Set up tools/import-pokedb/ with CLI, JSON loader, and output models. Replaces the Go/PokeAPI approach with local PokeDB.org JSON processing. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
4.8 KiB
4.8 KiB
title, status, type, priority, created_at, updated_at, parent, blocking
| title | status | type | priority | created_at | updated_at | parent | blocking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build PokeDB.org data import tool | in-progress | feature | normal | 2026-02-10T14:04:11Z | 2026-02-11T08:44:03Z | nuzlocke-tracker-rzu4 |
|
Build a standalone Python tool that converts PokeDB.org's JSON data export into our existing seed JSON format. This replaces PokeAPI as the single source of truth for ALL games (Gen 1-9).
Python was chosen over Go because:
- The backend is already Python, so the team is familiar with it
- We're processing local JSON files — no need for Go's concurrency
- Remains a standalone tool in
tools/import-pokedb/, not part of the backend
Data source
PokeDB.org provides a full data export at https://pokedb.org/data-export with JSON downloads:
encounters.json(69MB, 37,724 records) — all encounter data across all gameslocations.json— 839 locationslocation_areas.json— 2,672 location areasencounter_methods.json— 73 encounter methodsversions.json— 82 game versionspokemon_forms.json— Pokemon forms with identifiers
No scraping required. Just download the JSON files and process them locally.
Terms of use: "Data is provided for educational, research, and non-commercial purposes." Attribution to PokeDB requested.
Encounter data coverage
Encounter counts by version:
- Sword: 10,160 / Shield: 10,144
- Scarlet: 4,135 / Violet: 4,101
- SoulSilver: 2,492 / HeartGold: 2,475
- Shining Pearl: 2,021 / Brilliant Diamond: 2,013
- Legends Arceus: 1,756
- Black 2: 1,418 / White 2: 1,418
- Crystal: 1,375 / Alpha Sapphire: 1,338 / Platinum: 1,337
- Diamond: 1,292 / Pearl: 1,289 / Silver: 1,284 / Gold: 1,282
- LeafGreen: 987 / FireRed: 985 / White: 981 / Black: 947
- Ultra Moon: 886 / Ultra Sun: 885 / X: 880 / Y: 879
- Emerald: 763 / Let's Go Eevee: 710 / Sun: 709 / Moon: 707
- Sapphire: 707 / Ruby: 707 / Let's Go Pikachu: 690
- Blue: 528 / Red: 526 / Yellow: 496
Data format details
Each encounter record has:
pokemon_form_identifier— e.g. "pidgey-default", "mr-mime-default"version_identifiers— array of game version IDs (e.g. ["sword", "shield"])location_area_identifier— e.g. "route-01-kanto", "axews-eye"encounter_method_identifier— e.g. "walking-tall-grass", "surfing", "npc-trade"levels— string like "2 - 4" or "67"- Rate fields vary by game generation:
- Gen 1/3/6:
rate_overall(single percentage) - Gen 2/4:
rate_morning,rate_day,rate_night(time-of-day percentages) - Gen 5:
rate_spring,rate_summer,rate_autumn,rate_winter(seasonal) - Gen 8 Sw/Sh:
weather_*_ratefields (per-weather percentages, e.g. "40%") - Gen 8 Legends Arceus:
during_*andwhile_*booleans (time+weather conditions) - Gen 9 Sc/Vi:
probability_*fields (overworld probability weights)
- Gen 1/3/6:
trade_for— Pokemon form identifier for NPC tradesalpha_levels— for Legends Arceus alpha encountersvisible— overworld vs hidden encounter- Max Raid and Tera Raid fields for special encounters
Subtasks
Work is broken into child task beans:
- Set up Python tool scaffold — project structure, CLI entry point, PokeDB JSON file loading
- Build reference data mappings — pokemon_form → pokeapi_id, location_area → name/region, encounter method mapping
- Core encounter processing — filter by game version, parse levels, handle rate variants, group by location area
- Output seed JSON — produce per-game JSON in existing format, integrate route ordering + special encounters
- Validation & full generation — compare against existing data, run for all games, fix discrepancies
Encounter method mapping (draft)
PokeDB method → Our seed method:
walking-tall-grass,walking-*→ "walk"surfing,surfing-*→ "surf"fishing-old-rod→ "old-rod"fishing-good-rod→ "good-rod"fishing-super-rod→ "super-rod"fishing→ "fishing"rock-smash→ "rock-smash"headbutt-*→ "headbutt"npc-gift,egg,revive→ "gift"npc-trade→ "trade"symbol-encounter→ "walk" (overworld, Gen 8+)wanderer→ "walk" (overworld visible)fixed-encounter,static-encounter→ "static"swarm→ "swarm"poke-radar→ "pokeradar"dual-slot-mode→ "dual-slot"- Others: TBD based on relevance
Notes
- This tool replaces
tools/fetch-pokeapi/as the primary data source for all games - Pokemon form identifiers need mapping to pokeapi IDs — may need a fuzzy match since naming conventions differ
- The existing
pokemon.jsonhas names and pokeapi IDs we can use as a lookup - S/V probability weights are not percentages — they represent relative spawn weights
- Legends Arceus uses boolean conditions (during_night + while_clear) rather than rates