League and Competitions

## League Challenge

           The League Challenge refers to the quest to gather eight gym badges to qualify to enter the Pokémon League.  Officially approved Pokémon of the League Challenge are universally called Participants.

           Participants can only register four battle attacks at a time.  Although, like in the shows, a Pokémon can use all moves available up to their level, the League Challenge allows Participants to only use four of these moves.  A typical punch, kick, or other kinds of attacks like that are exempt from this rule.  If a human can do it and it is not a Pokémon move, than it is exempt from this rule.  The battles that this rule applies to are Trainer battles and Gym battles.  Due to the nature and dangers of wild Pokémon encounters, there are no move restrictions for those battles.

         Participants are issued a Participant License.

**Uses of Participant Licenses**:

        Allows holder to participate in the League Challenge

        Easy storage and exchange of PokéDollars (like Debit Cards and Bank Accounts)

        Can be checked by law enforcement as an I.D. and to check criminal record

        Used by Trainers to keep records and contact information for the members of the Team

        Allows entry into Pokémon Gyms in order to challenge the Gym Leaders

**Benefits of Participant Licenses**:

        While the ownership of Mega Stones is permitted for any Pokémon, the only Pokémon who are legally allowed to use the stones in battle are Participants, Champions, Competitors, and law enforcers.  The use of Mega Stones in battle by others is considered an abuse of power or misuse of abilities, both of which are felonies.

        Hospital fees are discounted for Participants, and PokéCenters offer free lodging for the Participants.  Food available at PokéCenters are also discounted.

### **Teams**

           In order to be a Participant, a Pokémon must first be a part of a team.  Teams at minimum must have two Pokémon and at maximum can have six.  In order for a Pokémon team to be official, they must have a Trainer with them on their quest.

           Teamwork is the most essential element for surviving the League Challenge.

           Once a team is disbanded, reestablishing the team takes a lot of time, paperwork, and fees that where not required for their first team.

#### **Trainers**

           A team cannot participate in the League Challenge, the Regional League, or the Cross-Regional League without a Trainer assigned by the board members of the League.  Trainers are humans who are approved by the Battle Frontier once they are taught the skills necessary for their job along with the rules and regulations of the League Challenge and Pokémon League.  They have several duties to the League and to their team.

           **Management**:  One of their obligations to their assigned team is to keep up with food, medicine, shelter, and navigation as the team travels.  This also may include memory keeping, in which the Trainer films battles, takes pictures, and other such things throughout the Challenge for the teams and Trainers’ personal use.  Highly experienced Trainers most likely have had more than one team throughout their career, and thus have many home-movies or albums of their previous teams.

           **Witness**: They ensure each team follows the Laws of the League.  They also judge the team’s ability to be a team.  If the Laws are violated or if the team cannot come together, the Trainer will revoke their Participant Licenses.

           **Advice**:  Trainers offer advice to Pokémon on teamwork, leveling, which moves to make their official moves, and when they are prepared for the next gym.

           Trainers, unlike in the games or shows, do not issue battle commands, such as what attack to use or which Pokémon should be fighting.  Ideally, a team does not take orders from a Trainer, but rather they work with them.  The Pokémon make their own battle decisions but should listen to the Trainer when they say “You can’t do that; it’s illegal” or “I think y’all are ready to challenge this gym”.

### **Wild Pokémon Encounters**

           A wild Pokémon is considered as any non-Participant Pokémon that a team battles against.  This can mean one of several things.

####          **Seekers**:

           These are Pokémon who want to participate in the League but do not have a team or an assigned Trainer.  They fight established teams in order to prove their strengths in hopes to join them.  These Pokémon are considered low risk, though it is possible for a Seeker to turn Reject.

####          **Battlers**:

           These are Pokémon who simply enjoy fighting and testing their strength.  They often seek out Participants to fight against.  These Pokémon are usually honorable and considered low risk.

####          **Rejects**:

           These are Pokémon who are frustrated or hateful of Participants.  They may have been expelled from the League or where never approved of in the first place.  Usually, they are fighting in order to simply harm Participants as much as possible.  There have been Pokémon who have crippled Participants or forced Participants to break League Law.  In both instances, the Participants can no longer participate and are removed from the League, thereby granting the Rejects their desire.  These Pokémon are considered high risk and Trainers advise to actively avoid them if possible.

           Rejects are known to use any means necessary, even trickery or committing felonies.  For example, Rejects might murder a Participant, leaving a mangled corpse for their team to find.  Most mild reaction from the team would probably be to continue on and try to find a replacement.  Most extreme reaction could be a hunt for the Reject with the intention of killing them, thereby forcing them to break the League Law against intentional killing.  In the latter case, not only is the Participant expelled from the League, but they would also be in prison for murder.

           Rejects are known to mislead Participants into danger.  For example, a Reject would claim a cave or route safe when in truth it is unstable and will likely lead to injury or death for the Participants.

