mcpkmn-showdown

An MCP server that gives AI assistants complete knowledge of competitive Pokemon.

Give Claude (or any MCP-compatible LLM) instant access to Pokemon stats, moves, abilities, items, and type matchups—no API keys, no rate limits, works offline.

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Why This Exists

Without this MCP server, getting accurate Pokemon battle data into an LLM is painful:

• Hallucination city — LLMs frequently make up stats, forget abilities, or miscalculate type matchups
• No structured data — You're stuck copy-pasting from Bulbapedia or Serebii
• Can't build agents — No programmatic way for an AI to query battle mechanics

With mcpkmn-showdown:

• Zero hallucination — Data comes directly from Pokemon Showdown, the competitive standard
• Structured responses — Tools return formatted data ready for reasoning
• Agent-ready — Build bots that analyze replays, suggest teams, or play battles

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Quickstart (5 minutes)

1. Install

pip install mcpkmn-showdown

2. Configure Claude Desktop

Add to your config file:

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pokemon": {
      "command": "mcpkmn-showdown"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

4. Try it

Ask Claude: "What's the best ability for Garchomp and why?"

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What You Can Do

Here are concrete workflows this MCP enables:

Workflow	Example Prompt
Team Analysis	"Analyze this team's type coverage and suggest improvements"
Matchup Calc	"Is Choice Scarf Garchomp fast enough to outspeed Dragapult?"
Set Building	"Build a Trick Room sweeper that can handle Fairy types"
Replay Analysis	"What went wrong in this battle? [paste replay log]"
Learning	"Explain how Intimidate affects damage calculations"

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API Reference

Tools Overview

Tool	Purpose	Key Input
get_pokemon	Pokemon stats, types, abilities	name: string
get_move	Move power, accuracy, effects	name: string
get_ability	What an ability does in battle	name: string
get_item	Held item effects	name: string
get_type_effectiveness	Damage multiplier calculation	attack_type, defend_types
search_priority_moves	Find priority moves	min_priority: int
search_pokemon_by_ability	Pokemon with a specific ability	ability: string
list_dangerous_abilities	Battle-critical abilities by category	category: string
get_smogon_usage	Top Pokemon by usage in a format	format: string
get_smogon_sets	Competitive sets (moves, items, EVs)	pokemon, format
get_pokemon_counters	What checks/counters a Pokemon	pokemon, format
get_pokemon_teammates	Best teammates by co-occurrence	pokemon, format
search_pokemon_by_stat	Filter Pokemon by base stats	stat, min_value, max_value
search_moves_by_effect	Find moves by strategic category	effect: string
get_format_info	Format rules and meta characteristics	format: string

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get_pokemon

Look up complete Pokemon data.

Schema:

{
  "name": "string" // Pokemon name (e.g., "garchomp", "Mega Charizard X")
}

Example:

Input:  {"name": "garchomp"}
Output:
  Garchomp
  Types: Ground/Dragon
  Stats: HP 108 | Atk 130 | Def 95 | SpA 80 | SpD 85 | Spe 102
  Abilities: Sand Veil / Rough Skin (Hidden)
  Weight: 95 kg
  Tier: OU

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get_move

Look up move details including effects and priority.

Schema:

{
  "name": "string" // Move name (e.g., "earthquake", "swords-dance")
}

Example:

Input:  {"name": "earthquake"}
Output:
  Earthquake
  Type: Ground | Category: Physical
  Power: 100 | Accuracy: 100%
  PP: 10 | Priority: 0
  Effect: Hits all adjacent Pokemon. Double damage on Dig.

---

get_ability

Look up what an ability does in battle.

Schema:

{
  "name": "string" // Ability name (e.g., "levitate", "protean")
}

Example:

Input:  {"name": "protean"}
Output:
  Protean: This Pokemon's type changes to match the type of the move
  it is about to use. This effect comes after all effects that change
  a move's type.

---

get_item

Look up held item battle effects.

