Format & Rules

6-Pick-4 (Bring 6, Pick 4)

The core Pokemon Champions format. You register a team of 6 Pokemon, then at the start of each match you see your opponent's 6 and choose the 4 you'll actually battle with. This makes team preview a game of prediction: your 6 must cover many matchups, but only 4 fight at a time.

Doubles (2v2)

Both players have two Pokemon on the field at once. Almost every decision — targeting, protecting, spread moves, redirection — exists because there are two active Pokemon per side. This is what separates VGC-style play from singles.

Regulation M-A

Also: "Reg M-A". The current official competitive ruleset for Pokemon Champions. It defines the legal list of 263 Pokemon, restricts certain items, and uses the 6-pick-4 doubles format. Everything in the PikaChampions builder is legal under Regulation M-A.

Team preview

The screen before a match where both players see each other's 6 Pokemon (but not items or movesets). This is where you decide your 4 and your lead based on what threatens you and what you threaten.

Restricted / Legendary

High-power box legends (and similar) that formats often limit. Whether and how many are allowed depends on the regulation; under Reg M-A the legal list is fixed at 263 entries.

Stats & Training

SP (Stat Points)

Pokemon Champions' replacement for EVs. Every Pokemon has a pool of 66 SP to distribute across its six stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, Speed), with a cap of 32 SP per stat. Unlike the old 252/252/4 EV model, the lower cap forces more spread-out, deliberate investment. The PikaChampions builder calculates your final Level-50 stats live as you move the sliders.

Stat Alignment

The Champions equivalent of a nature. It nudges one stat up and another down, letting you favour, say, Speed over Special Attack. Combined with SP, it's how you hit exact speed tiers or bulk benchmarks.

Bulk

A Pokemon's effective defensive durability — a blend of HP and the relevant defense stat. "Physical bulk" is HP + Defense; "special bulk" is HP + Sp. Def. Investing SP in HP is usually the most efficient way to raise overall bulk.

Benchmark

A specific stat number worth reaching, such as enough Speed to outrun a named threat or enough HP to survive a particular attack. Good SP spreads are built around benchmarks, not round numbers.

Base stat

The Pokemon's innate stat value before SP, Stat Alignment, and level are applied. High base Speed, for example, means a Pokemon needs less SP investment to outspeed the field.

Speed Control

Speed control

Any tool that changes who acts first. In doubles, moving first often decides the turn, so speed control is one of the most important things a team can have. The three big categories are Tailwind, Trick Room, and Choice Scarf.

Tailwind

A move that doubles the Speed of your side for several turns. The backbone of fast, offensive teams. Common setters are fast support Pokemon that can click it on turn one.

Trick Room

Also: "TR". A move that reverses turn order for five turns, so the slower Pokemon moves first. Built around deliberately slow, bulky attackers, it flips the usual speed game on its head. See our Trick Room team guide.

Speed tier

Where a Pokemon ranks on the Speed ladder at a given investment. Knowing speed tiers tells you who outruns whom before Tailwind or Scarf. Our speed tiers reference lists the key numbers.

Speed creep

Investing a little extra Speed SP to edge out an opponent running the "standard" number for the same Pokemon. A small arms race at popular benchmarks.

Priority

Moves that always go first within their bracket, regardless of Speed (for example Fake Out, Extreme Speed, Sucker Punch, Grassy Glide). Priority is its own form of speed control and a way to bypass Trick Room.

Support & Disruption

Intimidate

An ability that lowers the Attack of both opposing Pokemon when its user switches in. A staple of defensive play; chaining multiple Intimidate users wears down physical attackers. Incineroar and Landorus are classic carriers.

Fake Out

A priority move that does small damage and flinches the target, but only works on the user's first turn out. Used to disrupt a key threat for a turn while your partner sets up or attacks.

Redirection

Moves like Follow Me and Rage Powder that force the opponent's single-target attacks to hit the user instead of your partner. This "redirects" damage away from a fragile attacker or setup piece.

Protect

A move that blocks all damage and effects for one turn. In doubles it's a tempo and prediction tool — scout a big hit, stall Trick Room or Tailwind turns, or keep a Pokemon safe while its partner removes a threat.

Wide Guard

Protects your whole side from spread moves for a turn. A hard counter to spread-move offense and to moves like Earthquake or Rock Slide.

