Pokémon fans are furious as top tier ‘mon is banned for a controversial reason – players fight back against the decision

POKÉMON has just wrapped up the Sacramento Regional Championship, but players aren’t happy with the outcome.

One Pokémon that made it very far in the competition was banned on day two of the tournament for a controversial reason.

The Pokémon Company

Brian Collins banned Gallade is shown here by the Pokéball Icon.[/caption]

The Pokémon World Championships had a record number of disqualifications this year, after hacking checks were more strict than ever before.

However, the banned Pokémon was caught legitimately in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and was banned for other reasons.

Brian Collins made it all the way to the top eight players of the tournament despite having one of his Pokémon disqualified from the competition.

Those watching the livestream could see that Collins only had five Pokémon on their team, despite everyone bringing six ‘mons to the tournament

The missing Pokémon was explained as a “Team sheet error” which means that what Collins wrote on the form did not match the Pokémon that they brought.

However, according to posts by Collins and other players on social media, the only thing that was disqualifiable was the nickname.

Collins was running a Gallade nicknamed “Ceruledge” which, as the name of another Pokémon, is banned by the official rules.

The rule reads: “A player’s team cannot contain a Pokémon nicknamed with the name of another Pokémon (for example, a Raichu named “Pikachu”).”

In the past, this rule was very important as players didn’t know all of the Pokémon on the other team, and would be at a disadvantage if they thought it was a different Pokémon.

However, now Pokémon competes with an ‘open team sheet’ format, meaning that the teams are aware of almost every aspect of their opponents’ lineup.

Fan reactions are split over the decision, with some saying the rule is clearly stated, and others saying it’s too outdated to matter.

Collins was still able to finish the tournament in seventh place despite the clear disadvantage.

If you want to learn more about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, you can check out our hub page, including everything you need to know about competitive play.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.