Pokémon Champion

A Pokémon League Champion (Japanese: リーグ League Champion), normally referred to as simply Champion or Pokémon Champion (Japanese: チャンピオン Champion), is the highest known level of rank for a Pokémon Trainer. The title is also colloquially referred to as League Champ (Japanese: ポケモン リーグの ちょうてん Pokémon League's Greatest).

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 Champion (if there is one). Kanto and Johto share a Champion, while other regions have their own. If a Champion is defeated, they must relinquish their title to the victor; however, the victor can refuse the title, as N did in.

In Generation VII, the player as Champion can defend the title against challengers.

In the games
Champion is a that first debuted in the Generation I. It is the title held by the Trainer who last defeated the Elite Four and the previous Pokémon Champion. Each Champion is always stronger than the Elite Four members and most other Trainers, and has a party of six Pokémon to test their opponents' strength. Like Elite Four members, they employ the use of strong healing items. To challenge the Champion, Trainers must defeat all four Elite Four members without leaving the Pokémon League area, and cannot access the Pokémon League Pokémon Center and Poké Mart until after defeating the Champion or losing at any point during the challenge. If a challenger is defeated by the Champion, just like the Elite Four, they must start over.

Since in every core series game the player goes on to defeat the standing Champion (except in Alola, in which case there is no current Champion and the player battles Professor Kukui/Hau instead), every player character is considered a Champion and subsequently entered into the Hall of Fame, along with the player's party. However, for players in games other than Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, becoming the Champion is mostly a symbolic honor, as they are unable to battle challengers or take up any other league duties; the former Champion will still remain at the Pokémon League, retaining the Trainer class Champion (in Generations and,  clearly stated his reign was over; in the Delta Episode, Zinnia teases  that he is the former Champion). In games prior to Pokémon Sun and Moon, the player may battle the Elite Four and the former Champion as many times as they like, and on each success will be re-entered into the Hall of Fame with whatever team was used in that challenge. In Alola, the player can instead battle the Elite Four then take a challenger, being able to do this as many times as they would like.

In, Cynthia tells the player that once every few years, the Champions from all the regions come together and battle to find the strongest among them. In the Pokémon World Tournament in, which takes place 2 years later, all the Champions the player battles in previous games participate in the Champions Tournament. This tournament does not include player characters, with the exception of.

In, , the of Alola, having just been established, has no Champion. Instead, Professor Kukui (the league's founder) or Hau (the player's rival), stands in as the final obstacle the player must overcome before becoming the league's first Champion. In another first for the series, the player can defend their title against challenges from non-player characters. The player keeps the nominal title of Champion even if defeated. Similarly, in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, is the Champion of the Indigo League at first, but loses his title to the player. After defeating Lance in a rematch, Trace will challenge the player as a normal Pokémon Trainer in an attempt to retake the title.

In Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Professor Oak reveals that originally, Trainers who defeated the Elite Four were recorded as Champions, but now Champions were going to be established as a part of the Pokémon League challenge, meaning that now a Trainer can only become a Champion by defeating the Elite Four and the current Champion.

Known non-player Champions in the games:

In
In, after defeating the Grand Masters of the Pokémon Dome, the last challenge they must face is their Rival, Ronald, who beat the Grand Masters before them and obtained the four Legendary Cards. The player must defeat him to become Champion and gain control of the Legendary Cards for themselves

In Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!, a direct sequel to the previous game, the player, as acting Champion, pursues Team Great Rocket after their Cards are stolen.

In the main series
In the Pokémon anime, there can only be one Pokémon Champion per region at a time, except for the Orange League. While Pokémon Trainers can freely request an informal battle from the Champion, much more popular events are the Pokémon League Conferences, which can be entered by Trainers with at least eight Gym Badges. The winner of these tournaments may enter the to face off the regional Elite Four members and, if successful, the League Champion.

In the Orange League, Trainers who defeat the Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader attain the title of Champion, but the Supreme Gym Leader is not displaced upon defeat. Winning Trainers earn the Winner's Trophy and are inducted into the Palace of Victory, but do not have to carry out any specific tasks as Champions.

In addition to gathering eight Gym Badges, the Indigo Plateau Conference is known to accept Trainers passing the Pokémon League Admissions Exam and those graduating from Pokémon Tech. There are also smaller tournaments, such as the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, where the winner gets to battle the League Champion straight away. Trip and were allowed to battle Alder and Diantha, respectively, by winning such competitions.

Known Champions in the main series anime (including any previous ones):

A list of episodes in which a Champion appears can be found.

In Pokémon Origins
Known Champions in Pokémon Origins:

In Pokémon Generations
Known Champions in Pokémon Generations:

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
The following are the known Champions in The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga:



In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, the Champion of each region is the winner of an elimination tournament held every three years in each region. In the, it was determined that the winners of each tournament would have to face the Elite Four, each a former champion themselves, before challenging the Champion. The main characters that took part in a Pokémon League tournament so far are, , , and. Of the four, Red and Black both won a tournament, though only Red was formally given the title of Champion.

The following are the known Champions in the Pokémon Adventures manga:

In the Pokémon Battle Frontier manga
The following are the known Champions in the Pokémon Battle Frontier manga:

In the Pokémon Zensho manga
The following are the known Champions in the Pokémon Zensho manga:

Trivia

 * In French localizations, Gym Leader is translated to Champion, while Champion is translated to Maître, meaning "master".
 * Diantha has the highest leveled Pokémon out of all the Champions battled the first time the Pokémon League is challenged. Her lowest level is 64, and her highest is 68.
 * Although Alder has Pokémon above level 70, he is not battled as Champion until the post-credits rematch against the 🇺🇳.
 * Lance has the lowest leveled Pokémon out of all the Champions. His lowest level Pokémon is level 44 in Generation II, and level 46 in Generation IV. His highest is level 50 in both generations.

In other languages
Champion