Pocket Monsters Special

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My First Big Special: Pocket Monsters Special Ruby & Sapphire Vol. 2 (My First Big Special ポケットモンスターSPECIAL ルビー・サファイア) is the 2nd volume in a special re-release of the Ruby & Sapphire chapters of Pocket Monsters Special. It collects content found in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth volumes of the Pocket Monsters Special graphic novels.

Volume Information

Release Date: November 7th, 2014	Published By: Shogakukan
Price: 556 yen	Page Count: 350
Size: 17.6 x 12.6	ISBN: ISBN 978-4-09-119633-0

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Chapter	"My First Big Special" Vol. 2	Original Graphic Novel Collections
26	"vs. Hinbass" (VS ヒンバス)	Volume 17, Round 206 "vs. Hinbass"
27	"vs. Zangoose & Habunake I" (VS ザングース＆ハブネークＩ)	Volume 17, Round 207 "vs. Zangoose & Habunake I"
28	"vs. Zangoose & Habunake II" (VS ザングース＆ハブネークＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 208 "vs. Zangoose & Habunake II"
29	"vs. Kekking I" (VS ケッキングＩ)	Volume 17, Round 209 "vs. Kekking I"
30	"vs. Kekking II" (VS ケッキングＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 210 "vs. Kekking II"
31	"vs. Kekking III" (VS ケッキングＩＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 211 "vs. Kekking III"
32	"vs. Marilli I" (VS マリルリＩ)	Volume 17, Round 212 "vs. Marilli I"
33	"vs. Marilli II" (VS マリルリＩＩ)	Volume 17, Round 213 "vs. Marilli II"
34	"vs. Pelipper I" (VS ぺリッパーＩ)	Volume 17, Round 214 "vs. Pelipper I"
35	"vs. Pelipper II" (VS ぺリッパーＩＩ)	Volume 18, Round 215 "vs. Pelipper II"
36	"vs. Magcargot" (VS マグカルゴ)	Volume 18, Round 216 "vs. Magcargot"
37	"vs. Charem" (VS チャーレム)	Volume 18, Round 217 "vs. Charem"
38	"vs. Absol" (VS アブソル)	Volume 18, Round 218 "vs. Absol"
39	"vs. Gonyonyo" (VS ゴニョニョ)	Volume 18, Round 219 "vs. Gonyonyo"
40	"vs. Dogohmb & Bakuong I" (VS ドゴーム＆バクオングＩ)	Volume 18, Round 220 "vs. Dogohmb & Bakuong I"
41	"vs. Dogohmb & Bakuong II" (VS ドゴーム＆バクオングＩＩ)	Volume 18, Round 221 "vs. Dogohmb & Bakuong II"
42	"vs. Dirtengu" (VS ダーテング)	Volume 18, Round 222 "vs. Dirtengu"
43	"vs. Lovecus I" (VS ラブカスＩ)	Volume 18, Round 223 "vs. Lovecus I"
44	"vs. Lovecus II" (VS ラブカスＩＩ)	Volume 18, Round 224 "vs. Lovecus II"
45	"vs. Anopth & Lilyla" (VS アノプス＆リリーラ)	Volume 18, Round 225 "vs. Anopth & Lilyla"
46	"vs. Tyltalis" (VS チルタリス)	Volume 18, Round 226 "vs. Tyltalis"
47	"vs. Buupig I" (VS ブーピッグＩ)	Volume 19, Round 227 "vs. Buupig I"
48	"vs. Buupig II" (VS ブーピッグＩＩ)	Volume 19, Round 228 "vs. Buupig II"
49	"vs. Lunatone & Solrock" (VS ルナトーン＆ソルロック)	Volume 19, Round 229 "vs. Lunatone & Solrock"

Untold Stories Behind the Production of the Ruby & Sapphire Chapter
File-02

"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.

The child doesn't know his father's love for him!? The relationship between Senri and Ruby

Even though we had firmly established Ruby as the one doing Contests and Sapphire as the one focusing on battling, various questions came up as we continued playing through the game.

When I played the game I played as Ruby and found that the reason Ruby moved to the Houen Region was because his father, Senri, had gotten a job as a Gym Leader. Even though he's only the third Gym Leader you face he's still really really strong! And as I was fighting his really strong father I started to think about why Senri hadn't become a Gym Leader sooner...

Up until that point in the manga we had established that Gym Leaders have to pass an exam in order to become and Gym Leader and so the reason I came up with for Senri not being a Gym Leader until now is because something prevented him from being able to take that exam.

On top of that, Ruby's father, Senri, had left his family in the faraway Jouto Region until he could become a Gym Leader. He was separated from his family but also didn't take the exam, so was there something else he needed to do? While I was trying to figure that out the words "father and son" kept popping up in my head. The "father" takes priority over the "son" in that phrase, doesn't it? So what if, a long time ago, Ruby really failed at something really big and after that his father decided to do his best on his own?

Ruby is unique among the main characters in that he has a Gym Leader for a father. But, all of a sudden, Ruby gets interested in Contests even though being a skilled Trainer is in his blood. What if Ruby didn't know (wasn't allowed to know) his father's true intentions? From the Contest-loving Ruby's point-of-view, his battle maniac of a father is someone who ignores his family and refuses to understand how he feels. So he rebelled against his family and ran away from home. And that's how we solved the questions when we played the game and were able to flesh out Ruby's and Senri's relationship.

To be continued in File 3...

Untold Stories Behind the Production of the Ruby & Sapphire Chapter
File-03

The reason why having both a male and a female protagonist made us swap gender roles

When you think about the differences in the personalities of boys and girls and then look at Ruby and Sapphire in this series then you see that we did the opposite of what people expect.

Why did Ruby, who, as a boy, should be really good at battling, choose to do Contests instead? And why did Sapphire, who, as a girl, should really love beautiful things, choose to battle instead? The thing that triggered this trading of places was this idea that the two of them had both forgotten that they've been friends since they were little.

Ruby liked to battle when he was little and Sapphire liked beautiful things when she was little. But, for some reason the two of them exchanged personalities and then, without realizing that, reunited with each other again...this was an idea for a story arc for the end of the Ruby & Sapphire Chapter but it's one that we were planning when we first played the demo version of the game. And we were then able to use their relationships with the people around them to help us get to that point.

However, we started to do stories that changed things here and there and we had to rework a few things.

Incidentally, I was also a little bit inspired to have Ruby and Sapphire be opposites because of the story "The Gift of the Magi." It's a story about a wife who sells her precious hair to buy a watch chain for her husband while, unknown to her, her husband sells his precious watch to buy hair accessories for his wife. The presents they both put so much thought into ended up being useless but I love the story because their love for each other was really touching. With that in mind, Ruby and Sapphire change themselves so much because they thought it would make the other person happy but that ends up backfiring on them. "The Gift of the Magi" story popped into my head when I played the game demo and I thought that it would be a good fit for Ruby's and Sapphire's relationship.

To be continued in File 4...

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