I remember finding and buying a Pokemon manga in comic form right around the time that Pokemon was beginning to die, it was called Pokemon Magical Journey. No one really seemed to know or care about it but I was all into it. Eventually I was no longer able to find it but it somehow got 7 volumes translated out of 10. Pokemon PiPiPi as it’s called in japan referencing Purin, Pippi and Pikachu is a shōjo manga by Yumi Tsukirino and a special piece of Pokemon history.
Even today Pokemon Magical Journey is mostly a forgotten piece of Pokemon media which is a bit sad. Luckily I am here to provide the information on why this was one of the best stories to come out at that point of time. This is the first time we saw a Pokemon story told in the Pokemon world that wasn’t necessarily about catching Pokemon. Even today with so much Pokemon media it’s not something you see often besides say Detective Pikachu or Pokemon Conserge.
It did get published in a few countries with Singapour being able to translate the 10 volumes in English, other names it had internationally included Pikachu Adventures. The story revolves around Hazel a girl who has a crush on a guy named Almond and wants him to fall in love with her. Because of this she befriends a Pikachu and also a scientist called Grandpa who will help her with a love potion. She eventually meets other pokemon like a Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and also Pokemon from other characters like Squirtle. She does get a rival who also competes for the love of Almond and her name is Coco. As you can see most characters have the names of dry fruits.
So while Almond does want to become a Pokemon trainer, there’s very little if any other references to battling besides that. Most pokemon have cute baby like designs to them which makes them work. Also some of the Pokemon talk because I guess they learned or perhaps magic. In fact we do see some more anthropomorphizing of Pokemon since sometimes you see them have human like lives with their own houses and personal lives.
You even get characters from the Pokemon anime make an appearance in some of the more bonus chapters so Ash, Brock, Misty, Tracey all appear even if not part of the main story. They also appear in a stylized manner. This is a very Japanese manga, you’ll find all the quirks and bits that you’d expect from one. It really feels like a story set in a pokemon world, and given all the chance to be original which is a huge plus. All of this is what makes this have a special place as its essence cannot be recreated. It truly feels like something that fits that Gen 1 era of Pokemon, telling its own story without doing something out of character.
There is a sequel manga called Pokémon Chamo Chamo Puritei which was far less successful and only runs 3 volumes that were never translated. Because of those same reasons there is barely any information or even scans of this manga. It’s set in the same world of the PiPiPi manga since the new character Haruka moves to her town. This came out during Gen 3 so she does have a Torchic. Now while named the same as May’s japanese name, Haruka is sort of a hybrid version of a new character with some traits people associate Haruka with like a similar hair style, she also has a Torchic and is a Coordinator. But for all intents and purposes she is a new character besides some similarities and same name.
The cute Pikachu chibi sized here ended up being like a proto Pichu, also we do get plenty Gen 2 crossover since the manga was in between both generations. I’d love to see this manga reprinted one day so perhaps more people can talk about it. While aimed at girls it’s a fun story set in the Pokemon world that is just fun to read no matter if it’s a bit more about romance. The wacky adventures are all endearing. I actually named the girl trainer Hazel because of her and what a Pokemon Pink could’ve been.