User:SnorlaxMonster/Pokémon Syntax
This article is a proposed policy for Bulbapedia.
Please discuss the proposed policy and suggest possible changes on the article's talk page. |
This is a list of the grammar conventions and syntax officially used when describing the Pokémon series. Bulbapedia should use all of these conventions when relevant—note that quotes should remain the way they are originally and not changed to fit these conventions. Remember that consistency with these conventions is very important, and your cooperation is appreciated.
If you would like to suggest an addition or modification for this page, please do so on the talk page. This page is maintained by SnorlaxMonster.
Vital syntax
Nouns, capitalization, and specific terminology
- The word Pokémon is always capitalized, as well as the names of Pokémon species. So are nouns starting with "Poké", such as Pokégear, PokéNav and Poké Flute. Note, however, that there is no one common trend for spelling of words beginning with "Poké"—they can be written as a compound word, with the second part of the word capitalized or uncapitalized, or as two words with the second word capitalized. Also note that this applies to many nouns starting with "Pokémon", such as with Pokémon Trainer.
- The plural of "Pokémon" is "Pokémon", as is the plural of every Pokémon species the same as the singular, much like moose or sheep.
- Items and all words in them are always capitalized; they are considered proper nouns for the purposes of Bulbapedia. "Leftovers", "Escape Rope", or "Water Stone" are all correct as written; a page would not be titled "Water stone". Case should match that of the game text, such as the DeepSeaTooth. Note that the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games do not utilize CamelCase, so when referring to the items in these games that matching case should be used, like Deepseatooth.
- Locations should also be capitalized in a manner consistent with English grammar; Ruins of Alph has the A in Alph always capitalized, while numbered routes, such as Route 101, Route 217, and so on, are proper nouns and must have the R capitalized.
- Specific types are called "the Water type" and "the Rock type" when used as nouns and "Water-type" and "Rock-type" when used as adjectives, while their subject pages are Water (type) and Rock (type), respectively. Squirtle is a "Water-type" is not correct; Squirtle is a Water type and Squirtle is a Water-type Pokémon are. When linking as an adjective, it is preferred that
{{type|Water}}
is used rather than{{t|Water}}-type
. - Evolutionary levels should be designated as "unevolved", "first evolution", and "second evolution" for Pokémon that have undergone zero, one, and two evolutions respectively during their development. TCG terminology of "basic Pokémon", "stage 1 Pokémon" and "stage 2 Pokémon" should not spill over into other media, as Pikachu and several other Pokémon are considered basic in the TCG sense, yet are Pokémon that have undergone one evolution in their lifetimes, making them first-evolution Pokémon, more akin to Charmeleon than unevolved Pokémon, which their pre-evolutions are.
Hyphenation
- "Super effective" is not hyphenated when used as the object of a conjugation of the verb "to be" ("The attack was super effective"), but is hyphenated when used adjectivally in front of a noun ("A super-effective attack").
- "Day-Care Couple", "Day-Care Man", "Day-Care Lady", and "Day-Care Checker" are all hyphenated as it is used as an adjective in these phrases. "Pokémon Day Care", and "Day Care" when used as a noun, are not hyphenated. While the term "Day-Care Center" does not appear in any Pokémon game, it can be assumed to be hyphenated due to it being used as an adjective rather than a noun in this phrase. All are also always capitalized.
Types
- The types themselves are always capitalized, regardless of context
- As adjectives, types are "<typename>-type".
- Example: Squirtle is a Water-type Pokémon.
- As nouns referring to a Pokémon of that type, they are "<typename> type"*
- As nouns referring to the types themselves, they are "<typename>" or "the <typename> type".
- Example: Fire is super effective against Grass-type Pokémon.
- Example: The Steel type was introduced in Generation II.
- This means that "Water-types" is never correct, as when hyphenated, they are always adjectives.
- Anime episode titles may go against the standard, such as The Grass-Type Is Always Greener! and Battling For The Love of Bug-Types!.
Capitalization
Capitalized
The following words are always capitalized:
- Pokémon
- Poké-
- Trainer
- Pokémon Professor
- Ability
- Hidden Ability
- Egg
- Egg Group
- Berry
- Gym
- Ball
- Badge
- Symbol
- Shiny
- Single Battle
- Double Battle
- Triple Battle
- Rotation Battle
- Launcher Battle
- Prop
- Plate
- Contest
- Ribbon
- Accessory
- Backdrop
- Fossil
- Move Tutor
- Pokémon Day Care
- Day Care
- Day-Care Man
- Day-Care Lady
- Day-Care Couple
- Power Points
- Battle Video
- Pokémon Storage System
- Box
- Mystery Gift
- Safari Game
- Rock
- Mud
- Bait
- Catching Show
- the Underground
- Area
- Plasma Ship
- Advanced Generation series
- Diamond and Pearl series
- Best Wishes series
- Aura
- Pokémon Stylist
- Ghost World
The names of all people, Pokémon, moves, Abilities, items, Trainer classes, stats (except accuracy and evasion), and villainous teams are also always capitalized, as are officially named locations (places like "Kurt's house" do not count).
Uncapitalized
- legendary Pokémon (while often capitalized on merchandise, and even on the box of Pokémon Black and White, it is never capitalized in-game, so should not be)
- mythical Pokémon (while often capitalized on merchandise, it is never capitalized in-game, so should not be)
- nature (while capitalized in some strategy guides, it is not in-game)
- move
- item
- level
- gender
- The names of status ailments
- The names of seasons
- The names of weather conditions
- The names of phenomena
- wild
- rental Pokémon*
- substitute (the actual doll, not the move)
- physical move
- special move
- status move
- scalchop
- seamitar
All unofficial terms are lowercase by default.
CamelCase
The
Present
The following always have "the":
- The Slowpoke Well
- The Glitter Lighthouse
- The Tin Tower*
- The Bell Tower*
- The Whirl Islands
- The Cave of Origin
- The Sky Pillar
- The Eterna Forest*
- The Vista Lighthouse
- The Spear Pillar
- The Snowpoint Temple
- The Skyarrow Bridge
- The Driftveil Drawbridge
- The Tubeline Bridge
- The Celestial Tower
- The Entralink
- The Pokémon Global Link
- The Pokémon Dream World
- The Global Battle Union
- The Pleasant Forest
- The Windswept Sky
- The Sparkling Sea
- The Spooky Manor
- The Rugged Mountain
- The Icy Cave
Absent
The following do not use "the":
- Victory Road (all)
- Geonet
- Pal Park
- Soul Dew
- Pinwheel Forest
- Gear Station
- Marvelous Bridge
- Unity Tower
- Dragonspiral Tower
- White Forest
- Black City