Indigo Plateau Conference
The Indigo Plateau Conference (Japanese: ポケモンリーグ・セキエイ大会 Pokémon League Sekiei Tournament) is the Indigo League general championship competition. It exists in the anime and The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga only. The competition in which Ash participated in occurred from All Fired Up! until Friends to the End.
The Indigo Plateau Conference is the only Pokémon League Conference known to accept participants through multiple methods. Trainers can join the competition by collecting at least eight Kanto Gym Badges, passing the Pokémon League Admissions Exam, or graduating from Pokémon Tech. It is held once a year at Indigo Plateau, which has also hosted the Kanto Grand Festival.
Events
During the competition, the Pokémon League Village on Indigo Plateau becomes a mecca for all things Pokémon-related. Trainers receive free food and lodging in the village. While most activity occurs in the Pokémon League Pavilion and on the battlefields, parades, movie theaters, and other such activities within the village keep the spectators entertained when there is no battling. Additionally, there are some important ceremonial events unique to the conference.
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony calls upon the spirit and flame of the Legendary Moltres to ignite the fire that burns atop Indigo Stadium throughout the competition. Moltres's virtues symbolize Pokémon League competitions. The flame changes many hands, through competitors that are approved to be torch runners and are accompanied by a Pokémon of their choice. Without the flame, the competition could not begin. All competing Pokémon Trainers gather in Indigo Stadium and the central torch is finally lit. Charles Goodshow, the President of the League Competition Committee, addresses the Trainers, and then the competition begins.
Closing ceremony
During the closing ceremony, all Trainers that competed at the conference march into Indigo Stadium one last time, and the Top 3 winning competitors are honored. Mr. Goodshow awards each Trainer with a special Badge that signifies participation in the competition. Afterwards, the stadium lights dim for a fireworks show. Moltres's flame is extinguished until the next year's competition, and all competitors and spectators return home.
Competition
Ideally, there are around 256 competitors, with each sudden death Pokémon battle eventually eliminating all but one. Each losing Trainer is placed accordingly. The winner of the conference then gets a chance to battle Kanto's Elite Four.
Rounds
The competition lasts for eight rounds. Four preliminary rounds span for four days, followed by two days of rest, and then the final rounds begin.
Rounds and their respective positions for each Trainer:
- Preliminary: Top 256, Top 128, Top 64, Top 32.
- Final: Top 16, Top 8, semifinals, finals.
Preliminaries
In the preliminary rounds, 256 Trainers must compete on four different battlefields: Rock, Grass, Water, and Ice. All matches are of three Pokémon each. The battlefield is decided by a game of chance, and the competitors are chosen randomly by computer. Only Trainers who win on all four battlefields will progress to the final rounds.
Battlefields
Rock Field
Grass Field
Water Field
Ice Field
Final rounds
Final round battles take place in Indigo Stadium. Like in the preliminary rounds, the Top 16 round has Trainers using three Pokémon each. From the Top 8 onward, however, all battles are Full Battles. Only 16 Trainers make it to the final rounds. Competitors are chosen by fishing for Magikarp labelled with a letter and number that match that of another competitor.
Rules and regulations
The Indigo League is very strict on what defines a battle and what defines a match. A battle is one Pokémon against another one, and a match is made up of the individual Pokémon battles. Thus, the number of battles within a match is defined by how many Pokémon are used. The following conditions cause the Pokémon to lose the battle:
- The Trainer recalls the Pokémon
- The Pokémon is unable to continue battling
- The Pokémon falls asleep
- The Pokémon refuses to battle
Known contestants
| Trainer | Place |
|---|---|
| Assunta | Top 4 or higher* |
| Ritchie | Top 8 |
| Ash | Top 16 |
| Melissa | Top 16 or higher |
| Jeanette | Top 32 |
| Gary | Top 32 |
| Pete | Top 64 |
| Mandi | Top 256 |
Other participants
Trainers here participated in the conference either before or after the conference Ash participated in.
In the manga
The Electric Tale of Pikachu
The Indigo Plateau Conference took place in Welcome to the Big Leagues and The Indigo Finals. Although the manga is based on the anime, it had many notable differences compared to the anime:
- Professor Oak acted as one of the announcers instead of being in the audience.
- Brock and Misty also participated, but both of them lost their first-round matches.
- Gary was defeated by Ritchie instead of Melissa.
- The fifth round battle between Ash and Ritchie began with two double-knockouts, followed by Ash's Charizard facing Ritchie's own Charizard, Charley. Ash's Charizard, in its disobedience, ended up severely injuring Charley, prompting Ash to recall it and surrender the match.
- Ritchie's battle following the fifth round wasn't shown, making it unclear how far he got in the tournament.
Trivia
- This conference marks Ash's lowest placing in a Pokémon League Conference so far, at only Top 16.
- This is the only Pokémon League Conference to date where:
- Full Battles are present, but Ash does not participate in one.
- Ash places in the Top 16.
- Ash's loss happened prior to the concluding episode of the Conference arc.
- The winner's name was never revealed.
- Though the opening ceremony typically involves having the torch run by Trainers competing in the tournament, along with their choice of Pokémon, Misty and Brock were allowed to run as well. Thus, it is possible that non-competing Trainers may also be approved to run the torch, depending on the circumstances.
In other languages
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Related articles
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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 article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
