Spelling and Grammar Standards

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Lumari

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Introduction
This thread is a reflection of C&C's spelling and grammar standards. The purpose of this thread is so users can both discuss the standards and refer to them easily within our forums. Feel free to suggest any additions or changes to these standards, and if you have any questions feel free to post.

Index
0) Introduction
1) Pokemon
1.1) Spelling
1.1.1) Abbreviations
1.1.2) Capitalization
1.2) Coined terms
1.3) Grammar
2) Non-Pokemon
2.1) Writing instructions
2.2) English grammar conventions
2.3) Watch out for
2.3.1) Words
2.3.2) Grammar
3) In-game

Section 1: Pokemon
Section 1.1: Spelling
  • The following applies to the spelling of forme names:
    • Rotom and Deoxys formes, not forms.
    • The standards for forme names are as follows: Deoxys-A, Deoxys-D, Deoxys-S, Ash-Greninja, Giratina-O, Gourgeist-A (where A is S for small, L for large, and XL for super; Gourgeist's Average forme is simply "Gourgeist"), Hoopa-U, Kyurem-B, Kyurem-W, Landorus-T, Lycanroc-D, Lycanroc-N (where D refers to the Dusk forme and N to the Midnight forme), Meloetta-P, Meowstic-M, Meowstic-F, Necrozma-DM, Necrozma-DW, Rotom-A (where A is C for the lawn mower, H for the toaster, W for the washer, F for the refrigerator, S for the fan, and A for the five formes in general), Oricorio-E, Oricorio-F, Oricorio-G, Oricorio-P (where E refers to the Electric-type forme, F to the Fire-type, G to the Ghost-type, and P to the Psychic-type), Shaymin-S, Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T, Wormadam-G, Wormadam-S, Zygarde-10%, Zygarde-C.
    • "Arceus-[TYPE]" and "Silvally-[TYPE]", not "[TYPE] Arceus" and "[TYPE] Silvally".
    • The base forme of a Pokemon should not have a hyphenated name. For examples: Landorus and Landorus-T, not Landorus-I and Landorus-T; Giratina and Giratina-O, not Giratina-A; Rotom and Rotom-C, not Rotom-N; Zygarde and Zygarde-C, not Zygarde-50%; Lycanroc and Lycanroc-N, not Lycanroc-M. Similarly, just plain Arceus and Silvally, not Arceus-Normal and Silvally-Normal.
    • Refer to the Alolan forme of a Pokemon as "Alolan [Pokemon]".
    • Refer to the Mega Evolution of a Pokemon as "Mega [Pokemon]".
      • It is Mega Charizard X/Y and Mega Mewtwo X/Y, without a hyphen, not Mega Charizard-X.
      • In any section where both the Mega Evolution and normal state are talked about, use the name of the Pokemon with no prefix (Tyranitar has exceptional Attack). If only the Mega Evolution or normal state is being discussed, ensure that this is clarified (Mega Tyranitar has good Speed, while non-Mega Tyranitar's Speed is a bit lacking); the name of the Pokemon with no prefix can be used to refer to both the Mega Evolution and normal state, as long as this is made clear by the context.
      • Avoid using either "form" or "forme" when talking about Mega Evolutions, though if one is absolutely necessary "forme" should be used.
    • Similarly, refer to the powered-up formes of cover legendaries as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Ultra Necrozma.
    • Refer to Totem Pokemon as "Totem [Pokemon]".
  • Pokemon should be spelled without the accent.
  • The nature Naive should be spelled without the diaeresis (which looks like this: ï ).
  • The phrase "super effective" is neither hyphenated nor capitalized.
  • The phrase "revenge kill" is never hyphenated.
  • The following applies to the spelling of typings:
    • When a type name is directly followed by the word "type", a hyphen is used (Normal-type).
    • When saying that a Pokemon has "some typing", it is never hyphenated (Gengar's Ghost typing helps it be viable in OU.).
    • Dealing with dual typings is a bit trickier. When a dual type name is directly followed by the word "type," a hyphen should not be used (Rock / Ground type). When saying that a Pokemon has "some dual typing," it is never hyphenated as well (Golem's Rock / Ground typing was a godsend in RBY OU.).
    • When talking about a Pokemon's typing, always follow with a "-type" (Ghost-types, not Ghosts).
  • Playstyles (e.g., offense, stall, balance, hyper offense) and their corresponding adjectives are not capitalized and, with the exception of "semi-stall" and others with the prefix "semi-", never hyphenated.
  • Always spell out the full name of an item, never use abbreviations (Life Orb is a powerful item on Gengar).
  • Always spell out the full name of a stat (Salamence should always run 252 Speed EVs). The only exception is when used in a full EV spread or in damage calculations (An alternative spread of 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD is viable with a Bold nature).
  • Always use spaces in between the slash and numerical investment for EV spreads (Physical attackers should run a 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe EV spread).
  • The term is Speed tie, not Speed-tie or Speed Tie.
  • Use "switch-in", plural "switch-ins" when referring to a Pokemon that often switches in on another (Scizor is a common switch-in to Latias).
    • Do not use a hyphen when using "switch in" as a verb (Gyarados can switch in on Mamoswine) or as a noun, plural "switches in", referring to the act of switching in (Tornadus-T loses to Keldeo if it takes an Icy Wind on the switch in).
    • Use "free switch" to refer to the act of a Pokemon coming into battle with no downsides (A slow U-turn or Volt Switch can provide a teammate with a free switch in).
  • Always use a hyphen when using "early-game, mid-game, and late-game" to refer to the point in a battle when a Pokemon typically fights in a battle. However, avoid saying "early-to-mid-game", say "early- or mid-game" instead.
  • "Uber" should only be used as an adjective ("the Uber tier") or to refer to Pokemon ("Kyogre is an Uber"); "Ubers" is acceptable when referring to the Ubers metagame.
  • When referring to the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk, use RestTalk. This also goes for other accepted move combinations, including BoltBeam, VoltTurn, SubSeed, SubCM, and EdgeQuake. These combinations should not be reversed; QuakeEdge is not OK.
  • When referring to attacking Z-Moves, use their official names, e.g., "Supersonic Skystrike". Only specify the base move if there are multiple viable options and there is genuine ambiguity (e.g., "Heatran's Bloom Doom" and "Xurkitree's Gigavolt Havoc" are fine, since most everyone will understand Solar Beam and Thunderbolt are used as the base moves) and the power difference is relevant (e.g., "Manaphy's Hydro Vortex OHKOes Charmander" is fine, since this is true regardless of which base move is used).
