Pokemon Manga Announces Break Due to Artist’s Health

While Pokemon’s anime continues to follow Liko and Roy now that Ash Ketchum and Pikachu have left the series, the manga of the anime franchise is continuing to follow the events that took place in the video games. Pokemon Adventures has been releasing new chapters since the manga first arrived in 1997, but it appears as though the manga will be taking a brief hiatus. Unfortunately, artist Satoshi Yamamoto is struggling with health issues, which is having an effect on the schedule of the pocket monster manga.

Unlike the Pokemon anime, Pokemon Adventures will follow pocket monster trainers such as Red, Green, and Blue to name a few. Normally, each video game will take the opportunity to visit a new region of the world that will introduce plenty of new pocket monsters. While the Pokemon manga doesn’t stick entirely to the stories of the Nintendo games, they do work within the regions that arrived with each entry. Since 1997, writer Hidenori Kusaka has been working on the manga, and while Yamamoto started working on the series with volume ten, he has been in the Pokemon business for quite some time.

Pokemon Hiatus

In an official statement, Pokemon’s manga confirmed that Pokemon Adventures will be taking a break, “Episode 8 of the Scarlet and Violet edition, which was scheduled to be published in the May issue, will be canceled due to Mr. Yamamoto’s poor health. We apologize to all the readers who were looking forward to it.”

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out Pokemon Adventures, here’s how Viz Media describes the manga, “All your favorite Pokémon game characters jump out of the screen into the pages of this action-packed manga! Red doesn’t just want to train Pokémon, he wants to be their friend too. Bulbasaur and Poliwhirl seem game. But independent Pikachu won’t be so easy to win over! And watch out for Team Rocket, Red… They only want to be your enemy!”

What has been your favorite Pokemon story from the world of manga? Would you want to see Ash Ketchum’s story continue as a manga while Liko and Roy continue to lead the charge in the anime world? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Pokemon.