The journey to becoming a Pokémon Master involves defeating the Champion of each region, which requires you to conquer the eight Pokémon Gyms and defeat each member of the Elite Four in battle before you can even knock on the Champion's door. The eight Gym Leaders are usually a pushover as you can leave and heal up for free after defeating their minions, but the Elite Four are way more difficult to fight as you are expected to defeat them sequentially without taking a break before you're allowed to face the Champion.
All of the Pokémon League's have their own unique Elite Four and they have all been interpreted in different ways across the various forms of Pokémon media. The Pokémon video games have used them sparingly and you rarely meet any member of the Elite Four outside of their room in the Pokémon League, while the Pokémon anime and various manga series have used them as everything from staunch allies to vicious enemies. The inconsistent tone of the various members of each Elite Four has sometimes made it hard to take them seriously due to how they can go from being comedic characters to serious Pokémon trainers. We are here today to learn the amusing tidbits of the Elite Four – from the martial artist with the illegal Exeggutor to the dragon master that stocked up on rare candy. Here are 20 Ridiculous Things About The Elite Four That Everyone Forgets!
20 Bruno Isn't A Fair Fighter (In Pokémon Stadium 2)
Bruno specializes in Fighting-type, Ground-type, and Rock-type Pokémon, yet, he uses a Grass/Psychic-type Pokémon in Pokémon Stadium 2 during the second battle in which you face him.
Bruno uses an illegal Exeggutor in Pokémon Stadium 2 that knows both AncientPower and Explosion at the same time, which was impossible at that point in the series as the former was an Egg Move and the latter could only be learned using a TM in Pokémon Red & Blue.
19 You Can Get Trapped In Lorelei's Room
The artificial intelligence used by trainers in Pokémon Red & Blue was designed in such a way that the enemy would always use a move that was super effective against the type of Pokémon that you were using. It's possible to trap yourself in Lorelei's room forever, though it takes a bit of work as you need to enter the room with a Fighting-type or Poison-type Pokémon that only knows Rage and lacks any items that can teach you moves.
If you have saved in the room, then you cannot escape as your Pokémon will endlessly use Rage and Lorelei's Pokémon will endlessly heal itself with Rest, since Rage doesn't deplete PP and enemy Pokémon never run out of PP for their moves.
18 Lance Was Defeated By Twitch Plays Pokémon Fans (Due To A Glitch)
The flaws with the AI in Pokémon Red & Blue can be wielded against the Elite Four, as the audience of Twitch Plays Pokémon discovered. The thousands of players who were online during the Lance battle were expecting the tide to turn against them as they were left with a level thirty-six Venomoth that had to face a level sixty-two Dragonite.
The fact that Venomoth is a Bug/Poison-type Pokémon caused Lance's Dragonite to just spam Agility and Barrier over and over again as it slowly succumbed to poison damage.
17 The Elite Four's Name Is Way More Dramatic In Japan
The Elite Four's name tells you everything you need to know about the group, as they are Elite Pokémon trainers and there are four of them. However, their original name in Japan was far more grandiose as they are referred to as the Four Heavenly Kings in the original version of each game.
The Four Heavenly Kings is a name given to four gods from Buddhist mythology that rule over each of the four directions. Unfortunately, it doesn't really make sense to call them the Four Heavenly Kings as most iterations of the Elite Four have two men and two women in their ranks.
16 Misty Almost Joined The Elite Four
The Indigo League Elite Four changed drastically between Pokémon Red & Blue and Pokémon Gold & Silver, with Agatha & Lorelei leaving, Lance becoming the new Champion, Koga being promoted from Gym Leader, and Karen & Will joining.
The leaked Space World '97 demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver has revealed what the original plans for the Elite Four was supposed to be, with Bruno, Lance, and Lorelei remaining on the team, and Agatha being replaced by... Misty. The original plan for Pokémon Gold & Silver was that you would travel across Japan, so you wouldn't have been able to challenge Misty as a Gym Leader again, which may be why she was promoted to the Elite Four, as it allowed the developers to keep her in the game.
