Cape Mystique

Now.. on to the question 'What are Clauses'

Well Clauses are basically set guidelines for something. In competitive play some tactics are viewed as cheap, overused, etc etc. I.E. somebody using a Kygore against a Charizard, or just using a fast Pokemon that has a sleep move on six different Pokemon.

So players over the third and fourth gen of Pokemon games created 'Clauses' to make the battles more fair and fun for everybody. Basically 'Clauses' are no different then a "No Hitting Below the Belt" used in Boxing.

Disclaimer

This is meant as a Guide to Clauses people batting over Wifi. This is by NO MEANS a rule guide to the website and you are no way inlined to battle with them if you don't want to.

This is only meant to answer any questions to player who are new to metagame.

So what types of clauses are there?

There are quite a few clauses and lots of people like to make up their own clause as well to add a little spicy in battle for the person they fight. Even I've made a few fun clauses of my own. This guide only covers the Main Clauses that everybody should be aware of.

Uber Clause

What exactly is the difference between pokemon that makes them Ubers? Some Pokemon have stats and moves that are truely above all the others.

One example would be Alakazam and Mewtwo.

Alakazam is one of the fastest Pokemon in game, a very nice Special attack and a nice movepool to pick from. Sadly like most Pokemon Alakazam has a downside, it has terrible Defenses and HP. Mewtwo on the other hand has stats that are so great, it beats Alakazam's Special attack and speed stat easily. On top of that, Mewtwo's defenses and Movepool makes Alakazam cry inferiority.

Because of all this, Mewtwo is seen as too powerful for Metagame and is bumped up to a different tier of pokemon.

It is significant to note that legendaries =/= ubers.

There are Many Tiers in Pokemon Battles Called

Uber

Over Used (OU)

Borderline (BL)

Under Used (UU)

Never Used (NU)

This guide is only going to cover The Uber Pokes, as the other tier listings are not commonly enforced.

Ubers Include: Mewtwo Mew Wobbeffet Ho-oh Lugia Latias Latios Kyogre Groudon Rayquaza Deoxys Dialga Palkia Giratina Darkrai Arceus
Legendary Clause
As simple as the Uber clause. With this one ALL legendary Pokemon are considered overpowered and banned from completive play. Note that the Pokemon Manaphy is not allowed because it can 'breed' (common debate). Wobby is banned from the Legendary Clause as well; Wynaut is allowed.
2 Non-Uber Legendary Limit
You may think, "Wow! This is a stupid rule!" Well, for me it isn't. I really hate the hypothetical Manaphy-Cresselia-Blissey-Skarmory-Zaptos-Moltres combo (and so does a lot of other people), or anything like that. As such, Chances are it won't affect the majority, but one can never be too sure.

Sleep Clause (1st of the Four Standard)
You may only afflict one enemy pokemon with sleep at a time. You may sleep another only after the first wakes up or gets knocked out. This rule exists to prevent every game from turning into a "who can sleep everyone on the other team first" fest. Mass sleep is just stupid, because you'd have to use crappy Insomniacs or Sleep Talk on everything. When Sleep Talk allows you to choose the move used by it, then this rule will be lifted. Rest DOES NOT count, towards putting a Pokemon too sleep. If you opponent rests a Pokemon, and switches out, your still allowed use a sleeping move.
Evasion Clause (2nd of the Four Standard)

Don't use Double Team and Minimize. The game becomes dreadfully dull when every game is DT x6 followed by Baton Pass to a sweeper. DTing walls will never die either. Some may say "carry haze", but the fact is, Hazers, Vaporeon and Weezing aside are rather weak, and psycho hazing (Roar/whirlwind/Yawn)can miss against Evasion.

One-hit KO Clause (3rd of the Four Standard) <
Sheer Cold, Horn Drill, Fissure, etc. don't belong in competitive play. Bogus random kills are just luck and don't reflect player skill in any way. Despite the fact that luck is a part of battle itself and a large part of any game, Ohko moves have been deemed in the 'Standards'.

Species Clause (4th of the Four Standard)
No having two pokemon of the same species. That doesn't mean you can't use a Slaking and a Vigoroth on the same team, but rather you can't have two T-Tar's on the same team or two Metagross.

Standard Clause/Rules <
The past four clauses are commonly use with one another, thus they've all been labeled together as the "Standard Clause" If somebody says, "Let's use the Standard rules/clauses" then that means Species, Sleep, OHKO and Evasion clauses have all been put to play. Along with these Uber clause is generally included, unless it's been stated before that it would be an Uber battle.

Item Clause

Your only allowed to give one of the same type of hold item to your pokemon. I.E. you can't have three leftovers on your team. Your restricted to just one.

An example of what is would be ~Choice Scarf ~Toxic Orb ~Leftovers ~Focus Sash ~Choice Band ~Expert Belt

No Items

Pokemon to be used in the battle are not allowed to use held items. This generally has the two people batting to go to a trade option first before the battle to have a quick check too see if a person put on an unnoticeable item.

Hax Item Clause

Brightpowder, Quick Claw, etc. don't belong in a competitive atmosphere, as they are luck-based and don't reflect player ability.

No Hacks
Don't want to see, 'Wonderguard Spiritomb/Sableye'. Basically no Pokemon without their original abilities or moves they can't learn. Semi-hacked Pokemon are GENERALLY allowed however.

FEAR Clause
The move 'Endeavor' is banned because it's viewed as a cheap move. For those who have never heard of this, I'll go ahead and give you the heads up. FEAR stands for Focus Sash-Endeavor-Attack-Rattata The battle goes like this, *Opponents attacks* *Focus Sash Activates saving Ratatta* *Ratatta uses Endeavor* *Opponent is taken down to 1hp* *Ratatta uses quick attack* *Opponent faints* Personally.. I've used the Fear tactic before, and it just makes me laugh.

No Withdrawals
With this rule switching out your pokemon in the middle of a battle is no allowed. Moves like U-turn, baton pass, whirlwind and roar are allowed.