  • Do not refer to Latias and Latios together as Lati@s; phrases like Lati twins and Eon twins are acceptable, but only for variety purposes; try to stick with "Latios and Latias" initially.
  • Do not refer to any of Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini together as Tapus; instead, write out their respective names or use a phrase like "Tapu group", "Island Guardians", "Guardian Deities", or whatever else fits best.
  • Hidden Power Type, not Hidden Power [Type].
  • The company is called Game Freak, not Gamefreak or GameFreak.
  • With the length of allowable names increased, the spellings of several names have been changed come XY. These include Never-Melt Ice, Soft-Boiled, High Jump Kick, Thunder Punch, Feint Attack, Bubble Beam, Sand Attack (but NOT Double-Edge and Mud-Slap), Compound Eyes, Bright Powder, Extreme Speed, Poison Powder, Smokescreen, Double Slap, Twisted Spoon, Black Glasses, Solar Beam, Thunder Shock, Paralyze Heal, Thunder Stone, and Dragon Breath. As a general rule, anything that was capitalized mid-word in BW and before is now two separate words.
  • When using one of the below-endorsed abbreviations, never use the non-abbreviated phrase.
Section 1.1.1: Abbreviations
  • Use 3v3 as an abbreviation for the triple battle metagame.
  • Use VGC as an abbreviation for the Video Game Championships.
  • Use RBY as an abbreviation for the Red / Blue / Yellow generation.
  • Use GSC as an abbreviation for the Gold / Silver / Crystal generation.
  • Use ADV as an abbreviation for the Advance Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald generation.
  • Use DPP as an abbreviation for the Diamond / Pearl / Platinum generation.
  • Use BW as an abbreviation for the Black / White / Black 2 / White 2 generation; use BW2 only when referring specifically to the subgeneration after the new games' release.
  • Use XY as an abbreviation for the X / Y / Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire generation; use ORAS only when referring specifically to the subgeneration after the new games' release.
  • Use SM as an abbreviation for the Sun / Moon / Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon generation; use USM only when referring specifically to the subgeneration after the new games' release.
  • Use OHKO as an abbreviation for one-hit knock-out.
  • Use NHKO as an abbreviation for an N-hit knock-out, where N is any number greater than 1 (Choice Band Gyarados can cleanly 2HKO even bulky Rotom-W).
Section 1.1.2: Capitalization
  • Stats (Attack, Special Defense, etc.) are capitalized.
    • Speed is capitalized only when referring to the actual Speed stat; when it refers to general quickness or momentum-changing ability (Pichu has great speed and power) it stays lowercased.
  • Pseudo-stats (accuracy, evasion) are not capitalized.
  • Types (Fire-type, Water-type, etc.) are capitalized.
  • Status effects (paralysis, sleep, etc.) are not capitalized.
  • Pseudo-status effects (confusion, etc.) are not capitalized.
  • "Berry" is always capitalized when talking about a pinch Berry, even when used without a specific name (The suggested item is a Berry). If not talking about some kind of pinch Berry, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu enjoys berries in its salad).
  • "Ball" is always capitalized when talking about a Poké Ball of some sort, even when used without a specific name (The Ball used for capture doesn't matter). If not talking about some kind of Poke Ball, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu likes playing with a beach ball).
  • "Choice" in "Choice item" is always capitalized when talking about any non-specific Choice item, such as Choice Specs, Choice Scarf, and Choice Band (Tyranitar is an excellent user of Choice items). When not used in context of the generalized items, then choice is not capitalized (The choice of which to do is up to you).
  • "Orb" in "status Orb" is always capitalized when talking about any non-specific status Orb, such as Flame Orb and Toxic Orb (Swellow can activate its ability Guts through the use of a status Orb), but "status" is not capitalized. When not used in the context of the generalized items, then orb is not capitalized (Spoink has a beautiful orb on its head).
  • "Terrain" is always capitalized when talking about a field condition, even when used without a specific name (The Tapu group automatically set up their respective Terrains upon entering the battlefield). If not talking about a field condition, it should not be capitalized (It is not possible to walk this rough terrain without the help of a Mudsdale).
  • Weather (sun, rain, etc.) is not capitalized.
  • "Move" in the phrase "Z-Move" is capitalized.
  • Conditions (Skarmory was Taunted) are capitalized only when the entire move name is used (Scizor passed Iron Defense to Skarmory. Scizor Baton Passed Iron Defense to Skarmory).
  • Clauses (Sleep Clause, OHKO Clause, Item Clause, etc.) are capitalized in full, even when part of the word is normally not capitalized (ie. sleep, item, etc.).
  • Tiers (Uber, OverUsed, UnderUsed, etc.) are capitalized.
  • Doubles is capitalized when talking about the Smogon Doubles metagame; however, if talking about the doubles battle format only then it is not capitalized.
  • Community-created terms such as "Speed tier" are not capitalized beyond the normal conventions, but Nintendo-created terms such as "Base Power" are capitalized as they would be in-game.
  • Coined phrases derived from Pokémon terms (e.g., BoltBeam, Double Dance) are capitalized.
  • Set names are only capitalized in set titles, never in set comments (If Arcanine is a specially defensive variant, it isn't OHKOed by Milotic's Surf). Very well-used set names such as "Extreme Killer" and "Extreme Killer Arceus", "CroCune", "Wallceus", and "Stalltwo" are the only exceptions.
  • Checks & Counters headers (Special Walls, Super Effective Moves, Fire-types) should be capitalized similarly to set names.
  • Pokemon roles (sweeper, tank, special wall, etc.) are not capitalized.
  • Ho-Oh, not Ho-oh.
  • Wi-Fi, not Wifi or Wi-fi.
  • The phrase "Team Preview" is capitalized.
  • The following applies for the capitalization of specific moves:
