Battle Royal

A Battle Royal (Japanese: バトルロイヤル Battle Royal) is a type of Pokémon battle introduced in. A Battle Royal involves four s all battling each other at the same time. The format is based on the battles that the four guardian deities of Alola take part in to decide who is the strongest of them all.

Battle Royals are held at the Battle Royal Dome. In a Battle Royal, each Trainer brings up to three into the ring, using one Pokémon at a time. At the end of a turn, if a Trainer has no Pokémon left, the Battle Royal ends. All participants are scored based on the number of Pokémon they knocked out, and the number of Pokémon they have remaining.

Occasionally, the Masked Royal (Professor Kukui) will appear as one of the opponents in the Master Rank.

Mechanics
During a Battle Royal, any Pokémon can target any of the other three opposing Pokémon as a target.

If a targeted Pokémon is defeated before every Pokémon has taken their turn, any remaining attacks that were targeted for that Pokémon will fail.

Moves that hit multiple targets will hit all three opponents, but the base power of these moves is reduced to 50%.

It is impossible to forfeit in a Battle Royal.

Scoring
If a Trainer's Pokémon knocks out an opposing Pokémon, that Trainer receives a point. If a Pokémon faints due to indirect damage, such as or, the point is awarded to the Pokémon who caused the indirect damage to occur. If a Pokémon faints due to self-inflicted damage or effects, such as from recoil or, no points will be awarded to anyone.

The battle is over at the end of the turn after all of any one Trainer's Pokémon have fainted. The winner is determined based on the combined total of the KO points they earned and their remaining conscious Pokémon. If there is a tie using this method, the winner will be determined based on whose Pokémon have the most remaining HP. A Trainer who had all of their Pokémon faint cannot win, even if they have the most points, unless all three opponents also lost all of their Pokémon.

In the anime
Battle Royals were first introduced in Pushing the Fiery Envelope!. watched a televised match of the taking on three other Trainers and their, , and  at the Battle Royal Dome, easily defeating all three opposing Pokémon with his. The Masked Royal then announced an event where any volunteers would get a chance to face him in a Battle Royal, prompting Ash and to travel to the Battle Royal Dome.

Due to Ash's jumping down from the stands to face its evolved form, the Masked Royal chose to invite Ash in a Battle Royal, along with  and. However, even when holding back, the Masked Royal's Incineroar was more than a match for all of its opponents, easily defeating Kiawe's Marowak and Sophocles's Charjabug with a. Although Litten managed to endure the Darkest Lariat, it too was quickly felled when the Masked Royal, having finally decided to get serious, had Incineroar use a -enhanced on the Fire Cat Pokémon.

In A Young Royal Flame Ignites!, a group of rule-breaking Battle Royal Trainers called the Revengers challenged the Masked Royal to a match for the title of the strongest Trainer at the Battle Royal Dome. However, when the Revengers started attacking the Masked Royal's Incineroar before the battle had even begun, Ash's Torracat leaped down from the stands and stopped them. The boss of the Revengers, Viren, then appeared and challenged the Masked Royal and Ash to a tag match, threatening to buy out the dome should they lose. The two accepted the challenge, and the Masked Royal gave Ash a mask of his own, giving him his own Battle Royal identity as the "Ash Royal". During the tag match, both sides kept swapping turns with their partners, with Incineroar and Torracat facing off against Mad Magmar's and Mr. Electric's. Despite the Revengers once again trying to fight dirty, the Masked Royal and Ash were able to win the match, with Torracat even learning in the process. Although Viren tried to force his way despite the loss, the "Double Royals" easily swept him aside, securing the dome's future.

Unlike in the, Battle Royals in the are fought until only one Trainer has Pokémon left.

In other languages
Battle Royale Battle Royale Bataille Royale (Pokémon Soleil et Lune) Battle Royale バトルロイヤル 皇家對戰