What do "Vgc" "OU" and all the rest mean?

Question

I don't know what the acronyms stand for but users use them all the time.

Comments

Does this answer your question? https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/398312/what-is-a-battle-format

Answer 1

These are all competitive tiers and formats. All of these tiers and formats have different rules and different sets of Pokemon you are allowed to use.

• VGC stands for Video Game Championships, which usually refers to battles that would be equivalent to how the game structures it's own ranked battles.

The tier system is different, however, and completely fan-made. They vary in Pokemon viability, and are essentially just a way to rank the usability of Pokemon.

• Ubers is on top, (it means "above competition" in German), the best of the best Pokemon are restricted to Ubers
• OU stands for "Over-Used" and is the second highest tier
• UU stands for "Under-Used*
• RU stands for "Rarely-Used"
• NU stands for "Never-Used"
• PU stands for itself
• ZU stands for "Zero-Used"

AG should also be mentioned, another incredibly popular format that stands for "Anything Goes". In this format, you can use any Pokemon from any tier, and you can even use multiple of the same Pokemon.

Long story short, other than VGC, they're just a bunch of unofficial tiers and competitive formats.

Source

Comments

Adding on a bit more:
BSS: Battle Stadium Singles, the official singles format that can be played in official games
ND: National Dex, which brings back "gone" mechanics, such as Megas and Z-Moves
D<something>: Doubles of that format (For example, DOU stands for Doubles OU, DUU is Doubles UU, and so on)
LC: Little Cup, where only Pokemon with an evolution can be used at level 5
All of the above except for BSS are unofficial formats