Wow! Great writeup. I have often wondered what decks were used to win the Pikas and I am thrilled to see a Chansey included in a winning deck of the first ever tournament since I hadn’t been able to find much info
www.elitefourum.com/t/is-there-any-info-on-the-decks-used-in-1990s-tournaments/31483/1
You can really see the level of appreciation for Chansey in 1997 with the beautiful coin distributed, costume at event, and Fan Club Mag that year. I love early documents it’s like a first hand experience of people slowly deciding their favorites back when Clefairy was super popular as well and the Poli line featured due to Tajiri’s fondness.
This love for Chansey was prominent from 1997 - 2000 (when Chansey was included in No 1 Trainer despite Blissey being released by then) and has re-emerged in the past two years with promotional campaigns for beautiful man hole and Mister Donut as well as more merchandise and toys than in the entire decade prior.