Bulbapedia:Notability requirements
These are the general requirements of notability for a subject to be covered in depth and detail on the Bulbapedia, whether in an exclusive personal article or in a broader group article depending on the size and detail of the subject. If relevant, things which do not meet these requirements may still be mentioned on another article, but should only have information detailed enough to inform one about the main subject, not the side subject which does not meet notability standards. It is assumed that if someone is looking for information on a subject which falls outside these guidelines, they are looking in the wrong place by searching on Bulbapedia.
All English and Japanese Pokémon canon material is notable and relevant. All Pokémon canon material for other languages is also notable and relevant, but not as notable or relevant as English and Japanese material. In all possible situations, canon material for other languages should be placed at the bottom of the article in an In other languages section, which can be included as a subsection under Trivia.
All people who contribute to the creation and publication of any canon of the series are notable and relevant. All Nintendo hardware used to play Pokémon games is notable and relevant. However, these have a noted direct connection to the Pokémon series, and so besides these, all articles should fall under the umbrella of the Pokémon series rather than over it.
On this same note, canon material from a series outside Pokémon is never notable or relevant to the Pokémon canon, and thus is not notable or relevant enough for an article on Bulbapedia. This includes alternate series worked on by the creators of Pokémon and series with similar themes and styles. The single exception to this rule is the Smash Brothers series, which uses pieces of Pokémon canon among other Nintendo series, and thus qualifies as partially Pokémon canon.
While the relevance of canon material is indisputable, the relevance of non-canon material is not: not all non-canon material is relevant, but neither is all non-canon materal irrelevant. There are situations where certain fans, their websites, and their other creations are indeed notable within the Pokémon fandom; however, certainly not every fan, their websites, and their other creations are notable.
The rule of thumb for many of these subjects is thus: to the average online Pokémon fan, would this article likely be useful as something to inform them more about something they have already heard about, or would it mostly likely only serve to advertise the subject? Bulbapedia's intent is to be an informative resource, not an advertising agency, so the potential to become notable though means such as said article is not the same as already being notable.
The alternate rule of thumb is such: is this subject notable enough to have an article created on it by someone besides the fan (or close friends of the fan) who is the subject or creator of the subject?
Notability in this scenario is difficult to judge and can only be measured subjectively. In many cases, the matter is open to discussion and debate. However, the decision of whether or not non-canon material is relevant is ultimately in the hands of the editors.
