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A rule variant refers to a Pokémon battle that follows certain regulations. While the main series Pokémon games have no restriction on the Pokémon that a player may use, rule variants often restrict the levels, species, items, and moves of Pokémon, or place time limits on battles.

Pokémon players have also created their own rule variants. These rules are frequently used in unofficial competitive play in order to maintain balance and to minimize the luck involved in battles.

Rules

While normally banning unreleased and/or illegitimate Pokémon, moves, items, and Abilities, there are other sets of rules set to be followed by players under tournaments or individual battles, may they be official or otherwise.

Clauses

Almost all of the rule variations in Pokémon have a certain set of rules, which are called clauses by the fanon. Clauses are put into play in order to prevent degenerate strategies, to prevent the game from becoming stagnant, or to eliminate ties, among other reasons. The following clauses are often used in official tournaments, console Pokémon games, and unofficial battles:

• Species Clause: All of the Pokémon on a player's team must be of different species or National Pokédex number.
• Item Clause: Each Pokémon on a player's team must be holding different items.
• Self-KO Clause (also known as Kamikaze Clause): The player automatically loses if his last Pokémon uses Selfdestruct or Explosion. Destiny Bond and Perish Song also fail when used by the last Pokémon.
• Event Clause: Pokémon and items that have only been released through events, such as Mew, are ineligible. This is often unheard of due to the Pokémon (and sometimes items) banned being specified.
• Sleep Clause: Each player can only have one Pokémon asleep at a time (Pokémon that are put to sleep due to Rest do not count).
• Freeze Clause: Each player can only have one Pokémon frozen at a time.
• Evasion Clause: Double Team, Minimize, BrightPowder, and Lax Incense are banned. In some tournaments, the Abilities Sand Veil and Snow Cloak cannot be used with sandstorm or hail, respectively. Also, sometimes Acupressure and Moody are prohibted by this clause due to the possibility of raising evasiveness.
• One-hit KO Clause (simplified as the OHKO Clause): One-hit KO moves, Fissure, Horn Drill, Guillotine, and Sheer Cold, are banned.
• Hax Item Clause: Items that rely on chance, such as Focus Band and Quick Claw are banned. This clause is a "soft ban", and is usually ignored.
• Hidden Power Clause: The move Hidden Power is banned, as the chances of legitimately obtaining a Pokémon with high Individual Values and an ideal type are extremely low. Alternatively, the move Hidden Power may only be banned on legendary Pokémon. Like the hax item clause, this clause is rarely enforced.
• Sleep Trapping Clause: Followed mainly in Generation II competitive play, sleep-inducing moves cannot be used in conjunction with moves that trap the opposing Pokémon, such as Mean Look.

Other rules

There are other rules normally followed only by official tournaments, such as:

• No two or more Pokémon can have the same nickname.
• Pokémon cannot be nicknamed with the name of another Pokémon (i.e. An Unfezant named "Pidove" or "Arbok").

In addition, official Generation V tournaments have required the use of the Battle Box feature introduced by Pokémon Black and White.

Tiers

Main article: Tier

In competitive play, Pokémon are divided into tiers. A Pokémon's tier placing depends on several factors, including its base stats, type, movepool, and usage.

Tiers also serve as banlists. Battles take place according to tier, with all Pokémon in a higher tier banned. In the most common metagame, the Standard or Overused metagame, all Pokémon in the Uber tier are banned. In the Underused metagame, all Pokémon in the Borderline or higher tiers are banned.

In certain countries, such as France and Mexico, players are only allowed to use a maximum of one Pokémon out of a select group of Pokémon. This group of Pokémon is usually limited to legendary and pseudo-legendary Pokémon.

Generation I

In the games

Pokémon Stadium (Japanese)

The first Pokémon Stadium game, which was only released in Japan in 1998, was heavily based on the first two Japanese tournaments.

The game featured a tournament mode with two divisions: the L1-30 division, based on Nintendo Cup '98, and the L50-55 division, based on Nintendo Cup '99. The finalists from the Nintendo Cup '97 appeared as opponents in the L50-55 Division.

