Team Commands - Pokemon Showdown

Overview

Pokemon Showdown provides several CLI commands for working with teams:

generate-team - Generate random teams for any format
validate-team - Validate teams against format rules
pack-team - Convert teams to packed format
export-team - Convert teams to human-readable format
json-team - Convert teams to JSON format

All team commands use standard input/output, making them easy to pipe together.

Commands that read teams from stdin accept teams in any format (packed, JSON, or exported). However, teambuilder export format may require the entire team to be provided at once.

generate-team

Generates a random team for the specified format and writes it to stdout in packed format.

Syntax

./pokemon-showdown generate-team [FORMAT-ID] [RANDOM-SEED]

Parameters

FORMAT-ID (optional) - The format to generate for (defaults to the latest Random Battles format)
RANDOM-SEED (optional) - Seed for reproducible team generation

Examples

Generate a Random Battle Team

./pokemon-showdown generate-team
./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen9randombattle

Output (packed format):

Pikachu|||lightball|thunderbolt,grassknot,surf,voltswitch|Hasty|,252,,,4,252|||||]Charizard||leftovers||flamethrower,airslash,roost,willowisp|Timid|,,,252,4,252||,,,30,,|||]...

Generate for Different Formats

./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen9ou

Reproducible Generation

Use a seed to generate the same team every time:

./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen9randombattle myseed123

Piping to Other Commands

Generate and Export

Generate a team and immediately convert it to human-readable format:

./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen8randombattle | ./pokemon-showdown export-team

Output:

Kartana @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 74
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off
- Leaf Blade

Rotom (Rotom-Heat) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Level: 82
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
...

Generate and Validate

Generate a Random Battle team and validate it against standard OU:

./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen8randombattle | ./pokemon-showdown validate-team gen8ou

Output (errors expected since Random Battle and OU have different rules):

Your set for Coalossal is flagged as Gigantamax, but Gigantamaxing is disallowed
(If this was a mistake, disable Gigantamaxing on the set.)
Octillery's ability Moody is banned.

validate-team

Validates a team against format rules by reading from stdin.

Syntax

./pokemon-showdown validate-team [FORMAT-ID]

Parameters

FORMAT-ID (optional) - The format to validate against

Exit Codes

0 - Team is valid
1 - Team is invalid (errors written to stderr)

Examples

Validate from File

./pokemon-showdown validate-team gen9ou < myteam.txt

Validate with Pipe

echo "Pikachu|||lightball|thunderbolt,grassknot,surf,voltswitch|Hasty|,252,,,4,252|||||" | ./pokemon-showdown validate-team gen9ou

Check Validation Result

./pokemon-showdown validate-team gen9ou < team.txt
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Team is valid!"
else
    echo "Team is invalid!"
fi

Common Validation Errors

The validator checks many rules including:

Banned Pokemon, moves, items, and abilities
Species clause (no duplicate Pokemon)
Illegal move combinations
Invalid stat distributions
Format-specific restrictions

Example errors:

Your set for Mew is flagged as Gigantamax, but Gigantamaxing is disallowed
Mewtwo is banned.
Rayquaza is banned unless it is not holding a Mega Stone.
Arceus's ability is blanket-banned.

pack-team

Converts a team from any format to packed format.

Syntax

./pokemon-showdown pack-team

Reads team from stdin, writes packed team to stdout.

Examples

Convert Export to Packed

cat team-export.txt | ./pokemon-showdown pack-team

Input (export format):

Pikachu @ Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Surf
- Volt Switch

Output (packed format):

Pikachu|||lightball|thunderbolt,grassknot,surf,voltswitch|Hasty|,252,,,4,252|||||

Save Packed Team

./pokemon-showdown pack-team < team-export.txt > team-packed.txt

export-team

Converts a team from any format to human-readable export format.

Syntax

./pokemon-showdown export-team

Reads team from stdin, writes exported team to stdout.

Examples

Convert Packed to Export

echo "Pikachu|||lightball|thunderbolt,grassknot,surf,voltswitch|Hasty|,252,,,4,252|||||" | ./pokemon-showdown export-team

Output:

Pikachu @ Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Surf
- Volt Switch

Export from File

./pokemon-showdown export-team < team-packed.txt

Save Export

./pokemon-showdown export-team < team-packed.txt > team-export.txt

json-team

Converts a team from any format to JSON format.

Syntax

./pokemon-showdown json-team

Reads team from stdin, writes JSON to stdout.

