Pokémon Showdown uses three teams formats:
Teams sent over a text format, such as the console command /utm or the command-line ./pokemon-showdown validate-team, will usually used packed format. In addition, backups will automatically switch to packed format if you have enough teams.
Variables storing teams inside PS’s codebase will generally be stored in JSON format. Because we use TypeScript, this will be pretty obvious; the type will be PokemonSet[] (for JSON format) rather than string (for packed format).
Export format is basically only used by the client, to show users.
Export format looks like this:
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Ice Beam
- Hurricane
- Substitute
- Roost
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
Volbeat (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Tail Glow
- Baton Pass
- Encore
- Rain Dance
Seismitoad @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
Alomomola @ Damp Rock
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Rain Dance
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
- Rapid Spin
It’s used for teambuilder import/export features, and not much else. But as a user, this is the only format you’ll see.
JSON format looks like this:
[
{
"name": "",
"species": "Articuno",
"gender": "",
"item": "Leftovers",
"ability": "Pressure",
"evs": {"hp": 252, "atk": 0, "def": 0, "spa": 252, "spd": 4, "spe": 0},
"nature": "Modest",
"ivs": {"hp": 31, "atk": 31, "def": 31, "spa": 30, "spd": 30, "spe": 31},
"moves": ["Ice Beam", "Hurricane", "Substitute", "Roost"]
},
{
"name": "",
"species": "Ludicolo",
"gender": "",
"item": "Life Orb",
"ability": "Swift Swim",
"evs": {"hp": 4, "atk": 0, "def": 0, "spa": 252, "spd": 0, "spe": 252},
"nature": "Modest",
"moves": ["Surf", "Giga Drain", "Ice Beam", "Rain Dance"]
},
{
"name": "",
"species": "Volbeat",
"gender": "M",
"item": "Damp Rock",
"ability": "Prankster",
"evs": {"hp": 248, "atk": 0, "def": 252, "spa": 0, "spd": 8, "spe": 0},
"nature": "Bold",
"moves": ["Tail Glow", "Baton Pass", "Encore", "Rain Dance"]
},
{
"name": "",
"species": "Seismitoad",
"gender": "",
"item": "Life Orb",
"ability": "Swift Swim",
"evs": {"hp": 0, "atk": 0, "def": 0, "spa": 252, "spd": 4, "spe": 252},
"nature": "Modest",
"moves": ["Hydro Pump", "Earth Power", "Stealth Rock", "Rain Dance"]
},
{
"name": "",
"species": "Alomomola",
"gender": "",
"item": "Damp Rock",
"ability": "Regenerator",
"evs": {"hp": 252, "atk": 0, "def": 252, "spa": 0, "spd": 4, "spe": 0},
"nature": "Bold",
"moves": ["Wish", "Protect", "Toxic", "Rain Dance"]
},
{
"name": "",
"species": "Armaldo",
"gender": "",
"item": "Leftovers",
"ability": "Swift Swim",
"evs": {"hp": 128, "atk": 252, "def": 4, "spa": 0, "spd": 0, "spe": 124},
"nature": "Adamant",
"moves": ["X-Scissor", "Stone Edge", "Aqua Tail", "Rapid Spin"]
}
]
Packed format looks like this:
Articuno||leftovers|pressure|icebeam,hurricane,substitute,roost|Modest|252,,,252,4,||,,,30,30,|||]
Ludicolo||lifeorb|swiftswim|surf,gigadrain,icebeam,raindance|Modest|4,,,252,,252|||||]
Volbeat||damprock|prankster|tailglow,batonpass,encore,raindance|Bold|248,,252,,8,|M||||]
Seismitoad||lifeorb|swiftswim|hydropump,earthpower,stealthrock,raindance|Modest|,,,252,4,252|||||]
Alomomola||damprock|regenerator|wish,protect,toxic,raindance|Bold|252,,252,,4,|||||]
Armaldo||leftovers|swiftswim|xscissor,stoneedge,aquatail,rapidspin|Adamant|128,252,4,,,124|||||
(Line breaks added for readability - this is all one line normally.)
The format is a list of pokemon delimited by ], where every Pokémon is:
NICKNAME|SPECIES|ITEM|ABILITY|MOVES|NATURE|EVS|GENDER|IVS|SHINY|LEVEL|HAPPINESS,POKEBALL,HIDDENPOWERTYPE,GIGANTAMAX,DYNAMAXLEVEL,TERATYPE
SPECIES is left blank if it’s identical to NICKNAME
ABILITY is 0, 1, or H if it’s the ability from the corresponding slot
for the Pokémon. It can also be an ability string, for Hackmons etc.
