The Pokemon game series has seen a lot of manga spin-offs over the years, but Pocket Monsters was one of the first on the scene. Now, after 23 years, the manga's finally coming to an end.
Fans of the manga were surprised to discover that it would be coming to an end shortly. CoroCoro magazine, which the manga is published in, announced that the manga would be coming to a close.
Pocket Monsters will end its 23-year run in the next issue of CoroCoro Magazine. The exact reason for its sudden conclusion is unknown, though it may be as simple as the author needing a break. Pocket Monsters rivals even some of the longest-running manga series out there, and it's quite understandable if the artist involved is tired or experiencing artist's block.
Pocket Monsters actually premiered before the original Pokemon anime, and followed Red, not Ash, on his Pokemon adventures. Pocket Monsters' protagonist is followed around by a troublemaking Clefairy as his main Pokemon. This actually matches up with the anime's original plans to have Ash's companion be a Clefairy, not Pikachu. While the anime ultimately scrapped this idea, the manga preceded it and stuck with it.
Of course, fans of the Pokemon manga don't have to give up on the genre completely. There have been a number of Pokemon manga series over the years, and one of the longest-running ones, Pokemon Adventures, is still running to this day. It too started in 1997. It also follows Red instead of Ash, but Pikachu is the companion in this particular series. While it's primarily a fun manga, it has its share of some of the darkest Pokemon moments in the genre, too.
While it's still understandable for the Pokemon manga to end now, it's somewhat of a shame. With Pokemon Sword and Shield on the horizon, there could have been a slew of new content for the manga artist to utilize in the series.
For fans of the Pocket Monsters manga, now might be a good time to start a re-read of the entire saga. Even speed readers will likely be able to keep busy for some time plowing through the entire series.