Magical Pokémon Journey, known in Japan as , is a shōjo manga series set in the fictional universe of the Pokémon

Pokémon

is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...

franchise. The manga is by Yumi Tsukirino

Yumi Tsukirino

Yumi Tsukirino is a female Japanese comics creator born in Saitama Prefecture. Representative works are Magical Pokémon Journey and . She previously used the pen name...

 and serialized by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

 in the manga magazine Ciao

Ciao (magazine)

is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shogakukan for young girls . The first issue was launched in 1977. As of 2009, the circulation was 815,455. Formerly, the magazine attached paper crafts, but now attaches various goods that are different every month...

, and collected in ten bound volumes

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

.

The main character, Hazel (Maron in Japanese), sets off to catch Pokémon after a scientist named Grandpa agrees to make a love potion if she catches Pokémon. Hazel is after the heart of a boy named Almond. Most of the Pokémon in the manga series can speak a human language. The manga's plotline has nothing to do with the original video games. The manga is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 and in Singapore by Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. is a publishing company based in Singapore that specializes in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise, in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distributes all or some of its products in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines...

. Viz published seven of the ten volumes flipped to the Western left-to-right format.

A spinoff series, , features the adventures and exploits of Clefairy and Pikachu, as well as Torchic and Mightyena. The chamo-chamo refers to "Achamo", Torchic

Torchic

Torchic, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, it first appeared in the video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...

's Japanese name.

Humans

The main character of this series. She's a bubble-headed blonde who's madly in love with her friend Almond, and adores cute Pokémon such as Pikachu

Pikachu

is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...

 and Clefairy

Clefairy

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Clefairy first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise...

. As a child, she was an irrepressible tomboy who enjoyed playing pranks on Almond; now that she's older, she's still quite hyper, but in a more girlish way.

The love interest of the series. He calls himself a Pokémon trainer, but it's not known what Pokémon he has, or even if he has any besides Squirtle, who is more of a friend than a trained Pokémon. Almond shows little to no interest in either Hazel or Coconut, until the final volume...

Grandpa's granddaughter, and Hazel's rival for Almond's love. She's a brilliant scientist, and so spends much of her time brewing love potions that backfire in some manner, usually injuring her Eevee

Eevee

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Eevee first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels...

. Later on, a man named Caraway confesses his love for Coconut, but she isn't interested.

Isn't Hazel's grandfather, as she points out to Almond when Coconut first appears. He's simply a crazy old man whom everybody calls "Grandpa". He likes to ogle young women, even though he's married to Ginger. He made Hazel the outfit she wears much of the time; it has magical properties that can protect her from injury and even drowning. Owns POG Inc., but left because running a business isn't fun, and Ginger took over for him.

A sickly boy who recently moved to Hazel's town for reasons related to his health. His Pokémon is a hotheaded Charmander

Charmander

Charmander, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Charmander first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...

. His bad health is caused by a mass of dark qi

Qi

In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...

 surrounding him; he is able to communicate with and control this qi, which is quite unusual.

Peanut's brother, a florist who has a thing for Hazel. Due to a mix-up on Viz's website, many people believe that in the Japanese version of the manga, he's really attracted to Almond; however, this is not true. Pistachio's Bulbasaur

Bulbasaur

Bulbasaur, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Designed by Ken Sugimori, their name is a combination of the words "bulb" and "dinosaur." First appearing in Pokémon Red and Blue as a Starter Pokémon, they later appeared in subsequent sequels,...

, named Danerina, has a crush on him, as does Chiko the Chikorita.

A ninja

Ninja

A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...

-in-training under the great ninja master Ditto. He's a bumbling goof, though. When he's not training, he works in his family's bakery. Wal wears glasses when not training, and contact lenses when in ninja uniform.

A 150-year-old ghost. When she first appears, Raichu

Raichu

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Raichu is the evolution to Pikachu, the mascot of the series. It was originally conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori. Its name comes from the Japanese kanji "rai," meaning thunder,...

 is angry with her. Sandy's parents left him in a box by the ocean because he had a tendency to shock people, and Sandy promised to meet him there; however, just before they could meet, they were both killed by a tidal wave. Once Sandy explains this, Raichu forgives her and they are able to "cross over". They appear in later chapters to help pacify an angry Golduck ghost, and are reincarnated in the final volume.

First appears in the eighth volume. Since only the first seven volumes were translated into English in America, most fans don't know of her, even though she's an important character. She is also a ninja-in-training, though she's much more accomplished than Walnut. Her master, Azumarill, is even more talented than Ditto

Ditto (Pokémon)

Ditto, known in Japan as is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Ditto first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of...

; Azumarill's daughter, a Marill named Marimaru, is Koume's partner. Apricot is addicted to bread, and winds up falling in love with Walnut.

First appears in the ninth volume. She's an exorcist

Exorcist

In some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...

 nurse who travels around with her senior, a Chansey, exorcising bad qi. She discovers the reason for Peanut's ill health, but she is unable to exorcise it. She falls in love with Peanut.

First appears in the tenth and final volume. As soon as he meets Coconut, he falls for her and kisses her on the lips. Because of this, Coconut absolutely refuses to even give him a chance, until he helps her with an experiment she's working on. After that, she becomes friends with Caraway, but still isn't romantically interested in him.

First appears in the seventh volume. She is Grandpa's wife! She came to issue him a challenge 'Win best inventions prize at the upcoming
inventors contest or move back home. She has a Natu and Girafarig. She is currently running POG Inc.!

