Indigo League

If you were looking for the first season of the Pokémon anime, Pokémon: Indigo League, see S01.

The Indigo League (Japanese: セキエイリーグ Sekiei League) is the regional Pokémon League of the Kanto region. It consists of a network of eight Gyms and the Elite Four. Depending on the context, the Indigo League can also be called the Kanto League or simply the Pokémon League.

Pokémon Trainers who earn eight Gym Badges from sanctioned Indigo League Gyms qualify to participate in Indigo League competitions, one of which is the Indigo Plateau Conference.

The Johto League and Indigo League share a single group of Elite Four and Champion; eight Badges from either region will allow a Trainer to battle the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau.

Gym Leaders

Indigo League
Generations I, II, III, IV, and VII				Region: Kanto
Gym Leader Japanese		Location Japanese	Type		Badge
Brock タケシ Takeshi		Pewter City ニビシティ Nibi City	Rock		Boulder Badge
Misty カスミ Kasumi		Cerulean City ハナダシティ Hanada City	Water		Cascade Badge
Lt. Surge マチス Matisse		Vermilion City クチバシティ Kuchiba City	Electric		Thunder Badge
Erika エリカ Erika		Celadon City タマムシシティ Tamamushi City	Grass		Rainbow Badge
Koga キョウ Kyou Generations I, III, and VII	Janine アンズ Anzu Generations II and IV	Fuchsia City セキチクシティ Sekichiku City	Poison		Soul Badge
Sabrina ナツメ Natsume		Saffron City ヤマブキシティ Yamabuki City	Psychic		Marsh Badge
Blaine カツラ Katsura		Cinnabar Island グレンじま Guren Island Generations I, III, and VII	Fire		Volcano Badge
		Seafoam Islands ふたごじま Twin Islands Generations II and IV
Giovanni サカキ Sakaki Generations I, III, and VII	Blue グリーン Green Generations II, IV, and VII	Viridian City トキワシティ Tokiwa City	Ground	Various	Earth Badge

Elite Four and Champion

Generations I, III, and VII

Indigo League
Generation I, III, and VII
Member Japanese		Type
Lorelei カンナ Kanna		Ice
Bruno シバ Siba		Fighting
Agatha キクコ Kikuko		Ghost
Lance ワタル Wataru		Dragon
Champion Blue グリーン Green Generations I and III	Champion Trace シン Shin Generation VII	Various	Various

Generations II and IV

Indigo League
Generation II and IV
Member Japanese	Type
Will イツキ Itsuki	Psychic
Koga キョウ Kyou	Poison
Bruno シバ Siba	Fighting
Karen カリン Karin	Dark
Champion Lance ワタル Wataru	Dragon

In the anime

Visquez, the substitute Gym Leader of Vermilion City

Gym Leaders

The Indigo League is notable in the anime for being the only one among all the regional Leagues to have undergone changes in its line-up of Gym Leaders during the course of the anime.

• The Pewter Gym has changed its Leader several times throughout the anime:
  • In Showdown in Pewter City, Brock left the Pewter Gym to be led by his father, Flint, in order to travel with Ash.
  • Sometime prior to A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!, Brock's mother Lola returned to the Gym and started redecorating it to fit her preference of Water-type Pokémon. Flint had been so dismayed by these changes that he had left the Gym, making Lola the new Pewter Gym Leader until Brock defeated her.
  • In DPS02, it was revealed that the paperwork to make Brock's eldest brother Forrest the new Pewter City Gym Leader had not been carried out properly, so the Gym was in danger of being closed down. However, by the end of the episode, a Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Inspection Agency made Forrest's position official, making him the current Gym Leader of Pewter City.
• Misty's sisters share their sister's status as Cerulean City Gym Leaders, and can take over it in her absence, and vice versa.
• In Destination: Coronation!, Visquez was revealed to serve as the substitute Gym Leader of the Vermilion Gym while Lt. Surge is away training.
• At some point before The Scheme Team, Giovanni abdicated his status as the Viridian City Gym Leader, so Agatha of the Indigo Elite Four was appointed as a temporary Leader to watch over the Gym until a new permanent Leader could arrive.

Champion

In Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution, Lance was introduced as the current League Champion of the Kanto region.

In the manga

Trainer levels in The Electric Tale of Pikachu

The Eletric Tale of Pikachu

In Clefairy Tale, it was revealed that the conditions and rules of the Indigo League are noticably different from those shown in the anime and games. In addition to Badges, a Trainer can level up by catching Pokémon. The caught Pokémon are ranked from A to D, where a rare Pokémon like Clefairy is ranked as level A and some more common ones like Beedrill and Mankey are classified as Pokémon rank D. Giselle is an example of a Trainer who's leveled up this way.

Trivia

• Each of the Kanto Gym Leaders—except Sabrina, and Blaine in some games—has a type disadvantage against the next Gym Leader.
  • Brock's Rock type is weak to Misty's Water type.
  • Misty's Water type is weak to Lt. Surge's Electric type.
  • Lt. Surge's Electric type is resisted by Erika's Grass type.
  • Erika's Grass type is weak to Koga's Poison type.
  • Koga's Poison type is weak to Sabrina's Psychic type.
  • Sabrina is the exception, as Sabrina's Psychic type is neutral against Blaine's Fire type.
  • Blaine's Fire type is weak to Giovanni's Ground type. Blue does not have a type specialty, so Blaine is not weak to the following Gym Leader's type when Blue is the Viridian Gym Leader.
• In Generations I, III, and VII, the last Kanto Gym Leader has a type disadvantage against the first Kanto Elite Four member, as Giovanni's Ground type is weak to Lorelei's Ice type.
• In Generations I, III, and VII, each member of the Kanto Elite Four—except Agatha—has a type disadvantage against the next one; additionally, the last member has a type disadvantage against the first.
  • Lorelei's Ice type is weak to Bruno's Fighting type.
  • Bruno's Fighting type does not affect Agatha's Ghost type.
  • Agatha is the exception, as Agatha's Ghost type is neutral against Lance's Dragon type.
  • Lance's Dragon type is weak to Lorelei's Ice type.
• In Generations II and IV, each member of the Kanto Elite Four has a type advantage against the next one, with the last one also being strong against the first.
  • Will's Psychic type is strong against Koga's Poison type.
  • Koga's Poison type resists Bruno's Fighting type.
  • Bruno's Fighting type resists and is strong against Karen's Dark type.
  • Karen's Dark type is immune to, and strong against, Will's Psychic type.