Examples

Convert to JSON

echo "Pikachu|||lightball|thunderbolt,grassknot,surf,voltswitch|Hasty|,252,,,4,252|||||" | ./pokemon-showdown json-team

Output:

[
  {
    "name": "",
    "species": "Pikachu",
    "gender": "",
    "item": "Light Ball",
    "ability": "Lightning Rod",
    "evs": {"hp": 0, "atk": 252, "def": 0, "spa": 0, "spd": 4, "spe": 252},
    "nature": "Hasty",
    "ivs": {"hp": 31, "atk": 31, "def": 31, "spa": 31, "spd": 31, "spe": 31},
    "moves": ["Thunderbolt", "Grass Knot", "Surf", "Volt Switch"]
  }
]

Pretty Print JSON

./pokemon-showdown json-team < team.txt | jq .

Team Format Reference

Pokemon Showdown uses three team formats:

Packed Format

Compressed format for storage and transmission. Used by generate-team output and server.

JSON Format

Structured format for programmatic use. Used internally by the simulator.

Export Format

Human-readable format. Used by the teambuilder import/export.

Packed Format Structure

NICKNAME|SPECIES|ITEM|ABILITY|MOVES|NATURE|EVS|GENDER|IVS|SHINY|LEVEL|HAPPINESS,POKEBALL,HIDDENPOWERTYPE,GIGANTAMAX,DYNAMAXLEVEL,TERATYPE

Pokemon are separated by ].

JSON Format Structure

{
  "name": "",
  "species": "Pikachu",
  "gender": "",
  "item": "Light Ball",
  "ability": "Lightning Rod",
  "evs": {"hp": 0, "atk": 252, "def": 0, "spa": 0, "spd": 4, "spe": 252},
  "nature": "Hasty",
  "ivs": {"hp": 31, "atk": 31, "def": 31, "spa": 31, "spd": 31, "spe": 31},
  "moves": ["Thunderbolt", "Grass Knot", "Surf", "Volt Switch"]
}

Export Format Structure

Pikachu @ Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Surf
- Volt Switch

Advanced Usage

Batch Processing

Generate and validate multiple teams:

for i in {1..10}; do
    ./pokemon-showdown generate-team gen9ou | ./pokemon-showdown validate-team gen9ou
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "Team $i: Valid"
    else
        echo "Team $i: Invalid"
    fi
done

Format Conversion Pipeline

# Export → Packed → JSON → Export
cat team.txt | ./pokemon-showdown pack-team | ./pokemon-showdown json-team | jq .

Integration with Scripts

import subprocess

def generate_team(format_id):
    result = subprocess.run(
        ['./pokemon-showdown', 'generate-team', format_id],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    return result.stdout.strip()

def validate_team(team, format_id):
    result = subprocess.run(
        ['./pokemon-showdown', 'validate-team', format_id],
        input=team,
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    return result.returncode == 0, result.stderr

# Generate and validate
team = generate_team('gen9ou')
is_valid, errors = validate_team(team, 'gen9ou')

if is_valid:
    print("Team is valid!")
else:
    print(f"Errors: {errors}")

Team Formats

Detailed documentation on all three team formats

Team Validator

Use the team validator in Node.js

Battle Simulation

Use generated teams in battle simulations

Format Data

Learn about available formats and their rules

Battle API

Dex API

Teams API

Protocol Reference

Command-Line Tools

​Overview

​generate-team

​Syntax

​Parameters

​Examples

​Generate a Random Battle Team

​Generate for Different Formats

​Reproducible Generation

​Piping to Other Commands

​Generate and Export

​Generate and Validate

​validate-team

​Syntax

​Parameters

​Exit Codes

​Examples

​Validate from File

​Validate with Pipe

​Check Validation Result

​Common Validation Errors

​pack-team

​Syntax

​Examples

​Convert Export to Packed

​Save Packed Team

​export-team

​Syntax

​Examples

​Convert Packed to Export

​Export from File

​Save Export

​json-team

​Syntax

​Examples

​Convert to JSON

​Pretty Print JSON

​Team Format Reference

Packed Format

JSON Format

Export Format

​Packed Format Structure

​JSON Format Structure

​Export Format Structure

​Advanced Usage

​Batch Processing

​Format Conversion Pipeline

​Integration with Scripts

​Related Documentation

Team Formats

Team Validator

Battle Simulation

Format Data

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

generate-team

Syntax

Parameters

Examples

Generate a Random Battle Team

Generate for Different Formats

Reproducible Generation

Piping to Other Commands

Generate and Export

Generate and Validate

validate-team

Syntax

Parameters

Exit Codes

Examples

Validate from File

Validate with Pipe

Check Validation Result

Common Validation Errors

pack-team

Syntax

Examples

Convert Export to Packed

Save Packed Team

export-team

Syntax

Examples

Convert Packed to Export

Export from File

Save Export

json-team

Syntax

Examples

Convert to JSON

Pretty Print JSON

Team Format Reference

Packed Format Structure

JSON Format Structure

Export Format Structure

Advanced Usage

Batch Processing

Format Conversion Pipeline

Integration with Scripts

Related Documentation