Pokémon Master

If you were looking for the mobile game, see Pokémon Masters EX.

A Pokémon League poster aimed at aspiring Pokémon Masters

Pokémon Master (Japanese: ポケモンマスター Pokémon Master) is a title in the Pokémon world. It is the goal of many Pokémon Trainers to become a Pokémon Master. However, exactly what this position is and how one attains it is vague and never fully explained.

In response to an email sent to its mailbag, Pokémon.com posted the following:

"I'm very sorry, but the Pokémon Company does not answer questions of this nature. It is the intent of the Pokémon creators that such questions be left to the imaginations and interpretations of Pokémon fans, adding more excitement and mystery to the Pokémon universe."

In the anime, Ash left Pallet Town and started his journey with the goal of becoming a Pokémon Master. In his endeavors to achieve this goal, he has traveled across many regions and competed in their respective Pokémon League Conferences, though he has mentioned that being a Pokémon League Champion is just one step towards becoming a Pokémon Master.

Usage

• In Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, after defeating Lance he says "I hate to admit it, but you are a POKéMON master!".
• In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, after defeating all the Electrode in the Team Rocket HQ, Lance says "The journey to becoming the Pokémon Master is long and difficult. Knowing that, will you keep going?"
  • In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he instead says "The journey to becoming the Pokémon Champion is long and difficult. Knowing that, will you keep going?"
• Extreme Pokémon: The Guide for the Ultimate Fan calls Prima a Pokémon Master.
  • She's also given this title in the English dub of The Mandarin Island Miss Match and Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?. In the Japanese versions of these episodes and both versions of Wired for Battle!, she's referred to by her proper title as an Elite Four member.
• The Official Pokémon Handbook states that a Trainer would deserve the title of Pokémon Master upon defeating or catching Mewtwo. The handbook also refers to the Elite Four members as "Master Trainers".
• According to A Sneak Peek at Pokémon, one of the tasks to become a Pokémon Master is to catch all Pokémon.
• The book Charizard, Go! states that a Pokémon Master must catch one of every kind of Pokémon and become a member of the Pokémon League.
• According to The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, a Pokémon Master is simply an elite Trainer who is considered a professional and regularly takes part in Pokémon League competitions.
• In Mewtwo Strikes Back, Nurse Joy (while brainwashed) invites the Trainers to have a battle against the world's greatest Pokémon Master on New Island, who is later revealed to be Mewtwo.
• In The Legend of Thunder!, Marina called Lance a great Pokémon Master.
• In his debut episode, Wallace is called a Champion Master. Likewise in Memories are Made of Bliss!, Cynthia is referred to as a Champion Master. Both of them are the last person to be battled at the Champion League. Champion Masters must defend their title against all opposing Trainers. In a sense, they are undefeated by any Trainer that has officially challenged them to claim their title. Ash states that becoming a Champion Master is one step toward becoming a Pokémon Master.
• In The Climb to Be the Very Best!, Ash says defeating Leon and winning the World Coronation Series will bring him one step closer to becoming a Pokémon Master.
• In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, a group of 153 trainers who are referred to as Master Trainers are scattered across the region (145 of which can be battled), each specializing in a different Pokémon (the original 151 plus Meltan and Melmetal).
• In the lead up to the third anniversary of Pokémon Masters EX, the official Twitter account for the game posed the question of what being a Pokémon Master meant, while also saying that trainers who go to Pasio to compete in the Pokémon Masters League could be considered as Pokémon Masters.
• As of Aim To Be A Pokémon Master episode 11: The Rainbow And The Pokémon Master Ash calls a Pokémon Master as someone who can understand and bond with every Pokémon and says he hasn't reached it yet as Latios and Latias left him.

Theories

This section contains fan speculation. There is no solid evidence for or against some parts of this article.

