Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team is a one volume Pokémon manga by Makoto Mizobuchi. It is loosely based on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team. In 2007, the manga was given a serial release in English via Nintendo Power and a bound release that same year by Viz media for their "Viz Kids" line.
It stars a boy named Ginji who goes home to look for his birthday presents the day before his birthday. He ends up falling asleep and finds himself in a universe where Pokémon can talk. Ginji, now a Torchic, ends up befriending a Mudkip. The two start a Rescue Team together and their adventure begins.
It received a Spiritual Successor in the Japan-only one volume Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team manga.
This manga contains examples of:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Instead of staying in the Mystery Dungeon world like the player did in the game, Ginji returns to his world (for what appears to be permanently) and continues living his life.
- Adapted Out: Ekans and Medicham, the other two members of Team Meanies, are absent in this manga.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear whether or not Pokémon actually exist in Ginji's world, as there none are seen during the brief glimpses we see of it. Ginji is shown to be familiar with them and their individual species and his human form is even wears a shirt with a Gastly on it, but Pokémon could just be a Show Within a Show in his world for all we know.
- Anime Hair: Ginji has spikey hair as a human.
- Cowardly Lion: Mudkip is timid and a bit cowardly. He's also prone to Tender Tears.
- Delayed Reaction: Ginji uses a fire attack on Xatu while Xatu is in a psychic trance, and only gets a reaction seconds later.
- Forced Transformation:
- Ginji is a human boy who turns into a Torchic.
- It turns out that Gengar was once a human as well.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: It's never explained why he has it, but Ginji has a "x" shaped scar (or birthmark) on his head.
- Hot-Blooded: Ginji, extra fitting that he wakes up as the Fire-type Torchic.
- Humanity's Wake: Implied, assuming Ginji's adventure was real. It's mentioned that the incident with the human boy (who is depicted in modern attire) and Ninetales happened roughly 1000 years ago. There are no humans present throughout the Pokémon section of the manga.
- Kid Hero: Ginji is an elementary school-aged boy, and presumably Mudkip is of similar age.
- Height Angst: Ginji is embarrassed that he's under 4'5 at his age.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Everyone believes that Ginji was the Pokémon who was cursed by a Ninetales 1000 years ago and is responsible for all the apocalyptic events that are happening.
- Or Was It a Dream?: The manga ends with Ginji waking up at home. He finds the badge he received as a Torchic, but it also could have been his birthday present which makes it impossible to tell if everything was just a dream or not.
- Sapient Eat Sapient: Gengar spreads a rumor that Ginji is an "ultra evil" Pokémon who eats other Pokémon.
- "X" Marks the Hero: Ginji has an "x" shaped scar on his forehead, even as a Torchic.