####          **Assassins**:

           These Pokémon are paid to either defeat the entire team or to kill them.  Their employers can be anyone, for example an enemy team or a person with high stakes riding on an opposing team.  These Pokémon carry the highest risk, since they are typically the most skilled of all the encounter forms.  The most successful teams usually have at least one member who is knowledgeable in how Assassins work and can protect the team against them.  Really lucky teams will have a Trainer experienced with dealing with these kind of encounters.

           The risk level communicates the amount of serious damage the team may suffer in the encounter.  Low risk indicates mild injuries, the worst of which would be bruising or a broken nose.  Medium risk indicates a chance of broken bones, which would set back that Participant’s progress and leveling significantly but is ultimately recoverable from.  High risk indicates a significant chance of maiming/death, or a significant chance of being expelled from the League.

           If the entire team is defeated more than three times by wild Pokémon encounters, the Trainer will disband the team and revoke their Participant licenses.  This is due to the fact that wild Pokémon encounters are used to weed out the weaker Participants and to judge who has the skill and teamwork to really succeed in the League Challenge.  After all, encounters are considered by the League to be the weakest type of battle a team will face.  In truth, encounters can be either the weakest or the strongest and most difficult, depending on which Pokémon target them and what methods are used.

### **Trainer Battles**

           Trainer battles refer to battles against other teams.  In these battles, the number of defeats do not matter in regards to retaining participation in the League.  It is common practice for Trainers to bet against each other and for the winnings to be used toward their team.

           Once a badge is awarded, it can be taken from the initial team (the one who obtained it from the Gym) if another team challenges them and wins.  This is due to the logic that if the initial team is defeated by another team, then that other team would have passed the gym battle as well.  In reality, this logic does not always hold true, since there are many methods to steal a badge that do not require battling for it, such as trickery.

           This results in a war-like zone on the routes to the League Coliseum.  Teams here are trying hard to obtain enough badges from others to enter the Coliseum.  The routes are referred to as Victory Road by Participants, since to reach the end a team must have been victorious, either by being able to get all the way through without being defeated or else successful in poaching other teams' badges.

### **Gyms**

           Gyms are arenas maintained by a League-approved team and their Trainer.  While it is the Trainer who is known as the Gym Leader, it is through the consultation of the entire team that the decision on whether or not to pass a team and award them a badge is made.  Even if a team defeats the Gym, if the Gym team and Leader decide that they did not display appropriate battling morals and teamwork, the badge will not be rewarded to the challenging team.

           A single Gym will only award a set number of badges, usually between ten and twenty.  This is to prevent as many teams as possible from passing and thus earning the badge.  Once they run out, the Gym will close until the current League season is over.

           A Gym badge, once awarded, will be kept by either the Trainer or by a Participant chosen by the team.  The Gym badge is valid for up to four League seasons.  Once it expires, it can no longer be used to gain entry into the League.  The long expiration date allows Participants to focus on truly training and preparing for the League.

## Pokémon League: Regional

           The Pokémon League is held in the League Coliseum, a massive arena in which many types of battles can take place, such as single, double, triple, and team.  Single battles involve one Participant facing off against another from a rival team.  Double battles involve two Participants of a team to face off against two from a rival team.  Triple battles involve three Participants of a team to face off against three from a rival team.  Team battles involve an entire team facing off against another.  If a team lacks members, they are still expected to battle despite being outnumbered.

           The arena of the Coliseum is preprogramed to form into the most difficult environment for the Participants to navigate and battle in.  In some cases, this has led to obstruction of view of the battle.  However, thanks to reactive cameras, the devises are able to capture all battles completely on film, which is shown on several massive screens for the audience and is broadcast on the League’s channel. This event is known as an Arena Shift and is triggered at random. Once triggered, the reset time is five minutes, after which the event is active once again and able to be triggered.

           Examples of different arenas include thick, dark forests, a charred, intensely heated barren wasteland, a dank swamp, sparse stones surrounded by deep water, and a super-charged humid rock-land crackling with stray electricity.  The arena chooses the most-occurring type disadvantage of the battling Participants.  If there is a tie, the arena randomly selects one.  Therefore, teams must carefully balance who they send out on the field, many times having one Participant be another’s type-disadvantage.  Not only does the arena force tactical thinking, it also tests the team’s harmony with one another and tests the trust between Participants.  Especially so for the Participant who is depending on another to cover for their disadvantage.

           In addition to the environment changes, the arena may alter the battle style itself, changing a single battle into a double, triple, or even team battle. Any battle style might be changed out for another at any time, but this counts as an Arena Shift despite the physical layout remaining the same.

           The arena is also surrounded by the largest stadium seating in its region.  Usually the seating is sold out well before the actual League Tournament begins.

