How the Team Builder Works in Pokémon Chess (pokemonchess.com)

Updated

The Team Builder in Pokémon Chess lets you configure and save a custom team of pieces before you host or join a game. You open it from the main menu, assign a Pokémon to each piece slot, then use Save Team to store it under a team name. Once saved, that team is what you play with in matches. If you'd rather not pick manually, Randomise All fills every slot for you, and Randomise Missing fills only the slots you left empty.

What the Team Builder does

According to the site's own update notes, the Team Builder was added so players can "configure and save your teams before joining a game." The interface exposes a set of controls tied to a named team:

  • Team Name — the label your saved team is stored under
  • Randomise All — randomises every piece slot
  • Randomise Missing — randomises only the slots you haven't filled
  • Save Team — stores the current configuration under the team name
  • Clear Team — empties the current configuration
  • Delete — removes a saved team

The page also shows a preloading counter ("Preloading images! 0/197"), which reflects the game loading piece graphics before play.

Step-by-step: building and saving a team

  1. Open Team Builder from the main menu. The button sits alongside Host Game.
  2. Enter a Team Name. This is the identifier you'll see when selecting the team later, so use something you'll recognise.
  3. Assign pieces. Fill in the slots for your team. If you want the game to decide, use Randomise All to fill everything, or Randomise Missing to fill only the empty slots and keep the ones you've already chosen.
  4. Save the team with Save Team. Your configuration is now stored under that team name.
  5. Host or join a game using the saved team. The Team Builder is designed so your saved setup carries into the match.

If you change your mind, Clear Team wipes the current configuration and Delete removes a saved team entirely.

Hosting a game with your team

When you host, the room options let you control how the match runs. The available settings shown on the page are:

Option What it does
Room Name Names the room so others can find it
Room Password Restricts who can join
Disable Critical Hits & Misses Removes critical-hit and miss randomness
Random Teams Forces random teams instead of saved ones
Timer Choose from 10 Mins, Blitz 3|2, or None

Note the interaction: if Random Teams is enabled, it overrides your saved team for that match. If you want to use the team you built, leave Random Teams off.

Common snags

  • Your saved team isn't being used. Check whether the room has Random Teams enabled — that setting enforces random teams and ignores your saved configuration.
  • You only want to fill a few slots. Use Randomise Missing rather than Randomise All, so your existing picks stay intact.
  • You want to start over. Clear Team empties the current setup without deleting the saved entry; Delete removes the saved team.
  • Timer behaviour. The update notes state timers are now tracked on the server rather than each client, which is meant to keep timing consistent between players.

After the game

The board includes a Forfeit button, and the update notes describe it as an alternative to rage-quitting after losing a key piece. There's also a Skip Additional Move button below the board if you don't want to take an extra move, and Switch Sides / Ready controls in the match view. A Rematch? prompt appears at game over.

For bug reports and discussion, the page points to the project's Discord, and it credits the idea and graphics to Little Z with programming by El Xando.