MOVES is a comma-separated list of move IDs.
NATURE left blank means Serious, except in Gen 1-2, where it means no Nature.
EVS and IVS are comma-separated in standard order:
HP, Atk, Def, SpA, SpD, Spe. EVs left blank are 0, IVs left blank are 31.
If all EVs or IVs are blank, the commas can all be left off.
EVS represent AVs in Pokémon Let’s Go.
IVS represent DVs in Gen 1-2. The IV will be divided by 2 and rounded down,
to become DVs (so the default of 31 IVs is converted to 15 DVs).
IVS is post-hyper-training: pre-hyper-training IVs are represented in
HIDDENPOWERTYPE
SHINY is S for shiny, and blank for non-shiny.
LEVEL is left blank for level 100.
HAPPINESS is left blank for 255.
POKEBALL is left blank if it’s a regular Poké Ball.
HIDDENPOWERTYPE is left blank if the Pokémon is not Hyper Trained, if
Hyper Training doesn’t affect IVs, or if it’s represented by a move in
the moves list.
GIGANTAMAX is G for Gmax, blank for non-Gmax.
DYNAMAXLEVEL is left blank for 10.
TERATYPE if left blank will default to the Pokémon’s first type.
If POKEBALL, HIDDENPOWERTYPE, GIGANTAMAX, DYNAMAXLEVEL and TERATYPE
are all blank, the commas will be left off.
Teams.unpack(packedTeam: string): PokemonSet[]
Teams.pack(team: PokemonSet[]): string
Teams.import(exportedTeam: string): PokemonSet[]
Teams.export(team: PokemonSet[]): string
Teams.exportSet(set: PokemonSet): string
To convert from export to packed (or vice versa), just round-trip through PokemonSet: Teams.export(Teams.unpack(packedTeam)) will produce an exported team.
Example use:
const {Teams} = require('pokemon-showdown');
console.log(JSON.stringify(Teams.unpack(
`Articuno||leftovers|pressure|icebeam,hurricane,substitute,roost|Modest|252,,,252,4,||,,,30,30,|||]Ludicolo||lifeorb|swiftswim|surf,gigadrain,icebeam,raindance|Modest|4,,,252,,252|||||]Volbeat||damprock|prankster|tailglow,batonpass,encore,raindance|Bold|248,,252,,8,|M||||]Seismitoad||lifeorb|swiftswim|hydropump,earthpower,stealthrock,raindance|Modest|,,,252,4,252|||||]Alomomola||damprock|regenerator|wish,protect,toxic,raindance|Bold|252,,252,,4,|||||]Armaldo||leftovers|swiftswim|xscissor,stoneedge,aquatail,rapidspin|Adamant|128,252,4,,,124|||||`
)));
// will log the team to console in JSON format
Teams.generate(format: Format | string, options?: {seed: number[4]}): PokemonSet[]
The team validator is separate from the simulator.
In JavaScript, it’s available directly as a function:
const {Teams, TeamValidator} = require('pokemon-showdown');
const validator = new TeamValidator('gen6nu');
const output = validator.validateTeam(
Teams.unpack(
`Articuno||leftovers|pressure|icebeam,hurricane,substitute,roost|Modest|252,,,252,4,||,,,30,30,|||]Ludicolo||lifeorb|swiftswim|surf,gigadrain,icebeam,raindance|Modest|4,,,252,,252|||||]Volbeat||damprock|prankster|tailglow,batonpass,encore,raindance|Bold|248,,252,,8,|M||||]Seismitoad||lifeorb|swiftswim|hydropump,earthpower,stealthrock,raindance|Modest|,,,252,4,252|||||]Alomomola||damprock|regenerator|wish,protect,toxic,raindance|Bold|252,,252,,4,|||||]Armaldo||leftovers|swiftswim|xscissor,stoneedge,aquatail,rapidspin|Adamant|128,252,4,,,124|||||`
)
);
output will be an array of problems, if it’s not a legal team, or null, if it’s a legal team.
If you’re not using JavaScript, all of these APIs (conversion, generating random teams, validating teams) are available via the commandline API: COMMANDLINE.md.
They use standard IO, so any programming language supporting fork/exec should be able to call into them.