Indigo Plateau Conference
TheIndigo Plateau Conference (Japanese:ポケモンリーグ・セキエイ大会Pokémon LeagueSekiei Tournament) is theIndigo League generalchampionship competition. It exists inPokémon the Series andThe Electric Tale of Pikachumanga only. The competition in whichAsh participated in occurred fromAll Fired Up! untilFriends 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 eightKantoGymBadges, passing thePokémon League Admissions Exam, or graduating fromPokémon Tech. It is held once a year atIndigo Plateau, which has also hosted theKanto Grand Festival.
Events
During the competition, the Pokémon League Village on Indigo Plateau becomes a mecca for all thingsPokémon-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 theLegendaryMoltres 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 competingPokémon Trainers gather in Indigo Stadium and the central torch is finally lit.Charles Goodshow, the President of theLeague 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 specialBadge 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 deathPokémon battle eventually eliminating all but one. Each losing Trainer is placed accordingly. The winner of the conference then gets a chance to battle Kanto'sElite 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, andIce. 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 areFull Battles. Only 16 Trainers make it to the final rounds. Competitors are chosen byfishing forMagikarp labelled with a letter and number that match that of another competitor.
Rules and regulations
The Indigo League is very strict on what defines abattle and what defines amatch. A battle is onePokémon 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 Trainerrecalls the Pokémon
- The Pokémon isunable to continue battling
- The Pokémon fallsasleep
- The Pokémonrefuses 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 conferenceAsh participated in.
In the manga
The Electric Tale of Pikachu
The Indigo Plateau Conference took place inWelcome to the Big Leagues andThe Indigo Finals. Although the manga is based onPokémon the Series: The Beginning, it had many notable differences compared to theanimated series:
- Professor Oak acted as one of the announcers instead of being in the audience.
- Brock andMisty also participated, but both of them lost their first-round matches.
- Gary was defeated by Ritchie instead of Melissa.
- The fifth round battle betweenAsh and Ritchie began with two double-knockouts, followed byAsh's Charizard facing Ritchie's ownCharizard,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 marksAsh's lowest placing in aPokémon League Conference so far, at only Top 16.
- This is the only Pokémon League Conference to date where:
- Ash does not defeat arival or any other recurring characters.
- Full Battles are present, but Ash does not participate in one (due to being eliminated beforehand).
- Scoreboards do not depict images of the Pokémon used, only numbers.
- 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 byTrainers competing in the tournament, along with their choice of Pokémon,Misty andBrock 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.
- Ash's Tauros is the only Pokémon out of his active team or from Oak's Lab to not make an appearance during this League Conference.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | Torneo della Lega dell'Altopiano Blu | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Conferência do Planalto Índigo | |
| Swedish | Indigoplatåkonferansen | |
Related articles
 | This article is part ofProject Anime, aBulbapedia project that covers all aspects ofPokémon animation. |
