Pocket Monsters Special My First Big Special Ruby / Sapphire Volume 1

Dogasu's Backpack | Manga Guide | Pocket Monsters Special

My First Big Special: Pocket Monsters Special Ruby & Sapphire Vol. 1 (My First Big Special ポケットモンスターSPECIAL ルビー・サファイア) is the 1st volume in a special re-release of the Ruby & Sapphire chapters of Pocket Monsters Special. It collects content found in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth volumes of the Pocket Monsters Special graphic novels.

My First Big Special Ruby & Sapphire Volume 1

Volume Information

Release Date: October 24th, 2014	Published By: Shogakukan
Price: 556 yen	Page Count: 364
Size: 17.6 x 12.6	ISBN: ISBN 978-4-09-119629-3

Table of Contents

	"My First Big Special" Vol. 1	Original Graphic Novel Collections
01	"vs. Sabonea" (VS サボネア)	Volume 15, Round 181 "vs. Sabonea"
02	"vs. Guraena" (VS グラエナ)	Volume 15, Round 182 "vs. Guraena"
03	"vs. Achamo" (VS アチャモ)	Volume 15, Round 183 "vs. Achamo"
04	"vs. Dokucale" (VS ドクケイル)	Volume 15, Round 184 "vs. Dokukcale"
05	"vs. Konohana" (VS コノハナ)	Volume 15, Round 185 "vs. Konohana"
06	"vs. Kinogassa" (VS キノガッサ)	Volume 15, Round 186 "vs. Kinogassa"
07	"vs. Kakuleon" (VS カクレオン)	Volume 15, Round 187 "vs. Kakuleon"
08	"vs. Hasubrero" (VS ハスブレロ)	Volume 15, Round 188 "vs. Hasubrero"
09	"vs. Runpappa" (VS ルンパッパ)	Volume 15, Round 189 "vs. Runpappa"
10	"vs. Nosepass I" (VS ノズパスＩ)	Volume 15, Round 190 "vs. Nosepass I"
11	"vs. Nosepass II" (VS ノズパスＩＩ)	Volume 16, Round 191 "vs. Nosepass II"
12	"vs. Shizariger I" (VS シザリガーＩ)	Volume 16, Round 192 "vs. Shizariger I"
13	"vs. Shizariger II" (VS シザリガーＩＩ)	Volume 16, Round 193 "vs. Shizariger II"
14	"vs. Kucheat" (VS クチート)	Volume 16, Round 194 "vs. Kucheat"
15	"vs. Makunoshita" (VS マクノシタ)	Volume 16, Round 195 "vs. Makunoshita"
16	"vs. Dumbel" (VS ダンバル)	Volume 16, Round 196 "vs. Dumbel"
17	"vs. Hariteyama" (VS ハリテヤマ)	Volume 16, Round 197 "vs. Hariteyama"
18	"vs. Plusle & Minun I" (VS プラスル＆マイナンＩ)	Volume 16, Round 198 "vs. Plusle & Minun I"
18	"vs. Plusle & Minun II" (VS プラスル＆マイナンＩＩ)	Volume 16, Round 199 "vs. Plusle & Minun II"
20	"vs. Cotoise" (VS コータス)	Volume 16, Round 200 "vs. Cotoise"
21	"vs. Magmag I" (VS マグマッグＩ)	Volume 16, Round 201 "vs. Magmag I"
22	"vs. Magmag II" (VS マグマッグＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 202 "vs. Magmag II"
23	"vs. Donphan" (VS ドンファン)	Volume 17, Round 203 "vs. Donphan"
24	"vs. Rakurai I" (VS ラクライＩ)	Volume 17, Round 204 "vs. Rakurai I"
25	"vs. Rakurai II" (VS ラクライＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 205 "vs. Rakurai II"

Untold Stories Behind the Production of the Ruby & Sapphire Chapter
File 01

"Pocket Monsters Special," a series whose graphic novel sales have topped more than 12 million copies. How did the "Ruby & Sapphire Chapter," which is being collected here in this "My First Big Special" series, come to be? We asked Mr. Kusaka.

At first glance the story seems to be defined by its vision

I started working on the plot for the "Ruby & Sapphire Chapter" around the end of 2001. Both Mr. Yamamoto and I were excited to see the new "Pokemon" game unfold on this new piece of hardware called the "Game Boy Advance" and to try having our series run at the same time the games went on sale. But it's essential for us to play the games for ourselves or else we can't make a story out of it. Accordingly, we were allowed to play a demo version of the game several months before it actually came out. We only had about half a day with it but during that short amount of time we were introduced to the existence of something called "Contests."

Contests were a feature that hadn't existed in the series up until that point. You could still battle but you could also do Contests. On the one hand you had to raise pokemon to defeat the various Gyms across the region, but on the other hand there were also various Contest Halls across the region that required you to raise pokemon specifically for them. We thought that was pretty interesting. And that's why we thought it'd be good to create a manga that features Contests. And in that way the themes of the Chapter became "Battles" and "Contests."

These were also the first games where you could choose between a male and a female player character. And on top of that, there was a third character who you couldn't play as who served as your rival. That was also new. Battles and Contests, a boy and a girl player character and a rival to the two of them...including all of that into the serialization of the Ruby & Sapphire Chapter was tough at the time.

So, who will focus on battles and who will do Contests? It would have been too predictable if we had the boy be the battler and the girl do Contests, wouldn't it? It was me, Kusaka Hidenori (laughs), who had the idea to have the boy do Contests and the girl be the battler. That was the only way! And so that's how the duo of the fashion-minded Ruby and the battle mania Sapphire were born. From there we worked on each character's personality.

To be continued in File-02...

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