### **First Phase: League Tournament**

           A tournament, known as the League Tournament, is held between all the teams that have made it into the Coliseum, following a double elimination format.  This means, in order to be completely removed from the tournament, a team must first loose two matches.  Those that loose on the primary match-ups will be moved to the secondary line-up, which proceeds just like the primary.  Loosing once moved to the secondary line-up eliminates the team.  The winner of the secondary line-up will have the final match against the winner of the primary line-up.  Whomever team wins the final match will be known as the region’s Challengers. Eliminated teams remain Participants, but they must first win eight badges once again to be able to enter the Tournament in a later season. Their original eight badges were exchanged for entry into the tournament. This is meant to ensure that a heavier weight is attached to the decision to enter or not, prompting a more honest self-evaluation of a team's abilities. It is also meant to force the team to journey together again on their quest to regain the badges, hopefully actively training and working together better than before.

### **Second Phase: The Challenge Matches**

           The Challengers will then have to battle through the Elite 4.  If the Challengers are undefeated through the 4, they fight the current Regional Champions.  If the Challengers lose even once to the Elite 4 or current Regional Champions, they are eliminated from the running and cannot re-challenge for that League season.  If the Challengers make it through the back-to-back battles, with even one team member still standing and capable of fighting, then they will earn the title of Regional Champions.

           While battling the Elite 4 and the current Regional Champions, the Arena Shift has a higher chance to give the Challengers the field disadvantage.  This is done under the logic that Challengers often train solely to defeat them for however long they have been a team and will be exploiting any weaknesses the Elite or Champions have, while the Elite and Champions only have whatever intelligence they can gather on their own about the Challengers.  As such, it is not uncommon for the Elite and Champions to work together to gain intelligence and train against each other to prepare against the most likely potential Challengers as the League Tournament is underway.

           However, should the Arena Shift end up giving the Elite 4 or Regional Champions the disadvantage, the disadvantage is often more severe than the Challengers'. This was done to prevent accusations that the battles are predetermined or biased.

### **Elite 4**

           Elite 4 teams are the four strongest teams aside from the Champion team.  Thus, they will not necessarily be “themed” teams as they are in the games, such as an all Dragon team or an all Ghost team.

           Any team who fails to pass the League Tournament is eligible to challenge the one of the Elite 4 post-League season for a chance to replace them as an Elite 4 team.  These challenges are carefully scheduled so that the Elite 4 team that was challenged is in top condition to fight the challenging team.  As such, each Elite 4 team is permitted to only have one challenge every two weeks under the condition that none of the members are injured.  If one of the members of an Elite 4 team is injured, the team decides whether or not to accept the challenge without that member’s participation.

### **Regional League Seasons, referred to as League seasons**

           While the League Challenge occurs year-around at the teams’ own paces, the Regional League has a time frame, referred to as seasons, characterized mainly by new Participant registration and the opening of the League Coliseum.

           The Regional League season begins in the second month of the year with the opening of new team registration and the approval of new Participant Licenses.  During the third month of the year, the Elite 4 and Regional Champions are usually summoned by their Trainers to train and prepare for the opening of the Coliseum, though the teams that last the longest in these positions train regularly together throughout the year without needing the Trainer’s supervision.  The start of the fourth month is marked by the opening of the Coliseum, which allows Participants who have eight badges to enter and used the training facilities in the Coliseum until the League Tournament begins.  The sixth month starts with the opening ceremonies of the League Tournament.  By the end of that month, all Tournament battles will be completed, the ending ceremonies finished, and the Coliseum closed once again, thus bringing that League Season to an end.  These League Seasons occur once every year. The Challengers have until the end of the seventh month to begin the back-to-back battles against the Elite 4 and the Champions. Failure to do so counts as a forfeit and will be treated as if they lost.

           Despite the League’s security, the start of the fourth month up to the end of the seventh is known by the Elite 4 and the Regional Champions to be particularly dangerous to them.  They are often the targets of assassination and sabotage attempts of all sorts.

### **League Laws**

           The League Laws are constantly being reviewed by the League and additions are regularly made to attempt to make the battles as safe as possible.

1. Any intention to kill is strictly banned.
2. Any intention to maim or cripple is strictly banned.
3. A defeat count of wild encounters exceeding three will result in expulsion from the League.
4. Badges are obtained through battling Gym leaders.
	1. Badge Clause 1: Badges can also be obtained through winning a battle against a team who possesses one.
5. Participants are allowed to carry a single item for use in combat that would otherwise be considered unlawful to be in possession of.  A complete list of items is available from the League Office or from a Trainer.
6. Participants can only be a member of a single team at a time.

           Despite these laws, deaths and life-long crippling occurs.  Though some are truly unintentional, there have been instances where intent was undeterminable, and due to the innocent until proven guilty rules within regional governments, they were treated as if it were unintended.

## Regional Champion

           Being a Regional Champion has many perks:

           **Fame**:  As expected of any daring event full of strife and skilled participants, the League Tournament draws large crowds and fans from across its region.  Champions usually find themselves counted among the most well-known celebrities and various other high profile people.  If they are lucky, they will still be able to find peace in their home towns.  If they are smart, they would battle while disguising themselves to ensure no one will recognize them outside of the Coliseum.