• It has been theorized that when one becomes a Pokémon Champion of a regional Pokémon League, one attains the title of Pokémon Master.
  • This theory is supported by Lance calling the player a Pokémon Master upon his defeat in Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, before revealing that the player must first face Blue becoming Champion.
  • It is implied in the dub of Memories Are Made Of Bliss! that this is the case. However, the Japanese version explicitly states that it is only one step to being a Pokémon Master.
  • However, Ash became the Champion of the Alola League and still does not consider himself a Pokémon Master.
• In a 2008 interview with the webmaster of PokéBeach, Masamitsu Hidaka stated that when Ash becomes a Pokémon Master, it would be the last episode of the show.
• It has been theorized that, in the context of the anime, Pokémon Masters are the members of the Elite Four.
  • This theory is supported by the book Extreme Pokémon: The Guide for the Ultimate Fan calling Prima a Pokémon Master.
• After defeating Giovanni at Viridian Gym, when he gives the player the Earth Badge he says it is "evidence of your mastery as a Pokémon Trainer" which may imply that a Pokémon Master is one who has collected all of the Gym Badges in a region.
  • Yet, in the context of the anime, this is not the case as Ash has collected all the Gym Badges in multiple regions and still does not consider himself a Pokémon Master.
• It has been theorized that one who is unbeatable in battle is considered a Pokémon Master.
  • This was implied in Mewtwo Strikes Back, where Mewtwo referred to himself as a Pokémon Master, with him being the strongest being emphasized throughout the movie.
• The Official Pokémon Collector's Sticker Book implies that one is made a Pokémon Master by catching all Pokémon.
  • It has also been theorized that this, along with becoming a Pokémon Champion, is the criteria.
• In I Choose You!, Verity questions if being a Pokémon Master meant being the world's strongest Pokémon Trainer; Ash replies that it is "much more than that".
  • Goh asks Ash a similar question in Working My Way Back to Mew! and Ash gives a similar response.
• In a 2020 interview with the general director of Pokémon Journeys, Daiki Tomiyasu reveals that he has asked the show's supervisor, Kunihiko Yuyama, what Ash's "I wanna be a Pokémon Master!" dream means. He responded "It's just the silly dream of a child. It's something for him to idolize."
• In an ORICON NEWS interview following Ash becoming the Monarch of the World Coronation Series in Partners in Time!, Ash's voice actress, Rica Matsumoto, said "[Ash] may have become the strongest trainer, but it is said that the dream of becoming Pokémon Master is different."

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 寶可夢大師 Pokémon Daaihsī * 寵物小精靈大師 Chúngmaht Síujīnglìhng Daaihsī * 小精靈大師 Síujīnglìhng Daaihsī * 小精靈掌門人 Síujīnglìhng Jéungmùhnyàhn * 精靈掌門人 Jīnglìhng Jéungmùhnyàhn * 精靈大師 Jīnglìhng Daaihsī * 寵物小精靈專家 Chúngmaht Síujīnglìhng Jyūngā * 最厲害的寵物小精靈訓練員 Jeuileihhoih-dīk Chúngmaht Síujīnglìhng Fanlihnyùhn * Mandarin 寶可夢大師 / 宝可梦大师 Pokémon Dàshī * 神奇寶貝大師 / 神奇宝贝大师 Shénqí Bǎobèi Dàshī * 神奇寶貝訓練家 Shénqí Bǎobèi Xùnliànjiā * 精灵宝可梦大师 Jinglíng Pokémon Dàshī * 神奇宝贝超级训练师 Shénqí Bǎobèi Chāojí Xùnliànshī * 神奇宝贝专家 Shénqí Bǎobèi Zhuānjiā * 精灵掌门人 Jīnglíng Zhǎngménrén * 宠物精灵大师 Chǒngwù Jīnglíng Dàshī * 宠物小精灵的大师 Chǒngwù Xiǎojīnglíng-de Dàshī * 宠物小精灵专家 Chǒngwù Xiǎojīnglíng Zhuānjiā * Croatian Pokémon-majstor Danish Pokémon-mester* Pokémonmester Dutch Pokémon Meester Finnish Pokémon-mestari French Canada Maître du Pokémon* Europe Maître Pokémon German Pokémon-Meister Hindi पोकेमोन मास्टर Pokémon Master Icelandic Pokémon-meistari Indonesian Master Pokémon Pokémon Master Italian Maestro Pokémon Korean 포켓몬마스터 Pokémon Master Malaysian Pokémon Master Norwegian Pokémonmester* Pokémon-mester Polish Mistrz Pokémonów* Mistrz Pokémon* Portuguese Mestre Pokémon Russian Мастер Покемонов Master Pokémonov Serbian Pokémon-majstor Spanish Maestro Pokémon Swedish Pokémon-mästare Thai โปเกมอนมาสเตอร์ Pokémon Master Turkish Pokémon Ustası Vietnamese Chuyên gia về Pokémon

See also

• Master Trainer
• Type expert

References

Animated series-exclusive Trainer classes
Connoisseur • Master • Performer • Poacher • Stylist • Supreme Gym Leader • Watcher

This Trainer class article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.