The Adventure Begins, Part I

The Adventure Begins, Part I
Production company	Bandai Namco Entertainment 41 Entertainment
Writer(s)	Tom Ruegger & Paul Rugg
Director(s)	Moto Sakakibara
Release/air date	June 15, 2013
Country of origin	United States

"The Adventure Begins, Part I" is the first episode of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. It premiered on June 15th, 2013.

Plot

"Thanks to the school bully, Pac-Man accidentally opens the portal to the Netherworld, unleashing an army of ghosts, led by the fiery Lord Betrayus! Lucky for Pac-World, the Legend of Last Yellow Orb proves to be true: thanks to power-berries from the ancient Tree Of Life, young Pac has the ability to eat the ghosts... and burp out their eyeballs! WOW! Unfortunately, the ghosts manage to steal the Tree Of Life, which could mean the end of PacWorld!" — Official episode description

The episode opens with Ms. Globular giving a lecture about the Ghost Wars to her history class. When Ms. Globular scolds one of her students, Skeebo, for not paying attention in class, he retorts by asserting that nobody believes in ghosts. Most of the students in the class agree with Skeebo's sentiments; however, upon being probed by Ms. Globular, one student decides to share his beliefs. Pac, a yellow Pac-Worlder who is often bullied by his classmates, tries to assert that the ghosts of the Nether Realm present a great danger to Pac-World, but, thanks to Skeebo spooking him, no one believes him. Most of the students join Skeebo in teasing Pac until they realize it's time for lunch.

The students rush to the lunchroom, only to find that Pac has already eaten the food. Furious upon seeing this, Skeebo attempts to start a fight until Spiral—Pac's roommate—steps in and convinces Skeebo to back down. Pac offers Skeebo some of his Berries to make up for eating all the cafeteria food. Skeebo tries the Berries and is repulsed by their taste. Skeebo immediately grabs Pac in an attempt to harm him, but an sudden burp from the Yellow Pac-Worlder launches him into the air, causing him to crash into an ice cream machine. Having been humiliated by his victim, Skeebo decides to give chase. Pac is chased out of the school and into a giant hedge maze called Maze 256. Upon realizing this, Skeebo decides to turn back and leave Pac in the maze to get lost.

Pac is trapped in the maze for hours. By the time night falls, Pac is still looking for an exit. Meanwhile, Spiral and Cylindria enter the maze to find Pac after discovering that Skeebo and his friends want to pull a prank on Pac by dressing up as ghosts. Pac finds a path in the maze obstructed by signs warning visitors not to enter. Thinking that the signs are only there to distract from a secret exit, Pac decides to go in; however, instead of finding an exit, he falls down a narrow shaft that leads to a chamber with a large door. Pac accidentally collides with the door on his descent, causing it to open and allowing the ghosts behind it to roam free. Pac manages to escape the chamber and soon runs into Spiral and Cylindria. The two try to convince Pac that the ghosts he claims to have seen were actually just Skeebo and his friends. Pac is almost accepts that he was seeing things when Skeebo reveals himself; however, once he, his friends, and his tormentors look to the sky, they see a large horde of ghosts and realize what Pac had seen was indeed real.

The ghosts invade Pacopolis and cause mayhem for all its citizens. Among the chaos, a quartet of ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde) single out Pac and chase him through the dorm hall. They have Pac cornered, but when they realize he's a "Yellow One," they stop chasing and end up accidentally flying into his mouth. Cylindria and Skeebo, meanwhile, find refuge on a rooftop. Suddenly, a large Cyclops Ghost appears and grabs Cylindria. She cries for help, but Skeebo is too terrified to help her. When Spiral confronts him and points out that Cylindria is his girlfriend, Skeebo breaks up with her and runs away. Pac then pleads with the cyclops ghosts to let Cylindria go. The Cyclops, realizing that Pac is yellow, becomes terrified and drops Cylindria out of fear. Another group of ghosts tries to ambush Pac, but they also have the same reaction upon seeing Pac's color. Unbeknownst to Pac and his friends, President Spheros has been watching them the entire time.