           **Fortune**:  Regional Champions are paid a hefty salary.  This is to ensure that the Champions are capable of living with several luxuries, so that they will not find themselves in need of other employment to have enough money to live.  The League wants Champions to be semi-on-call should an opportunity arise for a profit to be made from their fame.  This also helps ensure that the Champions have as much time as they wish to train and remain in top condition for the League Tournament and the Cross-Regional League Tournament.

           **Privileges**: Regional Champions are permitted to register one additional Pokémon attack, for a total of five, when competing in any League-sponsored event.  They are also permitted the use of their complete armaments, no matter how many items it may be, for Pokémon to which such things are applicable (ex. the canons of a Blastoise, the blades of a Scyther).  They are also allowed to carry said armaments where they wish, so long as they follow all League Laws and under the condition that their use will only occur under a threat to their safety.

           Being a Regional Champion also has responsibilities:

           **Training**: Regional Champions are expected to meet with their team regularly in order to maintain their teamwork.  They are also expected to meet with their Trainer to keep them updated on the team’s current status and to work in specialized training formats, such as survival trials or tactical simulations.

           **Cross-Regional League Participation**:  Regional Champions are expected to represent their region and compete in the Cross-Regional League every time it occurs.

### **Battle Frontier**

           The Battle Frontier is an establishment built for Regional Champions from all regions, both current and past.  Once a Pokémon is a Regional Champion, they will have life-time access to the Frontier, unless the misuse of the privilege is serious enough to lead to the access being revoked.

           Since the Battle Frontier is meant for Champions of all regions, the island that it is located on is considered its own land, owned and maintained by the League.  No regional government holds any sway on the island.  The League trains the security to excel in keeping all intruders out, no matter how skilled at subterfuge they might be.

           The security is a mix of human and Pokémon guards, all of whom are loyal to the League only.  The security also tends to see and treat Champions as if they were simultaneously the most precious treasure in existence as well as the experienced battlers that they are.  They do their best to respect that the Champions can indeed care for themselves as well as defend themselves, if need be.  However, in their zeal to protect them, they often attempt to usher the Champions away from danger, no matter how slight.

           For example, if a Champion gives a startled shout, without a doubt at least one unit of security will have the area surrounded and secured within minutes, though only one or two security guards will show themselves to the Champion to ascertain the situation and offer assistance.  If the Frontier has visitors, the visitors will at times spot a security guard glaring toward them from a distance in a silent warning.  The visitors rarely realize that the guard let themselves be seen.  The security will never let any harm come to a Champion so long as there is at least one of them still alive and breathing to stop it.

           They always worry when a Champion leaves the safety of the Frontier and are prone to become frantic if they do not hear from them in a while.  The latter scenario is often referred to as the Champion has “fallen”.  If the Champion does not respond within the next day to their requests for a status report, security then refers to the scenario as “they have fallen and cannot get back up”, which initiates a protocol to first contact all persons on their emergency contact lists.  If they still fail to locate and ascertain the status of the Champion, the security goes straight to that Champion’s regional government with requests for them to either assist in contacting the Champion or to permit the security to deploy a couple of units into the region to start a search and rescue.  Usually, at this point the regional government is able to locate the Champion and give the security a full report on their condition.  Despite all the trouble they have caused them, the security never allows the Champion to truly know how far they would go for them and work in the background, for the sake of sparing the Champion any feelings of misplaced guilt.  They simply welcome them back with a sincere smile on their face when they return to the Frontier.  As such, only the Champions specializing in intelligence and reconnaissance are ever fully aware of the security’s efforts.  Since such things are typically their job as well and understand where the security guards are coming from, they refrain from informing their respective teams.  The security recognizes the silent solidarity those particular Champions share with them, and in return they usually have those Champions on speed dial whenever a member of their team has fallen and cannot get back up.

           In addition, should a Champion come to harm, the security immediately informs their team and briefs them on the situation. Should a Champion fight with another Champion, both will be put under house arrest along with their respective teams until a solution is found or the side who was initially in the wrong is discovered and reported to the Frontier Council, a group of humans and Pokémon that are either retired trainers, ex-Champions, or top ranked security that deliberate together and come to a decision on behalf of the entire Frontier.

####          **History**:

           The first Cross-Regional League Tournament resulted with the victory going towards the Articuno Mizo’s team.  The team’s Trainer was Noland, whom upon reconvening the team to prepare them to defend their regional titles, noticed severe symptoms of depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially in the leader Mizo, whom Noland noticed had peculiar wounds hidden in the feathers of his wings, hindering Mizo’s ability to fly.  Deeply concerned about the wisdom of sending the team back to their homes in such a condition, Noland petitioned the League board members to have a sanctuary built for them, away from the influence of their Region in order to recover, learn about what is happening to them, and teach them healthier coping methods and methods to help them come to terms with it.

