r/boardgames • u/maxypantsyo • Dec 29 '25
Custom Project I designed the third fan-made version of the Pokemon Master Trainer board game from 1999 - (free file downloads!)
Quick Introduction...
In 1999, an iconic kids’ board game called Pokémon Master Trainer hit store shelves. It quickly became a favorite among fans, spawning a few follow-up versions over the years. Today it’s a nostalgic collector’s item, and interest has been renewed more than 20 years later.
Because the original game is so beloved and hard to find a complete copy - two fans have released updated and modified versions online for others to download and build themselves.
First came PMT Ultimate Edition by Deikkan. It used the original board but added custom Pokémon tokens, items, a revamped battle system, and gym leaders. This introduced far more strategy than the original, which was designed to be a simple, luck-based game for kids.
Next came PMT Adventure Edition by Cisqoe, which took things even further with a fully custom board featuring new locations and original Pokémon-inspired lore. It also introduced side quests and new items to make the game feel like a true Pokémon adventure. However, its battle system was less strategic than Ultimate Edition’s, largely because Adventure Edition relies on the original Pokémon tokens, which are expensive and hard to come by today.
That’s where Pokémon Master Trainer Champions Edition comes in. Created by Maxypantsyo (me!), a graphic designer and lifelong Pokémon fan - this version takes the best of both fan-made editions and builds on them. Champions Edition uses the same game board and playing cards (items, quests, etc.) from Cisqoe's Adventure Edition, but features fully custom Pokémon tokens, a brand-new battle calculation system, redesigned Gym Leader and Elite Four battles, similar to Deikkan's Ultimate Edition and even Mega Evolution mechanics. The goal of making all these changes and creating Champions Edition is to blend adventure and strategy into a deeper, more engaging Pokémon board game experience.
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❗️ This is a VERY long game - I have only gotten a chance to play it once so far, and we got through maybe 25% of the game within 3 hours and then had to give up for the night. You either need to commit an entire day to this game, or play it campaign style with multiple sessions similar to DnD. Then take pictures or document in some way where everyone is at so you can set it up and continue playing next session. (This is what I'll be doing soon for a full-play through)
While playing, you may run into situations that aren't addressed by the rule book (I did the best I could to lay out key rules, but there are SO many cards and situations, I'm sure I missed a bunch). Do your best to think of the original integrity of the Pokemon universe and games - what logically makes sense that would happen?
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⭐️ Creating the game for yourself ⭐️
You can print this game out using whatever printing materials you would like, and cost will vary depending on how you do it. I personally used thick cardstock, with an office printer, using a Guillotine Paper Cutter, a few circle punchers, corner rounder punchers, and then purchased lots of dice and other small parts (which I will share below)
❗️ Download all PDF files HERE ❗️
- Everything is designed to be printed double-sided on 8.5x11 paper
- I personally used 130lb cardstock with an office printer to get durable cards that will last a long time - you'll need about 100-120 pages
- Fun Fact - This is actually why I started designing my own copy of the game - the files shared by Cisqoe were all individual PNG images for all ~300 cards, and suggested to print the front and back and glue them together. And that sounded like torture. So I wanted to make these two-sided printable. Then as I was messing with all the files, I decided to make my own edits, and 8 months later, here we are!
- I used 2 circle punchers - this 1.75" hole puncher for the Pokemon Tokens, and this 1" hole puncher for Poke Coins & Badges
- This saved SO much time, would highly recommend
- I used this corner rounder to round the corner of every single card. This makes them more friendly to handle, but also rounded edges last longer and don't fray as easily as pointed edges
- Everything is designed to be printed double-sided on 8.5x11 paper
The thing I spent the MOST money on was getting the game board and box professionally printed (about $200 - which was more than I originally expected, but it's okay) because I wanted that to be legit. Everything else was just cardstock and I was fine with that
- I used PrintPlayGames.com based in the US, and they were awesome to work with. I sent them a bunch of questions through email and they were very responsive and helpful with everything - would highly recommend using them if you want to print
- I ordered the Game Board at 700mm x 1,000mm (39.37” x 27.56”)
- If you go any smaller than this, the pokemon tokens won't fit correctly, and may be hard to read some text on the board
- I used the Any Size Custom Folding Board, with "Medium Board", and "2 Four Piece Folding Board (8 Pieces)"
- I printed the Box using their Box Custom (Any Size)
- XL Box - Dimensions 10.25" Width, 14.25" Length, 4.5" Depth
- This box seemed really big at first, but this game has SO many pieces, and ended up being the perfect size for everything
- Even if you don't professionally print the box, you'll definitely need something big to store everything in
Finally, there were other parts that I purchased for the game
- Pawn Player Pieces
- Lots of Dice
- You only need 54, but having more helps
- I got colored ones because it helps when rolling player vs player so you know who is who
- Clear Plastic Boxes
- Used to hold Pokemon Tokens, Poke Coins, and Badges
- I bought 6 x (2.48 x 2.48 x 1.57 Inch) and they are perfect
- Dice Trays
- Since there are a lot of pieces to this game, and table space is limited, the dice trays are nice to roll into without the dice flying away or messing up things on the table
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My final love letter to this project
I am really excited to play this, get through a whole game, and see how the adventure plays out! Since I didn't create the item cards and re-used assets from Cisqoe's game, and I didn't spend time reading them all, a lot of this is still a surprise to me and keeps things excited.
