team Magma gets involved.

Honestly, Vol. 5 really makes volumes 2-4 100% worth it in my opinion. I absolutely loved how this story ended. I really do wish that they would make an anime based on the manga. It’s so good!