           In addition to this, it was also intended to provide escapes from reality, including anything from great novels from around the world to the thick forestland of the island, in which they can practice survival and reaffirm to themselves what is truly the most important things in their lives.  Once Noland had stepped forward for the sake of his team, Trainers from other Regions also stepped forward, revealing that they too had noticed similar things among their teams, and supported his idea, thus pushing the League to approve the proposal.  Noland himself saw to it that he was always available for Mizo as he went through this process.  It has been years since then, but Mizo is still completely, eternally grateful for Noland’s help then and even now.  Even if the man refuses to let Mizo move in with him or to move in with Mizo.  Noland, though no longer a Trainer, runs and helps manage every aspect of the Battle Frontier as the Head of the Frontier Council.

####          **Resort**:

           The Battle Frontier, in addition to the initial purposes it served, has also developed into a glorious resort for Regional Champions to enjoy at will, with everything imaginable within or around the establishment.  It is of the highest caliber of resorts and everything is free for any Regional Champion or ex-Champion to use.

####          **Sparing**:

           As this is a neutral ground, without the influence or pressure of their region, many Champions find that they much prefer sparing each other within the establishment’s extensive and state-of-the-art training arenas than battling during the League Tournament or Cross-Regional Tournament.  Here, they are also free from the Pokémon attack limitations that held them back during the Tournament.  As such, Champions usually have their teams or other teams watching as both spectators and as referees.  Should the matches get out of hand, they interfere and pull the combatants to safety.  Being as experienced as they are, there has never been any major incidences from the matches, even if one side was bitter or hateful towards another.  After all, within the Frontier, such poor sportsman ship is heavily frowned upon by not only other Champions, but also by Trainers and the security.  Needless to say, there have only been one or two incidences in which security gleefully revoke the perpetrators’ access to the Frontier.  Said perpetrators will remain for life on the security’s Take-Down list, which contain all the information on human or Pokémon whom the security will attack, subdue, and confine on sight.

####          **Camaraderie**:

           All the Champions have faced similar challenges and traumas on their way to gaining their titles.  Thus, the Battle Frontier is an indispensable place to find others who can truly relate with what it takes and the sacrifices made to achieve what they have done.

####          **Trainer Trials**:

           In addition to its primary purpose to aid the Champions, the Battle Frontier is also the location in which potential Trainers are sent to really test their capabilities and to attempt to be qualified to be a Trainer.

           Champions often volunteer themselves on an individual basis.  This creates a potential Trainer's practice team to be comprised of members from more than one region, which gives the Champions a chance to work with Pokémon who they may have once fought against in one of the Tournaments.  The Pokémon are told to make the test as difficult as possible. Taking this instruction liberally, they may respond to the potential Trainers with major attitude, refusing to listen to any advice the potential Trainers may try to give, and any other response difficult Pokémon might actually do.  The point of the trials is to see how the potential Trainers navigate the situations and get the Pokémon to follow League laws and be a team.  Trials last for six to twelve months, depending on the skill of the potential Trainer.  If the potential Trainer shows no promise, the Pokémon will report back to Noland on the reasons why once the six month minimum is met.  If they do show promise, the Pokémon usually decide to give them more time to deliver.  In this way, only the best and trust worthy Trainers are made official.

### **Cross-Regional League**

           The Cross-Regional League refers to a single-elimination tournament held between all regions.  The regions send their Regional Champions into the Cross-Regional League to represent them as they battle to determine the strongest team of all the regions.  It is held every three years, opening on the eleventh month of the year.  Ending ceremonies are held mid-way through the last month of the year.  Since the Cross-Regional League is designed as a clash of Champions, this tournament lacks an Elite 4.  The team of Champions to win are referred to as Reigning Champions.

#### **Structure of the League**

           The League is its own entity, separate from any single region.  In order to remain unattached in any way to a single region, the headquarters of the League has its own island with its own cities and resources for humans.  To help maintain their authority within regions for their Regional League and the League Challenge, branch headquarters are established within each region as part of each region’s Coliseum.

           The people who are employed by and running the League are humans.  Due to the fact of not being Pokémon, they have a significantly less bias to any region.  Should they have a bias, they are assigned as a potential Trainer for that region.  Since a Pokémon is likely to be naturally biased to their home region, they are not able to objectively judge each team or the matches in the Cross-Regional Tournament.  Even if they are capable of doing so, the controversy from regions that loose will take the League’s creditability.

           **Prizes**:  Reigning Champions earn medals for their region.  Depending on the grand prize, the team themselves may also win anything from large cash prizes to special access or permission to use select Pokémon attacks or combat moves, or even be awarded a rare or very valuable held item.

           **Representation**: The Champions sent to compete represent the strongest combatants their region has to offer from their general populace, though at times military Pokémon or veterans are also a part of the teams.  Therefore, the region’s military strength is largely judged by the capabilities of their region’s Champions.  For example, teams eliminated first will make other regions believe that their region is weaker than the regions the winners are from.  Due to this aspect, the further a region’s team goes, the less likely the region will be troubled by other regions.  In addition, the region will also expect on influx of immigrants from other regions afterwards, as their region will now look more desirable to live in compared to the regions that lost.  In addition, each victory a region’s Champions can achieve give the region bragging rights over the defeated regions.