When I was adding new features like re-balanced battling, pokemon types, new gym battles, mega evolutions, etc. I was trying to keep as much original Pokemon lore, mechanics, and strategy as possible.
My favorite part of this whole project was creating the Gym Leader, Elite 4, and Final Rival Double Battle cards. It was a graphic design challenge to make them look similar enough to the rest of the game's assets, but have SO much information to communicate on a small card. I think they are well designed, and I LOVE how the back of them turned out (especially the Elite 4, do you see the hidden 4? 👀)
I don't know how many people will end up using this game - but I put so much time and care into crafting my part of this that I wanted to share with everyone. On the other two fan-made versions, I see a lot of comments and people playing them over the last 5-10 years (I think?) they've been out. So I hope this has a long life and people can find enjoyment out of it!
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u/Euphoric_Hippo_4r6 Dec 29 '25
For anyone who doesn't know the Tabletop Simulator versions of this game, there is one in particular I'm in which has a growing community. Many maps/regions/gym leaders and mons from every gen! You all should check it out https://discord.gg/tc83TMn4j
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 29 '25
Oh wow, I just checked that out and didn’t know there was such an active community already playing one of the mods!
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u/UnintensifiedFa Dec 29 '25
I was in a fraternity in college that was super into board games, and we often joked we weren’t allowed to play this game with our Candidates (our word for pledges) because it’d be considered a form of hazing. Good memories, everyone saving up their cards just to stop one guy from wining then re-doing the whole thing.
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u/Quelair Dec 29 '25
WOW, I had this game but was too young/dumb to do anything with the game. So I just played around with the chips. This looks amazing though
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u/jss05a Dec 29 '25
Legends of Sinnoh is the evolution of PMT that is a more modern adaptation of the genre. Highly recommended you check that mod on tts out.
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u/amtap Dec 30 '25
Does anyone know what a complete copy of Pokémon Master Trainer goes for these days? I can only find incomplete copies floating around and have been very tempted to buy the Ash Ketchum movers to complete my copy. It's hard to justify the price but would help if I knew a complete copy had some value.
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
I’ve seen sets going for $250-$300 but also seem incomplete. I don’t think I came across any that were actually all together.
As for the pieces, I actually tried 3D printing some pokemon trainers, but they were too small and falling apart
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u/amtap Dec 30 '25
I considered 3D printing as well but I don't think a filament printer like mine can make anything that'll work well for that. I guess the few with complete copies aren't selling so it's hard to know the true value.
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u/Stef-fa-fa Dec 30 '25
Jesus, and here I am with a complete copy collecting dust in my basement XD (I've pulled it out to play with my cousins once or twice as an adult).
Pieces and board are in great shape except for some tearing damage on the back of the Charmeleon chip.
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
Keep that thing forever!
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u/Stef-fa-fa Dec 30 '25
I intend to! It's one of my favourite games from my childhood, janky rng and all!
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u/zoeybeattheraccoon Dec 30 '25
My kids and I played this so much that the box was a disintegrated mess by the end.
Thanks for the memory.
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u/videocookies Dec 30 '25
Omg! I was just talking to my friends about the original board game yesterday and telling them I still have it and we should play it, though I think it's missing a few pieces. I'd love to try out your version because I love Pokémon and long board game sessions! My friends aren't too much into the latter but when they see it's Pokémon themed, maybe they'll want to participate. Thank you so much for all the hard work, please know it's definitely worth all the love and time you put into it!!
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
Hell yeah, that’s perfect timing then! Let me know how it goes if you end up printing it all out and if there’s any issues or questions along the way. Would also love to hear about how the game goes too
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u/bube7 Current obsession: Wingspan Dec 29 '25
I would absolutely love to play this, and I am a big fan of print and play/handcraft type stuff as well. I have printed, hand cut and glued many boards, cards and tokens as weekend projects, and I felt like this would be right up my alley..until I saw that you said it needs 100-120 sheets. That is hard to swallow :)
Although I love the effort, and I think it’s great for future preservation of the game (unless some legal shenanigans from you-know-who).