    • Abilities or attacks that consist of two words but that fit the 12-letter restriction (Sunny Day, Zen Headbutt, Mold Breaker, etc.) are written with a space in between and with both words having an initial capital letter.
    • All attacks having a dash (Wake-Up Slap, X-Scissor, etc.) are written with the word after the dash also capitalized. U-turn and V-create are the only exceptions to this rule.
  • The word "physical" is not capitalized. The word "special" is not capitalized when not referring to a stat (Azelf has base 125 Special Attack, but Flamethrower is a special attack). When saying something is "physically defensive" or "specially defensive," physical and special are not capitalized.
  • The word "defenses" is not capitalized when referring to a Pokemon's overall defensive ability rather than to a stat (Cresselia has exceptional balanced defenses).
  • The word "Pokemon" is always capitalized.
  • The word "nature" is not capitalized (Adamant nature, not Adamant Nature).
  • The word "bulky" is not capitalized when it prefixes a type (bulky Water-type, not Bulky Water-type).
  • The phrase "critical hit" is not capitalized.
  • The phrase "dual screens" is not capitalized.
  • The word "item" is never capitalized.
  • Mega Evolutions are always capitalized (Mega Lucario).
  • The term "Mega Evolution" refers to the extra evolution some Pokemon possess (Lucario's Mega Evolution grants it additional power compared to its normal state).
  • The term "Mega-Evolved" refers to a Pokemon that has undergone Mega Evolution (Mega Lucario, when Mega-Evolved, gains additional power).
  • The term "Mega Evolve" refers to the act of a Pokemon undergoing Mega Evolution (Lucario can Mega Evolve into Mega Lucario).
  • "Egg" is always capitalized when talking about a Pokemon Egg of some sort (The Pokemon's Egg hatched!). This also applies to Egg Groups. If not talking about a Pokemon's Egg, then it should not be capitalized (Delibird is actually quite a fan of scrambled eggs).
Section 1.2: Coined Terms
  • The term forme is accepted as meaning "an alternate form of a Pokemon with a competitive difference through e.g. different stats or typing"; if the difference is purely cosmetic, use "form" instead.
  • The term outspeed (outspeeding, outsped, also outpace) is accepted as meaning "to move first in battle."
  • The term underspeed (underspeeding, undersped, NOT outslow) is accepted as meaning "to move second in battle."
  • The term outdamage (outdamaged, outdamaging) is accepted as meaning "to deal more damage than another attack or Pokemon."
  • The term outprioritize (outprioritized, outprioritizing) is accepted as meaning "to use a priority move before the foe can use their priority move."
  • The term countersweep (counterswept, countersweeping) is accepted as meaning "to sweep an opposing team right after being pressed on the back foot."
  • The term spinblock (spinblocker, spinblocking) is accepted as meaning "to block Rapid Spin."
  • The term phaze (phazer, phazing, phazed), NOT "phaze out", is accepted as meaning "to pseudo-haze," which in turn describes forcing a switch with a move such as Whirlwind.
  • The term status (statusing) is accepted as meaning "to afflict with status."
  • The term wallbreaker (wallbreaking) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that breaks down walls."
  • The term stallbreaker (stallbreaking) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that breaks down stall."
  • The term cleric is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that heals its team of status conditions."
  • The term spinner (spinning) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that can use Rapid Spin."
  • The term Spiker is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that can use Spikes / Toxic Spikes."
  • The term Defogger is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that can use Defog."
  • The term parashuffler (parashuffling) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that paralyzes and phazes."
  • The term paraflinch is accepted as meaning "to attempt to paralyze and flinch an opposing Pokemon," usually until they are KOed.
  • The term parafusion is accepted as meaning "to prevent a foe from moving via a combination of paralysis and confusion."
  • The term moveslot is accepted as meaning "slot in a Pokemon's set."
  • The term movepool is accepted as meaning "pool of all of a Pokemon's moves."
  • The term teamslot is accepted as meaning "slot in a Trainer's team."
  • The term playstyle is accepted as meaning "a style of play in the metagame," e.g. stall, offensive, balanced, etc.
  • The term matchup is accepted as meaning "the current situation of the field concerning the capabilities of the active Pokemon of both players."
  • The term Spikes stacking is accepted as meaning "a playstyle that attempts to stack multiple layers of Spikes."
  • The term four-moveslot syndrome is accepted as meaning "a problem arising due to the Pokemon only being allowed to have four moves at one time."
  • The term Pursuit trap is accepted as meaning "KOing or threatening to KO a Pokemon that is likely to switch with Pursuit."
  • The term Fire / Water / Grass core is accepted as meaning "a core used containing a Fire-type, Water-type, and Grass-type, which is notable for its synergy."
  • The term ChestoRest is accepted as meaning "a strategy using Rest and a Chesto Berry to instantly heal a Pokemon."
  • When referring to a set that uses two specific moves, ensure the "+" sign is used, not "and" (Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary). The moves should also not be abbreviated.
  • Similarly, when referring to two Pokemon paired up in a core, use a "+" sign too.
  • "PokeBank" is an acceptable substitution for "Pokemon Bank".
  • The term "wincon" is accepted as meaning "a Pokemon whose objective is to win the match," from an in-battle perspective, not a teambuilding perspective.
  • In doubles metagames, the term double target is used to mean "to attack an opposing Pokemon with both Pokemon you control." It has no hyphen.
  • In RBY analyses, it is permissible to use the term sleeper, which is accepted as meaning "a Pokemon that induces sleep onto the foe."
  • The term speed control is used to refer to "control of how quickly Pokemon will act," through moves such as Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, and Trick Room. It is not capitalized.
  • In Doubles analyses, the terms redirection and disruption are used to refer to "control of where attacks will land," such as by use of Rage Powder or Follow Me.
