Q: I had a friend offer to battle me, but when I sent out Deoxys, he told me, "You can't use him, he's uber!" He started listing Pokémon that supposedly can't be used - What gives?
Jermy, Norfolk, VA
A: There are online battling communities that go by a slightly different set of rules from the Nintendo tournaments - the tiers go from Uber to Overused (OU) to Borderline (BL) to Underused (UU) to Never used (NU). Most tournaments only allow OU and below Pokémon, which omit the 23 Uber Pokémon from competitive play. The full list of tiers can be found at
http://www.smogon.com/dp/tiers.
However, that doesn't mean you won't be able to use your Ubers in official events; Nintendo's video game championship allows for them. Certain Pokémon that were only obtainable at events for some players aren't allowed: Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Shaymin and Arceus are barred from those competitions this year. However, you can use a maximum of two of the following Pokémon: Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Hope that helps!
