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 info 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, listed 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 2025 — many topics are handled differently than in the past. There are links to several additional questions/posts that give more detailed information.
#0.1. Usual 'netiquette' applies: This is a Pokemon community designed for helping people, so be kind to others and stay on topic. Constructive criticism is welcome, so handle it with maturity. For the sake of others, keep it PG and don't post personal info (yours or other people's). Use English only.
#0.2. Put care and effort into your posts: Both your questions and answers should be properly researched, with clear and concise language. Sources should included where needed. Formatting should be used tastefully, e.g. don't bold your entire post. Don't post silly guesses like "Your game glitched!" and don't do lazy questions like "When does Piplup evolve?"
#0.3. No AI generated content: Use your own words and do your own research. You can use quotes from another website, but make sure to summarise in your own words first. When reasonable, avoid posting links as answers.
#0.4. Use clear question titles and tags: For example, "How did this happen?" is vague, but "How did Slurpuff outspeed Greninja?" is clear and concise. Include tags for the main elements in your question — if you're not sure, include the game or generation that applies.
#0.5. Use privileges for their intended purpose: Up votes are for helpful posts, down votes are for misleading or lazy posts, and flags are for posts that need attention from editors/mods. Don't ask for votes or vote the same person repeatedly.
#0.6. Post in the right area: Posts made in the wrong section will be hidden. Use comments instead of answers to reply to others, and create new threads instead of posting questions as comments. If you have multiple questions, post them separately.
#0.7. Full answers in the answer box: Each answer should be an attempt at completely solving the question. If you only know one part of the answer, post a comment instead. If you're posting an updated answer, make sure it also includes the original info, where relevant.
#0.8. No duplicate posts: To keep content organised, we'll remove any question that's the same as an existing one, or covered in the common repeat topic list. If the existing question has no good answers, report it here. You're strongly encouraged to add improved answers to old questions, but make sure your post isn't just a rehash.
#0.9. Official Pokémon games and media only: No fan games. Don't ask for cheats and don't recommend cheating to others. Don't ask about unusual behaviour if you used mods, cheats, etc. Don't link to ROMs. Otherwise, we're permissive of custom tools (e.g. Wiimmfi, CFW) where relevant. Pokémon Showdown! is another exception.
#0.10. 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.
#0.11. One account per person: Mods can see when you break this rule. Please read this post for more info, especially if you live with someone who also uses the site.
#0.12. Let staff handle the rules: Don't derail questions discussing whether the post is allowed, just leave a flag. Don't order people around — if something is amiss, message us directly. Don't answer rule-breaking questions.
#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.
The main section 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 a different website.
#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 unusual behaviour in your game, include pictures or steps to reproduce.
#1.3. No questions about your team: We find our advice conflicts too often with personal preferences for these to have value. Instead, ask general questions like "Easiest way to beat Totem Lurantis in S/M?" and "Aggron or Golem for an Emerald playthrough?" Competitive teams can be posted on the RMT section.
#1.4. Don't ask for trades, Friend Codes, and the like: It doesn't belong on this platform. You can try the chat room, our Discord and Pokemon Showdown servers, or another website.
#1.5. Don't ask "What is a good moveset...?" or "What is a good team...?" questions, or any variation: To keep the site organised, these types of questions are managed by staff only. This applies even when new releases occur. You can suggest new team/moveset questions using this thread.
#1.6. No theorising questions: We will close questions like "Why can Wooper learn Ice Punch?" and "Will there be a game in Mexico?" if they have no helpful answer. Also be mindful of hypothetical scenarios, like "Would Mega Flygon be good?"
#1.7. Questions should have a precise focus: For example, questions like "What are some facts about Cyndaquil?" are too vague/open-ended for this site. Other questions like "How do I get started playing VGC?" are broad, but still welcome since there is a specific topic/problem we can help with.
#1.8. Questions should specifically relate to Pokémon: Don't ask why your Switch doesn't work, what game you should buy your cousin for Christmas, what your merch is worth, etc. Questions should ask for information from the Pokémon franchise.
#1.9. No hyper-individualised questions: For example, "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.
#1.10. New threads must actually be questions: For example, "Why does Sword/Shield suck???" is a rant, not a question. Also, avoid posting guides as questions; the content is very welcome but follow this process instead.
The staff and wider community reserve the right to curate content on this site. We will make calls on low-quality posts not covered by these rules where we see fit.
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