  • In Other Metagames analyses, the term -ate abilities is accepted as the broad generalization of Pixilate, Aerilate, and Refrigerate.
  • In Other Metagames analyses, the terms -ate user and -ate Pokemon are accepted as meaning "a Pokemon that makes use of an -ate ability".
  • In Other Metagames analyses, the term RegenVest is accepted as referring to the combination of Regenerator and Assault Vest.
Section 1.3: Grammar
  • The plural of a Pokemon is identical to the singular of that Pokemon. One Blissey, two Blissey. Never two Blisseys.
  • When written as a single object, even naturally plural items are treated as singular (Leftovers is a good item choice on bulky Pokemon. Choice Specs is put to excellent use on Jolteon).
  • OHKOes as the verb form (Salamence OHKOes Alakazam) and OHKOs as a plural noun (Salamence scores many OHKOs). OHKOed is the past tense (Salamence OHKOed Alakazam).
  • Do not say "STABs" to refer to moves that receive a same-type attack bonus. Use "STAB moves" instead. "STAB" refers to the boost; "STAB type" can be used to refer to a type that gets STAB.
  • While using move names as verbs is permissible in some cases, it should be avoided if reasonably possible.
  • The following rules apply to EVs and IVs.
    • The past tense of "to EV" is "EVed," and the plural of EV is EVs.
    • EVs and IVs should always be capitalized.
    • EVs and IVs should always be referred to in the plural case (158 Special Attack EVs are enough to OHKO / 0 Speed IVs are used to maximize Gyro Ball's power).
  • When listing effectiveness of attacks, the number goes before the x (Earthquake is 2x super effective on Lucario. Ice Beam is 4x super effective on Salamence).
  • The word "base" should come before the numbers of a stat. For example, Mew has a base 100 Special Attack rather than Mew has a 100 base Special Attack.
  • Swift Swim sweeper, not Swift Swimmer.
  • It is "an OHKO," not "a OHKO".
  • In Monotype analyses, it is acceptable to use the name of a type to refer to teams centered around said type, similarly to archetypes from standard tiers; e.g., "Psychic" is accepted to refer to Psychic-type teams in a general sense, and "Water teams" is accepted as meaning "Water-type teams".
Section 2: Non-Pokemon
Section 2.1: Writing
  • Try to avoid casual writing in your analyses.
  • Avoid using pointless filler phrases such as "However, Weedle is not without its flaws. / Not all is well for Weedle. <insert issues with said Pokemon>." These artificially lengthen analyses without providing any actual information. Instead, say something like "Weedle is held back by its paltry stats, movepool, and mediocre typing, all of which keep it from accomplishing much of anything."
  • Don't end paragraphs, especially overviews, with pointless filler sentences like "However, with its counters removed, Zygarde can easily sweep through teams" or "Play to its strengths and Infernape can be a great choice for your team." Any Pokemon that is played well or with its counters removed will be a great asset for your team. If you have nothing else to say in an overview, it's ok to just stop writing! Overviews aren't an essay to write about Pokemon; they're just a way to give a quick rundown of what a Pokemon does.
  • Do not write an analysis in a form that puts emphasis on changes by generation. This includes avoiding phrases such as "With the advent of BW," "With the newly introduced Fairy-types," and "With the new ability to Mega Evolve."
  • Use active voice (Gliscor can OHKO Magnezone) whenever possible rather than passive voice (Magnezone can be OHKOed by Gliscor).
  • Especially when it comes to EV spreads, try to avoid Pokemon-technical terms unless you absolutely need them--often you'll end up confusing new players or, worse, autopiloting your way to fluff phrases. For example, "minimizes Stealth Rock damage" is just as effective at conveying your point and just as concise as "hits a Stealth Rock number" would have been, and much less vague. A special mention goes to "jump point", which often isn't really relevant information for in-battle scenarios (if your benchmark allows you to hit some significant KOs, just get to the point and state those KOs) and on its own tends to be a pretty arbitrary benchmark to begin with.
  • Do not cross-reference between sets; i.e., avoid phrases like "Similarly to the Choice Specs set" or "Most Pokemon that pair well with the Dragon Dance set make great partners to this set as well." This is because readers only interested in set B should not have to read set A as well and because it makes updating uploaded analyses harder. However, referring to sets in Overview / Other Options / Checks and Counters is fine, as are phrases like "As with most Heatran sets" or "Similarly to all-out attacking sets", which only acknowledge different sets exist without referring to actual sets on the analysis.
Section 2.2: Grammar conventions
  • Smogon uses the American English spelling of words (favor, minimized, maximized, etc.).
  • Always append 's to a noun when signifying a singular possessive (Latias's Soul Dew) or plural possessive that doesn't end in s (Lucario's Swords Dance), and simply a ' when signifying a plural possessive for a word that ends in s (All Latios' Draco Meteor).
  • Smogon uses the serial comma, the comma before "and" in a list (I went to the store with Bob, Jane, and Mike). This picture explains why
  • You may not use the pronouns "who", "he", and "she" instead of "which", "that", and "it" to refer to Pokemon; stick with genderless pronouns.
  • When referring to the battler, use the pronoun "you." Do not use "you" to refer to a Pokemon.
  • "Foe" refers to the opposing Pokemon, not the opposing battler. Similarly, "opponent" refers to the opposing battler, not the opposing Pokemon. For example, "paralyze the foe" and "revenge kill the foe" are correct uses of "foe", as it is the Pokemon that is paralyzed or revenge killed, not the battler. Correct uses of opponent include "if the opponent has a Ghost-type" and "the opponent might switch in a counter". There are cases where both can be appropriate, such as "The opponent/foe can set up Trick Room" (the opponent sets it up in the sense that they are clicking the button).
Section 2.3: Watch out for
The following lists are intended to cover select traditional vocabulary and grammar items that have been known to cause trouble; they are deliberately not intended to be comprehensive.

