Pokémon League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the fictional world of Pokémon, the Pokémon League is the governing body of the sport of Pokémon battling. Each region in the Pokémon world operates its own league, which are all members under a National League. One of the main objectives for Pokémon Trainers is to win the regional championship. Regional leagues exist for the Kanto, Johto, Shin'ou, Hoenn, and the Orange Islands regions. It is unknown if the region of Orre has its own regional league, as the Pokémon games taking place in the region do not focus on the regional league there.
[edit] Responsibility of the Pokémon League
The main responsibilities of a regional Pokémon League is to coordinate the activities of the various Pokémon Gyms in the region, including the accreditation of Gyms, the selection of Gym Leaders, and the selection of the Gym specialty type. They are also responsible for giving new Trainers their first Pokémon, if they do not have one already. In the anime, they are also responsible for giving new Trainers their Pokédexes.
It is suggested that they are also partly responsible for the coordination of Pokémon Centers and PokéMarts, although there is no evidence of either.
[edit] The League Tournament
In the anime, the championship of a Pokémon League (except for the smaller Orange League) is decided through a tournament. Every so often (most likely once a year), a regional tournament (known as a conference), open to trainers with at least eight regional Gym badges, is held to determine the champion. The tournament is always held in a fixed location (Indigo Plateau for Kanto League tournaments, Silver Town for the Johto League tournaments, and Ever Grande City for the Hoenn League tournaments), and is organized by Pokémon League President Mr. Goodshow.
As many entrants enter the tournament, a preliminary screening process of one-on-one battles is used to reduce the field down to a power of two. Then, the preliminary stages of three-on-three or double battles are held, in which the field is further reduced down to 32 or 16. Each league has a different preliminary round format - the Kanto League requires candidates to win four three-on-three battles held on four different types of battlefields, while the Johto League uses a group play format using three-on-three battles and the Hoenn league uses a knockout format consisting of double battles.
After the preliminary round, the final knockout stage begins, each round consisting of full six-on-six battles (the exception being the round of 16 in the Kanto League, which remains three-on-three). Two separate battlefields are used in the final knockout stage, which are randomly determined and changed whenever one side loses three Pokémon. The last trainer remaining thus wins the League Championship.
Opponents in each round are determined by random draw, thus winning more than eight badges does not affect tournament seeding. Most notably, Gary Oak entered the Kanto League tournament with ten badges, but was knocked out in the preliminary round, while Ash Ketchum entered with only eight badges and ended in the round of 16.
Because the Orange League is a smaller Pokémon League, League competitions are held in a different manner. Few trainers are able to defeat the four Orange League Gym Leaders (known in the area as the Orange Crew), and thus anyone defeating the four Gym Leaders may challenge the champion directly in a six-on-six battle not unlike the final knockout round of the larger leagues.
[edit] The Elite Four
In the video games, the championship of a Pokémon League is based on a challenge format. In order to be able to face the champion, one must battle the members of the Elite Four, four of the most notable and powerful trainers in the region. Each region has their own Elite Four, with Kanto and Johto both sharing the same group of Elites. If the candidate is able to defeat the Elite Four in consecutive battles without breaks in between battles, they earn the right to immediately face the champion. If the reigning champion is defeated in this battle, the challenger need not take their place (as is the case with Red in Pokémon Gold and Silver), although the winning team will be recorded in the League Hall of Fame.
The selection of the members of the Elite Four is determined by the League, although members of the Elite Four may resign from their posts in order to challenge for the League Championship. A member of a region's Elite Four can also concurrently be a Gym Leader, Elite Four member, or Champion in another region.
In the anime, the notion of the Elite Four is highly divorced from the Pokémon League, and the members of the Elite Four is generally determined by public perception (thus, there may also be more than four members). Although some may serve the League in an official capacity, each member of the Elite Four acts independently of the League.
