Pokémon League

This article is about Pokémon League Championship. For the locations in Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, or Paldea, see Pokémon League (Sinnoh), Pokémon League (Unova), Pokémon League (Kalos), Pokémon League (Alola), or Pokémon League (Paldea). For the system in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, see Pokémon League (TCG)

The Pokémon League (Japanese: ポケモンリーグ Pokémon League) is a group that organizes Pokémon competitions for registered Pokémon Trainers. It serves as an umbrella that oversees the regional Leagues.

A Pokémon League poster

There are ten known regional Leagues under the Pokémon League: the Indigo League in Kanto, the Orange League in the Orange Archipelago, the Johto League in Johto, the Hoenn League in Hoenn, the Sinnoh League in Sinnoh, the Unova League in Unova, the Kalos League in Kalos, the Alola League in Alola, the Galar League in Galar, and the Paldea League in Paldea.

In order to participate in regional competitions, Trainers must acquire a certain number of Gym Badges signifying the defeat of that region's Gym Leaders, or in the case of Alola, complete the island challenge.

In the games

In the core series Pokémon games, every region has a Pokémon League. The League challenge consists of collecting eight Gym Badges (or in Alola's case, beating the island challenge) and challenging the Elite Four, as well as the League Champion immediately after defeating the Elite Four members (or, in Galar, immediately after winning the Champion Cup tournament). Winners earn the title of Champion, and are enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

With the exception of Paldea and Galar's Leagues, all League facilities are only accessible when challengers successfully traverse a path known as Victory Road.

In Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Paldea, and HoennORAS, the place that holds the regional Pokémon League is simply called "Pokémon League", including the building itself. In Alola and KantoPE, only the building itself is called "Pokémon League".

In Paldea, the title of Champion is a rank held by multiple Trainers, and there is no single Champion; rather, all Trainers who complete the league's challenge, known in the region as the Champion Assessment, are given the title of Champion. Geeta, the chairwoman of the league, is considered the Top Champion, the leader of Paldea's Champion-ranked Trainers.

In the anime

Main series

In the anime, the Pokémon League challenge is divided into two parts: the Pokémon League Conference and the Champion League. In addition to organizing competitions, the Pokémon League acts as a regulatory body which licenses Trainers and certifies Gyms. In Ancient Family Matters!, Gym Leader Byron stated that he transferred from the Oreburgh Gym to the Canalave Gym after being contacted by the League organization because it was vacated by its previous Leader.

As revealed in A Mudkip Mission, the organization is also responsible for the distribution of first partner Pokémon Eggs to Pokémon Breeders like Old Man Swamp and the regional Professors. These first partner Pokémon are often raised at a low level to make it easier for a new Trainer to truly bond with their new partner. The League organization can be compared to the Pokémon Association in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

The Pokémon League advertises with posters and distributes at least some merchandise, including Ash's Pokémon League Expo hat. League Conference battles are broadcast on television to audiences worldwide.

The League Competition Committee is presided by Charles Goodshow and its functions are similar to those of the Pokémon Activities Committee, which organizes Pokémon Contests and Grand Festival tournaments for registered Coordinators.

Pokémon League Conference

Main article: Pokémon League Conference

The Pokémon League Conference is a single-elimination tournament between Trainers who have collected at least eight Gym Badges from a specific region. Other ways of getting into the Indigo Plateau Conference besides collecting Badges have been shown, such as by passing the Pokémon League Admissions Exam, as seen in The Ultimate Test, or by graduating from Pokémon Tech, as seen in The School of Hard Knocks.

Rules vary from region to region, but generally, championship competitions are divided into three parts: qualifying rounds, preliminary rounds, and final rounds. Highly skilled Trainers will move on to compete with a smaller pool of competitors. The Trainer that defeats all other competitors is deemed the winner of the competition. Losing Trainers who participate in the competition will be ranked accordingly.

The League Conferences are known for their many traditions, including the opening celebration which evokes the flame of Moltres, alluding to the Olympic flame. Charles Goodshow serves as the president of the League Competition Committee.

 
Champion League Stadium

Champion League

After winning a Pokémon League Conference, a Trainer may enter the Champion League of the relevant region, where the Elite Four and the League Champion await. Like in the games, Trainers must defeat all members of the Elite Four for the right of challenging the Champion. Once the Elite Four is defeated, Champions are required to defend their title from challengers. If the battle against the challenger is won, Champions hold on to their current status. However, if the challenger succeeds, Champions must relinquish their title to the winning Trainer, who will then be deemed the new Pokémon Champion.

In Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, all members of the Sinnoh Elite Four but Bertha have been shown challenging Cynthia for her title. It is unknown if they had to defeat their Elite colleagues or if they requested a battle from the Champion straight away. So far, the only mentions of the Champion League have been in An Elite Meet and Greet!, A Trainer and Child Reunion!, Ash and Trip's Third Battle!, and Ash Versus the Champion!.