Section 2.3.1: Words
  • The word "spectrum" should never be used to describe the difference between physical and special offensive and defensive stats, since it cannot denote two discrete things; "Infernape hits hard from both sides of the spectrum" should be rephrased to say "Infernape hits hard both physically and specially," or something similar.
  • Be careful when using "since"; ensure there is no ambiguity possible between its temporal and causal senses ("Since the wolves attacked the village, the people have been living in fear" does not make clear whether "since" means "ever since" or "because").
  • Avoid using "while" as a substitute for "and"; either use it in a strictly temporal sense, or make sure there is a connotation of "on the one hand / on the other hand" present.
  • Avoid using "crux" in your analysis unless you know what you are doing. 95% of the time, you will simply be adding useless filler like "X is the crux of this set," which does not provide the reader with any information of value.
  • The word "splashable" should not be used to refer to Pokemon that fit on teams easily; it has a highly specific meaning ("can be used to power up an otherwise already completed deck / team even further without providing any substantial downsides in any situation") that does not work in a Pokemon context, and therefore it should be avoided in all Smogon writing (including articles).
  • A "win condition" is a circumstance in which a game can be won; it is not interchangeable with "wincon" (see Coined Terms).
  • "Infamous" means "nefarious", "known for a negative reason"; it should not be used as a substitute for "well-known", "dominant", and the like.
  • "Abuse" means "use in a negative way / to a negative effect" or "assault"; it should not be used as a substitute for "make heavy use of" or "benefit from".
  • "On the contrary" should only be used if the preceding statement is false; it should not be used as a substitute for "on the other hand". Additionally, even if do you see it used in its proper meaning, be wary of fluff, since "you may think <...> but you're wrong" is a pretty questionable rhetorical device to use in analyses.
  • Be careful when using "respectively"; only use it if the text actually becomes ambiguous without it. In a phrase like "Ground- and Grass-types like Garchomp and Venusaur, respectively" it's not (shouldn't be) really clarifying anything.
  • "Unique" means "the only one of its kind"; if the element is not the only one of its kind, either in the metagame or altogether, change it to something similar like "semi-exclusive" or "rare".
  • "Optimal" means "most effective under the given circumstances"; it is not interchangeable with "maximum".
Section 2.3.2: Grammar
  • Pokemon are not "killed" in battle, they are KOed or faint.
  • The word "resists" is only to be used as a form of the infinitive "to resist" and never as a noun ("Flying-type resists such as Pichu are good Pokemon" is incorrect). Similarly, "immunity" is only to be used to refer to a trait ("Pichu's Electric immunity makes it a good check to Thunder Wave users"), not to Pokemon ("Electric immunities such as Pichu are good Pokemon" is incorrect).
  • Moves do not "lure" Pokemon. "Scizor lures in Heatran with Superpower" would imply Heatran is pretty confused! Instead, use "Scizor lures in Heatran and KOes it with Superpower" or a similar phrase. Note that "Superpower allows Scizor to lure in and KO Heatran" is correct; the move Superpower does allow Scizor to perform the combination of luring in and KOing Heatran.
  • When setup is being used as a noun or as part of a compound noun, spell it as setup and not set-up (After setup, Pichu is practically unstoppable / Pichu has access to several great setup moves). When it is being used an adjective meaning "having set up", spell it as either set-up or set up as appropriate (A fully set-up Pichu mows through teams with little effort / His Pichu was not fully set up yet). The verb form, to set up, is spelled as such (Mewtwo can set up on Pichu).
  • Commas should not be used to separate a compound verb unless the conjunction is combining two independent clauses or the comma is necessary for clarity (Pichu walked into the store and bought a pie).
  • Do not put a hyphen between an adverb and an adjective (Pichu can use a defensively oriented set or a specially based set).
  • Use the ASCII ( ' ) apostrophe in writing, not the curly ( ’ ) apostrophe.
  • Use the ASCII ( " ) quotation marks in writing, not the curly ( “ ” ) quotation marks.
  • Never use an ampersand (&) as a replacement for "and".
  • When writing a fraction, add a hyphen between the numerator and the denominator if both are written out rather than numerical (Pichu ate two-thirds of the pie.)
  • For unbracketed asides, use the em dash (—) and no spaces (Mareep—that is to say, the entire evolution family—is extremely cute).
  • When listing multiple types, use a hyphen after each type (Water-, Flying-, and Normal-types).
Section 3: In-game
  • It is indeed in-game with the hyphen, not ingame or in game.
  • It's Pokédex, not PokéDex or Poké Dex
  • You should write Pokémon Center with the accent.
  • Other Poké words: Poké Ball, Poké Flute, Poké Mart, etc.
  • The standard we go by is Poké Dollars to describe the currency of the Pokemon games.
  • In GSC, it is called the Pokégear.
  • "Berry" is always capitalized when talking about a pinch Berry, even when used without a specific name (The suggested item is a Berry). If not talking about some kind of pinch Berry, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu enjoys berries in its salad).
  • "Ball" is always capitalized when talking about a Poké Ball of some sort, even when used without a specific name (The Ball used for capture doesn't matter). If not talking about some kind of Poké Ball, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu likes playing with a beach ball).
  • "Egg" is always capitalized when talking about a Pokemon Egg of some sort (The Pokemon's Egg hatched!). This also applies to Egg Groups. If not talking about a Pokemon's Egg, then it should not be capitalized (Delibird is actually quite a fan of scrambled eggs).
  • The item "Mega Stone" is always capitalized.
  • Trainer is always capitalized when used in the context of a Pokemon Trainer.
  • The correct capitalization and spelling is Exp. Points.
  • The "w" in wild Pokemon is never capitalized.
  • Gym Leader is always capitalized.
  • Gym is also always capitalized when talking about the Gym of the town where the Gym Leader resides that holds the Badge.
  • Badge is always capitalized as well.
  • The title of a Trainer is always capitalized; ie. Fisherman, Lass, Rocket Grunt, etc. However, when a Trainer class and a normal citizen have the same name, such as scientist, only capitalize those who are actually Trainers (I got the item from the Scientist that I battled), (I talked to one of the scientists in Cinnabar Lab).
  • When doing an action of some kind using the HM moves, it should be capitalized. (When you reach the water, Surf across to the other side. When you reach the small tree, Cut it and continue on your way, etc.).
  • The "r" in route is only capitalized when used as a proper noun in conjunction with the route number, such as Route 1.
  • There is no space between the "TM" and the number of the TM, such as TM01. This is the same for HMs.
 
