Elite Four

At the Indigo Plateau — the site of the Pokémon League in Kanto and Johto — the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order.

In the Generation I games Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow (Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, Yellow in Japan), the Generation III games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, and the Generation VII games Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Generation I	Generation III		Generation VII
			After Kanto	After Sevii	Initial	Rematch
Lorelei カンナ Kanna	Ice
Bruno シバ Siba	Fighting
Agatha キクコ Kikuko	Ghost
Lance ワタル Wataru	Dragon

In the Generation II games Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal and the Generation IV games Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Generation II	Generation IV
			After 8 Badges	After 16 Badges
Will イツキ Itsuki	Psychic
Koga キョウ Kyō	Poison
Bruno シバ Siba	Fighting
Karen カリン Karin	Dark

In Hoenn, the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the Elite Four at Ever Grande City consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Ruby and Sapphire	Emerald	Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
				Initial	Rematch
Sidney カゲツ Kagetsu	Dark
Phoebe フヨウ Fuyō	Ghost
Glacia プリム Prim	Ice
Drake ゲンジ Genji	Dragon

In Sinnoh, the Elite Four must be battled in a fixed order. In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl, the Elite Four at the Sinnoh Pokémon League consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Diamond and Pearl	Platinum	Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
				Initial	First rematch	Second rematch
Aaron リョウ Ryou	Bug
Bertha キクノ Kikuno	Ground
Flint オーバ Ōba	Fire
Lucian ゴヨウ Goyō	Psychic

In Unova, the Elite Four may be challenged in any order. In Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, the Elite Four at the Unova Pokémon League consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Black and White		Black 2 and White 2
				Easy/Normal Mode		Challenge Mode
		Initial	Rematch	Initial	Rematch	Initial	Rematch
Shauntal シキミ Shikimi	Ghost
Marshal レンブ Renbu	Fighting
Grimsley ギーマ Giima	Dark
Caitlin カトレア Cattleya	Psychic

In Kalos, the Elite Four may be challenged in any order. In Pokémon X and Y, the Elite Four at the Kalos Pokémon League consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		X and Y
Malva パキラ Pachira	Fire
Siebold ズミ Zumi	Water
Wikstrom ガンピ Gampi	Steel
Drasna ドラセナ Dracaena	Dragon

In Alola, the Elite Four may be challenged in any order. All Elite Four members use Ultra Balls to store their Pokémon.

In Pokémon Sun and Moon, the Elite Four at the Alola Pokémon League consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Sun and Moon
Hala ハラ Hala	Fighting
Olivia ライチ Lychee	Rock
Acerola アセロラ Acerola	Ghost
Kahili カヒリ Kahili	Flying

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Elite Four at the Alola Pokémon League consists of:

Member Japanese	Type	Teams
		Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
Molayne マーレイン Mullein	Steel
Olivia ライチ Lychee	Rock
Acerola アセロラ Acerola	Ghost
Kahili カヒリ Kahili	Flying

Pokémon Puzzle League features its own Elite Four: Ritchie, Lorelei, Bruno, and Gary. Gary serves as the leader of the Elite Four and the Puzzle League Champion.

By defeating each of them, the player is rewarded with an Elite Medal. Playing on Hard Level, Gary is the last challenge and on Super Hard, Mewtwo is the last challenge after the player becomes the Champion.

In Pokémon Trading Card Game, there is a group composed of powerful four members called the Grand Masters who are the counterpart of the Elite Four in these games. Players who defeat them receive the Legendary Cards.

The Sinnoh Elite Four in the anime

In the Pokémon anime, Ash and his friends infrequently meet Elite Four members, who then impart them with battle strategies.

