If you've only ever played the single-player campaign, competitive Pokémon seems easy. Teach your level 100 Charizard Earthquake and win, right?
As it turns out, winning at multiplayer Pokémon - beating another human player, becoming world champion - is extraordinarily difficult. Answering why is also difficult, because competitive Pokémon is so complex it's hard to even put into words.
There are over 1,000 different Pokémon species and 900 different moves to choose from.
Selecting the right team is tough enough - but then you actually have to battle someone with their own carefully trained team.
The strategy is like a tangled web: answer one question and many more follow. This document untangles it by identifying the fundamental building blocks that make competitive Pokémon what it is as a strategic game.