You got that right! And yes I actually did. I'm not sure how long that manga was but I remember getting 4 issues for Christmas. It was a pretty neat manga. Pokemon Adventures is what I was really into though.
Very cool! Sounds like a lot of fun. I learned quite a lot of cool things about Pokémon and mythology myself reading Bulbanews's On the Origin of Species, which talks about the inspiration for a bunch of different Pokémon species, including mythology. Being a huge fan of old ghost stories (and having read Kwaidan), the mythology behind Bronzor and Bronzong is my favourite.