Each division featured a set of rules that would become standard for all console games:

• The species, Self-KO, sleep, and freeze clauses are in effect.
• Both teams are shown before the battle, and each player must select three Pokémon to battle.
• Players have to defeat eight Trainers in a row to win the tournament. Upon losing, players must start over from the beginning. Unlike future console games, however, there are no Continues.

Certain tournaments have four divisions: the Poké, Great, Ultra, and Master Ball divisions. After a player clears a division, the next division is unlocked. If all four divisions are beaten, the player wins the Cup. In this game, the L1-30 Division had four divisions.

The game also featured a Free Battle mode where players could customize their rules.

Pokémon Yellow

The Cable Club in Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue featured no rule regulations. However, Pokémon Yellow featured an exclusive battle arena, Colosseum 2, with three Cups.

Each player could only use three Pokémon, and no additional rules were in effect, with the exception of level limitations. These Cups would later be used in the international Pokémon Stadium and future international tournaments.

Pokémon Stadium

The Japanese Stadium Cups in Pokémon Stadium

A second Pokémon Stadium game, which would be released internationally as Pokémon Stadium, came out later in the year. In this game, the tournaments were called Stadium Cups. In the Stadium Cups, a Continue is earned when a player wins a battle without losing any Pokémon. If a player loses a battle, a Continue can be used to re-try the previous battle.

All versions of Pokémon Stadium featured the Pika and Petit Cups from Pokémon Yellow Version's Colosseum 2, along with the Prime Cup, a no-holds barred tournament based on the normal Cable Club battles.

The Japanese version, known as Pokémon Stadium 2, also features three Nintendo Cups based on the first three Japanese tournaments, Nintendo Cups '97, '98, and '99. In-game representatives of its real-life participants appeared as opponents in Nintendo Cup '98, while Nintendo Cup '99 and the Prime Cup each had four divisions. When both Cups were cleared, the player would earn an upgrade in the Game Boy Tower. All three cups followed the species, self-Ko, sleep, freeze, and event clauses.

In the international versions, the Nintendo Cups were replaced with the Poké Cup from Yellow's Colosseum 2. The Poké Cup featured the four divisions and the arena of Nintendo Cup '99, and had to be cleared in tandem with the Prime Cup to unlock the Game Boy Tower upgrade. Due to its similarity to the Nintendo Cups, it is referred to as the "official Pokémon tournament". All four Cups had the species, self-KO, sleep, and freeze clauses, while only the Pika and Poké Cups had the event clause.

Pokémon Stadium also introduced a Gym Leader Castle, where the player had to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and the Elite Four of the Generation I games. While the Castle featured no level restrictions, all of the opposing Pokémon would be at level 50 by default. If the player used a higher leveled Pokémon, all of the opponents' Pokémon would be at the same level as the player's highest-leveled Pokémon. A similar auto-leveling feature would appear in the Generation III Battle Frontier and future battling facilities. The Castle also featured the same clauses as the Stadium Cups.

Pokémon Stadium was also the first Pokémon game that allowed more than two players to battle at a time. Up to four players could compete in the Free Battle mode; if two players were on a team, each player could only select and control three Pokémon. A similar mode of play, Multi Battle, was introduced in the Generation III main series games.

In tournaments

Nintendo Cup '97

This was the first official Pokémon tournament ever, and started in 1997 a series of annual tournaments sponsored by Nintendo, taking place in various locations across Japan. These tournaments, which would later be referred to as Nintendo Cups in the Japanese version of the Pokémon Stadium series, established the first set of rule variants that would pave the way for all future tournaments and Pokémon games.

In first of these tournaments, Nintendo Cup '97, Full Battles did not take place due to time constraints. Instead, each player selected three Pokémon to battle after showing their party of six to their opponent.

The finalists in the tournament appeared as opponents in the first two Japanese Pokémon Stadium games released. In addition, most of the Pokémon that appeared in Pokémon Stadium were selected due to their tournament performance. ^[1]

JP Nintendo Cup '97       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level 155 Level Range 50-55   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Nintendo Cup '97 are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Nintendo Cup '98

In the next tournament, Nintendo Cup '98, which made use of the newly-released Pokémon Stadium game, only Pokémon that were available in the said game were allowed to participate, limiting the selection to only a few Pokémon.