Pokémon Generations

In Pokémon Generations, the Pokémon League follows the same format as the corresponding games, consisting of a series of sequential battles until the last challenge. In The Challenger, Blue is seen challenging and defeating the Elite Four, and soon after being challenged by Red.

In The Redemption, Calem is crowned the new Champion of the Kalos region and he is seen with his Pokémon in the Hall of Fame.

Pokémon Origins

In Pokémon Origins, the Pokémon League challenge is exactly the same as seen in Pokémon Generations. Upon becoming a Champion, Red is led by Professor Oak to the Hall of Fame, where all the Champions and their Pokémon over the years in the Kanto region are recorded.

Pokémon: Twilight Wings

In Pokémon: Twilight Wings, some aspects of the Galar League are presented, such as Rose and Oleana's work to broker battles. Unlike other anime, this version presents League battles with aspects more similar to real sporting events, where those responsible are in charge of analyzing every detail and are broadcast on a large scale across the region.

In The Gathering of Stars, it is revealed that after the events that led to Rose's downfall, Leon took responsibility for leading the League's events.

Pokémon Evolutions

In The Champion, the Galar League tournament finals are shown. During the event broadcast, the match narrator mentions that the event would be broadcast worldwide.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Red, Green & Blue, Yellow, and Gold, Silver & Crystal arcs

The Pokémon League consists of a regional tournament held every three years in each region. There are two ways of qualifying for the tournament—either by having eight Gym Badges or defeating a large number of other applicants without Gym Badges in preliminary rounds. The Pokémon League is sanctioned and run by the Pokémon Association. One rule that is incorporated into each featured tournament is that, should just one of a Trainer's Pokémon faint, then that Trainer automatically loses.

In addition, there is no Elite Four challenge. The Elite Four are simply powerful groups of four Trainers from each region who ally themselves with each other for power, and their activities are not sanctioned by the Pokémon League or related to the Pokémon Association—in fact, the activities of Kanto's Elite Four were villainous in nature.

Ruby & Sapphire arc

The Hoenn League added new rules to the Pokémon League tournament. The person that wins the tournament will be allowed to fight the Elite Four, four previous winners of the tournament.

Platinum arc

The Sinnoh Elite Four was enlisted by Pokémon Association to decode Charon's notebook in order to find out more about his aspiration.

HeartGold & SoulSilver arc

The Johto Elite Four is made up of ex-criminals who are seeking emotional support from each other by training together.

Black & White arc

The Unova League is similar to the Hoenn League. As explained by Black, participants can only compete when they have won eight Gym Badges. The Trainers that have earned eight Gym Badges are allowed to enter the Unova League tournament. The winner of this tournament is then allowed to fight the Elite Four, and then they will be allowed to fight the Champion.

In other languages

Language Title
  Valencian Lliga Pokémon
Chinese Cantonese 寶可夢聯盟 Pokémon Lyùhnmàhng
Mandarin 寶可夢聯盟 / 宝可梦联盟 Pokémon Liánméng
  Czech Pokémonová liga
  Danish Pokémon-ligaen
  Dutch Pokémon Kampioenschap
  Finnish Pokémon-liiga
  French Ligue Pokémon
  German Pokémon Liga
  Hindi पोकेमोन लीग Pokemon League
  Hungarian Pokémon liga
  Icelandic Pokémon-keppni
  Italian Lega Pokémon
  Korean 포켓몬 리그 Pokémon League
  Norwegian Pokémon-ligaen
  Polish Liga Pokémonów*
Liga Pokémon*
  Portuguese Liga Pokémon
  Romanian Liga Pokémon
  Russian Лига Покемонов Liga Pokémonov
  Spanish Liga Pokémon
  Swedish Pokémonligan
  Thai โปเกมอนลีก Pokémon League
  Turkish Pokémon Ligi
  Vietnamese Giải vô địch Pokémon
Liên đoàn Pokémon

See also


Pokémon League locations
Games Indigo PlateauEver Grande City (Pokémon League) • Pokémon League (Sinnoh)Pokémon League (Unova)
Pokémon League (Kalos)Pokémon League (Alola)Wyndon StadiumPokémon League (Paldea)
Anime Indigo PlateauPummelo StadiumSilver TownEver Grande City
Lily of the Valley IslandVertress CityLumiose CityManalo Stadium


  The Pokémon League  
Participation
TrainerBattleGym Leaders
GymsBadgesReferee
Championship matches
Elite FourOrange League
Champion League
Pokémon League Conferences
IndigoSilverEver GrandeLily of the Valley
VertressLumioseManalo
Regional Pokémon Leagues
IndigoOrange*JohtoHoennSinnoh
UnovaKalosAlolaGalarPaldea
Areas of jurisdiction
Pokémon League Reception GateHall of Fame
Palace of VictoryCerulean Cave
Others
Pokémon AssociationPIA
World Coronation Series
(Masters Eight Tournament)