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Lumari

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Okay, this is starting! We'll still be making some final updates as we go along of course, but for now, notable changes from XY include:
- Arceus forme name standard has been changed from Grass Arceus to Arceus-Grass; vernacular has shifted towards the latter over the years to the point that the former is almost obsolete now, and there's no consistency with other standards or official name standard (one way or another) that would prevent us from making this change;
- "Dragons" and "Fairies" are no longer exceptions to the "always refer to a Pokemon as x-type" rule; we agreed that "it sounds slightly less bad" was not sufficient grounds for letting them be special snowflakes, so from now on they're to be referred to only as "Dragon-types" and "Fairy-types" as well;
- Gendered pronouns to refer to Pokemon are no longer allowed; only use "it", "which", and "that" from here on out. Reasoning is that gendered pronouns carry the nuance that they refer to a singular, gendered character, whereas analyses by default discuss the species as a whole, for which only gender-neutral pronouns are appropriate. This does not just cover arbitrarily assigning a gender to Pokemon like Sylveon, Gardevoir, and Haxorus; also use "it" for the likes of Chansey, Gallade, and Jynx;
- For consistency with previous generations, Generation 6 = XY, and Generation 7 = SM;
- We were pretty lax on this one in gen 6 anyways from what I've seen, so this should be little more than a courtesy notice: in Monotype analyses, it is acceptable to use the name of a given type to refer to teams of said type in a general sense. So basically, "Water" can refer to Water-type teams in general (and, by extension, "Water teams" can refer to Water-type teams too); pretty much the same way as you'd use conventional archetypes like "stall", "offense", "VoltTurn", and "VoltTurn offense" in analyses for standard tiers.

(note that, as with all standards, most of these are a lot less ironclad in articles).

Most relevant gen 7 stuff for now is forme names; new ones should be:
- Alolan formes: use "Alolan [Pokemon]", e.g., "Alolan Ninetales", not "Alola Ninetales", "A-Ninetales", "Ninetales-A", or "Ninetales-Alola". People use it, it's not inconsistent with other standards, and, most importantly, it's official, so not really up for discussion imo;
- Silvally: I've set this one as "Silvally-[TYPE]", e.g., "Silvally-Water", for now. People use it from what I've seen, it has no official name to my knowledge, and it'd make sense for Silvally and Arceus to follow the same format;
- Lycanroc: Lycanroc-D and Lycanroc-N imo. People use these, they make sense, and they're by far the most consistent with our current names. Alternatively we could define Midday as the base forme and make it plain "Lycanroc", which would open up more options (notably Lycanroc-M) for Midnight, but I don't really see the need for this if people are cool with Lycanroc-D and Lycanroc-N;
- Zygarde: 50% forme is the base forme, so it's to be referred to as just plain "Zygarde". For 10% forme "Zygarde-10%" seems to make sense, and for the Complete forme I've most commonly seen "Zygarde-C"; "Zygarde-100%" would be more consistent with 10%, but it looks a lot more awkward and "Zygarde-C" is consistent enough, so that one seems cool.

I'd like to see more opinions on the forme names for Ash Greninja and Oricorio; for the former, I've only seen people use "Ash-Greninja", which is super inconsistent with our other forme names, and for Oricorio, I've only really seen Pom-Pom, Baile, Sensu, and Pa'u Oricorio, and "Psychic Oricorio". I'd much prefer Oricorio-E, Oricorio-F, Oricorio-G, and Oricorio-P (E for Electric etc), but at the same time I don't want to force names that people don't use on them.



Additionally, you might have noticed that the list of standards has been reorganised to properly separate Pokegrammar from English grammar, make sure there's no spelling under the grammar header, etc.; one category that I'd like to highlight is the "words to avoid" category. I'd like to collect some "false friends" there, think abuse / infamous, since there has been some confusion in the past about which specific words actually are not allowed and which ones are okay. However, I'm not great at actually remembering what to put there unless when I run into it during a check, so any input would be appreciated! Do note that "it's used a lot" or "it's extremely painful to read" is not grounds for a word / phrase to be added; several words / phrases that have been known as "banned" in the past are bad because of a different rule (e.g., "at the dawn of the generation" emphasises generational changes rather than making the analysis timeless, "is a double-edged sword" is fluff 95% of the time, as is "the ubiquitous Stealth Rock", and "nuke" just doesn't follow a pseudo-formal writing style)—I'd rather not collect those there, since they are already covered by different rules, just frequently misused words that aren't covered otherwise. Other formerly known as banned phrases, though, like "super effectively" and "aforementioned", were just cases of people making up their own rules, and we'd like to try and minimise that this generation. But yes, if you recall frequently seeing a specific word or phrase and being like "that's literally not what this means" or something like that, don't hesitate to submit it.
 

Lemonade

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-D -N for straightforward
Ash(-)Greninja is cool for sentimental value, worthy exception
Oricorio-E etc. better because the extra step of name -> typing is not useful for competitive, don't think flavor is needed. Too bad about Rotom but washing machines use water etc.
 

