Base Set

Base Set (拡張パック) was the first TCG expansion set of the Original series. It was released on 20 October 1996 in Japanese and 9 January 1999 in the US. This expansion set contains 102 cards in both Japanese and English.

Background

 * Though the release in the US was in January 1999, widespread release was not seen till months later, around April or March, the same year. This was due to the reluctance of many stores to sell the game.
 * All of the cards in the first print runs were "shadowless cards". They had no drop shadows on the illustration box, and the texting used on HP and attack was weaker.
 * By the time of its release, this set had been replaced by Base Set 2, as Base Set had been out of print for some time.
 * Some of the final form Pokémon were left out of this set, but were released in Jungle and Fossil.

Variations between English and Japanese editions

 * The Japanese variations of the cards did not have a numbering system till the release of Pokémon VS, and the number featured on the cards before that represents the Pokémons Pokédex number.
 * The English numbering is based on an alphabetical sorting, with descending rarity, a sorting that would stay the same till the release of Black & White. The Japanese order is based on type, and ascending rarity, and stayed this way until the release of e-Card 2.