Elite Four
The Elite Four (Japanese: 四天王 The Big Four, lit. Four Heavenly Kings) are four Pokémon Trainers who are regarded as the toughest in their regional Pokémon League, short of the Pokémon League Champion. Those who challenge the Elite Four must have won all eight Badges from that region and face all four and the current Champion consecutively without losing to any of them.
One group resides on Indigo Plateau in Kanto and are considered the best Trainers in both Kanto and Johto, another is located in Ever Grande City in Hoenn, and three more reside at Pokémon Leagues in Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos.
In the games, they employ the use of strong healing items in battle.
Kanto Elite Four
In Kanto, the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order.
Generations I and III
In the Generation I games Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow (Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow in Japan) and the Generation III games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generation I | Generation III | |||
| After Kanto | After Sevii | |||
 Lorelei カンナ Kanna |
Ice |     
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 Bruno シバ Siba |
Fighting |    
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 Agatha キクコ Kikuko |
Ghost |    
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 Lance ワタル Wataru |
Dragon |    
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Generations II and IV
In the Generation II games Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal and the Generation IV games Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generation II | Generation IV | |||
| After 8 Badges | After 16 Badges | |||
 Will イツキ Itsuki |
Psychic |  
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 Koga キョウ Kyō |
Poison |    
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 Bruno シバ Siba |
Fighting | 
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 Karen カリン Karin |
Dark |    
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Hoenn Elite Four
In Hoenn, the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the Elite Four at Ever Grande City consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | Sapphire | Emerald | Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire | |||
| Initial | Rematch | |||||
 Sidney カゲツ Kagetsu |
Dark |    
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 Phoebe フヨウ Fuyō |
Ghost |   
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 Glacia プリム Prim |
Ice |   
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 Drake ゲンジ Genji |
Dragon |    
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Sinnoh Elite Four
In Sinnoh, the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order. In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the Elite Four at the Sinnoh Pokémon League consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | Pearl | Platinum | ||
 Aaron リョウ Ryou |
Bug |     
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 Bertha キクノ Kikuno |
Ground |     
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 Flint オーバ Ōba |
Fire |   
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 Lucian ゴヨウ Goyō |
Psychic |    
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Unova Elite Four
In Unova, the Elite Four may be challenged in any order. In Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, the Elite Four at the Unova Pokémon League consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black and White | Black 2 and White 2 | |||
| Easy/Normal | Challenge | |||
 Shauntal シキミ Shikimi |
Ghost |   
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 Marshal レンブ Renbu |
Fighting |    
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 Grimsley ギーマ Giima |
Dark |   
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 Caitlin カトレア Cattleya |
Psychic |    
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Kalos Elite Four
In Kalos, the Elite Four may be challenged in any order. In Pokémon X and Y, the Elite Four at the Kalos Pokémon League consists of:
| Member Japanese |
Type | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| X | Y | ||
 Malva パキラ Pachira |
Fire |   
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 Siebold ズミ Zumi |
Water |   
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 Wikstrom ガンピ Gampi |
Steel |   
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 Drasna ドラセナ Dracaena |
Dragon |  
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In the anime
In the main series
Ash and his friends infrequently meet the members of the Elite Four, who then impart them with battle strategies. So far, Ash has encountered the complete Kanto group:
- Lorelei in The Mandarin Island Miss Match (named 'Prima' in the English dub)
- Bruno in To Master the Onixpected
- Agatha in The Scheme Team (acting as a temporary Gym Leader for the Viridian Gym)
- Lance in Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution (mentioned to be the Champion rather than a regular member of the Elite Four)
From Hoenn, Ash has met:
Ash has also met the entire Sinnoh Elite Four as well:
- Aaron in A Trainer and Child Reunion!
- Bertha in An Elite Coverup!
- Flint in Flint Sparks the Fire!
- Lucian in An Elite Meet and Greet!
In Unova, Ash has met:
While Ash has not yet met a member of the Kalos Elite Four, so far, three members of the Kalos's Elite Four appeared in the anime:
- Siebold has appeared in Mega Evolution Special I, where he used his Mega Blastoise to battle Alain and his Mega Charizard X
- Wikstrom debuted in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction in a battle with Diantha.
- Malva who first appeared in Cloudy Fate, Bright Future! in a video transmission.
It has been stated by Lucian in An Elite Meet and Greet! that when a Trainer wins their respective region's Conference Tournament, they can participate in the Champion League, fighting the four members of that region's Elite Four, and then possibly the Champion as well. It has also been shown that an Elite Four member can challenge the Champion and obtain the title from him or her in battle.
In Pokémon Origins
The members of the Kanto Elite Four made brief appearances in the episode File 4 - Charizard of Pokémon Origins. Red was shown defeating all four members, allowing him to move on to face the Pokémon League Champion, Blue.
