POKÈMON AshGRAY Version  - Hack of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen - Anime Adaptation #01 Ash Ketchum
Channel: mrnygren2
Date: 09/07/2022

I'm trying out and starting a new let's play in the hack Pokémon AshGRAY for the games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen released  for the GameBoy Advance - the original games were released back in 2004. The hack was released in 2017/03/02 and aims to follow the events of the first season of the Pokémon Anime in detail through a very heavily scripted story.

You play as Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum as he sets out on his journey to capture all the Pokémon of the world. He wants to capture all of them, but he also wants to become the Pokémon Master - the best there ever was!

So in this first part Ash leaves his home in Pallet Town and visits Professor Oak who hands Pokémon to young trainers who have reached the age of 10 and wants to set out on their own journeys. Professor Oak usually would hand the young Pokémon Trainer a Squirtle (a water pokémon), a Charmander (a fire pokémon) or a Bulbasaur (a grass pokémon) but Ash Ketchum overslept. Unlike Red, Green, and Blue of the original three Pokémon games Ash is too late to get any of the starting Pokémons - and instead is handed a Pikachu (an electric pokémon) from Professor Oak as his first Pokémon. This Pikachu is much more prominent and special compared to wild pikachu´s.

Professor Oak has a grandson, Gary, who sets out at the same time as Ash and who unlike Ash did get a starter pokémon from one of the three starters. Gary is the rival of Ash through the first season of the anime.  

Ash sets out on his journey and steals a bike from a young girl named Misty, that he uses to escape a flock of angry Spearrows - the bike is destroyed in the process - and as Misty hunts Ash all the way to Viridian city Ash protects his Pikachu from the Spearrows. 

Inside of Viridian City there is a gym guarded by Team Rocket members. It's Gym Leader Giovanni is not ready to fight any trainers so there is no choice there but to move past the gym. Team Rocket will assault Ash inside of the Pokémon Center, and the two antagonists Jessie and James are representing Team Rocket in this hack - they'll also try again inside the Viridian Forest later. 

Upon leaving Viridian City Ash will have to go through the bug-infested Viridian Forest where he will meet many wild Pokémon including Weedle's, Caterpie's, Rattatta's, Pidgey's and Spearrow's - after many battles against wild Pokémon in the forest and against Pokémon trainers along the way Ash finally reaches Pewter City - the Rock Town - where he will face off against its Gym Leader Brock who has an Onix and a Geodude (Rock Types) who are super effective against all of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon - thanks to an old man Ash is able to enhance the skills of his Pikachu but will it be enough?!

The Pokémon AshGray Version  Hack is a really impressive and well done hack/mod/fan-game based on the titles mentioned earlier and it will really immerse you into the world of the Pokémon Anime, especially if you watched it as a kid in 1999. It strictly follows every single event and recreates them in the game. It covers  the first season including the banned episodes (which is the only one I did finish).

Alright, while Ash Ketchum never became the Pokémon Master that he wanted to become, and never captured even all the 151 original Pokémons - he still had some adventures and these are remade very well inside of this hack. The Hack does also allow Ash to capture more Pokémon than in the actual TV-show/anime. I think it stays true to only the Pokémon of the first Season.

The official GameBoy Color title Pokémon Yellow released in 1998 also had Ash as the main character with his Pikachu and such - but it was only very loosely following the first Season of the anime. This hack is much more accurate in how it portrays the events shown. It's like the show-version of the Adventure Red hack - following the anime where the later followed the manga.

Highly recommended - and it doesn't include extra content and strictly kept itself to the anime's first season - no real-life-nods nor anything.

I did enjoy it as I do remember all of the events played here from back when I watched the show as a kid. 

If you like the anime, or used to love it - play this game. It's nostalgic.