HoopaDex — Technical Documentation

Version 1.1 · Last updated 2026-07-22 Documents the published application and the local file app/HoopaDex_1_92.html. Written in ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. Organised with the Diataxis model.

0. About this document

0.1 Purpose

This document tells you how to use, host, and change HoopaDex. A new engineer can use this document to start work without help.

0.2 What HoopaDex is

HoopaDex is a Pokedex web application. It is one HTML file. It has no build step, no server, and no dependencies to install. You open the file and it runs.

The application covers all nine generations of the games. It is generation-aware. It shows the type chart, the base stats, the types, the abilities, and the items as they were in the generation that you select. It does not show only the current values.

0.3 Terms

PART 1 - TUTORIAL

Learn HoopaDex.

1.1 Open the application

1. Double-click app/HoopaDex_1_92.html.
2. The application opens in your browser.

Installation is not necessary. An internet connection is necessary. See Part 3.4.

1.2 Find a Pokemon

1. Type a name in the search bar at the top.
2. Select a result. The application shows the detail view.

The search is fuzzy. It finds a Pokemon if you spell the name incorrectly.

1.3 Compare two Pokemon

1. Find the first Pokemon. Add it to the compare list.
2. Find the second Pokemon. Add it to the compare list.
3. Open the Other tab. Select Compare Pokemon.

1.4 Build a team

1. Open the Team Builder tab.
2. Add a maximum of six Pokemon.
3. Apply a competitive set to a team member. See Part 2.3.

PART 2 - HOW-TO GUIDES

Do one task.

2.1 How to see historical data for one generation

1. Select the generation or the game in the filter.
2. The application changes what it shows.

The application changes these items when you change the generation: - The type chart. For example, Steel resisted Ghost and Dark before generation 6. - The types of a Pokemon. Some Pokemon changed type. Fairy did not exist before generation 6. - The base stats. Some Pokemon received stat changes. - The abilities. The application hides an ability that did not exist in that generation. - The items. The application hides an item that did not exist in that generation. - The evolution chain. The application removes an evolution that did not exist.

2.2 How to find where a Pokemon appears in a game

1. Open the detail view of the Pokemon.
2. Open the Locations tab.
3. Select the game.

The application groups the locations by type of encounter.

2.3 How to apply a competitive set

1. Open the Team Builder tab.
2. Select a team member.
3. Select a competitive set from the list.

The sets come from public Smogon set data. See Part 3.4.

2.4 How to change the theme

1. Click the theme control.
2. The application saves your choice in browser local storage. The key is hoopa-theme.

2.5 How to release a new version

This rule is written on line 2 of the HTML file. Obey it.

1. Edit the file.
2. Increase the version number in the comment on line 2.
3. Rename the file to agree with the comment. For example, change HoopaDex_1_92.html to HoopaDex_1_93.html.
4. Record the change in CHANGELOG.md.

Caution: The version in the comment and the version in the file name must always agree.

2.6 How to host the application

1. Copy the HTML file to a static web host.
2. Do not use a build step. A build step is not necessary.

The application reads public APIs from the browser. Those APIs permit cross-origin requests.

PART 3 - REFERENCE

Facts.

3.1 File

3.2 Tabs

3.3 Generation-aware data tables

The application holds these tables. They let it show historical data correctly.

3.4 External data sources

Important: The application needs an internet connection. It has no offline mode.

3.5 Caching

The application caches responses in memory. This reduces the number of requests. The caches are evoCache, speciesCache, formSpeciesCache, and a TM move index.

The cache is not persistent. The cache clears when you reload the page.

3.6 Champions learnset export

The published version produces champions-learnsets.json. CHOMP consumes this file to check move legality. The file is approximately 1.4 MB.

Canonical location: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/willhoop/hoopadex/main/champions-learnsets.json

Schema

The file is a JSON object. Each key is a move key: the move name in lowercase, with spaces and punctuation removed.

{
  "acidspray": {
    "name": "Acid Spray",
    "type": "Poison",
    "category": "Special",
    "learnedBy": [
      {
        "species": "Venusaur",
        "num": 3,
        "sid": "venusaur",
        "methods": ["TM"],
        "legalIn": ["reg-ma", "reg-mb"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Multiple regulations. The export holds more than one regulation. A species can be legal in one regulation and not legal in another. Always check legalIn for the regulation that you use.

Compatibility rule. This shape is a public contract. CHOMP depends on it. A change to the shape is a breaking change. Increase the version when you change it.

3.7 Published version (GitHub Pages)

The published version is newer than the local file app/HoopaDex_1_92.html. It adds three things.

