Global Battle Union

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The Global Battle Union (Japanese: グローバルバトルユニオン Global Battle Union), commonly shortened to GBU, is a part of the Pokémon Global Link that displays battle records from the Random Matchup Rating mode in Pokémon Black and White and Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

Japanese Global Battle Union logo

In order to access the Global Battle Union, a player must have a Pokémon Global Link account. Rankings cannot even be seen without logging on to the site first.

It was succeeded by Battle Spot in the Generation VI and VII games.

Random Matchup

Random Matchup (Japanese: ランダムマッチ Random Match) can be accessed through the Global Terminal inside any Pokémon Center. Players are given the option to choose the battle mode between Single Battle, Double Battle, Triple Battle, Rotation Battle, or Launcher Battle. The option for Free mode (Japanese: フリーモード Free Mode) and Rating mode (Japanese: レーティングモード Rating Mode) is then given, the latter of which is the concern of the Global Battle Union. Rating mode requires players to have a Black or White game synced with a corresponding Global Link account. Players start out with a 1500 Rating that increases or decreases depending on the outcome of the battle. Players are more likely to battle other players of the same rating.

Rating

 
Selecting a prize avatar

Every season, once a player has completed ten Random Matchup Wi-Fi battles (ties and incomplete battles do not count) of any format, they are added into the rating system of the Global Battle Union. All players are rated according to the number of points that they have. The points are generally intended to account for the win-loss record of that player.

In addition to seeing the general ratings and points of other players, players can also view an "advanced" version of their own ratings by clicking a "details" button on the page. Ratings, along with other information, can be transferred when using another Nintendo DS console by transferring Wi-Fi Connection settings.

Besides being able to see the overall rankings of each player, ratings can also be filtered by battle format (Single, Double, Triple, Launcher, or Rotation Battles) as well as by location of the player.

Players that end a season rated in the top 100 of the overall ratings receive a special trophy avatar on the Global Link.

Rules

In Rating mode, players must follow a certain set of rules. Players who choose Free mode have the option to make use of these rules. The rules are subject to changes caused by the likes of glitches, world championships, overall balance, and unreleased Pokémon. For example, as mentioned in the games, the initial list of banned Pokémon only included the following: Pokémon Eggs, Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Chatot, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. The list of course excluded Keldeo, Meloetta, and Genesect as they were yet to be released. If a player has Pokémon Black and White Version 2, Therian Formes of Thundurus, Tornadus and Landorus are also not allowed since they can't be obtained in Black and White.

ALL Random Matchup      
R
G
B
Y
St
St
G
S
C
St2
R
S
E
FR
LG
Colo
XD
D
P
Pt
HG
SS
PBR
B
W
B2
W2
Duration N/A
Registration N/A
Release of Rankings End of every season
Maximum Entries N/A
  Clauses  
Evasion Clause
Sleep Clause
Freeze Clause
Self-KO Clause
Item Clause
Species Clause
Updates
  • November 10, 2010
Sky Drop can no longer be used.
  • December 27, 2011
Dark Void can no longer be used.
  Banned Pokémon  
Pokémon from the following Generations:
I
II
III
IV
V

                            
  Banned Items  
 
 
 
ALL
NONE
N/A
  Banned Moves  
  Sky Drop  
  Dark Void  
  Hyper Beam  
  Hyper Beam  
  Hyper Beam  
NONE
  Rules  
Format Single Battle
Party 4 per battle
6 per entry
Format Party
Single Battle 3 per battle
3-6 per entry
Double Battle 4 per battle
4-6 per entry
Triple Battle 6 per battle
6 per entry
Rotation Battle 4 per battle
4-6 per entry
Battle Time 1 hour
Command Time 2 minutes
Total Level None
Level Cap 50
  Clauses  
Evasion Clause
Sleep Clause
Freeze Clause
Self-KO Clause
Item Clause
Species Clause
  • All Pokémon, items, moves, and Abilities unreleased or unobtainable legitimately during the duration of the battles under Random Matchup are also banned, but they are not specifically listed.

Seasons

Every three months, the Global Battle Union ends a season on a Tuesday, and an extended maintenance session of the whole Pokémon Global Link is scheduled before the day of season interchange. The following day, a Wednesday, a new season will begin. Final rankings are released two to three weeks after a season ends. Once a new season starts, players start over with zero points.

Listed below are all of the Global Battle Union seasons that have been scheduled:

  • Season 1: April 13 to June 28, 2011
  • Season 2: June 29 to September 27, 2011
  • Season 3: September 28 to December 27, 2011
  • Season 4: December 28, 2011 to March 27, 2012
  • Season 5: March 28, 2012 to June 19, 2012
  • Season 6: June 20, 2012 to September 25, 2012
  • Season 7: September 26, 2012 to December 25, 2012
  • Season 8: December 26, 2012 to March 26, 2013
  • Season 9: March 27, 2013 to June 25, 2013

Wi-Fi Competitions

In addition to its ranking system, the Global Battle Union serves as the venue for Wi-Fi Competition (Japanese: Wi-Fi大会 Wi-Fi Competition) registration. A Digital Player ID is given after registering via the Battle Competition in the main menu of Black, White, Black 2, and White 2. The Pokémon in the Battle Box will be used in the competition, which is then registered and locked. The Pokémon and the order of their moves may not be changed after it locks. Choosing the Battle Competition option again will allow players to participate in battles for the competition. Players can only cancel participation via the Battle Competition option, not the Global Battle Union.

List of competitions

Main article: List of Wi-Fi Competitions in Generation V

In other languages

Language Title
  French Global Battle Union (GBU)
  German Global Battle Union (GBU)
  Italian Global Battle Union (GBU)
  Korean 글로벌 배틀 유니언 Global Battle Union (GBU)
  Spanish Global Battle Union (GBU)

Random Matchup

Language Title
  French Rencontre Aléatoire
  German Zufallsmatch
  Italian Abbinamento a Caso
  Korean 랜덤매치 Random Match
  Spanish Emparej. Aleatorio

Free mode

Language Title
  French Mode Rencontre Aléatoire Libre
  German Freier Modus
  Italian Modalità Abbinamento a Caso - Libero
  Korean 프리 모드 Free Mode
  Spanish Modo Libre

Rating mode

Language Title
  French Mode Rencontre Aléatoire Rang
  German Bewertungsmodus
  Italian Modalità Abbinamento a Caso - Punteggio
  Korean 레이팅 모드 Rating Mode
  Spanish Modo Ptos. Clasif.

Wi-Fi Competition

Language Title
  French Compétition Wi-Fi
  German Wi-Fi-Turnier
  Italian Gara Wi-Fi
  Korean Wi-Fi 대회 Wi-Fi Daehoe
  Spanish Torneo Wi-Fi
  This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.