Pokemonfans who tried dwelling into the deeper parts of the fandom would have heard ofPokemon Showdown. At first glance, Pokemon Showdown seems like an online emulator for online Pokemon matches. However, there’s an entire budding community of hardcorePokemonfans that makesPokemon Showdownan ideal place for any big Pokemon fan.
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Unfortunately for newcomers, the many elements ofPokemon Showdowndefinitely make the concept overwhelming at first. However, understanding key parts of the online simulator can make it a sight to behold for anyPokemonfan.
What Exactly Is Pokemon Showdown?
While Nintendo does have licensed Pokemon competitions for fans, they tend to be sporadic and far between. To bridge this gap, Pokemon Showdown acts as a means for fans of Competitive Pokemon to gather andconduct their own Pokemon Battles online. Of course, given its nature as an online gathering place for Pokemon players, here are some things to expect:
What Are The Formats?
As with any other tournament or competitive setup, Pokemon Showdown does possess specific formats depending on a player’s preferences. These formats can alter the kind of Pokemon a player can have in their team, as well as set specific limitations.
The Pokemon Showdown website listsall known formats, but here are its most popular iterations:
What About Pokemon Restrictions?
In Pokemon Showdown, not all Pokemon are available for usage on the get-go. After all, some Pokemon are just naturally more powerful than others. To solve power scaling, Pokemon Showdown categorizes Pokemon in tiers based on how often players use them.
At its core, most Pokemon in one tier have a 50% chance of encountering the same Pokemon at a higher tier within 20 battles. However, despite their appearances there, they don’t have enough usage counts to merit a tier increase.
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What About Other Restrictions?
In Pokemon Showdown, rules or Clauses exist that further add restrictions to a certain format. Some of these Clauses may or may not apply to these Restrictions:
How Does The Meta Work Here?
Granted, Pokemon Showdown is designed as a more stable simulator of Wi-Fi Pokemon Battles. However, fans might still wonder at the extent of the mechanical elements that Pokemon Showdown simulates when it comes to Pokemon Battles.
At its core, Pokemon Showdown largely applies the same principles to Pokemon Battles as the original games. However, given the customization aspect of Pokemon Showdown, players have more control over their particular party. Here are specific elements to consider:
What About The Basics?
Natures Add That Extra Punch. Players would fondly remember that some Pokemon naturally perform better depending on their Nature. In the games, there exist 25 Natures that affect stats in different ways.
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Do Hidden Stats Apply?
How Does Combat Work?
Given the formatting of Pokemon Showdown, fans and newcomers should note that the simulator does follow the same cue as combat in the games. However, given the presence of a more active human component, Pokemon Showdown does demand more strategic prowess from players.
As such, while Pokemon Showdown follows the same format as Pokemon Battles in the games, players can expect more sophisticated setups from other players. Here are some expectations:
