Pokémon Champion

A Pokémon Champion or Pokémon League Champion (Japanese: リーグ優勝者 League champion; チャンピオン Champion) is the highest known level of rank for a Pokémon Trainer. It usually refers to a Trainer who has completed a Pokémon League by collecting all the necessary badges, and either winning a regional Pokémon tournament or defeating the Elite Four and the previous Pokémon Champion (if there is one). There is usually only one Pokémon Champion per region at a time. It is assumed that the Champion must defend their title against challengers, although this is never explicitly stated.

In the games, Kanto and Johto share a League Champion, while the other regions with a Pokémon League have their own.

Players who become the Pokémon Champion will notice that it is mostly a symbolic honor, as they are unable to battle challengers or take up any other league duties. In addition, the former Champion will still remain at the Pokémon League and can be battled again even after being deposed.

In the games

A Champion (Japanese: チャンピオン Champion) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation I games. It is the name given for the Trainer who last defeated the Elite Four and the previous Pokémon Champion.

After becoming Champion, the player returns home, rather than staying at the Pokémon League to fight challengers, and the previous Champion keeps the position; however, this may not be official Pokémon League rules, as Champion Blue keeps his position.

Sprites

Indigo

File:RB Champ.png	File:YellowChampionBlue.png	File:LanceGSCsprite.png	File:FL Blue.png	File:LanceHGSS.gif
Blue's Champion sprite from Red and Blue	Blue's Champion sprite from Yellow	Lance's sprite from Gold and Silver, and Crystal	Blue's Champion sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen	Lance's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver

Hoenn

File:RS Steven.png	File:E-Wallace.png
Steven's sprite from Ruby and Sapphire	Wallace's sprite from Emerald

Sinnoh

File:DP Cynthia.png	File:CynthiaPlatinum.gif
Cynthia's sprite from Diamond and Pearl	Cynthia's sprite from Platinum

Unova

Alder's sprite from Black and White

In the anime

The path to becoming Champion differs between the anime and the games. In the anime, instead of fighting the Elite Four, there is a tournament among accomplished Trainers; however, Lucian mentioned that the winner of the Sinnoh League has the opportunity to battle the Elite Four and their Champion. Even an Elite Four member can usurp the Champion by battling them.

List of Champions

In the games

Name	Hometown	League
Blue	Pallet Town	Indigo League
Lance	Blackthorn City	Indigo League and Johto League
Steven Stone	Mossdeep City	Hoenn League
Wallace	Sootopolis City	Hoenn League
Cynthia	Celestic Town	Sinnoh League
Alder		Unova League
The player	Pallet Town, New Bark Town, Littleroot Town, Twinleaf Town or Nuvema Town (depending)	All games, after defeating the previous Champion

In the anime

Name	Hometown	League
Jon Dickson	Sento Cherry Town	Silver Conference
Tyson	Mauville City	Ever Grande Conference
Tobias		Lily of the Valley Conference
Captain		Orange League
Drake	Pummelo Island	Orange League
Ash Ketchum	Pallet Town	Orange League and Battle Frontier
Cynthia	Celestic Town	Sinnoh League
Wallace	Sootopolis City	Hoenn League
Alder		Unova League

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Name	Hometown	League
Red	Pallet Town	Ninth Tri-Annual Pokémon League competition
Professor Oak	Pallet Town	First Tri-Annual Pokémon League competion
Wallace	Sootopolis City	Hoenn League
Steven Stone		Hoenn League

Trivia

• The player is always introduced to the Champion before challenging the Elite Four.
• In HeartGold and SoulSilver, all Champions from previous paired versions appear. Blue, the Champion from Red and Green, Red and Blue and FireRed and LeafGreen, is the Viridian Gym Leader, Lance from Gold and Silver is of course the current Indigo Plateau Champion, Steven from Ruby and Sapphire alerts the player to Latias/Latios roaming and later gives the player a Hoenn starter Pokémon, and Cynthia from Diamond and Pearl appears in the Sinjoh Ruins. Only Wallace does not appear; however, he was Champion only in a third version (Emerald), while all others aside from Steven were Champions in all games of their region.
  • Red, although not a Champion at the time, also appears and can be fought at Mt. Silver. He is the only player character Champion to appear.
• The Gym Leaders in the French versions are called Champions, while the Champion is called maitre. Maitre means master, while Champion simply means champion.
• Every Champion has shared their battle theme with another trainer. Blue's theme is remixed in Pokémon Black and White when the player battles the top trainer in the Battle Subway. Lance's theme is shared with Red when the player battles him in Mt. Silver. Steven's theme is given to Wallace after the latter becomes Champion in Emerald. Cynthia's theme is used against Palmer in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Finally, Alder's theme is used during the battle against Ingo and Emmet, the bosses of the Battle Subway.

In other languages

Language Title Japanese チャンピオン Mandarin Chinese 冠軍 (Guàn​jūn) Dutch Kampioen European French Maitre German Champ Greek Πρωταθλητής Italian Campione Korean 챔피언 (Champion) Polish Czempion European Spanish Campeón

This Trainer Class article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.