Live site: https://willhoop.github.io/hoopadex/ Repository: https://github.com/willhoop/hoopadex

Additions over version 1.92

1. Champions mode. A Champions option in the generation selector. In this mode the application limits the Pokémon and the moves to the Champions roster.
2. Damage calculator tab. It uses the official Smogon calculation engine (@smogon/calc). It supports abilities, items, weather, terrain, stat stages, burn, critical hits, spread damage, and screens.
3. Stat Point (SP) system. In Champions mode the calculator uses the SP system: 0 to 32 SP for each stat, a 66-point total budget, fixed 31 IVs, and level 50. Other generations use the classic EV and IV system.

How Champions movesets differ from the main games

Pokémon Champions has no level-up movesets and no TM items. A species can learn a move, or it cannot. Any move it can learn is taught directly, at a cost of 100 VP. There is no order, no level gate, and no item to find.

The export keeps a methods field, but in this format the field carries no information: all 14,192 species-and-move pairs hold the single value ["TM"]. Read the export as a flat legality list for each regulation. Do not read methods as a learn path.

This also means a moveset from Scarlet and Violet is not a guide to Champions legality. The lists differ. For example, Garchomp can learn Surf in Champions.

URL format

The application reads the URL hash to open a specific view. Example: https://willhoop.github.io/hoopadex/#pokedex/gchampions/gm:reg-mb

You do not need a hash to open Champions mode. The application starts in Champions mode on the newest regulation. Use the plain address https://willhoop.github.io/hoopadex/.

Legacy links

Versions before 1.93 wrote g9 into the hash while the application was in Champions mode. The reader then used g9 to leave Champions mode. This made a saved or shared link open the wrong mode. Version 1.93 corrects this in two ways:

1. saveHash() writes gchampions when Champions mode is active.
2. The reader ignores a generation number if the same hash also holds a gm:reg-* token. Therefore old links such as #pokedex/g9/gm:reg-mb now open Champions mode correctly.

tests/test-hash-routing.js holds these rules. The test file reads the parser out of app/index.html, so the test cannot become different from the shipped code.

How to add a new Champions regulation

Do these steps when a new regulation starts.

1. Open app/index.html.
2. Find CHAMPIONS_IDS_MA and REG_MB_NEW. Add a constant for the new species list, for example const REG_MC_NEW=[...] and const CHAMPIONS_IDS_MC=new Set([...CHAMPIONS_IDS_MB,...REG_MC_NEW]);
3. Find the block CHAMPIONS REGULATIONS - newest FIRST. Add one row to the top of the array:

js {key:'reg-mc', short:'m-c', label:'Regulation M-C', ids:()=>CHAMPIONS_IDS_MC},

4. Increment the version number in the comment on line 2.
5. Run node tests/test-hash-routing.js. All tests must pass.

Step 3 is the only change that controls behaviour. The default regulation, the dropdown contents, the URL hash, and the legality note in the move list all read from this array. Do not change them one at a time.

PART 4 - EXPLANATION

Why the design is like this.

4.1 Why the application is one file

One HTML file has no build step, no dependency tree, and no version conflicts. You can email it, open it from a disk, or host it anywhere. For a reference tool that one person maintains, this removes almost all maintenance cost.

The cost is that the file is large. A small change means that you edit a large file. The version rule in Part 2.5 controls that cost.

4.2 Why the application is generation-aware

A Pokedex that shows only current data gives incorrect answers about older games. Steel resisted Ghost and Dark until generation 6. Fairy did not exist until generation 6. Some Pokemon changed type or base stats. A player who uses current data to plan an older game will make mistakes.

Therefore the application stores the historical values. It selects the correct values for the generation that you choose.

4.3 Why the application reads live APIs

The full Pokedex is large. Embedded data would make the file very large, and the data would become old. PokeAPI supplies the bulk data and stays current. The application embeds only the data that PokeAPI does not supply well: historical types, historical stats, item introduction generations, and evolution corrections.

The cost is the internet requirement. This cost is accepted.

4.4 Why the Champions export is a separate file

The Champions export is a separate JSON file, not embedded in the HTML. Two reasons:

1. Size. The export is approximately 1.4 MB. Embedding it would make the application slow to load for every user, including users who never open Champions mode.
2. Reuse. CHOMP reads the same file. A separate file gives one source of truth for legality. If the data were embedded in the HTML, CHOMP would need its own copy, and the two copies would become different over time.

Note on version 1.92. The local file app/HoopaDex_1_92.html does not contain Champions mode and does not produce this export. Champions mode, the damage calculator, and the export are in the published version. See Part 3.7.

References

1. PokeAPI. https://pokeapi.co/
2. PokeAPI sprite repository. https://github.com/PokeAPI/sprites
3. Smogon set data. https://data.pkmn.cc/
4. pokesprite. https://github.com/msikma/pokesprite
5. ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. https://www.asd-ste100.org/
6. Procida, D. Diataxis. https://diataxis.fr/