Betrayus, the ruler of the Nether Realm, hijacks Pac-World's airwaves to present an ultimatum: surrender unconditionally or face destruction from his ghostly forces. Despite the President remaining firm on resisting, Betrayus is confident Pac-World will fall until he sees his army returning to the Netherworld in retreat. A Cyclops Ghost confesses they had seen a yellow Pac-Worlder, that being Pac. The Ghost Gang, after regenerating their bodies, also attest to seeing a yellow Pac-Worlder and having been eaten. Betrayus is initially dismissive of these testimonies, believing he had "wiped them out," but once the other ghosts confirm the existence of the Yellow One, he panics and orders his army to return to the surface and capture the "Yellow One."

Later, Cylindria visits Pac's dorm to thank him for saving her. Pac expresses guilt for releasing the ghosts, but his friends reassure him, stating they can always pin the blame on Skeebo. Pac suggests letting the authorities know what happened, but his plan is cut short when federal agents storm his dorm and take him, his friends, and his potted palm tree in a black limousine. Pac tries to explain that the entire incident was an accident, but the feds do not seem to respond. Once they arrive at the Round House, Pac is taken to the President while Spiral and Cylindria are thrown in a jail cell.

President Spheros tells Pac that he is the fulfillment on an age-old prophecy stating a teenage Yellow One would save Pac-World. When Pac explains that his palm tree was a memento from his parents, who had been missing since he was very young, Spheros reveals that he knew them personally. Spheros explains that the Yellow Ones, including Pac's Parents, had ruled over Pac-World for centuries. This all changed, however, when Betrayus launched a rebellion, during which almost all the Yellow Ones were killed. Betrayus' forces were ultimately defeated; they were then stripped of their bodies and banished to the Nether Realm as punishment.

The President charges Pac with protecting Pac-World from the ghosts and explains that he would do so using power from Power Berries, such as the one from his tree. Pac is confused at first, as this tree does not produce many berries, so President Spheros guides him to the room containing the Tree of Life, a massive palm tree that not only produced much more Berries but also prevents their society from collapsing. As Pac is reunited with Spiral and Cylindria, Spheros begins to explain how to defeat the Ghosts. However, the ghosts launch an attack on the Round House, and the President is forced to evacuate, leaving Pac to defend the Tree by himself. Although Pac is initially hesitant, he quickly steps up to the task. After eating a Power Berry, Pac chomps the attacking ghosts with ease, but he is distracted from his task when he notices the four ghosts that had chased him earlier. This time Pac chases the Ghost Gang into the President's office and corners them under a desk. Before Pac can eat them again, though, Blinky suggests that they become allies. Pac reluctantly agrees yet warns them not to act up.

With the Round House free of ghosts, Pac believes they successfully fended off the invasion. Suddenly, two feds enter the office and inform everyone that the Tree of Life is missing. Horrified, they all look out the window and see the ghosts carrying the Tree away. Betrayus then hijacks the airwaves once more to gloat about his victory.

Characters

• Pac (first appearance)
  • Ice Pac (first appearance)
• Spiral (first appearance)
• Cylindria (first appearance)
• Ms. Globular (first appearance)
• Skeebo (first appearance)
• Sherri (first appearance)
• Ghost Gang (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde) (first appearance)
• News Reporter (first appearance)
• President Spheros (first appearance)
• Betrayus (first appearance)
• Butt-ler (silent) (first appearance)

Next Episode

The Adventure Begins, Part II

Gallery

Ms. Globular scolds Skeebo for not paying attention to the history session

Pac is the sole believer of ghosts

Skeebo is mad that Pac ate everything in the lunchroom

Pac burps Skeebo away

Pac, Cylindria, and Spiral laugh at Skeebo

Pac heads off into a forbidden maze

Pac reaches a dead end

Pac accidentally releases the ghosts

The Ghost Gang want to harass some Pac-Worlders

The news reporter starts to believe in ghosts

Pac is cornered!

