The Unpopular Kids

There's a famous saying among fans of Pokémon which states that "every Pokémon is someone's favorite." It might be because of its cool design, its strength in battle, or even its appearance in the anime. Whatever the reason, there's a Pokémon out there for everyone. While it's likely true that each Pokémon is loved by someone (yes, even bruxish), it's clear that some are loved a lot more than others. No matter where you look, you're bound to spot fans of icons like Pikachu, Eevee, and Charizard. On the other hand, you would be hard pressed to run into a genuine fan of a Pokémon like Avalugg. The popularity of a Pokémon is often a deciding factor for how it is treated by the franchise, whether it be through new forms in the games or a wider selection of merchandise themed around it. A great example would be Charizard's constant attention by Game Freak, or Greninja receiving a special new form when paired with Ash Ketchum. This begs the question, how does a Pokémon's popularity reflect its treatment inside TCG Pocket? This is a question that I aim to explore as we kick off season 2 of the PTSD league.

In 2020, Pokémon partnered with Google for their 25th anniversary celebration and created the "Pokémon of the Year" poll, asking people around the world who their favorite Pokémon is. Greninja unsurprisingly won by a landslide, receiving over 40% more votes than the 2nd place finisher, Lucario. This poll was used to help determine the final banlist for this tournaments, the results of which can be found here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_of_the_Year Bulbapedia lists the top 30 most voted Pokémon from generations 1 through 8, none of which are allowed to be included in your deck. Along with this banlist come three additional restrictions:

• No Starter Pokémon: Starter Pokémon almost always stand out, given how all players gets to choose one of them at the start of each game. This restriction namely bans Meowscarada, who did not exist when this poll was conducted as well as Chesnaught, who is one of only two starters who didn't make the list.

• No Legendaries, Mythicals, or Ultra Beasts: Like the starters, legendaries are by far some of the most beloved Pokémon given their strong power, importance to the story plot, and extremely limited availability within the games. Many legendaries already appear on the banlist, but a few notable exceptions like Raikou and Palkia do not. This restriction also has the benefit of banning both Guzzlord and Celesteela, which was a concern of mine when examining the remaining available options.

• No Mega Evolutions: Out of all the single generation gimmicks that Pokémon has implemented, mega evolutions are without a doubt the most popular. If you haven't already guessed, most of the current mega evolutions in Pocket are already banned in the poll, leaving only Pidgeot, Gyarados, Steelix, and Kangaskhan behind. This restriction will remove the threat of megas entirely.

• B2 Rampardos is banned: Due to the strength that the fighting type has in this format alongside the exclusion of many other strong cards, a decision was made to emergency ban Rampardos to prevent it from potentially dominating the format. Aside from this one exception every other card in the game follows the above rules and requirements.

Before I kick off the first tournament of the season, I want to provide some clarifying rules to help answer any questions that players may have.

• If one Pokémon in an evolution line is banned, the entire evolution line is. For example, Scyther does not appear in the top 30 Kanto Pokémon, but its evolution, Scizor, appears in the top 30 Johto Pokémon. This rule states that both Scyther and Scizor are banned. This is done to help simplify the deckbuilding rules for everyone.

• Baby Pokémon are not considered part of another evolutionary line. In Pocket, baby Pokémon are treated as a distinct evolutionary line compared to their evolutions. The same logic applies to the banlist in this tournament. If the final stage of a baby Pokémon is banned, the baby is allowed and vice versa.

• Regional forms are not considered different Pokémon. The banlist does not differentiate regional forms, and treats them as identical to its native appearance. For example, because Muk is on the banlist, Alolan Muk EX is also banned. This is due to the fact that regional forms did not appear on the poll.

• Aside from Meowscarada and Ogerpon, all Pokémon introduced in generation 9 are allowed. When this poll was conducted, Scarlet and Violet had not been released. To keep things fair, all Pokémon introduced in generation 9 are exempt from the banlist, with the aforementioned exception. Keep in mind that these Pokémon are still subject to the rule about regional forms, therefore Paldean Wooper and Clodsire cannot be used.

• Make sure you are following the 2020 Google poll for your banlist. The bulbapedia article also lists a similar poll held exclusively in Japan in 2021. The results of that poll were not considered when making the banlist.

• All trainers and supporter cards are allowed, with the exception of Lucky Ice Pop. Sorry ice pop enjoyers :(

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me or any of the gym leaders. I wish everyone good luck and let's make season 2 an exciting one!