Pokémon characters

The first Pokémon to appear in this series, is Hazel's best friend -- not surprising, as both of them can be described as scatterbrains. Pikachu is one of the few Pokémon in MPJ who cannot speak human language. Pikachu appears as a male one.

Hazel's second Pokémon friend, and is a scaredy cat. He dislikes battling because he views himself as weak, even though his Metronome technique is quite powerful. He also uses Minimize often, usually when he gets frightened (which can happen at the drop of a hat).

A spoiled princess Pokémon whose family lives in a castle. Jigglypuff loves to cook, but she's terrible at it. Not seeming to realize this, she gets horribly offended when nobody wants to eat the food she makes.

The only boy Pokémon to live at the Jigglypuff mansion. He calls Almond his "big brother", but at the same time seems to be absorbed by him.

Coconut's Pokémon and lab assistant. He's usually in the way when her experiments go wrong, and is quite an unlucky fellow. In the sixth volume, he meets and falls in love with...

A female Eevee. At first, she loved Eevee from afar, but she managed to confess her feelings to him at the prompting of Hazel and Coconut. Later, she has to move away, but she occasionally visits Eevee.

Peanut's companion, and his fiery temper is in stark contrast to the boy's quiet personality. Charmander gets angry when things don't go his way, which happens more often than not. At first he seemed to have a thing for Coconut's Eevee (who is male), but in later volumes he seems more attracted to Chiko.

Danerina is Pistachio's Bulbasaur. She seems to be possessive and will get angry if Pistachio talks to other women.

Wal's ninja master. He's a quite accomplished ninja, even though he's just a pink blob.

The Marill is Koume's ninja partner, both of them training under Marimaru's mother, Azumarill.

Two of Caraway's Pokémon. Roko the Vulpix (Rokon is the Japanese name of Vulpix) has a thing for Arashi the Cyndaquil (Hinoarashi is the Japanese name of Cyndaquil), despite his being somewhat dim-witted. They meet Coconut while searching for a Fire Stone.

Plum's senior, an exorcist nurse. She uses her magical egg powers in conjunction with Plum's cross to purify people troubled by bad qi.

Sandy's Pokémon, was abandoned by the shore.

Appears in order to challenge Danerina the Bulbasaur's claim on Pistachio. They have a contest to see which one is good enough to him, with Chiko winning. However, Pistachio prefers Danerina's company, as she is his Pokémon and Chiko is an interloper. (But Pistachio's not thrilled with the Pokémon being in love with him....) After this, Chikorita falls in love with Almond, and then with Charmander.

A male Bayleef belonging to a traveling psychic named Akira. He has a thing for Chiko, but she prefers Charmander.

Azumarill is Apricot's ninja teacher and Marimaru's mother.

Other Pokémon characters

Articuno

Articuno

Articuno, known as in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise. Articuno is one of the three winged mirages, along with Zapdos and Moltres. It is a large bird, noted for its ability to control cold. Articuno was one of many designs conceived by Game Freak and finalized by Ken...

A female legendary-bird like Pokémon, she only appears as a friendly and cheerful-looking Pokémon. Unlike the genderless Articuno of the games that rescues doomed people, she only appears as a challenger against Pikachu, Clefairy and Jigglypuff in the snowcone eating contest in her house, (to eat 50 snowcones in order to win a free wish). She also is usually seen wearing an apron.

Onix

A harmless and friendly rock snake Pokémon, he only appears to save humans. However, he also appears as a challenging boss character, to battle against humans. He is defeated by Almond's Squirtle with his Water Gun attack, and rewards both the humans and Pokémon a legendary stone.

Tangela

A Pokémon that resembles a tangle of vines with a small face hidden in the center. Hazel wants to see what Tangela's face looks like beneath the vines. However, Tangela is frightened by the intrusive Hazel and constricts her. Luckily, the confusion is settled and Tangela, who communicates by pressing a vine to a person's forehead, agrees to let Hazel see its face.

Dragonair

A male dragon Pokémon, he appears in the sky snowing. Although he is cold-blooded when he met Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff told him where Articuno's hideout was, so he leads their way to where her hideout is. He has a crush on the female Articuno herself.

Jynx

A fortune-teller, she can read minds from both humans and Pokémon with her magic ball. Arbok tries to tell her he's in love with Jigglypuff's sister, Wigglytuff. She had nothing to do with making Arbok fall in love with Wigglytuff.

Pidgeot

In love with Pidgetta, leading the three Pidgeotto (Pidgeot's servants and henchmen), Hazel's mistaken them for eating Pikachu but tied him up as a gift to Pidgetta, he'll do anything to win her back.

Pidgetta

A female Pidgeotto, she dislikes Pidgeot by bringing gifts and other items to match her beauty, but she only wants the wilted flower that was picked by Hazel. She finally falls in love with him again.

Golbat

Most vicious and unfriendly vampire bat Pokémon, they can hunt down other any Pokémon in the dark caves, they attack intruders by finding them with their sonic waves.

Ditto

Shape-shifters, these Dittos are found at the hot springs resort. Once they shifted into a bunch of Pikachu and Hazel and the others had a little trouble with that. They apologized and left after some time of tricking them. No relation to Ditto the ninja master.

External links

• Archive of Viz Kids' Magical Pokémon Journey website
• Willow Haze, an unofficial fansite