JP Nintendo Cup '98       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause	Pokémon Not Banned   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 30   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Nintendo Cup '98 are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Nintendo Cup '99

The third tournament, Nintendo Cup '99, combined aspects from the previous two tournaments.

In addition to the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo and Mew, the Pokémon used by the finalists in Nintendo Cup '98 were also banned from the tournament.

JP Nintendo Cup '99       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Pokémon Not Banned   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 50   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Nintendo Cup '99 are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

???

The first North American tournament was held during the Pokémon 2000 Stadium Tour, which took place to promote Pokémon Stadium. Competitors were separated into three skill groups: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each skill group featured three divisions from Pokémon Stadium: the Pika Cup, Poké Cup, and the Prime Cup.

Each Cup division only lasted for two rounds. Each participant received a Pokémon Stadium Tour Competition Badge; in addition, players who won one match would receive a Boulder Badge while players who won both matches would receive the Cascade Badge.

NA ???       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Pokémon 2000 Stadium Tour logo	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V NONE   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level ??? Level Cap ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under ??? are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Pokémon 2000 World Championship

The Pokémon 2000 World Championship was the first ever World Championship of the Pokémon videogames in history, and it would be the blueprint on which later championships would evolve from. It was timely conducted during the initial Pokémon's craze of the late'90s-early'00s; in fact some European competitors like those of the United Kingdom had just received Pokémon Yellow and went to the championship with the Pokémania fully reigning in their homelands. The Pokémon 2000 World Championship was also purposely conducted at the same time and place than the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, to give the event a more sport-like appeal (8 years would have to pass by until the two events would be done at the same time again), and so the Sydney University was used as the venue to hold the Championship's world stage. It was the only World Championship of Generation I.

The championship would start with Regional tournaments, then the best players of there would go to play the National tournaments, and then the best players of there would go to play the World stage in Sydney, Australia.

Thunder for Down Under Contest – Pikachu's Search for America's Best Pokémon Master, was the name of the United States' qualifier contest, taking place just a few months after the Pokémon 2000 Stadium Tour. However there was discomfort in American competitors around a perceived inferior organization compared to those of European countries like the United Kingdom. To win the trip to the World Championship, players competed in regional championships. The problem was that Nintendo only gave 4 places for these, they were: Garden City (NY), San Diego (CA), Fort Worth (TX) and Seattle (WA). That meant many people far away from theses places around USA would have difficulties to play there. Moreover, the qualifying events took place at the four Wizards of the Coast stores in those cities, with just 32 entrants for each store. At the end, the champion of the USA Nationals was Ian Garvey, a.k.a. EeveeTrainer from Azure Heights, the top Pokémon competitive community of that era, comparable with Smogon nowadays.

Meanwhile, at the same time there were being conducted qualifiers for Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, which together with those of the United States made a total of 8 involved countries, a figure that wouldn't be broken until 12 years later.

This championship had some quirks that wouldn't be repeated on later Video Game World Championships: for starters the Sidney segment was part of a 22-day event that started September 12, so the actual battles were conducted between September 20-22. All later Video Game World Championships would be scheduled for August, one month earlier than this. But the most striking one was that there weren't any Senior and Junior age divisions like those of later championships, all players competed in the same single division and so for example 5 years old children could play against teenagers. And last, there weren't any competitors from Japan, unlike future contests, just from USA and Europe.

At the end, the winner of the Pokémon 2000 World Championship was Darryn Van Vuuren of the United Kingdom, therefore converting himself in the first true Pokémon Master of all the world, and the best player in all the planet until the following World Championship came. Following him were Edwin Krause of Germany in second place, Sergio Garcia Maroto of Spain in third place, and the aforementioned Ian Garvey of the United States in fourth place.

That meant that this was the first time an USA player made it to the first 4 places, and also that the first player that ever reached 4° place in a World Championship, was from USA.

However, after this contest was finished, Nintendo surprisingly didn't made any more World Championships. There were not any Generation II championships, nor another Generation I one, and so people from competitive communities like the aforementioned Azure Heights that were expecting another competition on the following year (perhaps now with Generation II and Pokémon Stadium 2) were really dissapointed. There was much debate on the reasons why Nintendo wouldn't continue to make those events.

