Are Cards Sleeves Tournament Legal?

[HoloLucario]

I recently bought a 100 pack of Ultra-Pro cards sleeves and was wondering if you can use them in a game. I have a few EX cards I would like to add to my deck. However, I know shuffling bends and scratches cards, and I would like to keep them in good condition. So can I use card sleeves in an actual game, or can I even collect and battle at the same time?

 

[PokePop]

Virtually every player uses card sleeves to protect their cards while playing.
The Pokemon tournament rules for sleeves is that they have to be uniform (all the same for every card) and a solid color or transparent. They cannot have patterns or artwork on them.
The exception to this artwork rule is that official Pokemon sleeves (both US and Japanese) are legal. Even then, they have to have solid colors at their edges, so there are a couple of official Pokemon sleeve designs that are not tournament legal.