HTML importable, updated 10 Sep 2023
Welcome to the Pokémon Knowledgebase, or PokéBase for short! On this platform, you can ask and answer questions about Pokémon. The best answers receive votes and rise to the top of the page, making useful information and advice easy to access.
PokéBase is not a traditional forum — questions should be answerable, not discussed endlessly. This rules page will help you get familiar with the platform. Please read it thoroughly before starting! We've also put together a comprehensive starter's guide that we highly recommend reading.
The community is based around four sections, which are addressed in turn below.
- PokéBase: The main area for general questions about Pokemon. (PokéBase is sometimes used to refer to the entire community area.)
- Rate My Team (aka RMT): The place to post competitive battling teams, movesets and TCG decks.
- Meta: The place to ask questions about this site itself, make suggestions and report errors.
- Chat room: For live chat about Pokemon and any off-topic discussion.
Note that this rules list is new as of 2024 — many topics are handled differently than in the past. There are links to several additional questions/posts that give more detailed information.
#0. Site-wide rules
#0.1. Usual 'netiquette' applies. Be kind to other people. No spam, no bigotry. Keep your posts productive and on-topic. Be welcoming of constructive criticism. Don't abuse privileges. Keep content appropriate for children. Do not post personal details online, including your own.
#0.2. Put care and effort into your posts. Both your questions and answers should be detailed and properly researched. Write using proper English, and use formatting tastefully (e.g. don't bold your entire post).
#0.3. Use clear question titles and tags. For example: 'How did this happen?' is vague, but 'How did Slurpuff outspeed Greninja?' is clear and concise. Try to make the title one complete sentence. Include tags for the keywords in your question — if you're not sure, include the game or generation that applies.
#0.4. Use your own words. Don't mass copy-paste from other websites or AI. You may include quotes, but make sure you reference them and include your own writing. When reasonable, avoid posting links as answers.
#0.5. Post in the right area. Posts made in the wrong section will be hidden. Use comments instead of answers to reply to others. Post different questions in their own separate threads. Create new threads instead of posting questions as comments. Take off-topic discussion to the chat room.
#0.6. Full answers in the answer box. Each answer should be an attempt at completely resolving the question. If you only know one part of the answer, post a comment instead. If you're answering to add onto existing posts, make sure your answer covers what the existing posts do.
#0.7. No duplicate posts. To keep content organised, we will remove any question that is the same as an existing one, or covered in the common repeat topic list or starter's guide. If the existing question has no satisfactory answer, report it here. If you post on a question that is answered already, make sure your answer is better or adds something new.
#0.8. Official Pokémon games and media only. No fan games. Don't ask for help using mods or cheats, and don't suggest them to others. Don't link to ROMs and don't ask for help using emulators. Pokémon Showdown! and custom servers (e.g. Wiimmfi) are exceptions.
#0.9. No excessive use of images. Use images only to make posts easier to read or understand. If you have a large image (>500 pixels in length), link it normally instead of embedding it. Please only use standard sprites on popular posts, like the moveset questions. You can find these in our sprites area.
#0.10. Don't make more than one account. Staff can see accounts that break this rule. Please read this post for more information, especially if you know somebody personally who uses PokéBase.
#0.11. Respect the voting system. Vote based on the contents of each post — don't be spiteful. Don't vote the same person repeatedly. Don't ask for up-votes (or ask not to be down-voted). Earn points honestly.
#0.12. Let staff handle the rules. Please don't instruct other people on what they may do here. If something is amiss, it's best to leave a flag, or message us directly. Don't answer rule-breaking questions, and don't derail questions discussing whether they are allowed.
#0.13. Avoid flooding. Don't post many similar questions all at once. Avoid posting on "What is a good moveset...?" questions (for example) so fast that it fills the front page.
#1. PokéBase (main section) rules
The main section is green. It is for asking questions about anything in the Pokémon franchise, with a focus on the games.
#1.1. No opinion questions, polls, or discussion threads. PokéBase is for answerable questions, not endless discussions. The focus should be on sharing knowledge and advice. Topics like 'What should I name my Pokémon?' can be taken to the chat room or elsewhere.
#1.2. Include specific details when asking questions. For example, if you ask "Which Pokémon is better?", then you need to explain what the purpose is. Are you doing a playthrough? If so, which game? If competitive, what format? If you're asking about an unusual behaviour in your game, include pictures or steps to reproduce.
#1.3. Don't ask for trades, Friend Codes, and the like. It doesn't belong on this platform. You can try the chat room or our public Discord and Pokemon Showdown servers.
#1.4. Do basic research before posting. For example, don't ask questions requesting plain statistics, like what level Piplup evolves at. Similarly, please double-check the accuracy of your answers, and include links to references if they're needed. Don't post silly guesses like "Your game glitched!"
(Exception: If an accurate answer cannot be found on our database, then it is OK to ask the question.)
#1.5. Don't ask for teams or movesets. This includes "What is a good moveset...?" and "What is a good team...?" questions (and any variation of them), even when new releases occur, as these are special questions managed by staff. You can suggest more 'special' questions like these using this thread.
#1.6. No open-ended questions. For example, "What are some facts about Cyndaquil?" is too unfocused for this site. Strategy-based questions like "What are some good Pokemon for beating Red in HG/SS?" are OK, but mind rule 1.2 and 1.5.
#1.7. Don't post your team/moveset. PokéBase questions should be re-usable by anyone, so we don't give customised advice for people's teams. However, you can ask general questions like "What's the easiest way to beat Totem Lurantis?" and "Aggron or Golem for Emerald playthroughs?" Competitive teams and movesets can be posted on the RMT section.
#1.8. No theorising questions. We will close questions like "Why can Wooper learn Ice Punch?" and "Will there be a game in Mexico?" if they can't be answered without insider knowledge. Also be mindful of hypothetical scenarios, like "Would Eelektross be good if it was Water-type?"
#1.9. Questions should specifically relate to Pokémon. Don't ask why your 3DS doesn't work, what game you should buy your cousin for Christmas, what your merch is worth, etc. Questions should be answerable using information from the Pokémon franchise.
#1.10. No hyper-individualised questions. For example, questions like "What are all the routes with Ace Trainers on them?" and "What Pokemon would suit my fanfic?" are unlikely to be relevant for other people.
#1.11. Questions should have appropriate scope. For example, "What is the reason for every type matchup?" is too broad for one question.
#1.12. New threads must be questions. For example, "Why is it so hard to get Tera Shards?" is a rant, not an answerable question. Also, avoid posting guides as questions; the content is welcome but follow this process instead.
#1.13. No joke posts or anything that could be mistaken for one.
With input from the community, the staff reserve the right to curate content on this site and remove questions that aren't suitable to the platform.
CONTINUED BELOW DUE TO CHARACTER LIMIT