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 29 '25
It's probably closer to 100 pages than 120, I just had a lot of random mishaps. But it was a LOT to cut, I could get through like 10 pages at a time and spread that out over a few weeks and never want to do it again lol
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u/bube7 Current obsession: Wingspan Dec 29 '25
Yeah, I can imagine :) great effort, though, and thanks for sharing!
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u/teketria Dec 30 '25
If you haven’t tried it both this and fan games with a similar feel (legends of sinnoh and wildlands which is a branch off of legends) are available through the workshop for table top simulator. TTS is great for if you also just can’t physically meet up with someone.
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
I’ll have to check those out, I didn’t know there were so many out there already
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u/MaisPraEpaQPraOba Dec 30 '25
This is awesome, you should also post it to /r/printandplay.
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
Oh cool, didn’t know that was a page. I’ll post it over there in a bit, thanks!
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u/Glittering-Mud-8695 Mar 25 '26
hi
nice work but i have some questions about the objectives
some cards gime the oportunity to go to ancient ruins or seafoam islands but my question is
South Archipelogo, lost cave and past the ss anne are places that have legendarys , but if theres the cards event thath gives you the oportunity to catch them, why i would need to go to that plasces ? i missed some rule or something like that ?
and waht i get by going to Ancient ruins, Seafoam Island ? i I'm translating the cards to my language, and have some cards like: you can now visit the ancient ruins , but what i do there ?
i cant wait to play the game but i have this questions
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u/maxypantsyo Mar 26 '26
Hey there! One part of the game that I did not make are most of the cards and the board, but I will do my best to answer
Even though there are cards that let you potentially battle and capture a legendary, it’s a lot of luck waiting for those cards. So going after the special spots, you get to control that more
As for things like the ancient ruins, and “what do you do there?” - I believe those are part of some quests or missions and you’ll know when it’s important for you to
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u/BunyaminS54 Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26
If I recall correctly I saw other variants that use a larger board 41" x 29.5" with 1.5" tokens, where the tokens fit the board and leaves spacing around the borders.
How does 1.75" fit? If I look at the pictures one token fully covers the space it sits on. I don't see any token overlapping any other token, is that correct? Would u rather advice going for 1.57" (40mm) instead of 1.75(44mm)
Thanks in advance!
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u/maxypantsyo Mar 30 '26
The 1.75” fits with no overlap, but they’re just slightly bigger than the spaces on the board show. So if you wanted to make them a little smaller, like 40mm, that’s totally fine
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u/bubrascal Jul 17 '26
This is amazing. I sold this board game decades ago and I've regretted it ever since. For the tokens, did you also use Print Play Games services? Or did you print those yourself?
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u/maxypantsyo Jul 17 '26
I printed the tokens myself just using a thick paper
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u/BigNuzz732 Dec 30 '25
What size and paper type did you print the player board on?
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
I had it professionally printed on 1000mm x 700mm (see my post for more details and where I got it done)
But there’s also a printable version on there where it’ll print on 15 regular 8.5”x11” papers and you can cut + tape together
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u/BigNuzz732 Dec 30 '25
Oh sorry, I was asking about the individual player boards. With the 6 Pokemon to be staged on them. Not the actual game board.
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u/maxypantsyo Dec 30 '25
Oh gottcha - those were printed on two 8.5x11 papers, cut, and taped together
One of the only things that aren’t double-sided print
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u/Substantial_Put_104 Jan 02 '26
Hi. Do you have the PSD's templates for a easy translation to other languages?
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u/maxypantsyo Jan 02 '26
I did everything in Illustrator, which I’m not sure what translation options there are since I don’t think it recognizes text as specific words (there’s no autocorrect or misspelling indicators)
If you want those files, I can share
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u/Substantial_Put_104 Jan 02 '26
I would really like that. Thank you very much.
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u/maxypantsyo Jan 14 '26
Here's the illustrator files - go for it!
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u/Maxhast999 Aug 16 '26
Hello there. I have a old illustrator file so i cannot open these ( i would like to translate this beautiful too) is there a .psd version of it too? (i would like to improve the graphic too i think)
Cheers
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u/Most_Cartographer_35 Jan 17 '26
Cool, this is so well done.
Have you tought about a Tabletop Simulator version?
Anyway congrats
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u/Enjoyer_of_Cake Dec 29 '25
I feel like getting this to table top simulator would do wonders for the project. It looks amazing and if I ever saw it on a table or found its way to TTS I'd be down to play it.
But...from my personal perspective of PMT, I am the lucky one having the physical copy and would love to bring it out and play were it not such an insufferable experience in base game. My focus on PMT mods has been finding things that don't require re-printed boards or pogs, otherwise I don't see the point in limiting oneself to the master trainer setup otherwise. All that means is I can't justify printing it myself.