No.1 Trainer (Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament promo)

No.1 Trainer (Japanese: Ｎｏ.１トレーナー No.1 Trainer) is an TCG Item card. It was first released in Japan as a TCG Trainer card through several tournaments before becoming the first place prize in the Pokémon World Championships.

Release information
This card was first awarded to the champions of the qualifying rounds of the Japanese Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament which was held on the first day of the two day event held at Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba prefecture on June 14 and 15, 1997. This card was reprinted later in the year and awarded to the champions from both of each regional Lizardon Mega Battle conference, held between November 1997 and February 1998. It was also reprinted and distributed in the same manner to the champions of each regional Kamex Mega Battle conference held between July and August 1998.

The card was reprinted again and awarded to the champions of each regional Challenge Road '99 SUMMER event held between July and August 1999. Participants in elementary school were eligible for entry into Tropical Mega Battle tournaments, whereas those in elementary school third grade (third grade) through to high school second grade (eleventh grade) were eligible for entry into Secret Super Battle tournaments. Participants eligible for both could only compete in one tournament. Champions of the Tropical Mega Battle qualifiers were awarded the print featuring and the event logo with artwork by Ken Sugimori and Hiromi Ito, whereas the Secret Super Battle champions were awarded the print featuring a  silhouette and the event logo with artwork by Hideki Kazama.

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. Two base versions of this card also exist: one depicting a male Trainer and the other a female Trainer. The version of the card awarded depended on the gender 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 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. These versions also include the name and regional conference of the winner, as well as coming in male and female variants. 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. The 2002 versions were the last to include the name and regional conference of the winner on the card itself and were also the last to feature male and female variants. Much like the Neo Spring/Summer Road series, the Battle Road Summer 2002 tournaments culminated in a "Best in Japan" final, but a new card was printed for the top ranking players.

The latest iteration of this card was awarded to those who came first in each in the World Championships. It was first awarded in 2004 when Play! Pokémon hosted the first Pokémon TCG World Championships under Pokémon USA, and has been awarded at every Worlds tournament since. In 2007 this card featured the Diamond & Pearl Series layout, lacking the circle pattern prior prints featured. The 2010 print featured the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series layout, adopting the blue Trainer color scheme and gold illustration window. The 2011 print featured the Black & White Series layout and was printed as an TCG Item card as per all previously classed Trainer cards. For the first time in 2013, the card was awarded to the champions of both the Trading Card Game Championships and the Video Game Championships in each age division.

The artwork was updated for the card awarded at the 2014 World Championships, featuring an embossed TCG Full Art card (Full Art) Pikachu complete with trophy by 5ban Graphics. The card also features a gold border. The 2017 print was updated to feature the Sun & Moon Series layout.

Details of each tournament this card was awarded at are below.

Trivia

 * The prints awarded between 1997 and 1998 were well publicized during the Pokémon phenomenon at the turn of the century, and are popularly known collectively as the Pikachu Trophy No.1 card in reference to the illustration. There are misconceptions regarding the distribution of these particular cards, one of which is that the latter two prints were awarded in 1998 and 1999, whereas both were awarded across two tournament series in late 1997 and 1998. Similarly, the Tropical Mega Battle print was only awarded during the 1999 event. The other misconception is that they were awarded to the overall winners of the tournament finals, where in fact they were awarded to the qualifying event winners. The same also applies to the Tropical Mega Battle and Super Secret Battle prints.
 * The prints awarded between 2000 and 2002 were the only cards to feature printed personalization until the release of, , and from a Lawson's campaign in 2011. It is debated that despite the larger quantity of cards in existence, these cards are rarer than the original trophy cards released between 1997 and 1998 as each one is unique.
 * For the non-"Best in Japan" 2000-2002 prints, the number of Pokémon present in the illustration increases as the rank increases; features 2 Pokémon;  features 4; No.1 Trainer features 6. The same pattern would later be used on  promotional cards.
 * The cards awarded to the "Best in Japan" top ranking players have a photograph of the winner in the illustration superimposed on the logo of the tournament they competed in. The Neo Spring Road print features Lugia, while the Neo Summer Road print features Ho-Oh. These cards are amongst several to feature images of real life people.
 * The 2000 and 2001 prints have "No.1 Trainer" instead of "Trainer" at the top of the card. On the 2002 print this is present on the top right of the card, making it a unique Trainer card subclass. The double star rarity was also no longer used with the 2002 print.
 * The 2007-2009 prints do not have "Trainer" in the top right corner of the card as per all Trainer cards released during the Diamond & Pearl and Platinum Series. The 2011 print onwards also features a ruling as per all Item cards, but is unique to the No.1 Trainer.
 * 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. The ratio of male to female variants for the 2000-2002 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.
 * Due to their limited numbers, these cards are often considered amongst the rarest in the world. 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.

Origin
Nummer 1 Trainer (TCG) No.1 Trainer (Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament promo) No.1トレーナー