           **Deals**:  The outcome of the Cross-Regional League is also used by regions to settle disputes they have with one another.  Often, officials from regions will argue points of their agreements or contracts into a standstill.  They have since taken to placing the outcome of their agreement on their respective Champions.  Whosever Champion wins over the other will then also win in their debates, bringing significant changes about for the betterment of their own region.

           Due to the nature of the representation and deals that depend on the Cross-Regional League, an oppressive pressure and burden is placed on the shoulders of every Champion.  Also due to those natures, Champions are often targets of mercenaries and Assassins hired by high profile people who have much riding on their opponents’ victory.

## Competitions

           Competitions between Pokémon are held by each region, thus making each competition contained within a single region.  Competitions may not hold as much fame or popularity that the League does, but within their region, they come second only to the League itself.  At times two regions may come together to create a bigger event of a Co-Operated Competition, which never fails to ignite a lot of hype within each of the Regions.

           When not in use for the League, Gym arenas can be rented out for competitions.  However, most competitions have their own arenas or stages for their events, made possible by sponsors.  Sponsors are anyone willing to donate a minimum of 500 PokéDollars to whomever is organizing the competitions.  Competitions can be organized by a variety of possibilities, including but not limited to the region’s government, a city, a business or corporation, or an organization.  The region’s law enforcement ensures that any legal competition meets a set of safety and security standards.

           There are many forms of competitions, such as battle, racing, survival, and contests.  "Entrant" is a universal term for Pokémon currently entering any kind of competition.  However, though these are all different forms of competitions, only Pokémon in the battling category refer to themselves as a Competitor, despite the term being used by all official work to refer to any Pokémon holding a valid Competition Card.  The rules of a competition vary depending on whomever organizes the event.

           For every category, there are different indicator levels.  A Pokémon’s ability to enter any level depends on their skill and on their actual level.  When registering for a Competition card, a Pokémon is thoroughly tested in order to ascertain which level they belong in.  In order to change levels, they must re-register their identification cards.  Changing levels is required once the card-holder no longer meets the restrictions of their current indicator level.  The different levels include Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Ace, Adept, Master, and Goliath.

**Novice**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 1 to 17.
**Beginner**:  Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 18 to 33.
**Intermediate**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 34 to 49.
**Ace**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 50 to 67.
**Adept**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 68 to 83.
**Master**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 83 to 95.
**Goliath**: Indicates that the competition will have Pokémon ranging from level 95 to 100.
           Though usually these levels are strictly held, if a Pokémon shows a skill level above their actual level, they will be an exception and be advanced into their skill level.  The most common exceptions tend to be Pokémon with very high competency, whom are able to work with the moves, abilities, and items they have so completely that they outclass their peers.

#### **Competition cards**

           Competition cards contain the following information:

           Name, birth-date, Pokémon species, Pokémon type, height, weight, body build, indicator level, address, and competition identification code.

           Competition cards permits the holder, so long as they follow the laws of the region, to:

           Enter competitions, carry limited armaments as a defensive measure for Pokémon to which such things are applicable, receive discounted hospital bills, be applicable to select battle item discounts, use Mega Stones in competitions only

### **Battle**

           Like the name implies, a battle competition involves set matches, usually in a tournament style.  These competitions can be themed for a certain Pokémon type, a certain type of battle, or structured for a certain kind of entrant.  For example, a battle competition could be themed for Psychic Pokémon, thereby not allowing any other Pokémon type to enter.  A battle competition could also be themed for triple battles, so only entrants whom have a three-member team are accepted.  Finally, a battle competition can be structured for children, thereby forbidding anyone above a certain age to enter.  In addition, competitions can also be restricted to a single indicator level or have multiple brackets to accommodate several indicator levels.

           There are some battle competitions that occur annually, known as a Battle Extravaganza.  These are the most popular of the battle competitions, drawing enormous crowds and Competitors.  They usually end up lasting a month or so, as they have several tournaments.  The tournaments included are single-battle, double-battle, triple-battle, rotation-battle, inverse-battle, battle-royal, and brawls.  Battle Extravaganzas also include a separate bracket of each indicator level for every tournament.  This means that each tournament will have a Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Ace, Adept, Master, and Goliath winner.

           Of all the different types of competitions, the larger battle competitions attract the most fame and glory for the entrants, especially the Battle Extravaganzas.  The winners of competitions are given the title of Regional \*name of competition\* Defender, along with whatever the grand prize was.  If a Defender wishes to retain their title, they will have to re-enter the competition every time it is held and win all over again.  Defenders of the larger competitions are likely to be approached by Pokémon wanting to participate in the League.

           Participants of the League, as well as past or current Champions, are allowed to enter competitions, so long as they have a legal Competition card.

