Small Note: This was originally written by me for Pokemon Cheyenne. Since I wrote it during my time as an admin there, I consider it mine to distribute as I see fit.


This is to help people from getting confused. I will be using illustrations and such. You don't have to follow this exactly, but it's a good idea to read through it at least once and try to stick to it loosely. It's not "THE RULES LOL", it's more of a guideline to make sure you're not using an ungodly amount of attacks per turn and godmoding.

---

So you're battling, right? It's a vital part of the RPG - battling serves many purposes. You can display your 1337 writing skills, show off your elite team of pokemon, gain levels, beat gyms, etc. We wouldn't get anywhere without battling.

However, have you ever encountered something like this:

You're battling another trainer. You're using charmander, they're using sandshrew. Since you're a bit of a newbie, you feel like you need some levels, and what better way to do that than to battle somebody else! You're all set, pumped to go. Your have charmander use ember, and get something like this in response...

"Sandshrew gracefully dodged the ember attack, using it's strong tail to propel itself into the air. It came down on Charmander, striking it hard with it's razor-sharp claws. Scratch attack was brutal - Sandshrew wasted no time in dealing out major damage. The trainer grinned, before calling out another order. 'Poison Sting!'

Ground-type nodded, barely finished with the previous attack, and fired off a round of noxious darts that sunk into Charmander's thin orange skin, badly poisoning it...."

That doesn't really seem fair, does it? An evasion tactic, and two attacks! Not to mention the slight godmoding (which i had to add because It's just an illustration - the actual post wouldn't have the godmoding in it). You only used a simple ember attack, and the nasty sandshrew triple-teams you with a barrage of attacks. It's pretty common to use several attacks at once, but I've seen some people get carried away with the amount of attacks used in a one-on-one battle. Naturally the rules change a bit for two-vs-two, but I'm sticking to one-on-one here...

---

Things to do per turn

You know in the games how you can do ONE attack per turn, be it an attacking move, a stat move or an item. Well, here it's a bit different.

A "turn" counts as a post. A single post is your "turn", and there are a few things you can do during it. This may seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't realize this...

• Deal Damage. You can use one damage-dealing attack. Not two. Not three. Not any more than one. Scratch, Ember, Quick Attack, anything that deals damage. Direct or Indirect, you get ONE per turn. You can also substitute your damage-dealing attack with any other Pokémon attack (double team, recover, substitute, sand attack, whatever), although that brings us to our next point...
  
  
• Non-damage Attack + Attack. Sometimes, it's better to use a "status-affecting" attack in conjunction with a damage-dealing attack. You could use swords-dance and quick attack in the same turn, for example. Or double team and slash. Or screech and scratch. Or endure and reversal. One status-affecting attack and a damage-dealing attack. There are exceptions, though. Just use your head.
  
  
• Uber-tactics. There are certain attacks that aren't really fair to get to use with a damage-dealing attack. These include Recover (or any healing move), Protect (or any cheap move like that), Substitute (cheap), etc. You can use one of these per turn, and a maximum of three recovery moves per battle. You can't use one of these attacks along with a damage-dealing attack in the same turn. Remember, we're only talking about one-on-one battles (one Pokémon vs one pokemon), so naturally if you're using two Pokémon vs two pokemon, one could use a recovery move and the other could attack. Again, common sense.
  
  
• Items. Since items are one time use, you may use as many items as you want during the battle. It's generally frowned upon and isn't in good taste to keep using full restores until you win, though, so do it at your own risk. Beware though. Using an item means you forfeit your right to do any other actions during your turn. That's right kids, using a full restore means you can't attack! Onoez!
  
  
• Dodge + Attack. If the situation calls for it, you may dodge your opponents attack and come back with an attack of your own. This can be any kind of attack from any of the categories listed above (except b - you can't use two attacks as well as dodge). You can use a damage dealing move, a status-affecting move, an uber move, or an item.
  
  
• Switch + Attack. You may switch your Pokémon out, defeated or not, and use the new one to attack with. It can use any combination of attack patterns listed, including B. Although if the Pokémon you've returned already attacked, then the one switching in forfeits its right to attack. One or the other folks.

---

Concerning Statuses

Okay, we all know that it sucks when your pokemon is hit with a Paralysis or Confused status. Thing is. . . when do we let it stop? This is to help you. Only up to two ailments may affect one pokemon at the same time. They will be ONE offensive, and ONE defensive.

Ex: Burn ailment + Sleep ailment.
Poison ailment + Freeze ailment.
Curse ailment + Paralysis ailment.

Note that Offensive Ailments in one way or another, take away health, while Defensive Ailments merely affect if they're able to retaliate, etc.

• Burn: The burn inflicts some damage each turn. That means 1 round of your turn and your opponent's. Now, a burn will probably hurt those that are super effected by fire, right? Right. Just go with it. Will only be healed during the battle with a Burn Heal or Rawst Berry.
  
  
• Freeze: The pokemon that is frozen cannot move or attack in any way. They will thaw naturally in 3 turns just to simplify things. That means you'll do a "Turn pass 1/3", "Turn pass 2/3", etc. You may RP your pokemon naturally thawing out by the 3rd turn. They may attack after that. If the pokemon is weakened against ice, the turn pass will be upped to 4.
  
  
• Paralysis: There's technically a 1/4 chance the pokemon afflicted cannot attack. Since no one wants to flip a real quarter, we'll just say you can't attack for 2 turns. This follows the same "Turn pass" deal as mentioned above. If the pokemon is weakened against electric, the turn pass will be upped to 3.
  
  
• Poison: It gradually lowers the pokemon's health until it faints. You'll be stuck with this throughout the entire battle. Your only choice would be to use an Antidote or Pecha Berry to get rid of it. Pokemon super effected by poison will have more energy that is lowered.
  
  
• Badly Poisoned: Same deal as above, but this time, the energy that is lost gradually increases throughout the turn. That means that the longer your pokemon is badly poisoned, the quicker your pokemon will faint. You should definitely have an Antidote or Pecha Berry handy in case this happens. Attacks that give such a status are Poison Fang, Toxic, and Toxic Spikes.
  
  
• Sleep: Your pokemon will be asleep for 3 turn passes. If the Early Bird ability is in play, it cuts down to 2 turn passes.
  
  
• Attract: If the gender of the pokemon isn't opposite to yours when the attack Attract is used, it won't fucking work. I don't care if it's bisexual and thus affects all genders. Doesn't work like that. DON'T DO IT. If your pokemon is affected, it will endure 3 turn passes.
  
  
• Confusion: The pokemon afflicted will not be able to attack OR will attack itself (it's your choice, really) for 2 turn passes.
  
  
• Curse & Perish Song: The pokemon afflicted lose 1/4 of its health each turn, regardless of the type (there are NO exceptions to this attack). To simplify, we'll say the affected pokemon will faint in 3 turn passes. There is no method of healing, except to switch it out. Watch out though, there are some attacks that prevent it.
  Also take note that PERISH SONG will affect ALL pokemon in battle and Curse will not.