Yeah, well, once you beat the Elite Four, you get the bronze card. It's very hard to complete your pokedex before the Elite Four. But if you complete it, you get the next color trainer card. I went from bronze to copper...currently working on silver...but not going to well.
Edit: Oh, I forgot about the Emerald starter thing...xP I completed Ruby, so that's what happened to me. Yeah, I suggest Totodile. lol Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! Okay, it's cute, but not that good...soooooooo many water types too.