Schema:

{
  "name": "string" // Item name (e.g., "choice-scarf", "leftovers")
}

Example:

Input:  {"name": "choice-scarf"}
Output:
  Choice Scarf: Holder's Speed is 1.5x, but it can only use the first
  move it selects.

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get_type_effectiveness

Calculate type matchup multipliers.

Schema:

{
  "attack_type": "string", // Attacking type (e.g., "electric")
  "defend_types": ["string"] // Defending types (e.g., ["water", "flying"])
}

Example:

Input:  {"attack_type": "electric", "defend_types": ["water", "flying"]}
Output: 4x - Super effective!

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search_priority_moves

Find moves that act before normal speed order.

Schema:

{
  "min_priority": 1 // Minimum priority level (default: 1)
}

Example:

Input:  {"min_priority": 1}
Output:
  +1 Priority: Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch, Ice Shard, Mach Punch,
               Quick Attack, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch...
  +2 Priority: Extreme Speed, Feint...
  +3 Priority: Fake Out...

---

search_pokemon_by_ability

Find all Pokemon with a specific ability.

Schema:

{
  "ability": "string" // Ability name (e.g., "intimidate")
}

Example:

Input:  {"ability": "levitate"}
Output: Azelf, Bronzong, Cresselia, Eelektross, Flygon, Gengar,
        Hydreigon, Latias, Latios, Mismagius, Rotom, Uxie, Vikavolt...

---

list_dangerous_abilities

List abilities that significantly impact battle outcomes.

Schema:

{
  "category": "string" // One of: immunity, defense, reflect, offense,
  // priority, contact, or "all"
}

Categories:

• immunity — Levitate, Flash Fire, Volt Absorb, Water Absorb, etc.
• defense — Multiscale, Fur Coat, Fluffy, Marvel Scale, etc.
• reflect — Magic Bounce
• offense — Huge Power, Pure Power, Gorilla Tactics, etc.
• priority — Prankster, Gale Wings
• contact — Rough Skin, Iron Barbs, Flame Body, Static, etc.

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get_smogon_usage

Get the most-used Pokemon in a competitive format from Smogon stats.

Schema:

{
  "format": "string",  // Format ID (e.g., "gen9ou", "gen9vgc2025")
  "top_n": 20          // Number of results (default: 20)
}

Example:

Input:  {"format": "gen9ou", "top_n": 5}
Output:
  1. Great Tusk (usage count: 619,002) — Top moves: Rapid Spin, Headlong Rush, Ice Spinner
  2. Darkrai (usage count: 500,000) — Top moves: Dark Void, Dark Pulse
  ...

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get_smogon_sets

Get competitive sets for a specific Pokemon: moves, items, abilities, EV spreads, Tera types, and teammates.

Schema:

{
  "pokemon": "string",  // Pokemon name (e.g., "Great Tusk")
  "format": "string"    // Format ID (e.g., "gen9ou")
}

---

get_pokemon_counters

Get what checks and counters a Pokemon in competitive play, with KO and switch-out rates.

Schema:

{
  "pokemon": "string",  // Pokemon name
  "format": "string"    // Format ID
}

---

get_pokemon_teammates

Get the best teammates for a Pokemon based on co-occurrence in competitive teams.

Schema:

{
  "pokemon": "string",  // Pokemon name
  "format": "string"    // Format ID
}

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search_pokemon_by_stat

Find Pokemon filtered by base stat ranges. Useful for building teams around specific stat requirements (e.g., slow Pokemon for Trick Room, fast sweepers, bulky walls).

Schema:

{
  "stat": "string",     // Stat: "hp", "atk", "def", "spa", "spd", "spe"
  "min_value": 0,       // Minimum value (default: 0)
  "max_value": 999,     // Maximum value (default: 999)
  "types": ["string"],  // Optional type filter
  "tier": "string"      // Optional tier filter (e.g., "OU")
}

Example:

Input:  {"stat": "spe", "max_value": 30, "types": ["Steel"]}
Output: Ferrothorn (Grass/Steel, Spe: 20), Stakataka (Rock/Steel, Spe: 13), ...

