No.1 Trainer (Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament promo): Difference between revisions

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The next major iteration featured new artwork by [[Ken Sugimori]] and was first awarded to the champions of each regional Japanese World Challenge Summer event held between July and August 2000. As with the Challenge Road '99 SUMMER campaign, this was split into Tropical Mega Battle and Secret Super Battle events, retaining the same age-limited structure. The winners of each tournament were granted entry into the finals held later in August. Unlike previously awarded trophy cards, these cards were personalised with the name and regional conference of the winner. The text on cards that have surfaced within the collector community specifically state "World Challenge Secret Super Battle"—it is currently unknown if there was a card awarded for those competing in the Tropical Mega Battle tournaments.

This card was reprinted in 2001 and awarded to the champions from both {{tt|age divisions|Junior and Senior}} of each regional Neo Spring Road tournament, held between February and March 2001, and each Neo Summer Road tournament, held between July and August 2001. The top ranking players from both age divisions in each regional Neo Spring Road and Neo Summer Road tournament were eligible for entry into the "Best in Japan Deciding Match", held on March 31, 2001 and August 25, 2001 respectively. The senior champions of these tournaments were also awarded a No.1 Trainer card, but were made more unique by having their photographs printed on the card illustration. It is currently unknown if the junior champions were also awarded these cards.

This card was reprinted again in 2002 featuring the e-Card Era layout and was awarded to the champions of each regional Battle Road Spring 2002 tournament, held between March and April 2002, and each Battle Road Summer 2002 tournament, held between July and August 2002. The Battle Road 2002 series was also the first to introduce the Master age division (for those 18 and over) in addition to the Junior and Senior divisions. A new illustration by [[Ken Sugimori]] was also used for this print featuring a female Trainer, making the distribution method of this trophy card unique based on the gender of the winner. The ratio of male to female variants for this card is currently unknown. Much like the Neo Spring/Summer Road series, the Battle Road Summer 2002 tournaments culminated in a "Best in Japan" final, but a [[Elite Four Trainer (Battle Road Summer 2002 finals promo)|new card]] was printed for the top ranking players.

*The number of the early Japanese prints in existence is a popular topic of discussion. Based on the dates and age divisions detailed for each event, there were at least 2 copies of the Pokémon Official Tournament print awarded and approximately 14 each of the Lizardon Mega Battle and Kamex Mega Battle prints. Based on the event structure for Challenge Road '99 SUMMER, there were an estimated 9 each of the Tropical Mega Battle and Super Secret Battle prints awarded. Not taking personalized elements into account, there were an estimated 10 of the 2000 Super Secret Battle print awarded, 18 of the Neo Spring Road print, 1 of the Neo Spring Road "Best in Japan" print, 14 of the Neo Summer Road print, 1 of the Neo Summer Road "Best in Japan" print, and 27 each of the Battle Road Spring 2002 and Battle Road Summer 2002 prints. As stated above, the ratio of male to female variants for the Battle Road 2002 series prints are currently unknown. The cards awarded via the World Championships are only printed in English, making it one of the rarest English cards in existence. There were only 3 copies of each annual version produced between 2004 and 2012, but this increased to 6 from the 2013 World Championships with the inclusion of the Video Game champions. The text on the 2013 print of the card awarded to the Video Game champions read "Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships", but this was updated to "Pokémon World Championships" starting with the 2014 print.

*Value-wise, collectors can expect to pay significant sums of money for any of these cards; however, recent history has shown that the more recent releases do not command as much as the original trophy cards awarded between 1997 and 1999, which were well publicized during the Pokémon phenomenon at the turn of the century. Due to their limited numbers, these cards are often considered amongst the rarest in the world.