Clover Writing Guidelines

What is this?

A collection of worldbuilding and lore aspects that are generally agreed on by the writers in the thread. An example of this is whether or not meat is consumed in the setting.
This is not a strict set of rules that must be followed by everyone. Instead, it is just intended to be a guide for newcomers who are interested in how the thread writers approach some aspects of the PMD world, and want their stories to be consistent with that.

Food

The thread writers treat Pokémon as being mostly vegetarian, with the only meat source in the setting being Slowpoke tails.
A few writers take dietary restrictions into consideration, such as bug-types not being able to eat some foods, but most writers just write all species as being able to eat everything.

Items

When describing the appearance of items, writers usually use the designs from Rescue Team DX. There is no consensus on item sizes.

Wonder Orbs
So far they have been written as working like in the games, with the divergence being in how writers describe their activation. Some write them as having to be shattered to activate, while others just have them activate on command.

Berries
For healing berries like Oran and Sitrus, most writers just describe them as instantly healing upon being eaten. Some writers opt to have the berries work by applying their juices directly on the wounds or bandages rather than being eaten, and some have the healing be gradual rather than instant.
For the other berries (Pecha, Cheri, etc.), they are generally written as working just like in the games.

Seeds
Almost always written as working just like in the games. For seeds like Stun Seed, they are usually written as having to be thrown at the opponent's mouth to work.
Blast Seeds are either written as the user eating them and spitting out fire, or as the user taking a bite and then throwing them like a grenade.

Reviver Seeds
Some writers use them, and some write them as requiring being eaten to heal rather than instantly activating like in the games. However, most writers prefer to pretend Reviver Seeds don't exist since the characters would have no reason to not carry around a bag full of the seeds if they existed and worked like in the games.

Lookalike Items
They exist in the setting and are used in some stories.

Scarves
The scarves with effects are used by some writers, while other writers treat them as being purely for decorative purposes without any effects. However, the writers who treat the scarves as having special properties so far have only used the ones that increase stats (like Zinc Band), so stuff like Big Eater Belt or Mobile Scarf hasn't been acknowledged yet.

Exclusive Items

Mystery Dungeons

Most writers treat them as working just like in the games, with traps and monster houses. The main difference being that some portrait them without the "magical stairs" that take you to other "floors".
The dungeon enemies are usually depicted as constructs of the dungeon, which means they are soulless and emotionless creatures that disappear after being defeated.
When it comes to being defeated in a mystery dungeon, some writers have the character simply get safely booted out of the dungeon just like in the games, but most writers treat them as dangerous with the real possibility of dying upon defeat.
Not all dungeons are mystery dungeons. Several stories take place in regular caves populated by wild

Travelling and Continents

Capim

The Guildhall

Events of the PMD Games and Humans

The events of Rescue Team are usually treated as having already happened, but other than that there is no consensus when it comes to the placement of the Clover Guild stories in the PMD games' timeline, and the events and characters from the games are not usually brought up in stories.
The Wigglytuff Guild from the Explorers games is the main exception. It is sometimes referenced in stories, flat out appears in some, and Chatot had a major role in the events of the guild's first collaborative writing project (Enter the Federation). The Wigglytuff Guild is on bad terms with the Clover Guild since the events of The First Day on the Job, which resulted in Apple Woods being burnt down.

Excluding the Clover Guild's humans-turned-Pokémon, humans are generally seen as a rare and elusive. No stories have brought up traces of human civilization existing in the PMD world. However, some authors have added traces that show that humans (other than the ones from Clover Guild and PMD games) have been transported to the PMD world and transformed into Pokémon before the events of the Clover Guild stories.

Clover Guild's Reputation

The guild is usually seen in a negative light by the natives, but that is hardly universal. Most natives treat the members in a friendly manner just like regular Pokémon, some think they are a bit weird but still nice, while some openly express their displeasure when interacting with the members.
The guild's negative reputation comes from the eccentric nature of some members, the members being "self-proclaimed" humans (some natives don't believe the humans in the guild are actually human), and the trouble caused by events such as the burning of Apple Woods.

(Federation)

Legendaries and Mythicals

Legendary and mythical Pokémon exist in the setting and are referenced often in dialogue, but outside of that all writers flat out avoid using them directly. The only exceptions so far are a female Mew character, whose writer quickly regretted her creation and wrote her out of the guild, and an Ogerpon who acted as a minor antagonist in the Summer Festival writing collaboration.

Aura

Not just a "Lucario thing".
To put it simply, aura is an energy that all living beings have (which includes Ghost-types). It is a concept that comes up often in stories involving aura-sensitive characters like Booker and KFC, and is sometimes brought up in other authors' stories.
You can check out this guide if you want to know more about how aura works in the setting.