#### **Types of Battle**

           Most of the types of battle are the same as they are in the games.  Included in the following descriptions is the slang used among Competitors and fans to refer to the type of entrant involved.  The slang will be contained within commas before the phrase “face off”.

**Single-battles** are matches where one Pokémon, a solo, faces off against one opponent.
**Double-battle** are matches where two Pokémon, a partnership, face off against two opponents at once.
**Triple-battle** are matches where three Pokémon, a trio, face off against three opponents at once.
**Rotation-battle** are matches where three Pokémon, a trio, face off against three opponents, in a quick tag-team fashion.  This means one Pokémon on each side are fighting at a time, but the Pokémon have the ability to retreat and be replaced with another Pokémon in their trio, so long as the retreating Pokémon makes physical contact with their replacement.  This action is referred to as a "tag" and is usually given on the run as a high five or fist bump between the two Pokémon.  The tag must be very swift, since there is only a two second allowance for the battle field to be empty of a Pokémon before the trio is disqualified.
**Inverse-battle** are matches where one Pokémon, a solo, faces off against one opponent.  However, Psychic type referees manipulate the damage taken by each Pokémon so that the type matchup in reversed.  For example, a Fire type move will now be super-effective against a Water type Pokémon.  These battles require one Psychic referee per battler.
**Battle-royals** are the most dangerous of the battles, as entrants can enter solo, with a partner, or even with a team of up to six Pokémon.  Every entrant enters the arena at once and the last one standing is the winner.  This kind of battle requires one high level Psychic Pokémon for every three entrants to be present as well as one emergency medical response team present for every two entrants.  Only Battle Extravaganzas have the ability to meet these requirements due to a large financial backing as well as attracting many volunteers.  This is one of two battle-types that permit one side to have more than three Pokémon battling at once, which is similar to a horde battle in the Pokémon video games.
**Brawls** are similar to battle-royals in the sense of the entrants accepted.  Brawls, however, match up entrants together in a tournament fashion.  For example, a solo entrant as just as much of a chance to face off against another solo entrant as they do against a partnership, a trio, or a team.  This is one of two battle-types that permit one side to have more than three Pokémon battling at once, which is similar to a horde battle in the Pokémon video games.
#### **Forms of Battle**

           In addition to the types of battle, there are also various forms. Forms of battle is combined with the type of battle. This results in specific types of combat. Note: A style refers to a fighting technique such as Taekwondo or one of the different kinds of fencing (saber, épée, or foil).  For example, a saber style single battle is essentially a duel between fencers. Alternatively, a fisticuffs style battle royal would essentially be a massive battle field full of various forms of unarmed combat, with one Pokemon utilizing wrestling and another using Capoeira and still another using kick boxing, etc.

**Fisticuffs**: No weapons, all styles. This means that all forms of hand-to-hand combat is permitted.
**One Style**: One style of combat is chosen. All combat will be held in the specified style. For example, a Saber Fencing style battle will be holding combat in which sabers and the saber fencing technique are utilized.
**Limited Styles**: A select few styles of combat chosen to be allowed be preformed. For example, all sword styles are permitted, but nothing else, which would permit combat between things like a fencer and a broad sword or twin blades against a katana.
**No Holds**: All weapons and all styles permitted.
### **Racing**

           Racing competitions are also very popular.  The Entrants that are permitted depends on the nature of the race.  Usually races are between individual Pokémon, so only solo entrants are permitted.  However, there are also races that are modified to where a partnership, trio, or team are acceptable as well.  Pokémon entering racing competitions refer to themselves simply as Racers.  These competitions are also rife with gambling.

           Though not illegal, the use of Mega Stones in a race is believed to be a demonstration of poor sportsmanship and is frowned upon by the Racers, many of whom consider such things as cheating.  Only the truly shameless of Racers use Mega Stones during a race.

           Racing competitions include sprinting, cross country, trail running, skating, biking, skiing, any form of boating, swimming, flying, or marathons containing a combination of different forms of racing.  Racing competitions are not limited to this list, and new forms of racing competitions are invented occasionally.

### **Survival**

           Survival competitions involve entrants surviving in a select environment.  Entrants permitted can be solo, in a partnership, or in a team.  In these competitions, each entrant also has a small, high resolution video camera, usually attached to their clothing, so that the organizers of the competition can compile the footage for the viewing fans.  Organizers usually offer to compile a copy for entrants for a small fee.  The cameras are always on and are dually powered by solar energy and a battery, with a backup thermal converter, which is capable of converting body heat into energy, as well.  Entrants who favor survival competitions are referred to as Survivalists.

           Due to the nature of these competitions, it is Pokémon Rescue Teams and human Rangers that are usually involved in the security and safety of the entrants.  These Pokémon and Rangers monitor every entrant’s video feed.  If they judge that an entrant needs to be pulled out of the competition, they launch a retrieval mission and inform the organizers.  Should an entrant’s camera be damaged to the point it no longer sends a live feed, a Rescue Team is deployed with a replacement immediately.  The duration of these competitions along with the requirement of having several people keeping a strict eye on the feeds at once usually has the Rescue Teams and Rangers forming units among themselves, each unit assigned to certain time-frames, in order to provide sufficient breaks for them.  The involvement of Rescue Teams and Rangers is required by region law for a survival competition to be legal.  An emergency medical response team is also usually required to be on call as well.

