Older Trainer/Item Classifications Question

[Otaku]

I checked the BW Compendium, the rule book, and generally searched the internet for an hour, and have finally decided to break down and ask. I fear you're going to tell me I blatantly overlooked the answer, and I am sorry if I did. >_<

When we got the new rules for the BW sets, Supporters and Stadiums once again became a sub-type of Trainer, and we also got the category of "Items". Trainers printed during the time that Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums were still split (like in the HGSS sets) were ruled to now count as Trainer-Items, or at least that is what I thought happened. >.>

So my question is are all past Trainers not expressly labeled as Supporters or Stadiums now retroactively considered to be Items? Ignoring such Trainers that were later re-released as Supporters (Bill and Here Comes Team Rocket!), of course. Or is there instead a specific "cut off" point instead of it extending all the way back to the Base Set, be it a set or cards present in a particular format? If you can help me find the official answers, that would be great!

Thank you for your help in general as well; I fear I've given you another question that the poster (me) should have been able to easily look up on his/her own.

 

[PokePop]

Expedition would be that set.
Before Expedition:
Pokemon had Pokemon Powers.
All Trainers were just Trainers (some did have the sub-set of Stadium, but there were no Supporters)

After Expedition, Pokemon had Poke-Powers and Poke-Bodies, and Supporters were introduced.
So, any card released before Expedition that talks about Trainers means ALL Trainers including Supporters and Stadiums unless they are explicitly excluded in the text.

 

[bullados]

RE: http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=164180

What about all of the EX sets? I'm pretty certain that there was no official TSS separation, and that Supporters and Stadiums were all listed as subclasses of Trainers until the first DP set. Wasn't there the specific "Excluding Supporters" on a bunch of things during that time?

Sorry for this, I like having complete answers on the record...

 

[PokePop]

Yes, bullados, you're correct.

Looking back at it again, Expedition introduced Supporters, but they were a subclass of Trainers still.
It wasn't until Diamond and Pearl that they actually broke Supporters and Stadiums off into different types of card from Trainers.

So, the correct thing would be any pre-DP card talking about Trainers would mean Trainers, Items, Supporters, and Stadiums unless they explicitly exclude one of those types.
From Diamond and Pearl through the Call of Legends, a card referring to Trainers did NOT refer to Supporters or Stadiums.