A one volume shonen manga based off of Pokémon Red and Green released in April of 1998.
It stars an average boy named "Satoshi" as he adventures through Kanto. Zensho is considered the most true of the manga to the games, and was the truest adaptation period until Pokémon Generations, as it delves into more scenes from the games than the other manga and a majority of its characterization is true to the games. Some info is even taken from the manuals.
There has been no official release of this manga outside of Japan. It had a Scanlation project but only the first chapter was released.
Pokemon Zensho provides examples of:
- Adaptational Jerkass: Shigeru is crueler than his game counterpart.
- And the Adventure Continues: The story ends with Satoshi and Shigeru heading off to fight Mewtwo.
- Author Appeal: The omake above depicts Satoshi with a Poliwhirl, yet he never actually catches one in the story. Poliwhirl just happens to be the favorite Pokémon of Satoshi Tajiri, creator of the Pokémon franchise.
- Art-Style Dissonance: The cute art style can make fights and threatening characters seem really awkward.
- Cool Big Sis: Daisy, though not to the degree of her Pokémon Adventures version. Arguably an Onee-sama.
- Continuity Porn: This manga thrives on little references to manga and as a true adaptation of the games.
- Covers Always Lie: An omake, seen above, has Satoshi surrounded by Pokémon. He never catches the Pidgeot, Diglett, or Poliwhirl.
- Dark Is Not Evil: In this case, Psychics Are Not Evil. This manga quite possibly has the kindest version of Sabrina, to the point of borderlining
Moe. - Death by Adaptation: Shigeru's parents died in a car accident. While his counterpart in the games lives with his grandfather and older sister, it's not outright stated that his parents are dead.
- Disappeared Dad: Satoshi doesn't seem to have one.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Many characters have their early designs, particularly for Charizard who looks like this
◊ (basically, Charmeleon with wings), instead of this◊. - Exactly What It Says on the Tin: "Zensho" roughly translates to "good book", "complete book" or "complete set". It's an one volume manga about Pokémon that holds a complete story.
- Eyes Always Shut: Satoshi's mom rarely opens her eyes.
- Gratuitous English: Lt. Surge noticeably speaks with random English thrown in.
- Jerkass: Shigeru. He beats Satoshi's Pokémon out of the blue, in midair, when they were already injured. He also lacks empathy for his own Pokémon.
- It Was a Gift: Satoshi receives most of his Pokémon as gifts for helping gym leaders, and uses most of them.
- Named by the Adaptation: The protagonists are named "Satoshi" and "Ookido Shigeru". The two didn't have canonical names until Gold and Silver canonized their names as "Red" and "Ookido Green".
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Satoshi and Shigeru go to find Mewtwo at the end of the manga, however we're only told of it and we never seem them battle it. It would have made a nice tag battle.
- Parental Abandonment: As with most of his counterparts, Shigeru lacks parents. They're revealed to have been hit by a car and killed when he was little.
- Promotion to Parent: Shigeru's older sister Daisy took over as Green's caretaker after their parents death.
- Ship Tease: After Misty saves Satoshi from drowning, Satoshi seems to crush on Misty.
- Shrinking Violet: Satoshi's Pikachu is very shy and fearful at first, but gradually opens up.
- Shown Their Work: Personalities, roles, and designs are kept more intact then any other continuity, Pokémon have their original designs (ex: Charmander has spikes), scenes and items excluded from other continuities are kept, and little details are kept. Some of Satoshi's first lines are paraphrased from the manual of Red and Blue.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: Subverted with Satoshi. Unlike most adaptations of Red, Satoshi lacks most stereotypical shonen protagonist traits and is actually pretty mellow.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Shigeru in the last few pages, after Satoshi saves him from being crushed by a falling pillar.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pikachu really loves acorns. Satoshi often gives it acorns to persuade it to do something.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Just like in his original design, Brock doesn't wear a shirt.