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search_moves_by_effect

Find moves by strategic category for team building.

Schema:

{
  "effect": "string",    // Category (see below)
  "move_type": "string"  // Optional type filter
}

Categories: spread, priority, recovery, setup, hazard, hazard_removal, weather, terrain, screen, pivot, speed_control, redirection, protect

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get_format_info

Get rules, clauses, bans, and meta characteristics for a competitive format.

Schema:

{
  "format": "string"  // Format name (e.g., "gen9ou", "gen9vgc2025")
}

Supported formats: gen9ou, gen9uu, gen9ubers, gen9vgc2025, gen9doublesou, gen9randombattle

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Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐
│                 │     │                     │     │                  │
│  Claude/LLM     │────▶│  mcpkmn-showdown    │────▶│  Local JSON      │
│                 │ MCP │  (MCP Server)       │     │  Cache           │
│                 │◀────│                     │◀────│                  │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────────┘     └──────────────────┘
                                                            │
                                                            │ (manual update)
                                                            ▼
                                                    ┌──────────────────┐
                                                    │  Pokemon         │
                                                    │  Showdown        │
                                                    │  Data Files      │
                                                    └──────────────────┘

Why MCP?

LLMs hallucinate Pokemon data — wrong stats, forgotten abilities, botched type calculations. MCP tools let the model query authoritative data instead of guessing from training.

Why local JSON instead of connecting to Pokemon Showdown?

Pokemon Showdown doesn't have a REST API. Their data is served as minified JavaScript for their web client. Connecting live would mean parsing JS on every query, network latency, rate limiting concerns, and breaking if they change formats.

Approach	Tradeoff
Local JSON	Instant, offline, reliable — but data can go stale
Live connection	Always fresh — but slow, fragile, requires internet

For reference data (stats, moves, abilities), local is the right call. The data only changes with new games/DLC. Smogon usage stats are fetched live on first request and cached for 30 days (stats update monthly).

Data sources:

• Pokemon Showdown — pokedex.json, moves_showdown.json, abilities_full.json, items.json, typechart.json
• Smogon Stats — Usage statistics, movesets, teammates, counters (fetched on demand, cached locally)

To refresh the static data: python -m mcpkmn_showdown.data_fetcher

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Safety & Limits

Concern	How It's Handled
Rate limits	None — all data is local, no external API calls
Data freshness	Ships with latest Showdown data; manually updateable
Input validation	Names normalized and validated before lookup
Error handling	Returns helpful "not found" messages, never crashes
Credential handling	No credentials needed, no auth, no API keys

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Roadmap

Planned features:

• Live battle integration (connect to a running Showdown battle)
• Team import/export (paste Showdown format, get structured data)
• Damage calculator integration
• Format-specific tier lists and banlists (get_format_info)
• Usage statistics from Smogon (get_smogon_usage, get_smogon_sets)

Help wanted — good first issues:

• Add search_pokemon_by_type tool
• Improve form normalization (regional forms, Gigantamax, etc.)
• Add more test coverage
• Support more formats in get_format_info

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to get started.

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Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines. Quick start:

git clone https://github.com/drewsungg/mcpkmn-showdown.git
cd mcpkmn-showdown
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest                    # Run tests
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector mcpkmn-showdown  # Interactive testing

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I Want Your Feedback!

If you try this out, please let me know:

1. Is the tool naming/schema intuitive for an agent? Would different boundaries help?
2. What's missing for your use case? Teambuilding? Laddering? Replay analysis? Eval harness?
3. Any security/abuse concerns? Anything that could be misused?
4. Does it behave well under load? Concurrent requests? Long sessions?

Open an issue or reach out: @drewsungg

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Related Projects

• pokemon-llm-battle-bot — LLM-powered Pokemon battle bot using this MCP
• Pokemon Showdown — The competitive battle simulator
• Model Context Protocol — The MCP specification

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Author

Andrew Sung

• @drewsungg
• drewsung@stanford.edu