Pokémon-e: Expedition Base Set (Japanese: 基本拡張パックBase Expansion Pack) is the name given to the first main expansion of cards from the e-Card Series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (the e-Card Era in Japan).
The Pokémon® trading card game is going where no trading card game has ever gone before—the Game Boy Advance™. The Pokémon-e: Expedition™ base set has new attacks, new game effects, new Pokémon Powers (now called Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies), new Trainer cards, and even a cool new card design. And now you can swipe your cards through a Nintendo® e-Reader to play fun video games on Game Boy Advance!
Play Expedition, and you could be in for a shock!
Information
Expedition Base Set is the name given to the first main expansion of the e-Card Series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. In Japan, it was released as Base Expansion Pack, the first expansion in the Pokémon Card Game e-Card Era. The English expansion was released on September 15, 2002, while the Japanese expansion was released on December 1, 2001.
Expedition Base Set introduced Technical Machine cards, which allow the Pokémon they are attached to use an attack as specified on the card (a reference to the TM in the core series games). Pokémon Power was split into two groups; Poké-Power and Poké-Body. Poké-Powers required activation to use, whereas Poké-Bodies were always active unless blocked by a specific effect.
Expedition Base Set also introduced an updated card design, which included numerous changes. Firstly, the left and bottom borders have been increased in size to incorporate the Dot Code technology for use with the Nintendo e-Reader. By using the device, players were able to view the Pokédex data, play a minigame, play various tunes in a Melody Box, or activate a hidden attack for that Pokémon. However, these hidden attacks were not legal for use in tournament play. The artwork window is rounded on the left. For Rare Holo cards, the Pokémon's species, length, and weight were moved to the left. For Non Holo cards, it lacked the Pokémon's species, length, and weight. Both Rare Holo and Non Holo cards included a unique ID number located below the artwork window and lacked the Pokédex entry. The illustrator was moved to the center on the bottom of the card. The set symbol was located on the bottom right of the card.
The design for Reverse Holofoil cards was changed to a plain "refractor" Holofoil. Each booster pack were reduced from 11 cards to 9 cards; they include 5 Common, 2 Uncommon, 1 Reverse Holofoil, and 1 Rare or Rare Holo card. All Rare Holo cards have a Non Holofoil version. Expedition was the first expansion that did not have a 1st Edition print run.
The Base Expansion Pack set is released in Japanese, primarily available in 1st edition. Some Japanese cards in this set were available in unlimited edition, given at certain lottery events (or inserted in a magazine in the case of the Ponyta). The Expedition Base Set is released in English, German, French, and Italian, with all cards in the set also available as Reverse Holo other than the basic energy cards.
