Pokémon Master Trainer (1999)

Pokémon Master Trainer was originally created and produced by Tomy in Japan in 1997 under the name Pocket Monsters Board Game (ポケットモンスターボードゲーム). It was translated into English for release outside of Japan in 1999 by Hasbro and . The object of the game is to travel the Kanto region, capture and battle Pokémon (in the form of cardboard chips), and reach Indigo Plateau to battle one of the Elite Four members. All Generation I Pokémon (excluding ) are able to be caught in this game.
In the United States, the game was in English only. A fully bilingual (English and French) version of the game was released in Canada. It was also made available in other English-language countries, such as .
Pokémon Master Trainer received two sequel games in 2000 (2001 outside of Japan) and 2005. The former is an iterative improvement over the original, featuring every Pokémon from the first two Generations (except for ), while the latter is a different game altogether and only features 204 out of all 386 creatures available at the time.
==Playing the game==
At the beginning of the game, each player receives one of the game's six first Pokémon. The Pokémon available are , , , , , and . The Pokémon each player receives is selected at random. Using a colored token shaped like Ash Ketchum, players then move around the game board on roughly the same route as in the video games. Some choices in direction can be made. The player tokens are colored pink, red, blue, green, yellow, and brown.
As players traverse the board, they have the option to battle or catch different species of Pokémon, represented by cardboard chips. All Pokémon up to are available, and are classed into five categories based on power:
* First Pokémon — pink star-shaped chips
* Weak, unevolved Pokémon, such as — pink circular chips 
* Slightly stronger, unevolved and evolved Pokémon, such as and — green circular chips
* Strong, evolved Pokémon, such as — blue circular chips
* Very strong, fully evolved Pokémon, such as — red circular chips
* The legendary Pokémon , , , and — yellow circular chips
The different classes of Pokémon can be found in different areas of the game board.
Each Pokémon has a certain level of power points, indicated by the yellow number next to the Sugimori illustration on the chip. If players own two or more Pokémon from the same evolutionary line, they may combine these power points. Each Pokémon also has one move, which deals a fixed amount of damage, and one or two die numbers that must be rolled in order to catch them.
Throughout the game, players have chances to draw cards from two decks; these are item cards and event cards. Item cards incorporate ideas similar to items from the main series games including Poké Balls, , and Vitamins. Event cards allow players to trade Pokémon between players, obtain Pokémon without catching them, use HM moves such as , and catch legendary Pokémon.
Once the player has made it around the board, arrived at Cinnabar Island, and has 20 power points, they can go to Indigo Plateau and enter the "Final Battle" against Gary Oak or one of the Kanto Elite Four, selected at random. If they defeat their opponent, then they win the game. If they lose, then they have to go back to Pallet Town and start over.
==Images==
File:PMT back.png|The back of the box
File:PMT first partners.png|All six first Pokémon of the game
File:PMT pieces.jpg|All six game pieces that can be used
File:PMT color chips.png|The five different chip colors, ordered weakest to strongest
File:PMT Rival.png|The rival cards featuring and the Kanto Elite Four. They are thicker than other cards.
File:PMT Item.png|An item card
File:PMT Event.png|An event card
File:PMT Board.png|The game board, fully set up
==Johto Version==
At the beginning of the game, each player receives one of the game's six first Pokémon. The Pokémon available are , , , , , and . The Pokémon each player receives is selected at random. Using a colored token shaped like Ash Ketchum, players then move around the game board on roughly the same route as in the video games. Some choices in direction can be made. The player tokens are colored lilac, red, blue, green, yellow, and orange.
As players traverse the board, they have the option to battle or catch different species of Pokémon, represented by cardboard chips. All Pokémon up to are available, and are classed into five categories based on power:
* The baby Pokémon , , , , , , and — light blue circular chips except who is pink
* Weak, unevolved Pokémon, such as , first Pokémon — pink circular chips 
* Slightly stronger, unevolved and evolved Pokémon, such as and — green circular chips
* Strong, evolved Pokémon, such as — blue circular chips
* Very strong, fully evolved Pokémon, such as — red circular chips
* The legendary Pokémon , , , , , , , , , and — yellow circular chips
The different classes of Pokémon can be found in different areas of the game board.
In Japan the Johto version was released as Pocket Monsters Board Game 2 (ポケットモンスターボードゲーム2).
==Trivia==
* The inclusion of as a first Pokémon alludes to the original pilot, where 's first Pokémon was a Clefairy. Clefairy is a main Pokémon of in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga.
* The artwork of the Kanto Elite Four strongly resembles their portraits in Pokémon Stadium and its sequel which were released after this board game.
==Related articles==
* Pokémon Master Trainer (2005)
Category:Board games
de:Pokémon Meister Trainer
es:Pokémon Maestro Entrenador