Pivot

Switching a Pokemon out, often via a move like Parting Shot, U-turn, Volt Switch, or Teleport, to bring in a better matchup while keeping momentum. Parting Shot also lowers the foe's offenses on the way out.

Setup

Using a turn to boost your own stats (Swords Dance, Dragon Dance, Nasty Plot) before sweeping. Riskier in doubles than singles because two opponents can punish the free turn.

Offense & Damage

STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus)

A 1.5× damage bonus when a Pokemon uses a move matching one of its own types. STAB moves form the reliable core of an attacker's damage; coverage moves fill the gaps.

Spread move

A move that hits more than one target at once (Rock Slide, Earthquake, Heat Wave, Dazzling Gleam). When it hits multiple targets its damage is reduced to about 75% per target — the trade-off for pressuring both opponents.

Coverage

The set of types your team's moves can hit for super-effective damage. Good offensive coverage means few common Pokemon wall your whole team. The PikaChampions Analysis tab maps your coverage and your defensive holes.

KO / OHKO / 2HKO

A knockout. OHKO = one-hit KO; 2HKO = knocked out in two hits. Damage calculations are usually expressed as "this spread OHKOs that target X% of the time."

Roll

The random damage range of an attack (about 85%–100% of its max). A move that "always KOs" KOs on every roll; one that "rolls to KO" only does so part of the time.

Win condition

The Pokemon or plan you expect to actually close out the game once the board is favourable — for example a boosted sweeper under Tailwind, or a slow wallbreaker under Trick Room.

Core

Two or three Pokemon that work especially well together and form the backbone of a team, such as an Intimidate pivot plus a fragile special attacker it protects.

Items & Megas

Focus Sash

Lets a Pokemon survive any single hit from full HP with 1 HP left. Excellent on fast, fragile attackers and lead disruptors. See our held items tier list.

Choice item (Scarf / Band / Specs)

Boosts one stat (Speed, Attack, or Sp. Atk respectively) by 1.5× but locks you into the first move you pick until you switch. Choice Scarf is a key piece of speed control.

Assault Vest

Raises Sp. Def by 1.5× but bars status moves — the user can only attack. Great on bulky special-tanking attackers.

Rocky Helmet

Chips attackers that make contact, punishing Fake Out users and physical attackers over the course of a game.

Covert Cloak

Blocks the added effects of moves (flinch from Fake Out, the speed drop from Icy Wind, etc.) while still taking the damage — a popular tech against disruption.

Mega Evolution

A temporary in-battle transformation that boosts stats and sometimes changes typing or ability. In Pokemon Champions there are both standard Megas and exclusive Megas not in the mainline games — Mega Meganium, Mega Starmie, Mega Greninja, Mega Feraligatr, Mega Clefable and more. See the Mega Evolutions guide.

Mega Stone

The held item that enables a Pokemon's Mega Evolution. Equipping the matching stone in the builder activates the correct Mega form automatically.

Team Archetypes

Balance

A flexible team mixing offense, defense, and at least one form of speed control. The most forgiving archetype for newer players.

Offense

Built around dealing fast, heavy damage and keeping initiative, usually with Tailwind support.

Hyper Offense

All-in aggression: maximum pressure, little defensive backbone, aiming to KO before the opponent stabilises.

Stall

Wins through chip damage, status, and longevity rather than fast KOs. Rarer in doubles but a real strategy.

Weather

Teams built around a weather setter — Drought (sun), Drizzle (rain), Sand Stream (sandstorm), or Snow Warning (snow) — and Pokemon that abuse it.

Trick Room

Slow, bulky attackers that flip the turn order with Trick Room to outpace the field while it's active.

Tool & Community

Replica Team Code

A 10-character code you enter in Pokemon Champions under the "Replica Team" menu to instantly copy another player's full 6-Pokemon build. PikaChampions lets you browse and share these by archetype.

PokePaste

A standard plain-text format for sharing teams (species, item, ability, moves, spread). The builder can import and export PokePaste so you can swap teams on Discord or Reddit.

Movedex / Learnset

The list of moves a Pokemon can legally learn. The builder uses the Champions-specific learnset so you only ever pick legal moves.

Role warning

A flag the Analysis tab raises when your team is missing something important — no speed control, no Fake Out, no Intimidate, too many shared weaknesses, or no spread damage.