The Pokémon League Rules and Regulations

[Vanforte]

Welcome to The Pokémon League.

We are a club dedicated to playing Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the DS and Revolution on the Wii in competition with one another. The standard Gaia TOS apply to this club as well as the following:

- Swearing is prohibited.
- Constructive criticism is welcome but flaming is not. Please try to know the difference.
- Respect and common courtesy will be shown to all members.

Our policy is firm but fair. We are not going to go out of our way to ban people and delete posts but unfortunately we will if we have to.

We plan on having many events such as tournaments and seasonal competition. We will be keeping track of records and there may be prizes and/or titles involved. Please post official match results in the appropiate sub-forum so we can keep track of records.

When posting results we need to know:
Which tiers were allowed
What the level cap was
Item rules
Single or double battle
Who won  

[Kukem]

Rules for The Pokemon League Events

Gameplay Specifics:

• Players are required to use their own Nintendo DS/ Wii as well as (“DS/Wii”) games (including Pokémon Diamond™, Pearl™, and Battle Revolution™). All battles will be held over the Nintendo WiFi™ Connection.

• Tournament structure consists of a series of elimination tournament rounds in which players will be randomly paired against one other player to engage in a Pokémon battle until only one winner remains. Winning players will move up in the ranks to the next opponent.

Official Game Play Rules:

Battle Rules:

• Each battle will be a single (1-on-1) or a double (2-on-2) battle, depending on the event.

• Each event will be broken up in to phases or “Rounds” and the battles taking place in these rounds need to be completed by the deadline. If a player in unable to complete their match within this time frame, a possible disqualification may come into play.

• Each player is responsible for arranging their battles during the course of the phase of the events.

• Players must have their battling team of up to 6 Pokémon set up in their party before play begins. The number of Entry Pokémon will be stated for each event.

• There will be a 30-second time limit to select each move (or a time within reason to keep the battle moving smoothly)

• There will be no overall time limit for each Battle

Entry Pokémon:

• Only characters readily obtainable in the following games may be used: Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon FireRed, Pokémon LeafGreen, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD, Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl and Pokémon Battle Revolution .

• Players may not use the following Pokémon characters; Mew, Deoxys, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin and Arceus. (unless it is an “anything goes” tournament). Please refer to the Tier List for the specified event.

• It is recommended that all Pokémon be at level 100. Some events may be at specific levels to make the events more enjoyable and less predictable. This forces players to switch up their strategies a bit more and adds variety to the gameplay.

• Players may not enter two Pokémon with the same nickname

• Players may not enter a Pokémon nicknamed with the name of another Pokémon character (ex: a Treecko nicknamed “Torchic”)

• Players may not use games containing inappropriate or offensive language.

• Players may not use any Pokémon created or altered by “game altering devices,” such as Action Replay or Game Shark. Any Pokémon found being used this way will automatically warrant the user disqualified and/or possibly banned from the event.

Standard Competition Rules:

• Species Clause - Players may not have more than one of any Pokémon characters on their team. All six must be different Pokémon characters.

• Sleep Clause - Players may not put 2 or more of their opponents Pokémon characters to sleep during the course of the battle.

• Freeze Clause - Players may not freeze 2 or more of their opponents Pokémon characters during the course of the battle.

• Evasion Clause - You can't use moves that increase your evasion. Avoid the use of Accupressure, it has 1/7 chance to double your evasion.

• OHKO Clause - You are strictly prohibited of using OHKO moves. They are Guillotine, Horn Drill, Fissure and Sheer Cold.

• Ubers Clause - Uber Pokémon are overpowered Pokémon. Since these are "Standard Rules" you have to use the "Standard Pokémon".

• Hax Item Clause - These are all the items that rely on luck to activate. These items are: Brightpowder, Focus Band, King's Rock, Lax Incense, Quick Claw, Razor Claw, Razor Fang and Scope Lens.
Note: Scope Lens and Razor Claw are considered Hax items, but they are the only one that is accepted normally in Wi-Fi.

• No Disconnecting - No turning off your DS or move away from signal range to end a battle. People can have weak routers so don't always fight with the people if he/she disconnected. If a player is found to have a larger than normal amount of “Disconnections” during a match, investigations will be launched.

Items:

• All Pokémon may hold Items. Players may not use two of the same Hold Items.

• Players may not use the Soul Dew item or Enigma Berry items

• Players may not use a Wobbuffet holding the Leftovers item.

Attack Moves:

• User will lose if all Pokémon faint due to “Self Destruct” or “Explosion”.

• Destiny Bond and Perish Song may not be used by the final Pokémon on a team.

• Anyone using games altered with so-called "game enhancers" (to give Pokémon moves they cannot legally learn or stats that are higher than legally possible, among other things) will be disqualified. In some events, there will be a referee and each competitor will have to submit a list of their Pokémon and moves in order to be allowed to enter. The Referee will not be eligible to compete in the tournament.  

[Kukem]

Pokémon Tiers:

The tier system for Pokemon is separated into 6 actual playing modes for competitive play: Uber, Overused (OU), Borderline (BL), Underused (UU), and Neverused (NU). These Tiers are listed in descending order of strength where Ubers are the strongest and Neverused are the weakest of the Pokemon characters. The following was borrowed from Smogon’s site to define the Tier system as this is the best description I have found yet.