In Kanto, Ash has met the entire original Elite Four roster:

• Bruno was the first Elite Four member to appear in the anime (excluding Koga, who was later promoted to be one in Generation II), in To Master the Onixpected.
• Lorelei appeared in The Mandarin Island Miss Match, but she is named "Prima" in the English dub.
• Lance debuted in Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution, where he was mentioned to be the Champion rather than a regular member of the Elite Four. He is referred to as a member of the Elite Four in Flash of the Titans!.
• Agatha appeared in The Scheme Team, where she was acting as a temporary Gym Leader for the Viridian Gym.
  • Koga, though not an Elite Four member, debuted in The Ninja Poké-Showdown, where he had a Gym battle against Ash.

In Hoenn, Ash has met only one Elite Four member:

• Drake appeared in Vanity Affair, where he invited Ash and his friends to his boat, where he had a battle with Ash.

In Sinnoh, Ash has also met the entire Elite Four roster:

• Lucian debuted in An Elite Meet and Greet!, where he had a battle with Dawn, using his Bronzong against her Buizel.
• Aaron debuted in A Trainer and Child Reunion!, where he was seen training to challenge Cynthia.
• Flint debuted in Flint Sparks the Fire!, where he had a battle with Ash, using his Infernape against his Buizel, Infernape, and Pikachu.
• Bertha appeared in An Elite Coverup!, where she taught Ash and Dawn how observation skills can be useful in battles and Pokémon Contests.

In Unova, Ash has also met only one Elite Four member:

• Caitlin debuted in Jostling for the Junior Cup!, where she faced off against Cynthia during an exhibition match of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup.

In Kalos, Ash has met Malva and Wikstrom. One other Elite Four member has appeared as well:

• Siebold appeared in Mega Evolution Special I, where he used his Mega Blastoise to battle Alain and his Mega Charizard X.
• Wikstrom first appeared in a cameo in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, in which he was seen battling Diantha, using his Mega Scizor against her Mega Gardevoir. He made his main series debut in Searching for Chivalry!, in which Ash met him for the first time when he visited the Castle of Chivalry.
• Malva debuted in Cloudy Fate, Bright Future! in a video transmission. Ash didn't meet her until A League of His Own!, where he was interviewed by her.

In Alola, Ash has met the entire Elite Four rosters from both the Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon paired versions, though none of them presented themselves as such, because the Alola League was not established until The Dealer of Destruction! in the anime:

• Hala debuted in To Top a Totem!, where he led Ash to Verdant Cavern so he could start his island challenge.
• Olivia debuted in The Island Whisperer!, where she took Ash and his classmates to Akala Island and began hosting them during their stay there.
• Acerola debuted in Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?, though Ash didn't meet her until the next episode, where she assisted him in his first battle against Nanu.
• Molayne debuted in Showering the World with Love!, where he showed Ash and his classmates around the Hokulani Observatory.
• Kahili debuted in Keeping Your Eyes on the Ball!, where she took Ash and his classmates to a Pokémon Golf course and taught them the sport.

It has been stated by Lucian in An Elite Meet and Greet! that when a Trainer wins their respective region's League Conference, they can participate in the Champion League, fighting the members of that region's Elite Four, and then the Champion as well. It has also been shown that an Elite Four member can challenge the Champion and obtain the title from them in battle.

The Kanto Elite Four in Pokémon Origins

The members of the Kanto Elite Four made brief appearances in File 4: Charizard. Red was shown defeating all four members, allowing him to move on to face the Pokémon League Champion, Blue.

The Kanto Elite Four in Pokémon Generations

The members of the Kanto Elite Four made brief appearances in The Challenger. Blue was shown defeating all four members, allowing him to become the Pokémon League Champion. Later in the episode, Red was revealed to have defeated them as well, since he was seen about to challenge Blue.

Lance reappeared again more prominent in The Lake of Rage. He teams up with Ethan to battle Team Rocket in the Lake of Rage's incident.

Malva appeared in The Beauty Eternal, where she was seen on a billboard. She is the only member of the Kalos's Elite Four to appear in this series.

