Pokemon Festival Of Champions

[Burakku]

I stumbled across this amazing pokemon manga/doujinshi about Red, Blue, and Green (childhood friends) as they go on a journey and travel to become the best pokemon trainers, and I really wanted to share it and hear out other people's thoughts because I found it of such high quality from the art, to the characters and story.

Link: https://mangadex.org/title/2c4b353f-d968-461b-be49-4f2599189a79/festival-of-champions-doujinshi
It currently has 14.2 chapters, and unfortunately, the author posts a new chapter every Comiket which is twice-yearly from August 13th/14th and December 30th/31st

 

[Epic Spheal]

I've been reading this all this afternoon, and I have to say I really like it so far. It's a nice take on the Kanto Trio from the games but with clear influences of the anime (orange islands, Jessie and James cameo). Plus, Blue and Green get more character focus, and so much of the story is tied around

Spoiler

Green's Raticate and the fallout from it

. The tournament feels like a nice blend of skilled trainers without it being over the top, which is my biggest criticism of Pokespe (as in the protags and even the villains just feel too OP or cunning that it becomes a little uninteresting after a while). This feels a lot more grounded, and I appreciate that.

That being said, I'm still a little baffled by the decision for this to be an annual competition with trainers from multiple regions competing in Kanto rather than this saying being more of a Pokemon World Tournament. I think because we've seen the Red vs Green thing play out from their rookie trainer stages so many times (the games, Origins, Pokespe, and the anime), it would be nice if we saw it from a PWT angle showing how the boys (and Blue too because she deserves all the love) have grown since their Kanto days. That and I'm just kind of tired of the tournament arc that leaves only Red the champion (as what it seems like it's going to happen here) instead of in the games in which Green and Blue (as implied in let's go and Pokemon masters) also obtained that status.

 

[Weddingbells]

I just read this and it was absolutely amazing. The whole evee subplot had me nearly to tears

 

[Burakku]

That being said, I'm still a little baffled by the decision for this to be an annual competition with trainers from multiple regions competing in Kanto rather than this saying being more of a Pokemon World Tournament. I think because we've seen the Red vs Green thing play out from their rookie trainer stages so many times (the games, Origins, Pokespe, and the anime), it would be nice if we saw it from a PWT angle showing how the boys (and Blue too because she deserves all the love) have grown since their Kanto days. That and I'm just kind of tired of the tournament arc that leaves only Red the champion (as what it seems like it's going to happen here) instead of in the games in which Green and Blue (as implied in let's go and Pokemon masters) also obtained that status.

I was definitely a bit confused on that because it felt kind of forced and it probably would have gone better if it went on a more original route other than a normal tournament arc. The battles however are executed so well I couldn't really care about it.

 

[Weddingbells]

I was definitely a bit confused on that because it felt kind of forced and it probably would have gone better if it went on a more original route other than a normal tournament arc. The battles however are executed so well I couldn't really care about it.

Yeah the art really helps magnify the battles

 

[Burakku]

Yeah the art really helps magnify the battles

And the strategies they use just amaze me, with the art being the icing on top that truly cements it as truly astounding pokemon battles

 

[Weddingbells]

And the strategies they use just amaze me, with the art being the icing on top that truly cements it as a masterclass in terms of pokemon battles

Exactly. While I don't think there is much of a point or fair to compare this to the anime. Because they are ultimately two different things with different audiences in mind
But man I wish the anime was like this or they made a spin off series like this. They tried with pokemon origins, but I feel like that fell flat due to how rushed it was
The anime has dealt with dark topics like death before. But it's been a mix bad. It's been done pretty well with Litten, but then done not so well with mallow mom
Also it's been kinda ignored like hunter j death. Where it's implied but not outright states. Also cyprus

 

[Epic Spheal]

I was definitely a bit confused on that because it felt kind of forced and it probably would have gone better if it went on a more original route other than a normal tournament arc. The battles however are executed so well I couldn't really care about it.

Yeah, the battles are really good and the lore behind the characters is really interesting so it's not going to be a huge deal that it's not that original. I'm really invested in the story!

I just hope if anyone else wants to do a manga on the Kanto Trio they take the Pokemon Masters Route and they focus on them as people past the gen 1 timeline. There's a lot of untapped potential from when Red comes down the mountain for the PWT in gen 5 to when Red and Green(Blue) get called to the battle tree. Even the Johto era versions of the Kanto Trio still have some room for exploration