When having a pokemon battle, you'll need to follow certain rules. These vary depending on the competition you are in or the way you set them with your opponent. In competitive pokemon battling, the different rules (forbidden things) are called "clauses". There are several different clauses that apply for different battles.
Here are the standard clauses:
Evasion Clause: Moves that increase a pokemon's evasion are not allowed. Those include Double Team and Minimize.
Sleep Clause: This clause dictates that once an enemy's pokemon has been put to sleep, you are not allowed to put another pokemon to sleep until the first one is awake. Essentially, only one pokemon on your opponent's team can be asleep at a time. Falling asleep from the move Rest does not count.
Hax Item Clause: The following items are not to be used in a battle:
- Brightpowder
- Quick Claw
- Focus Band
- King's Rock
Uber Clause: Pokemon from the
Uber tier are not to be used outside of an Uber battle.
Species Clause: Only one pokemon of a species (same pokedex #) can be used on a team. Different formes do not count as a different pokemon.
OHKO Clause: One-hit KO moves are not allowed. Those include: Sheer Cold, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Fissure.
Here are the less common and enforced clauses:
Freeze Clause: This clause dictates that you can only freeze one of your enemy's pokemon at a time. Freezing more than one pokemon (willingly or otherwise) will mean you have broken this clause.
Self-KO Clause: If both players are down to their last Pokemon and one uses a move that kills itself, such as Explosion, Self-Destruct, Destiny Bond, or Memento, the trainer who used that move is considered the loser in the match. This clause is mostly used in tournaments to break ties.
Item Clause: Every pokemon on a team has to have a different item. A very uncommon clause.
