Christmas festivities still going on so I have to be brief. The search function on the forum is the most underrated thing of 2020 I swear. It’s been years since I took a deep dive into this specifically so that is why I threw out a bunch of numbers in the video without certainty.
Search the forum for “illustrator copies” and click show results as threads.
www.elitefourum.com/t/smprattes-collection/10053/1
Somewhere in Scott’s collection thread it mentioned bulbapedia at the time “confirmed” 4 copies of the illustrator.
www.elitefourum.com/t/smprattes-collection/10053/1
This “confirms” 20: www.elitefourum.com/t/its-offfical-there-are-only-20-illustrators-printed/11692/1
This “confirms” 39 and I’m assuming doesnt account for extra copies. www.elitefourum.com/t/i-disclosed-a-secret-there-are-39-illustrators-printed/11729/1
I think somewhere in between bulbapedia listing 4 as the number of copies and 20, there was a time where the “confirmed” number was 9 or 11. Digging deeper someone could put together a timeline of how this number progressed over time. The context of our conversation in the video alluded to the fact that certain individuals may have had more information earlier on. What duty they have or dont have to disclose that information becomes a question of ones own thoughts on morality and all that.
At the end of the day even 100% confirmed print numbers arent true or exact as we can see “extra copies” are a thing. I’d link a Smpratte video or two on this topic but it isn’t easy on mobile and I’ll check back later on from my PC.