Rulebook assistance needed

Q

quinyu

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I have been trying for the last couple of weeks to acquire copies of the rulebooks of the past (and from the beginnings, ie. Base Set) for my own research purposes, mainly to assemble a thorough listing of how the rules have changed and how the new rules were introduced during the lifetime of this game. I wrote to Nintendo as well as Wizards. Wizards said that they can’t provide me with the past copies since they sold absolutely everything to Nintendo. Nintendo, in turn, said “we have the last rulebook online, and nothing else. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Pokémon players, and that I am the NINTENDO your God, and none else: and my people shall never play old crap.” Or something along the lines. Basically, they seem to say that they don’t care about anything of the past.
Since _I_ care about it though, I would like to humbly ask any member of the site/team: would you be able to provide me with said (scanned or photographed) rulebooks of yore? If Nintendo so massively doesn’t care about the rulebooks (and I would be hard-pressed to see why Wizards would care any longer, actually), then they probably would not mind anyone getting access to that information.

Thank you
Peter
 
What is it that you would like to know what changed?

To me, all that matters... You can only retreat 1 time per turn. Other than that, Nintendo has failed as far as rules go.
The game use to be soooo good. And now, we are left with crap. Everyone aims for 1-2HKOs instead of working damage and earning kills the hard way.
BOOO THIS GAME. (I do however suck it up and still play through the "poo" in which i call this format and set of rules laid upon us.)
 
_Everything_ is what I would like to know what changed. When a rule was introduced, removed, modified, amended, reworded, etc. When were the various special things such as Pokémon EX, delta species, Confused etc. put into the game, when did the rule about weakness/resistance change and what was the original wording and ruling, when was the first Baby Pokémon introduced, when did Metal and Dark become introduced, and when did they turn into being normal energies, were the rulings for dual-type Pokémon always like the current etc. etc. I could probably go on endlessly. "When" in here means "with which set."

Peter
 
ashtavakra said:
What is it that you would like to know what changed?

To me, all that matters... You can only retreat 1 time per turn. Other than that, Nintendo has failed as far as rules go.
The game use to be soooo good. And now, we are left with crap. Everyone aims for 1-2HKOs instead of working damage and earning kills the hard way.
BOOO THIS GAME. (I do however suck it up and still play through the "poo" in which i call this format and set of rules laid upon us.)
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I don't completely see a big reason to complain, if you sucked it up already, you shouldn't say anything about these kind of things.

As for your problem, try looking at Bulbapedia. Then,I think all you have to look up the base set of each version type. (Black and white, Diamond and pearl, Ruby and Sapphire, etc.) Rule changes should be listed in each page. (I only checked BW and DP though.)
 
ex's spawned with ruby & sapphire.

confusion changed when Legendary Collection came about, as well as the start of the game. (enabling and disabling the use of supporters and trainers on T1).

dark and metal was introduced with the release of NEO discovery set.

the baby rule, you can look up an original baby on line, all you had to do was flip to attack, if tails your turn was over. being that attacking is the last thing you can do on your turn. attempting to attack and failing results in the end of your turn. the "baby power" could only be "shut off" with dark feraligatr. the better days of the pokemon tcg..

i took about a 7 year break from the tcg. i quit at fire red & leaf green. i would imagine, the change in resistance came within the time frame of my extended break of pokemon tcg. and it pissed me off when i released resistance was changed to -20 and they fudged up the weaknesses. but the weakness has since then been changed back from the time being.

The game has completely changed. A 1hko use to be something to actually brag about and a terribly hard feat. special conditions actually changed the game and were a vital part of the game. Creativity was thriving and almost any deck could compete. I remember winning tournaments with a Southern Island Primape deck back in like 01.

I may be able to answer more questions, or help. Let me know.
 
Thank you for the answers so far, they have helped me much. I have to grant that Bulbapedia is also an awesome resource (that's where I learnt there are more than four kinds of conditions, for example...), I will attempt to categorize those in as well.
 
As far as a Rulebook archive, you'll always find a Rulebook relevant to its specific temporal era in any theme deck! And you can easily buy the older Theme Decks online.
 
PumpedAaron said:
As far as a Rulebook archive, you'll always find a Rulebook relevant to its specific temporal era in any theme deck! And you can easily buy the older Theme Decks online.
Click to expand...

Yeah well, I understand that much, nevertheless I don't play Pokémon as such, and for that reason I find it an unneccessary expense to spend on 30+ theme decks when I would never use them in the end -- all I do is plain research and some programming, for which the actual decks are not needed, since card scans for every set are already available; the rulebooks are just there to permit interpretation of the cards in the same set.
 
It would be a financial investment if you were to buy them all, you're right about that! Hmm, I don't think you could ever buy the Rulebooks by themselves, but searching online is surely worth a TRY, in any case....
 
quinyu said:
PumpedAaron said:
As far as a Rulebook archive, you'll always find a Rulebook relevant to its specific temporal era in any theme deck! And you can easily buy the older Theme Decks online.
Click to expand...

Yeah well, I understand that much, nevertheless I don't play Pokémon as such, and for that reason I find it an unneccessary expense to spend on 30+ theme decks when I would never use them in the end -- all I do is plain research and some programming, for which the actual decks are not needed, since card scans for every set are already available; the rulebooks are just there to permit interpretation of the cards in the same set.
Click to expand...

Why do you care about how the rules have changed if you don't even play? I'm sorry, its just I see no point in wanting to know the rules of a game you don't (want to) play.
 
Cooltrainer Alan said:
quinyu said:
Yeah well, I understand that much, nevertheless I don't play Pokémon as such, and for that reason I find it an unneccessary expense to spend on 30+ theme decks when I would never use them in the end -- all I do is plain research and some programming, for which the actual decks are not needed, since card scans for every set are already available; the rulebooks are just there to permit interpretation of the cards in the same set.
Click to expand...

Why do you care about how the rules have changed if you don't even play? I'm sorry, its just I see no point in wanting to know the rules of a game you don't (want to) play.
Click to expand...

Since I wish to program an AI for it. Yes, I know, it was told often that "YEEAH, I'M SO GONNA PROGRAM AN AI" so I'm not making promises. However, for to get a viable AI, I believe it's best to make it play and learn "through the ages." Furthermore, people might want to play it "like how it was back in 2000" or something. For this reason, the respective eras and their associated rules are sought.
 
I understand your reason for the rulebooks. If I was not so busy with other projects, I would scan my rulebook collection (Yes, I collect those too) for you.
 
Well, thank you for the silent support. Maybe when time comes and your other projects have settled... :rolleyes:

omahanime said:
I understand your reason for the rulebooks. If I was not so busy with other projects, I would scan my rulebook collection (Yes, I collect those too) for you.
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omahanime said:
I sneaked in time to scan a rulebook.
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Yes, I saw it with glee -- nice way to start my day. Nice, hi-res (for me) and clean scans. Keep 'em comin' :D
 
quinyu said:
omahanime said:
I sneaked in time to scan a rulebook.
Click to expand...

Yes, I saw it with glee -- nice way to start my day. Nice, hi-res (for me) and clean scans. Keep 'em comin' :D
Click to expand...



For me it is lo-res on my text scanner. You can imagine what my hi-res on my photo scanner looks like.
 
Yeah well, I'm not doing anything publication-quality this side ever -- if I need higher res of anything, I go closer, take more than one photos with the phone, then stitch the pics together. Scanner I've got none.
 
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