Ubers - Pokémon too powerful for OU; a catch-all playing field. Anything goes as far as Pokémon allowed.
OU - Pokémon who are used frequently in battle. Since our focus is on battling COMPETITIVELY, one can safely assume that Pokémon used often in battle are stronger than most other Pokémon because the object of competitive play is ultimately victory in battle, which is achieved by using a "powerful" team. USED OFTEN, STRONG
BL - These Pokémon are not seen as often as those in the OU tier, but are considered too powerful for UU play. These Pokémon ARE NOT considered any weaker than Pokémon in the OU tier. USED OCCASIONALLY, STRONG
The need for a BL tier may at first glance seem questionable. However, it is important to represent usage as well as power in the tiers. Those Pokémon in the OU tier serve as a threat list of sorts; they tell you what Pokémon to keep in mind and what one should aim to counter when building a team. This is highly useful for veteran players and invaluable knowledge for people new to competitive battling.
UU - Pokémon not used often and that are relatively weak. USED RARELY, WEAK
NU - Pokémon considered essentially unusable. NEVER USED, VERY WEAK

Uber

Arceus
Darkrai
Deoxys
Deoxys - E
Deoxys - F
Deoxys - L
Dialga
Giratina
Groudon
Ho-Oh
Kyogre
Latias
Latios
Lugia
Mew
Mewtwo
Palkia
Rayquaza
Wobbuffet
Wynaut

Over-Used (Standard)

Aerodactyl
Alakazam
Arcanine
Azelf
Blissey
Bronzong
Celebi
Claydol
Cresseria
Donphan
Dragonite
Dugtrio
Dusknoir
Electivire
Garchomp
Gengar
Gliscor
Gyarados
Heatran
Heracross
Hippowdon
Infernape
Jirachi
Jolteon
Lucario
Machamp
Magnezone
Manaphy
Mamoswine
Medicham
Metagross
Milotic
Ninjask
Porygon-Z
Raikou
Regice
Rhyperior
Salamence
Skarmory
Slaking
Slowbro
Snorlax
Staraptor
Starmie
Suicune
Swampert
Togekiss
Tyranitar
Umbreon
Weavile
Weezing
Zapdos

Borderline (UBL)

Abomasnow
Ambipom
Armaldo
Articuno
Blaziken
Breloom
Charizard
Cradily
Crobat
Drapion
Empoleon
Entei
Feraligatr
Flygon
Forretress
Gallade
Hariyama
Kingdra
Lapras
Leafeon
Ludicolo
Magmortar
Mesprit
Miltank
Moltres
Ninetales
Pinsir
Rampardos
Regirock
Registeel
Roserade
Sceptile
Scizor
Shaymin
Steelix
Tangrowth
Tauros
Torterra
Uxie
Vaporeon
Venusaur
Zangoose

Borderline (LBL)

Absol
Aggron
Bastiodon
Blastoise
Cacturne
Clefable
Cloyster
Dodrio
Drifblim
Dunsparce
Espeon
Exeggutor
Floatzel
Gardevoir
Glaceon
Golduck
Golem
Grumpig
Hitmonchan
Hitmonlee
Houndoom
Jumpluff
Jynx
Kabutops
Kangaskhan
Kingler
Lanturn
Lickilicky
Luxray
Marowak
Meganium
Muk
Mismagius
Omastar
Nidoqueen
Nidoking
Octillery
Poliwrath
Probopass
Rapidash
Regigigas
Sharpedo
Shiftry
Slowking
Smeargle
Spiritomb
Swellow
Tentacruel
Toxicroak
Typhlosion
Ursaring
Vespiquen
Victreebel
Walrein
Yanmega

Under-Used

Altaria
Ampharos
Arbok
Azumarill
Banette
Bellossom
Camerupt
Carnivine
Cherrim
Crawdaunt
Electrode
Fearow
Flareon
Froslass
Gastrodon
Girafarig
Gorebyss
Granbull
Hitmontop
Honchkrow
Hypno
Kecleon
Linoone
Lopunny
Lumineon
Lunatone
Manectric
Mantine
Mr. Mime
Persian
Pikachu
Politoed
Primeape
Purugly
Quagsire
Qwilfish
Raichu
Raticate
Relicanth
Rotom
Sableye
Sandslash
Scyther
Seviper
Shedinja
Shuckle
Solrock
Stantler
Skuntank
Swalot
Wailord
Whiscash
Wigglytuff
Wormadam - Grs
Wormadam - Rk
Wormadam - Stl
Vileplume
Xatu

Never-Used

Ariados
Beautifly
Beedrill
Bibarel
Butterfree
Castform
Chatot
Chimecho
Corsola
Delcatty
Delibird
Dewgong
Ditto
Dustox
Exploud
Farfetch'd
Furret
Glalie
Huntail
Illumise
Kricketune
Ledian
Luvdisc
Magcargo
Masquerain
Mawile
Mightyena
Minun
Mothim
Noctowl
Pachirisu
Parasect
Pelipper
Phione
Pidgeot
Plusle
Seaking
Spinda
Sudowoodo
Sunflora
Torkoal
Tropius
Unown
Venomoth
Volbeat