License to Ball

While most of the continents and individual countries have their own Leagues that manage the operation of Pokemon Trainers in their jurisdiction, the rules are generally the same worldwide:

There are different Leagues for aspiring Pokemon Trainers to participate in, each with particular goals and ideals.

• The Pokemon Mastery League tests a Trainer's ability to organize a Team to meet the challenges of a specific environment or opponent type.
  • These are generally organized by country or in some cases major region.
  • They are organized in series of eight Gyms, each of which showcases the talents of the region (environments, types, and the like) and challenges Trainers to prove their ability to surpass these challenges, both in Pokemon and their own merits.
  • Once the eight gyms within a region or country have been mastered and a certification badge achieved from each, the Trainers face an elite team of Trainers who provide a wide-spectrum test of their abilities (the tradition is for a battle with The Elite Four, a quartet of regional champions, followed by the current Champion, the final gatekeeper and usually using a select team of talented Pokemon to put would-be champions through their paces.
  • Should a Trainer master the Regional Championship, they are encouraged to visit other regions, countries, and continents and participate in their Gym Challenge Circuits as well, to further refine their skills and broaden their experience. They are also invited to the Battle Frontier, an artificial continent built in the middle of the ocean where Pokemon and Trainers from around the world congregate, often practicing between Tournament League events. Many Battle Frontier participants are also ranked members of the Tournament League.
  • The Continental Challenge is to triumph against an entire League in every continent on Kyrael. Less than 1,000 active Trainers worldwide are known to have completed the Continental Challenge, and they are among the most dangerous Trainers in the world.
• The Pokemon Tournament League pits Trainers in ranked contests against each other, with championships going from regional all the way to worldwide.
  • Regional tournaments are held within a local segment of a country, and generally are the easiest to enter and participate in. Becoming a Regional Champion is the typical minimum requirement to enter a National Championship. Regional tournaments are unranked elimination matches, usually with sixteen participants at a time each squaring off in one-on-one matches, with recovery between matches.
  • National tournaments, also known as the Tournament Circuit, provide rankings for participants based on their successes and losses against other ranked participants in National Tournament matches. Often, the winner earns a number of points for the battle as well as some of the opponent's points, meaning that a participant's ranking may change drastically if they have a lucky victory against a high-ranking opponent. National Tournaments are held monthly in most countries, although some countries have Exhibition rules that allow ranked members to duel each other anytime; these are often the most competitive regions.
  • The Continental Championships are massive and are held once every three months, often with themes based on the season. Like Nationals, they are based on a point system, with champions rising and falling based on their performance against each other. However, Exhibition Matches may be arranged, which have legal standing in the Tournament circuit and are generally treated like Pay-Per-View Prize Fights.
  • The World Championships are meant for the best representatives from all over the world, and many Continentals do not participate in them. World Champions are ranked extensively and are known for having diverse selections of teams to account for most any known situation, and often retire to positions of power and influence. These Championships are held once every year in the Battle Frontier, and are often grueling matches that transcend ordinary tournament rules - six-on-six fights, 99-ball challenges, five-Trainer-team-fights, and other gimmicks often show up at these Championships. The World Championships does not hold official Exhibitions, but the Battle Frontier matches often use specialty rules that appear in the Championships.
• The Pokemon Contest League showcases the ability of Trainers and Pokemon to entertain, amuse, and impress audiences.
  • Typical challenges include performance art by Pokemon and Trainer, exhibitions of skill and strength, or other tests of might.
  • Contest Leagues tend to award Ribbons as prizes, as well as monetary consideration for the Trainers. These Ribbons are often collectible and highly valued, although they retain the identity of the Pokemon who won them and 'stolen valor' use of Ribbons is strongly frowned upon in the Contest world.
  • Contest Leagues are typically at the National level, often with multiple levels of classification (Regular, Great, and Ultra; Bronze, Silver, and Gold; and so forth) to determine who is the best of the best, with those wanting to enter advanced levels of competition needing Ribbons from the lower levels to qualify. Typically, the various grades of classification are hosted in different cities, obligating a challenger to do some travelling in order to work their way through the league.
• The Pokemon Exhibition League is where breeders of various Pokemon show off the unique qualities of their favorites, who are ranked on a number of criteria for appearance and personality.
  • Often, Pokemon are evaluated along a particular theme - Grass types, for example, or Eeveelutions - or a single species that has many interesting regional characteristics or variations. The evaluations are somewhat subjective and depend on the opinion of professional judges, but Exhibition Trophies are a sign of success for Pokemon breeders, who find them invaluable to support their claims when promising top-notch Pokemon for their clients.
  • Exhibitions do not have a ranking system; organizers may plan events at the regional, national, continental, or worldwide level, but this is merely a general measure of the extent of the invitations more than anything else. A traveling Trainer visiting a regional exposition is just as likely to be allowed to enter as one stopping by the World Expos on the Battle Frontier.