For 8 years, Nintendo wouldn't do another World Championship like this again, ocasionally organizing little promotional events like the 2001 Six Flags Pokémon Fun Fest (which involved giving Celebis as gifts) and other event-Pokémon offerings. It wouldn't be until the 2005 Pokémon Emerald Ultimate Frontier Brain Battle that they would start testing waters, to see if such a World event would be viable again.

NA PAL Pokémon 2000 World Championship       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 100   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Pokémon 2000 World Championship are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Generation II

In the games

Pokémon Stadium 2

The final Pokémon Stadium game, Pokémon Stadium 2, featured four Stadium Cups in all versions. The Poké and Prime Cups returned from the original; however, the Prime Cup only had one division. The Little Cup and the Challenge Cup were added, with the latter featuring four divisions. On the other hand, the moves Dragon Rage and SonicBoom were banned in the Little Cup, making it the first rule variant to prohibit certain attacks. In the game, players could customize and save various sets of rules. Still, all cups follow the species, item, self-KO, sleep, and freeze clauses; only the Prime Cup follows the event clause. With a total limit of 155, only the Poké Cup has a total level limit.

Pokémon Crystal

Pokémon Crystal introduced the first Battle Tower, a special battling facility. The Battle Tower's rules were similar to Pokémon Stadium's, and this was later followed by future Battle Towers:

• Players must select three different Pokémon to battle.
• All Pokémon must be holding different items.
• The player must defeat seven opponents in a row. The challenge can only be interrupted by saving between battles; otherwise, the Trainer will be disqualified.

A change from the Pokémon Stadium games, a draw would end the player's streak, even if the opponent's Pokémon caused the draw with a move such as Explosion. Also, items could not be used from the Bag.

In the Japanese version, players could access a ranking system by connecting with the Pokémon Mobile System GB. Each player would be ranked based on their streak, and the computers would use the teams of various Trainers. A similar feature would be used in the Generation IV Battle Tower.

Unlike future Battle Towers, powerful legendary and event Pokémon could be used in the level 70 and higher divisions.

In tournaments

Nintendo Cup 2000

In Japan, a fourth tournament for a Pokémon game, Nintendo Cup 2000, was held using Pokémon Gold and Silver. Similar to Nintendo Cup '97, the tournament took place using Pokémon from levels 50-55, with a total limit of 155.

JP Nintendo Cup 2000       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Additional rule: Perish Song and Destiny Bond fail when used by the final Pokémon.	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Range 50-55   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Nintendo Cup 2000 are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Mobile Cup 2001

Photo logo from Mobile Cup 2001

The second Generation II tournament, Mobile Cup 2001, was a not-so-well-known tournament with 1000 players that used the Japan-only Pokémon Mobile System GB, a feature exclusive only to Japanese Pokémon Crystal games.

Each battle had a ten-minute time limit; if a decision was not made by that time, tournament officials would decide the outcome. Unlike previous tournaments, there were no limits on the number of Pokémon that could be asleep or frozen or moves that the last Pokémon could use.

JP Mobile Cup 2001       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Single Battle Party 3 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time 10 minutes Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 30   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Mobile Cup 2001 are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Generation III

In the games

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire introduced Double Battles, where each player battled with two Pokémon at a time. In Double Battles, certain attacks affect multiple Pokémon and certain abilities, such as Plus and Minus, only take effect in Double Battles. While Double Battles were rarely touched upon in the storyline, the format has been used in almost every tournament since the one held in Pokémon Festa 2004 and is the main format in the story modes of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

In the Cable Club, four players could play a Double Battle variant called the Multi Battle. Similar to Pokémon Stadium, each player could only select and control three Pokémon at a time.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire featured a Battle Tower extremely similar to Pokémon Crystal's. However, only two divisions were available: the Level 50 and the Level 100 division. Also, Double Battles could not be conducted.

Pokémon Colosseum

In Pokémon Colosseum, the Stadium Cups were replaced with Colosseums. While the general clauses remained from the Pokémon Stadium series, the Colosseums had no special rules in place, with the exception of level divisions. Each Colosseum could be challenged in a single or Double Battle format.