Lumari

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Reposting this here for more visibility: in the skeletons that are being written right now, all bullet points should be complete sentences with a period.

Also I'll add Ash-Greninja, hyphen can still be debated I guess but "sentimental value" is a good enough reason to avoid precedent here and I reckon that one will be needed a lot sooner than Oricorio.
 

Lemonade

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People have the habit of saying "speed tier" without listing the actual stat number or specific Pokemon that are outsped, which is pretty unhelpful.

Writing-wise, I am a fan of starting the overview with something that answers why you should use the Pokemon on your team / what role does the Pokemon bring to your team. You want to grab the reader's attention, and the primary audience of analyses is those who are looking to build a team I'd say. For example here, seeing Volc is threatening sweeper is more interesting than finding out it has Quiver Dance. Or here, Chansey being a staple is pretty useless information, but the 2nd and 3rd bullets are very relevant. It seems quite small, but this direction of thought is beneficial to "analysis".
 
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Oglemi

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I think differentiating Oricorio by its types is most prudent considering the names of its dancing styles are not exactly intuitive, unlike the rotom formes. Therefore I think Oricorio-E, -F, -G, and -P make the most sense.

I think we may have to bow to inconsistency with regards to Ash-Greninja unfortunately , due to both its popularity and officiality .
 

Lemonade

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This is more of a GP question but we need a standard for mentioning attacking Z-Moves on analyses that aren't that Pokemon's. Asked in discord and ended up settling on "Xurkitree's Gigavolt Havok from Thunderbolt" for now but if we could get something more concrete in the near future that'd be great.
 
If you feel "<Z-Move> from <base move>" is too wordy, would "<base move>-<Z-Move>" be acceptable? Having a "->" instead of "-" in the middle is another option, but that would probably be a little too adventurous :P
 

Lumari

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Tbqf this sort of feels like the same thing as (formal) forme names for Aegislash, which in practice tend to fall into place naturally anyways--if you're referring to Landorus-T's Supersonic Skystrike it's basically implied that Fly is used as the base move, and I picture that for most mons there will be one base move that's common enough for it to be seen as the default. In the Xurkitree example, I'd honestly just go with Gigavolt Havok, unless Thunder-Gigavolt Havok and Thunderbolt-Gigavolt Havok are both reasonably common to the extent that a reader might not know what base move was being run. For the cases where ambiguity does exist (which according to other c&c staff should be pretty rare but the Manaphy one from the same analysis would be one of because of the power difference between Surf-Hydro Vortex and Scald-Hydro Vortex securing some key KOs), I'm personally fine with C_P's suggestion, don't really see another viable way to word it concisely, and we probably do want to have one available for cases like this. As long as people don't start specifying them when it's not necessary.

Also I'm adding Oricorio-E etc as forme names, opinions so far have been unanimous that standardising according to typing is more sensible than standardising by flavour (easier to remember + more competitively relevant being the main reasons here), and upon further observation it looks like people tend to reference them by typing when mentioning them, so that seems the way to go; and then Oricorio-E is most consistent with our standard forme names. As cute as Pom-Pom Oricorio sounds :(
 

GatoDelFuego

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Z-Thunder / Z-Thunderbolt? I don't think this situation will actually come up that much. What Pokemon uses two STAB moves on the same set? And I get that sometimes we need to give the reader a choice between two Z-moves, but honestly this isn't going to happen that much and if needed we can always clarify (Z-move from base move)
 

Honko

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I've noticed "on the contrary" being misused in a few different analyses where the author really means "on the other hand" or "in contrast". It might be worth adding to the non-Pokemon section. "On the contrary" should only be used when the previous point is false, not for simply presenting a different option.

Wrong: "Keldeo can use Hidden Power Electric to OHKO Gyarados. On the contrary, Hidden Power Bug allows Keldeo to OHKO Celebi."
The second sentence does not contradict the first, so using "on the contrary" here is incorrect. "On the other hand" would be more appropriate.

OK:
"Hidden Power Bug may seem like a waste of a moveslot. On the contrary, it allows Keldeo to OHKO Celebi."
The second sentence contradicts the first, so this usage is fine. (Although I also think we should avoid the "You may think ____, but you're wrong!" style of writing in general.)

http://english.stackexchange.com/qu...rence-between-on-the-contrary-and-in-contrast
 

Bughouse

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People aren't going to know the strength of the different z moves anyway. I'd recommend Z-move (BP) or something.
 

Lumari

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I've noticed "on the contrary" being misused in a few different analyses where the author really means "on the other hand" or "in contrast". It might be worth adding to the non-Pokemon section. "On the contrary" should only be used when the previous point is false, not for simply presenting a different option.

Wrong: "Keldeo can use Hidden Power Electric to OHKO Gyarados. On the contrary, Hidden Power Bug allows Keldeo to OHKO Celebi."
The second sentence does not contradict the first, so using "on the contrary" here is incorrect. "On the other hand" would be more appropriate.
OK: "Hidden Power Bug may seem like a waste of a moveslot. On the contrary, it allows Keldeo to OHKO Celebi."
The second sentence contradicts the first, so this usage is fine. (Although I also think we should avoid the "You may think ____, but you're wrong!" style of writing in general.)

http://english.stackexchange.com/qu...rence-between-on-the-contrary-and-in-contrast
added


Re. Z-moves, the options offered for ambiguous cases so far are:

1. Do nothing / circumscribe, e.g., "Hydro Vortex from Surf";
2. <Base move>-Z-move, e.g., "Surf-Hydro Vortex";
3. Z-<base move>, e.g., "Z-Surf";
4. Z-move (BP), e.g., "Hydro Vortex (175 BP).