15 The Anime Version Of The Elite Four Is A Lot Harder To Challenge
In order to be able to challenge the Champion in a Pokémon video game, you first need to defeat the eight Gym Leaders in order to earn the right to face the Elite Four. The Pokémon anime has a different set of rules, though, as conquering the eight Pokémon Gyms only earns you the right to enter the local Conference, which is a tournament that involves all of the trainers in that region who also defeated the Gym Leaders.
Only those who win the local Pokémon League Conference can earn the right to face the Elite Four of a region, which is something that Ash Ketchum has yet to accomplish.
14 Phoebe Keeps A Ghost In Her Room
The Pokémon games that appeared on the Nintendo 3DS included several moments involving ghosts and supernatural characters that seemed to only exist to prompt the creation of more creepypastas around the series.
Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire updated Phoebe of the Elite Four's room so that it now featured a creepy ghost. Phoebe is the Ghost-type specialist of the Elite Four, so it makes sense that a ghostly girl can be seen for brief moments during the intro and victory cutscenes in the battle against Phoebe.
13 Some Types Haven't Been Represented By A Member Of The Elite Four
The members of the Elite Four are similar to that of the Gym Leaders that appear in each region as they specialize in a single type of Pokémon, which leaves the Champion free to use a mixture of types in their battle.
There are still several Pokémon types that have yet to be represented by an Elite Four member, which include Normal, Electric, Grass, and Fairy. It isn't just the Elite Four that have yet to represent all types, though, as there still hasn't been a Dark-type Gym Leader in the Pokémon series.
12 The Kanto Elite Four Were Criminals In The Pokémon Adventures Manga
The Pokémon Adventures manga is notorious for being darker than the anime and the video games, with several Pokémon meeting violent ends during battle. The version of the Kanto Elite Four that appears in Pokémon Adventures is made up of an organization who believes that the human race should be wiped out, save for those who are kind to Pokémon.
Lance's plan to wipe out humanity involved summoning Lugia, as he believed Lugia was the only one with the power necessary for the task. However, he was eventually defeated by Yellow and her allies.
11 1Lorelei's Name Had To Be Changed
Ash was never given the chance to battle the Elite Four during his first Pokémon adventure, but he would go on to meet them in different capacities as he met Bruno during his training period before the Indigo Conference, Lance in Johto, and would meet Agatha when she took over as the Leader of the Viridian Gym.
Ash met Lorelei during his adventures in the Orange Islands, but you may not have known this as a child as Lorelei's name was changed to Prima. The reason Lorelei's name was changed was due to it having too many mouth movements for the voice actors to accommodate since she was originally called Kanna in Japan.
10 Bruno & Lance's Pokémon Actually Lost Levels Between Games
The lineup of the Elite Four changed between Pokémon Red & Blue and Pokémon Gold & Silver with Lance becoming the new Champion and Bruno being the only original member to stay on the team; with Karen, Koga, and Will filling out the other positions.
Bruno and Lance's Pokémon actually became weaker over the course of the generation jump: with Bruno's Hitmonchan & Hitmonlee dropping from level fifty-five to level forty-two, his Onix dropped to level forty-two, and his Machamp dropped from level fifty-eight to level forty-six. Lance's team also saw a reduction in power with his Aerodactyl dropping from level sixty to level forty-six, his Gyarados dropping from level fifty-eight to level forty-four, and all three of his Dragonair/Dragonite dropping as well.
9 Glacia Is A Messy Eater
The Elite Four is supposed to be made up of the best Pokémon trainers of each region, which is why they are often impressive and imposing to look at. For example, Glacia of the Hoenn Elite Four is supposed to be classy and sophisticated, which is why she wears a fancy gown during your battle.
However, if you snoop around in the Mauville Food Court, you can find out that Glacia is really a messy eater who loves to have ramen noodles and slurp them noisily as she devours them, with the heat of the food causing her to sweat profusely.
8 Sidney Doesn't Fight Fair Either
The first member of the Hoenn Elite Four that you face in battle is Sidney, who specializes in Dark-type Pokémon. In Japan, the Dark-type is called Evil-type, so it makes sense that Sidney loves to break the rules.
In Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, Sidney uses an illegal Shiftry as it is level forty-eight and knows Extrasensory, even though Shiftry can only Extrasensory if it reaches level forty-nine as a Nuzleaf.
7 The Door Glitch To Aaron's Room Means You Can Escape From Reality
The Pokémon fans who lived outside of Japan used to have to wait longer for the game to be released, as Game Freak used to take a long time to localize their games. One of the benefits of having to wait longer for the Pokémon games was avoiding the major bugs and glitches discovered by the players as they would be fixed for the international release.
However, the room used by Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four was so glitched that the player could Surf into it, which would allow them to access any area of the game and encounter all of the Event Pokémon that normally required an item to find. Unfortunately, the Surf glitch was fixed for the international versions of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl.
6 Bertha Also Doesn't Fight Fair
It isn't just the members of the Kanto and Hoenn Elite Fours that contain rule breakers as Bertha of the Sinnoh Elite Four also liked to use illegal Pokémon in battle. Bertha seems like such a nice old lady when you meet her for the first time, yet, she is harboring a little nugget.
In Pokémon Platinum, Bertha uses a Rhyperior in battle. Bertha's Rhyperior is level fifty-five and knows Rock Wrecker, which it cannot normally learn until it reaches level sixty-one.
5 Only One Elite Four Member Has Ever Used A Starter Pokémon
The starter Pokémon that you choose from at the beginning of each Pokémon game are meant to be rare for the region that you are living in, which is why you generally can't encounter them in the wild and why you need to resort to breeding or trading in order to find more of them.
It seems that the Elite Fours of the Pokémon world have little regard for starter Pokémon as only one member of an Elite Four has ever used one on their team. Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four used an Infernape on his team, making him the only Elite Four member to ever use a starter Pokémon.
4 Shauntal Is Supposed To Be Dressed Like A Black Cat
The older Pokémon games only gave you a brief glimpse of each Elite Four member as you generally only saw their overworld and their battle sprites. The limited amount of times you saw Shauntal in Pokémon Black & White meant that you may have missed her gimmick as she is meant to be dressed like a black cat.
Shauntal's huge collar & brooch are supposed to be in the shape of a black cat's head, which can be hard to tell from the artwork used in Pokémon Black & White. Also, Shauntal's choice of fashion is odd, considering that black cats don't exist in the Pokémon world and that she doesn't use any cat-like Pokémon on her team.
3 Bertha's Female Hippowdon Has Male Markings In The Anime/TGC
Pokémon Gold & Silver introduced the concept of gender among the Pokémon, which became a factor in Pokémon breeding. As the Pokémon series progressed, the gender of a Pokémon could be determined in their artwork, such as female Pikachu having a heart-shaped tail.
One Pokémon that has aesthetic gender differences is Hippowdon, with the male of the species having light brown skin and the female having dark gray skin. Bertha uses a female Hippowdon in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, yet, it's always depicted as male when shown in the anime and the card game.
2 Grimsley Is Supposed To Be A Wagering Vampire
The Pokémon franchise became far lighter in tone when the series became an international hit as the people involved with the creation of the series wanted to make a product that was acceptable all around the world. It's for this reason why the voodoo doll and vampire panda Pokémon were removed from Pokémon Gold & Silver.
However, it seems that at least one vampire Pokémon trainer was cool for the producers of the series as Grimsley is intended to be based on the classic appearance of Dracula, with a few wagering elements thrown in, such as the colors of a roulette wheel being incorporated into his clothes.
1 Surprise... Lance Doesn't Fight Fair
There are plenty of trainers in the Pokémon world that have resorted to using illegal Pokémon, but Lance is the worst of them all. In Pokémon Red & Blue, Lance has a Dragonite that knows Barrier, even though it couldn't normally learn that move, and in Pokémon Gold & Silver, he uses an Aerodactyl that knows Rock Slide, even though it couldn't learn that move until Ruby & Sapphire.
Lance also uses three illegal Dragonite in Pokémon Gold & Silver as they are all under level fifty-five, which is the minimum level at which Dragonair can evolve. It's no wonder Lance took over the Champion position from Red, since he was probably feeding his Pokémon power-ups before their battle.