Pokémon Colosseum also introduced Poké Coupons, which were rewarded to the player upon completing portions of Mt. Battle. Poké Coupons could be traded in for various TMs or items; however, the player received a 15% penalty for each legendary Pokémon used.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

In the remakes of the first Generation I games, a Battle Tower was not present; instead, Trainer Tower took its place.

While the Battle Tower valued winning streaks, Trainer Tower prioritized speed. In the Japanese version, players could scan e-Cards to change the floor layouts; in international versions, the e-Reader support was removed, and many of the card layouts were incorporated into the Tower.

Trainer Tower featured four modes of play: Singles, Doubles, Knockout, and Mixed. In a Knockout Battle, the player had to defeat three Trainers in a single battle consecutively. The Mixed mode incorporated battles from the other three layouts.

Unlike the Battle Tower, no clauses were in effect, items could be used from the Bag, and the player could interrupt their challenge to use the Pokémon Center in the lobby at any time.

In addition, a special battle format was present in the Union Room. Each Trainer could select two Pokémon up to Level 30 in a Single Battle format.

Pokémon Emerald

Pokémon Emerald introduced the first Battle Frontier. In addition to the Battle Tower, it featured six other facilities with special rules, similar to the Stadium Cups.

Each facility could be challenged in a Single Battle or a Double Battle format. In addition, two players could team up in a Multi Battle format, where each player could control two Pokémon at a time. Players could battle in a Level 50 division or an Open Level division where all of the opponent's Pokémon would be at the same level as the player's highest-leveled Pokémon.

Unlike the previous Battle Tower, players would not receive items after winning a streak. Instead, players received Battle Points. Like Poké Coupons, Battle Points could be saved and traded in for certain items or attacks; however, there was no penalty for using legendary Pokémon.

In addition, Trainer Hill was added, which is similar to Trainer Tower.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Unlike Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD does not feature a Battle Mode. However, after completing the game, the player may challenge the Orre Colosseum, which has similar regulations to the Colosseums in Battle Mode.

Like almost all of the battles in the game, the Colosseum uses the Double Battle format.

no KO Orre Colosseum       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration N/A Registration N/A Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries N/A   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Double Battle Party 4 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 60   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Orre Colosseum are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

In tournaments

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Misc. official/Nintendo-supported tournaments worldwide

???

The first tournament of Generation III took place during Pokémon Festa 2003. Unlike previous Japanese tournaments, two divisions were available: a Level 50 and a Level 100 Division. The tournament used the Single Battle format, and only Pokémon from the Hoenn Pokédex could be used. Players that won three consecutive rounds won a Jirachi.

JP ???       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Double Battle Party ??? per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 50 or 100   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under ??? are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

???

The following tournament took place at Pokémon Festa 2004. This tournament used the Double Battle format, which would be the official format for all future tournaments. Unlike single battles, each player selected four Pokémon for battle. In addition to the previous rules, new restrictions were placed on nicknames: no vulgarities are to be used nor any Pokémon could be named after another Pokémon (e.g. a Smeargle nicknamed "KYOGRE").

As Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were released earlier that year, almost all of the Pokémon in the National Pokédex were available for use.

JP ???       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Double Battle Party 4 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 50   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under ??? are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

???

The tournament of Pokémon Festa 2005 featured nearly identical restrictions; however, Kyogre and Groudon were also banned.

JP ???       R G B Y St St G S C St2 R S E FR LG Colo XD D P Pt HG SS PBR B W B2 W2 Duration ??? Registration ??? Release of Rankings N/A Maximum Entries ???   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause Info	Banned Pokémon   Pokémon from the following Generations: I II III IV V   Banned Items   ALL NONE N/A   Banned Moves     Sky Drop     Dark Void     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam     Hyper Beam   NONE	Rules   Format Double Battle Party 4 per battle 6 per entry Format Party Single Battle 3 per battle 3-6 per entry Double Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Triple Battle 6 per battle 6 per entry Rotation Battle 4 per battle 4-6 per entry Battle Time ??? Command Time ??? Total Level None Level Cap 50   Clauses   Evasion Clause Sleep Clause Freeze Clause Self-KO Clause Item Clause Species Clause
All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under ??? are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.