Official Ruleset

1. Game Setup & Core Constraints

All participants will begin their journeys simultaneously under identical baseline conditions.

• Game Platforms: Every player must start a brand-new save file on a legitimate copy or ROM of Pokémon HeartGold or Pokémon SoulSilver.
• The First-Catch Clause: When acquiring a Pokémon from an evolution line you have drafted, the very first specimen you encounter and successfully catch is the exact one you must use for the tournament.
  • You are completely locked into its natural Ability, Nature, and Individual Values (IVs).
  • You are strictly forbidden from catching multiples of the same species to hunt for optimal stats or abilities.
  • Gift & Static Pokémon: If a drafted Pokémon is obtained via an in-game event, gift, or mandatory static encounter (e.g., Starters, Game Corner rewards, or NPC trades), the first one handed to you by the game is your locked choice.

2. Training Restrictions — The "No-Grind" Policy

To keep the focus entirely on gameplay strategy and clever team building, heavy competitive optimization has been restricted.

• No Breeding Allowed: All Pokémon must be caught wild or obtained through legitimate in-game events. Hatching eggs to pass down egg moves, inherit pristine IVs, or farm optimal Natures is completely banned.
• No Intentional EV Training: You are strictly forbidden from repeatedly battling specific wild Pokémon species to manually optimize your Effort Values (EVs). Let your team's stats grow naturally through normal route progression, mandatory encounters, and trainer battles.
• Vitamins are Legal: You are permitted to buy and utilize stat-boosting vitamins (Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, HP Up, and Carbos). Because these require financial resource management rather than repetitive wild grinding, they are fully legal.
• No Synchronize Hunting: You may not place a Pokémon with the Synchronize ability at the head of your party to manipulate or force specific Natures on wild encounters.

3. The Draft Phase

Roster Size & Pack Mechanics

The draft consists of 2 rounds, resulting in a final locked pool of 12 Pokémon per player.

Round 1 Mechanics

• A digital "pack" of 10 randomized Pokémon is generated for each player.
• Each player selects exactly 1 Pokémon from their active pack, then passes the remaining cards to the next player.
• This pick-and-pass process continues until everyone has selected exactly 6 Pokémon.
• Once the 6th Pokémon of the round is selected, the remaining 4 leftover cards in the active packs are permanently discarded.

Round 2 Mechanics

• A fresh round immediately begins, generating 10 brand-new randomized Pokémon per pack.
• Players repeat the exact same pick-and-pass process until they have selected another 6 Pokémon.
• The final 4 unpicked cards are discarded.

Final Roster: Each player ends the draft phase with a hard limit of 12 drafted Pokémon lines. You may only select your active battle teams from these 12 options.

4. Battle Format — Early 2010s VGC Style

Matches play similarly to the official Video Game Championships (VGC) ruleset from the Gen 4 VGC era.

5. Season Structure & Tournament

Phase 1: The Regular Season (Double Round-Robin)

With a core group of 4 players, a standard round-robin structure ensures everyone plays a meaningful number of matches.

• Every player matches up against every other player exactly twice.
• This yields a clean, balanced 6-game regular season for each trainer.
• Win/loss records determine seeding for the championship bracket. Ties are broken randomly.

Phase 2: The Championship Bracket

All 4 players advance to a single-elimination tournament to crown the League Champion.

• Match Format: All bracket matches are played as a Best-of-3 (Bo3) series to account for variance.
• Team Adjustments: Players may swap Pokémon, re-order leads, or substitute items/moves between games within a Bo3 series, provided all changes pull strictly from their 12 drafted assets.
• Consolation Match: The two semifinal losers face off in a separate Bo3 to determine 3rd and 4th place.