The Ghost Gang realize that Pac is yellow way too late

Skeebo is very afraid of ghosts

Skeebo unceremoniously breaks up with Cylindria

Pac's presence causes the ghosts to get scared

Pac faints

Betrayus gives a mature opening to his announcement

Betrayus mocks his brother for talking too much

Betrayus now realizes that the legendary Yellow One is real

A dejected Pac stares off into the distance

We ain't on no government list!

Spiral and Cyli are wrongly imprisoned

Pac and Spheros read the prophecy

Young Spheros with Zac and Sunny

Betrayus getting stripped of his body

Pac is too busy eating berries to care about the story Spheros is telling him

The Tree of Life!

Pac fighting and eating various ghosts

Ice Pac gets some heart burn that reverts him back to normal

Pac flies after the Ghost Gang

The Ghost Gang make a deal with Pac and Pinky tries to hit on him

The ghosts head off with the Tree of Life

Pac won't let Betrayus get away with this

Trivia

• This episode and "The Adventure Begins, Part II" are the only episodes to be written by Tom Ruegger and Paul Rugg.
• This is one of only two episodes to refer to the place where the ghosts reside as "the Nether Realm," with the other being "The Adventure Begins, Part II." All future episodes refer to this place as "the Netherworld."
• David Earl's storyboards for this episode contain a few differences from the final product, including, but not limited to, the following:
  • The designs of several characters are different from the ones they have in the episodes. These characters include President Spheros, Butt-ler, Zac, Sunny, the Cyclops Ghost, and the Fire Ghost.
    • Interestingly, the storyboard for "The Adventure Begins, Part II," which was produced around the same time as "Part I," uses Spheros and Butt-ler's final designs.
    • Although Zac and Sunny were redesigned in the final show, their designs in this storyboard are used in the flashback sequence to the Ghost Wars.
      • In fact, the animation for the flashback takes heavy inspiration the storyboard.
  • The Ovoid Office has a different design. Here, it features a dome supported by a circular column of pillars. In addition, most of the room is surrounded by glass windows.
  • A few scenes in the storyboard are longer than their finished counterparts. For instance, the scene in which Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde confront Betrayus over the existence of Pac contains extra dialogue that is not present in the final episode. As another example, the scene in which a group of Ghosts attack Spheros, Cylindria, and Spiral in the Ovoid Office would have had an additional sequence where one of the Feds tries (and fails) to capture a Ghost with a net gun.
  • Certain scenes take place at a different point in the episode's plot. For example, the scene in which Pac defeats the Fire Ghost would have led directly into the chase sequence with the Ghost Gang. In the final episode, the two scenes are separated by the aforementioned sequence in the Ovoid Office.
  • Pac chases the Ghost Gang into the Ovoid Office was meant to take place immediately after the scene in which he defeats the Fire Ghost. However, in the final episode, it directly follows the scene where Cylindria, Spiral, and the Feds try to protect the President.
  • When Pac consumes the Ice Berry, he is encased in a protective layer of ice, rather than gaining a full transformation.
  • The Tree of Life is once again referred to as the "Power Palm Tree."
  • Unused scene transitions using sprites of Pac-Man and a Vulnerable Ghost are seen.
• To celebrate Pac-Man's 45th anniversary at the Museum of Pop Culture, this episode (along with "The Pac-Man in the Moon" from Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man) were both screened at the museum's theater room.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Title	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ゴーストたちがやってきた！ Gōsutotachi ga yattemata!	Ghosts Turned Up!
French	C'est parti pour l'aventure, Partie 1	We're off on an adventure, Part 1
German	Das Abenteuer beginnt - Teil I	The Adventure begins - Part 1	Direct translation of the English title
Italian	Inizia L'avventura - prima parte	The Adventure Begins - First part	Direct translation of the English title
Polish	Przygoda się zaczyna. Część pierwsza	The adventure begins. First part	Direct translation of the English title
Portuguese (Brazilian)	A Aventura Começou, Parte 1	The Adventure Began, Part 1
Portuguese (European)	A Aventura Começa, Parte 1	The Adventure Begins, Part 1	Direct translation of the English title
Spanish	Comienza la Aventura: Parte 1	The Adventure Begins: Part 1	Direct translation of the English title