Malva in Pokémon Evolutions

Malva appeared in The Visionary.

The Kanto Elite Four, consisting of Lorelei, Bruno, Lance, and Agatha, made their debut in A Charizard...and a Champion, watching the final battle between Red and Blue.

The Kanto Elite Four served as the primary antagonists for this chapter. They are each said to be so powerful that the triad leaders of Team Rocket, Koga, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina, all had to begrudgingly team up with the protagonists and Blaine to take just a single one of them.

The Johto Elite Four is formed at the end of this chapter. It consists of accomplished Pokémon Trainers that were formerly part of criminal organizations, who would eventually rise as the official Elite Four of Indigo Plateau. Will, Bruno, Karen, and Koga united to train together after they were no longer being controlled.

Hoenn Elite Four in Pokémon Adventures

The Hoenn Elite Four, consisting of Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, and Drake, made an appearance in this chapter, helping to find and catch the legendary titans in order to contain the massive surge of energy created by the clash of Kyogre and Groudon alongside Steven and Wallace, their two regional Champions. It is also during the Hoenn Elite Four's appearance that the challenge of the Elite Four and Champion was mentioned as having replaced a knockout tournament to determine the best Trainer in the region.

The first Sinnoh Elite Four member to debut in the series was Flint, who made a cameo appearance in the last round of this chapter.

Aaron, Bertha, and Lucian debuted in this chapter, where they were enlisted by the Pokémon Association Chairman to decode the ancient writings in Charon's memobook. Meanwhile, Flint accompanied Volkner to the Distortion World so that they could battle Giratina.

The Johto Elite Four reappeared in this chapter, where they were seen participating on the Pokéathlon and later fighting Lance's Dragonite.

The Unova Elite Four first appeared in this chapter as Black cited them during his daily pledge. However, they haven't appeared to the main characters as a group yet. Besides Caitlin, who already appeared in the Platinum chapter, Grimsley meets Black, Shauntal meets White, and Marshal meets both on different occasions. All four converged for the duration of the Unova League tournament that would have determined the Trainer that would challenge them. They also participated in the battle against Team Plasma and the Forces of Nature when N's Castle rose from the ground.

The first Kalos Elite Four member to appear is Malva, who appeared in person in this chapter. Drasna, Wikstrom, and Siebold were mentioned by Diantha during her conversation with Gurkinn and Korrina. Siebold later appeared in the Lost Hotel, cooking a meal for X and Y's friends, as a way of apologizing for his lack of participation against Team Flare. Wikstrom and Drasna later appeared in person, assisting X and Y's group in their quest to stop Team Flare. Drasna gave them information about Zygarde and Wikstrom used his Probopass to guide them to Team Flare's hideout at the Pokémon Village.

While never actually forming, the members comprising the Alola Elite Four appear individually throughout the chapter. Hala and Olivia appear in The Delivery of Rotom and the Girl, discussing the sightings of the guardian deities around Alola with Nanu. Kahili appears in Defeat and the Commander of the School of Fish, coming back to Alola and speculating the Ultra Beasts are the source of the guardian deities' rage. In Shipwreck and "Oh, What Sharp Teeth You Have, Bruxish!", Acerola finds an unconscious Sun and Lillie on a beach and takes them to the Aether House to recuperate. Molayne appears in Truth and the Mastermind Behind Team Skull, helping innocent civilians escape from the Ultra Beasts wreaking havoc on Ula'ula Island.

The Kanto Elite Four members appeared in Indigo Plateau, where all of them were defeated by Satoshi, allowing him to face the Champion, Shigeru.

The Japanese name of the Elite Four literally translates to the Four Heavenly Kings, a term of Buddhist origins that refers to the group of four guardian deities presiding over each of the four cardinal directions. By extension, it connotes an ensemble of four leaders in a particular field, akin to the Big Four in English.

The English translation of "the big four" had also appeared in the Japanese and Korean version of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.