[@Ryik] Any non-legendary, however for stages it'd be first stage. There is an exception for Eeveelutions where you can start with them evolved though. If it's a Pokemon like Absol, iffy. It'd be fine if you only had one, but if you suddenly start with Absol, Heatmor, and Tropius, we gotta talk.

There are no held items, but there are still special items like evolution stones. For Simple format though you can use held items if you'd like, but for complex, the focus is all on roleplaying.

Ultra Beasts are in the legendary category, but for Alolan the island in the south is full of Alolan Pokemon. For Galar forms, there's a mix of them in certain regions, but some like Galar Weezing can't be encountered normally. In any case we'll figure it out as we go along, as we don't have an encounter list, instead you make an encounter request and we work to make a scenario for it.