In the manga
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In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The Kanto Elite Four made their debut in A Charizard...and a Champion watching the final battle between Red and Blue before serving as the primary antagonists for the Yellow arc of the manga. They are each said to be so powerful that triad leaders of Team Rocket, Koga, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina all had to (begrudgingly) team up with the protagonists and Blaine to take just a single one of them.
The Johto Elite Four is formed at the end of the Gold, Silver & Crystal arc. It consists of accomplished Pokémon Trainers that were formerly part of criminal organizations, who would eventually rise as the official Elite Four of Indigo Plateau. Will, Bruno, Karen, and Koga united to train together after they were no longer being controlled. They reappeared in the HeartGold & SoulSilver arc participating on the Pokéathlon and later fighting against Lance's Dragonite.
The Hoenn Elite Four made an appearance in the Ruby & Sapphire arc, helping to find and catch the legendary titans in order to contain the massive surge of energy created by the clash of Kyogre and Groudon alongside Steven and Wallace, their two regional Champions.
The first Sinnoh Elite Four member to debut in the series was Flint, who made a cameo appearance in the last round of the Diamond & Pearl arc. The other members appeared in the Platinum arc, where they were enlisted by the Pokémon Association Chairman to decode the ancient writings in Charon's memobook.
The Unova Elite Four first appeared in the Black & White arc as Black cites them during his daily pledge. However, they haven't appeared to the main characters as a group yet. Besides Caitlin, who already appeared in the Platinum chapter, Grimsley meets Black, Shauntal meets White, and Marshal meets both on different occasions.
The only Kalos Elite Four member to appear in the series so far is Malva, who appeared in person in X & Y arc. Drasna, Wikstrom, and Siebold were mentioned by Diantha during her conversation with Gurkinn and Korrina.
In the Pokémon Zensho manga
The Kanto Elite Four members appeared in Indigo Plateau, where all of them were defeated by Satoshi, allowing him to face the Champion, Shigeru.
Trivia
- In the Kanto-based games, every Elite Four member has at least one Pokémon not of their specialty type during the first battle.
- The Kalos Elite Four members are the only ones that don't have higher level Pokémon in future rematches with them in any game.
* Additionally, they are the only ones who use just four Pokémon in future rematches with them. All other Elite Four members use either five or six Pokémon during rematches.
- Prior to Generation V, the Elite Four typically progressed in level with their Pokémon in the games. Starting in Generation V, all members of the Elite Four use Pokémon of the same levels, as they can be challenged in any order.
- In Platinum, the highest-leveled Pokémon of Bertha, Flint, and Lucian (Rhyperior, Magmortar, and Gallade, respectively) match the final Pokémon that the Sinis Trio uses from Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, in that same order.
- The Sinnoh Elite Four and Generation I Elite Four are the only ones in which each member has made an appearance in the anime.
- In Generation V, all Elite Four members' type specialties have been used exactly twice in Elite Four of other regions. The Indigo Elite Four used all of them, spread in its two variations (with a Fighting-type specialist in both), the Hoenn Elite Four has Dark- and Ghost-type specialists, and the Sinnoh Elite Four has a Psychic-type specialist.
- Pokémon Puzzle League features its own Elite Four: Ritchie, Lorelei, Bruno, and Gary. Gary serves as the leader of the Elite Four and the Puzzle League Champion.
- All of the Kalos Elite Four use two Pokémon introduced in Generation VI.
- In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the highest-leveled Pokemon of the female members of the Elite Four differ when rematched. This is because the Elite Four obtain Mega Stones for the rematch, but Dusknoir and Walrein (the highest-leveled Pokemon of Phoebe and Glacia, respectively) do not have Mega Evolutions.
- Flint is the only Elite Four member to use a starter Pokémon in the games, using Infernape.
- All of the Hoenn Elite Four have two Pokémon that are able to Mega Evolve: Sidney with Absol and Sharpedo, Phoebe with Sableye and Banette, Glacia with Glalie and Abomasnow, and Drake with Salamence and Altaria.
- In the anime, Malva is the first Elite Four member to lose an on-screen battle against another Trainer who isn't an Elite Four member or Champion.
In other languages
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The Pokémon League | 
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| Participation Trainer • Battle • Gym Leaders Gyms • Badges • Referee Championship matches Elite Four • Orange League Champion League Pokémon League Conferences Indigo • Silver • Ever Grande • Lily of the Valley Vertress • Lumiose • Manalo |
Regional Pokémon Leagues Indigo • Orange* • Johto • Hoenn • Sinnoh Unova (BB) • Kalos • Alola • Galar • Paldea Areas of jurisdiction Pokémon League Reception Gate • Hall of Fame Palace of Victory • Cerulean Cave • Area Zero Others Admissions Exam • Pokémon Association PIA • World Coronation Series (Masters Eight Tournament) | ||
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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. |
