Much like other competitive games, Pokémon has seasons with differing rulesets and formats. Currently, the Ranked Battles Series 8 rules allow competitors to use one Legendary Pokémon on their team, leading to all sorts of new strategies and team compositions. However, the official rules for Ranked Battles Series 9, which begins on May 1st, have already been released and will be a return to the standard ruleset.
The blog post says the rules are “identical to Ranked Battles Series 7”, which includes the ban on all Mythical Pokémon, as well as many Legendaries, like Mewtwo and Kyogre. The complete rules are as follows:
Eligible Pokémon
- Pokémon need to have either the Galar symbol—showing that they were caught, received, or hatched in the Galar region—or the battle-ready symbol, showing that they were transferred from another game and adapted to battles in the Galar region.
- All Pokémon from the Galar Pokédex, the Isle of Armor Pokédex, and the Crown Tundra Pokédex, excluding the following Pokémon: Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Cosmog, Comoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Zacian, Zamazenta, Eternatus, Calyrex, and all Mythical Pokémon.
- Pokémon with the Gigantamax Factor are permitted.
- All Pokémon will be set to Lv. 50, including Pokémon below Lv. 50.
- Duplicate Pokémon are not allowed.
- Duplicate held items are not allowed.
Timer Regulations
- Each battle begins with a 90-second Team Preview phase.
- In each battle, players have the following time limits:
- 7 minutes of Your Time
- 45 seconds of Move Time
- 20 minutes of Game Time
The new season begins on May 1st, so start planning and building your teams now!
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Written by Bryan Finch
A video editor by trade, Bryan Finch is a lifetime Nintendo fan, and he loves writing about his passions. He also spends too much time playing and watching fighting games. Bryan enjoys movies, comics, cooking with his wife, and the idea of Elite Beat Agents 2.
