The Official Pokémon Handbook: Difference between revisions

The Official Pokémon Handbook by Maria S. Barbo (ISBN 0439103975) is a handbook that was published in July 1999, advertised as "Your complete companion to all 150 Pokémon characters!" to serve as a rudimentary, paper version of a Pokédex. It contained an entry for each of the original 150 Generation I Pokémon, and in the second, Collector's Edition, an extra entry for Mew and Togepi.

Entries

The entries for each Pokémon were structured in an easy-to-read page setup. Each Pokémon has either an entire page to itself, or shares a page with one of its evolutions.

Name

Each entry is topped with a large, slab-shaped bar of a colour that quickly indicates the Pokémon's element; green for Grass, red for Fire, dark blue for Water, etc. Imposed over this bar is a smaller, rectangular, red bar with the Pokémon's name and number in yellow letters.

Stats

On a side bar, the entries list the following stats:

1. Pronunciation
2. Element
3. Type
4. Height (in inches)
5. Weight (in pounds)
6. Techniques (moves the Pokémon will already know)
7. Other Techniques (moves the Pokémon will learn as it levels up)
8. Good Against (lists what type advantages it has over other Pokémon)
9. Bad Against (type disadvantages against other Pokémon)
10. Evolution (Normal, Stone, Trade, or None)
11. Evolves at Level: __

Note that many of these stats are now obsolete except for Generation I games.

Element in this case refers to elemental type, and Type refers to what is more commonly known as species - for example, Diglett's Type, as listed, would be Mole, while its Element is Ground.

Techniques and Other Techniques are not listed with the levels at which they are learned, though they are listed in the order in which they are learned.

In the Generation II Handbook, "Good Against" and "Bad Against" did not appear.

Image and other information

Each Pokémon has an anime-style picture on its page, overtop of a quick blurb similar to the 'flavour text' that shows up on a Pokémon's entry on any game Pokédex, but considerably longer. Some pages also feature a "Pokédex Pick," with extra trivial information often concerning the anime, or sometimes helpful game tips.

Evolution chain

At the very bottom of the entry there are pictures with arrows between them to show what the Pokémon evolves into. Pokémon that do not evolve do not have any Evolution Chain. In the later-generation Handbooks, Pokémon often evolved into a question mark- or rather, a Pokémon that was not included in the handbook.

Other content

Besides the entries on each Pokémon, the book includes A word from Professor Oak, similar to his speeches that welcomed players into first Generation games, but longer. It also contains a preface called The Pokémon Journey, an illustrated map of the Kanto region, and another preface, Battle Basics, as well as a How to use this book diagram. At the end it features Top 10 Ways to Care for your Pokémon, some FAQs, and a checklist for each Pokémon Species.

Sequels

An Official Pokémon Handbook was published to each subsequent generation of the Pokémon games, though the following editions were not as complete as the original, with many Pokémon missing.