           Survival competitions have a time-frame in which the entrants are relocated to challenging, even harsh, environments in order to scavenge and survive until the time frame is met.  Though it is an achievement in of itself to complete the competition, the entrants are also scored by the Rescue Teams and Rangers on their competency, innovation, relevant knowledge, and general reactions.  For example, a Pokémon who remains calm, even when facing frustrating or dangerous situations, will score higher than a Pokémon who overreacts to similar situations.

### **Contests**

           Contests are similar to the games and the anime.  Only solo or partnerships entrants are accepted in these competitions.  When entering, each entrant registers the four moves they plan to use during the contest.  If an unregistered move is used, the entrant is immediately disqualified.

           They begin with the introduction, in which entrants have a brief moment to dazzle the audience with their appearance and a quick action, such a spin, flip, or pose as the contest’s speaker announces their name.

           The next stage is the Showcase, during which entrants take turns using one move at a time until four rounds have passed.  It is not required to use all four of their registered moves, but repeating moves decreases their effectiveness drastically.  The point of this stage is to show how good the entrant looks, using their moves to enhance their performance.  Like in the game, a move can affect other entrant’s scores.  For example, the move Mist can be spread around the entrant to make a striking, dynamic, sparkling back drop for themselves.  Once they move back and allow another to preform, their confidence is strong enough to prevent them from showing any intimidated body language or flinching from other performances in the round.  The video game jamming points are reflected here as how intimidated other entrants will become by those moves.  By becoming intimidated, the entrant usually projects an uncertain body language, which is picked up by the judges and audience and discredits that entrant’s abilities and skill in their eyes.  This in turn gets deducted from their score, since self-confidence is a major factor in the contests.

           Like in the Pokémon anime, the last phase of a contest is the Battle stage.  During this stage, entrants are matched against each other in a tournament bracket fashion.  Each battle lasts five minutes, the object of which is not to knockout the opponent, but rather to display the entrant’s skill at remaining graceful and composed while using moves to increase their appeal or decrease their opponent’s appeal.  Points are deducted from an entrant if they are hit by the opponent’s move, when their move fails, when they are outdone by their opponent’s move, or when their opponent turns the entrant’s move into their own.  An example of the latter, an entrant uses the move bubble beam on their opponent with the intention of using the bubbles and the light refracting off the bubbles as a back drop to a graceful pose as well as with the intention of hitting their opponent do reduce their points with the bonus of ruining their appearance.  As a counter attack, the opponent uses the move ice beam, not on the entrant, but on the bubbles, freezing them in mid-air.  As they fall and shatter in a spectacular display of light and sound, the opponent spins into the middle of it, slowly brushing their hair back as their face is pointed up, their entire body arranged as a profile view for the audience, pausing a moment here with their back arched, their eyes burning from beneath their eye lashes, their other hand delicately resting along their thigh, before dancing away again to their side.  The entrant is then left looking like the fool, while their opponent scored an impressive rack of points with their move.  The winner is whomever has the most points once the time limit is reached.  The winner advances in the bracket while the loser is dropped from the contest.

           The winner of the contest, like in the games and anime, is given a unique ribbon as well as the ability to advance to higher level contests.  The contests are the only exception to the indicator levels of Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Ace, Adept, Master, and Goliath.  While is still taken into consideration, advancing contest levels requires every entrant to work their way up from the lowest.  The only consideration taken by indicator levels is to determine if the entrant will be forbidden from striking their opponent in the Battle stage, which is done if one entrant’s indicator level is higher than their opponent’s.  This restriction is announced with the entrant’s name as they walk out onto the stage for their match.  If the restriction is breached, the entrant is immediately disqualified.  Contest levels are named the same as they are in the game, though the best sounding names were chosen: Normal Rank, Great Rank, Super Rank, and Master Rank.  An entrant must win the ribbon of the previous rank in order to be accepted for the next.

           In addition to the general-admittance contests, there are also type themed contests.  These contests function the same way as the general admittance contests.  However, only Pokémon of the particular type that the contest is themed by are permitted entry.  Using moves of the themed type earns extra points, while moves of the type's disadvantage, such as an Electric type move in a Water or Flying type contest, will deduct points from the user.  The only other difference is in the decor of the stage and building, which will also be themed toward the type.  The names are as follows: (These names are derived from the different kinds of PokeBalls in the game.)

           Entrants who favor contests are referred to as Contestants.  Contests are favored by models and designers alike as the most effective way to increase their popularity and increase interest in their respective businesses.  Models who do well in contests are considered to be a higher standard than other models, since they prove themselves and their skill.  Designers whom are able to combine style, function, quality, and durability effectively are the most sought after.