Battle judge: Difference between revisions

Most Gym Leaders, however, do not have official league judges and instead instate a {{cat|Gym assistants|capable student, intern, assistant, or even a family member}} to aid in calling matches between Leader and Trainer. Their calls are official and appear to have the same judgmental powers as learned battle judges. This is not the case in most [[Kanto]] Gyms, where no official or unofficial referee was present to rule, except in the case of [[Agatha]] in the [[Viridian Gym]], who allowed [[Scott]] to judge the match against her and Ash; the Gym Leaders primarily self-judged the match. Robots can also referee battles between Trainers, as seen in Ash's battles against {{FB|Palace Maven|Spenser}}—whose robot is named [[Jamero]]—and [[Volkner]].

Gym Leaders themselves are qualified judges. Ex-Gym Leader {{an|Brock}} has provided judgment for many Trainer battles over the course of the series, [[Roark]] presided over an official Gym match between [[Byron]] and {{Ash}}, and [[Mr. Moore|Flannery's grandfather]]—the former [[Lavaridge Gym]] Leader—took up the position as the judge for [[Flannery]]'s match against Ash.

The anime episode ''[[AG092|Judgment Day!]]'' showcases the training a person must go through to become a judge. In Hoenn, the Pokémon Battle Judge Training Institute is located on [[Bomba Island]], where [[Serena|Professor Serena]] teaches and ex-student {{ho|Jimmy}} studied. Jimmy mentions that for battle judge training, this school is the "only one there is," either indicating that all judges are trained out of Hoenn or it is the top school for such training (if not one of the top schools).

According to Brock, there are not many judges capable of evaluating a battle at the level necessary for battles sanctioned by the Pokémon League, so only so many exist under the profession of "official." Max hints at the profession's prestige and esteem: given that so few are capable of judging a League battle, simply being able to is an honor.