That "high level play" qualification is what worries me... I feel it necessary to point out that Pokemon is played at multiple levels, and I don't feel like being newbie-unfriendly is particularly desirable.Also, I think you underestimate the negative effect of a misclick on high level play- very rarely does a misclick not have an extreme adverse effect on the player. The fact that a misclick with any implementation of Sleep Clause leads to instant forfeiture rather than a slow death due to losing an important Pokemon is pretty much just a technicality.
The reason Chess is more timeless than Monopoly, the reason StarCraft is more timeless than Total Annihilation (or their spiritual successors, StarCraft 2 and Supreme Commander respectively) is because of their newbie-friendliness, by way of their lack of hidden "gotchas" like Sleep Clause #4 would be.
The only part of my post that contained the word 'misclick' was the sentence "I'm not referring to misclicks".On top of that the potential for misclicks that instantly end the game does exist on the cartridge
If it comes to that, I will definitely implement such a change.Finally, if the fear is that great, you can implement a "are you sure" where the person has to confirm their move if it has the potential to break Sleep Clause.
But I feel like requiring such an invasive UI change is a massive warning sign that we're doing it the wrong way.
This is semantics.By explicitly defining it as a rule rather than a "win/lose condition" and noting that any real adverse side effects that may exist (potential for misclicks, need for risk-based prediction) are already inherent in the game and punished significantly regardless of the implementation of Sleep Clause, the "disadvantages" of option #4 are practically nonexistant.
The point is that it's not you deciding whether or not you break the "rule", it's the RNG. I feel that at that point, it shouldn't be called a "rule" and should be called a game mechanic, but even if you think it should be called a rule, the fact remains:
It's not you deciding whether or not you break the "rule", it's the RNG.