Masters Eight Tournament
TheMasters Eight Tournament (Japanese:マスターズトーナメントMasters Tournament) is a tournament held at the end of aWorld Coronation Series ranking season, where the top eight ranked competitors, known as the Masters Eight, face off to determine the most powerfulPokémon Trainer in the world, known as the Monarch.
The second-latest tournament ended in thePokémon Journeys: The Series episodeFlash of the Titans!. The most recent tournament began inCurtain Up! Fight the Fights! and concluded inPartners in Time!. Both editions so far have utilized the single-elimination format.
The event is held atWyndon Stadium in theGalarregion.
Competition
Opening ceremony
During the opening ceremony, each member of the Masters Eight is introduced one by one, after which the match-ups of the first round are chosen by random seeding.
Rounds
In this tournament, each Trainer can only use techniques such asDynamax/Gigantamax,Z-Moves, orMega Evolution once per match. Both challengers must send out their first Pokémon at the same time and may switch their Pokémon at any time. There is no time limit for any of the matches. The battlefield used for all matches is a standard dirt field.
Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals are 3-on-3 matches. The winners here move on to the semifinals.
Semifinals
The semifinals areFull Battles. The winners here move on to the finals.
Finals
The final match is a 1-on-1 match or a Full Battle. The winner here is crowned Monarch, a title that is carried over to the next season. At Leon's request, an exception was made in his battle against Ash to allow each Trainer to use every technique at their disposal.
Most recent season
Participants
| Trainer | Place |
|---|---|
| Ash | Winner |
| Leon | Runner-Up |
| Cynthia | Top 4 |
| Diantha | Top 4 |
| Steven | Top 8 |
| Iris | Top 8 |
| Lance | Top 8 |
| Alain | Top 8 |
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||
| 1 | Leon |    | ||||||||||
| 6 | Alain |    | ||||||||||
| 1 | Leon |    | ||||||||||
| 5 | Diantha |       | ||||||||||
| 4 | Lance |    | ||||||||||
| 5 | Diantha | | ||||||||||
| 1 | Leon |    | ||||||||||
| 8 | Ash |  /     | ||||||||||
| 2 | Cynthia |    | ||||||||||
| 7 | Iris |   | ||||||||||
| 2 | Cynthia |     | ||||||||||
| 8 | Ash |   | ||||||||||
| 3 | Steven |    | ||||||||||
| 8 | Ash | | ||||||||||
Second-latest season
| Trainer | Place |
|---|---|
| Leon | Winner |
| Lance | Runner-Up |
| Trainer | Pokémon | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Leon | | Win |
| Lance | | Loss |
Trivia
- Alain is the only character to compete in the Masters Eight Tournament who is not a regional Champion.
- The English name of the tournament was firstmentioned byAsh duringThe Classic Thunderboltspecial event inPokémon Masters EX.
- The structure of this tournament is similar to theChampions Tournament of thePokémon World Tournament inBlack 2 and White 2.
- This is the first major tournament in theanimated series to have its arc interrupted by episodes that do not take place at the tournament'slocation.
- The Masters Eight Tournament appeared inPokémon Mezastar as an event that ran from October 27 to November 21, 2022.[1]
- James's Morpeko keeps eating in Hangry Mode until theconclusion of the tournament, when it turns into Full Belly Mode.
- Ash is the only competitor shown to have used anon-fully evolved Pokémon in the tournament.
- As stated in a caption inJN121, Ash's Pikachu is the first Pokémon to be brought to the opening ceremony of the tournament.
- The most commonPokémon throughout the Masters Eight Tournament isDragonite, asLance,Iris, and Ash used theirs at least once.
- No Pokémon fromGenerationsII andVII made an onscreen appearance in the latest tournament.
- Iris was the only competitor from the latest tournament to not utilizeMega Evolution,Z-Moves, orDynamax/Gigantamax.
- Ash andCynthia were the only competitors from the latest tournament to utilize more than one technique, with Cynthia using Mega Evolution and Dynamax and Ash using all three.
- All participants in the most recent Masters Eight tournament had at least one Pokémon with a quadruple weakness.
- All matches in the tournament featured at least one Mega Evolved Pokémon.
- Leon is the only participant in the tournament to win a battle without sending out the maximum amount of Pokémon that he was allowed to use in the battle, beatingAlain with two of his three allowed Pokémon andDiantha with three of his six allowed Pokémon.
- Ash and Cynthia's battle in the semifinals is the only battle in the animated series where at least onemove of every type was used.
- According to the eyecatches, these are the stats of the Top 4 competitors, ranking 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest for each stat:
| Trainer | Attack | Defense | Speed | Strategy | Experience | Unpredictability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Cynthia | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Leon | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Diantha | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 大師錦標賽Daaihsī Gámbīuchoi |
| Mandarin | 大師錦標賽Dàshī Jǐnbiāosài | |
| Finnish | Mestarikahdeksikkoturnaus | |
| French | Tournoi des Huit Maîtres | |
| German | Turnier der Acht Meister | |
| Italian | Torneo degli Otto Professionisti | |
| Korean | 마스터즈 토너먼트Masters Tournament | |
| Polish | Turniej Mistrzowskiej Ósemki | |
| Portuguese | Brazil | Torneio dos Oito Mestres |
| Portugal | Torneio dos Oito Magistrais | |
| Spanish | Torneo de los Ocho Maestros | |
| Swedish | Åtta mästarnas turnering | |
References
Related articles
 | This article is part ofProject Anime, aBulbapedia project that covers all aspects ofPokémon animation. |