I'm not the biggest fan of option 4, actually pretty much because of the reason Bughouse stated: people won't really know the Base Power for a Z-move anyway, but rather its targets / the KOs it gets. In in-battle scenarios, the one thing people can notice / will know and subsequently can base their decisions on is the base move a Pokemon is running, so in analyses it's much more helpful to specify a Z-move according to the base move than according to the Base Power imo. Between options 1 and 2, I'd say a decision should be based only on how prevalent this problem is gonna be, since the one thing I don't like about option 2 is how "forced" it is (don't think I have seen anyone at all use this one in discussion threads), so if we are going with this one we do need to have a good reason for hyperconcision like this, otherwise we might as well go with 1. 3 is actually a pretty reasonable option; it is perfectly clear, very easy to remember, and consistent with Z-status moves, and people already use it in some cases. HOWEVER, since this format forgoes the name of the Z-move altogether, I'd rather we then ditch the official names of Z-moves altogether (at least when we're referencing the move in one phrase, stuff like "Waterium Z turns Surf into a 175-BP Hydro Vortex" would still fly imo), because the discrepancy between, idk, "Latios's Hydro Vortex" and "Manaphy's Z-Surf" for the exact same move is way too messy imo. Which, again, means we'll need a good reason (in the form of ambiguity popping up / the official name of the Z-move alone not denoting the move properly too often) to go for this option, also because the thought of forgoing the official name completely kinda makes me feel weird.

From the analyses that I've seen so far, I don't believe this problem is prevalent enough to warrant coining something just yet, so for the analyses that are starting to hit GP now I think it's best to stick with option 1, but this is not an official / final decision by any means; please do keep an eye out for how often this comes up and how people tend to work around this in discussion / metagame threads, since especially if we're going with option 3 we'll have to make the change quick.
 
What is the standard to be adopted for the usage of "Z-Power"? It's simple enough when this term is used as a noun (e.g., "The user creates a poisonous swamp using its Z-Power", although I doubt we'll ever see this in analyses), but I want to be clear about its usage as a verb.

Consider these sentences from an analysis that I just checked:

"Psychium Z is necessary to Z-power up Heal Block."

"Using Heal Block without Z-Powering and switching out is the best option."

Can we just say "Z-Power <move>" / "Z-Powering <move>"? This is by far the most convenient option; I'm personally against adding the "up", because that will introduce further knotty capitalization issues and looks kinda awkward in general. Of course, you could just say "power (up) <move>", but I think it's best to be specific where possible.
 

Lumari

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y agree with gato, no need to coin a potentially awkward phrase if we can circumscribe it just as concisely

speaking of, i've added this:
Especially when it comes to EV spreads, try to avoid Pokemon-technical terms unless you absolutely need them--often you'll end up confusing new players or, worse, autopiloting your way to fluff phrases. For example, "minimizes Stealth Rock damage" is just as effective at conveying your point and just as concise as "hits a Stealth Rock number" would have been, and much less vague. A special mention goes to "jump point", which often isn't really relevant information for in-battle scenarios (if your benchmark allows you to hit some significant KOs, just get to the point and state those KOs) and on its own tends to be a pretty arbitrary benchmark to begin with.
And went ahead and added this, since people were confused about this and there's a 100% precedent in status Orb and Berry here:
"Terrain" is always capitalized when talking about a field condition, even when used without a specific name (The Tapu group automatically set up their respective Terrains upon entering the battlefield). If not talking about a field condition, it should not be capitalized (It is not possible to walk this rough terrain without the help of a Mudsdale).
+ since I realised this one should probably be added as I was writing a sample sentence for the previous point, same deal as "Latis" pretty much:
Do not refer to any of Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini together as Tapus.
carry on folks
 
- Silvally: I've set this one as "Silvally-[TYPE]", e.g., "Silvally-Water", for now. People use it from what I've seen, it has no official name to my knowledge
I just wanted to note that according to the Pokédex Silvally's forms are called, "Type: [type]" e.g. "Type: Water". I don't know if that's meant to be "Silvally Type: Water" or "Type: Water Silvally" or just the form name on its own, but that's what they're named.
That said I think the "Silvally-Water" thing is fine (and much easier).
 

Mr. Uncompetitive

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On the topic of Z-Moves, I'd suggest going with Z-<move name> over "Devastating Drake" or whatever, just for the sake of clarity and not having to write the extra prose noting which move the Z-Move will be derived from, considering that the analysis I'm currently checking recommends two separate offensive Dragon moves and has a third one slashed...
 

dhelmise

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Can the standard please be "Z-Move Name"? All of the status moves are already in that format, and it's a lot less complicated (and a lot more consistent) to say "Z-Outrage" when talking about using a Z-Move that has multiple moves of the same type on a set instead of "190 BP Devastating Drake from Outrage". It'd also be easier, for example, to read a Porygon-Z analysis that says "Porygon-Z can use Normalium Z for either Z-Conversion to set up or Z-Tri Attack to deal a lot of damage to the foe" instead of "Porygon-Z can use Normalium Z for either Z-Conversion to set up or 160-Base Power Breakneck Blitz from Tri Attack to deal a lot of damage to the foe."
 

Oglemi

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Agree on standardizing it to Z-<move name>, just because it compresses it nicely and allows for clarity in instances of multiple examples as in the manaphy example
 

Mr. Uncompetitive

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Do we have a rule on the formatting for [Insert type name here] spam teams? A couple different formats I've seen in analyses:

Destiny Bond Carvanha, though niche, also lures in Snubbull, and it forms a DarkSpam core with Vullaby.
Similarly, Hidden Power Fire is an option to lure and eliminate Ferroseed, which can be useful for Water-spam teams, but it [Omanyte] lacks use against most other Pokemon.
I also saw "Dark spam" being used but I can't find the example atm

Conversely, Gato seems to be against the phrase altogether.
 

Lemonade

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Not a fan of "Dark-type spam" etc. _-type is very official sounding, spam is very colloquial, wouldn't say they mix well. Also not good is that "spam" (over)simplifies type stacking playstyles in some cases cuz it's not all about only using that type move (shoutout to BW 6 drag 0 mag though). "Stacking" is probably the better term because it doesn't imply anything about how to use the mons.
 
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