Indigo Plateau: The Pokémon League of Kanto and Johto, from the Elite Four to Red's Challenge

In Kanto, the race for the Champion title always ends in the same place. Indigo Plateau has hosted two Elite Four lineups, from Red and Blue to Gold and Silver, then one more challenge against Red in Let's Go, and the anime made it the home of the Indigo League tournament.

Contents

• Indigo Plateau, the Last Step Before the Champion Title
• Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha and Lance: The Original Elite Four
• Three Years Later, a New Elite Four at Indigo Plateau
• What Let's Go Adds to Indigo Plateau
• Indigo Plateau in the Anime and Spin-Off Series
• Name Origin, Movies and Trading Cards
• Indigo Plateau at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Indigo Plateau, the Last Step Before the Champion Title

Indigo Plateau is part of Kanto, and it's home to the region's Pokémon League. The route there depends on the game: in every one, you first have to make it through Victory Road, but the map doesn't give it the same neighbors: it borders Route 23 in Red and Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen and Let's Go, Route 27 in Gold and Silver and Crystal, and opens directly off the exit of Victory Road in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

A single building stands on this small plain: the League building, which houses the Hall of Fame and the five rooms where the Elite Four and then the Champion wait. As soon as you step into the first Elite Four member's room, there's no going back to the lobby, which is why the hall's two services come in handy: a nurse who gets your team back on its feet and a Poké Mart geared toward healing items.

The shop's stock changes with the times. Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen sell Great Balls, Ultra Balls and Max Repels there, alongside more advanced healing items such as Max Potion, Revive, Full Restore and Full Heal; in the second and fourth generations, the Hyper Potion takes the Great Ball's place. Outside the building, HeartGold and SoulSilver also hide a Rare Candy, invisible on the ground near the northwest statue.

Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha and Lance: The Original Elite Four

Spoiler warning: this section reveals the ending of Red, Blue and Yellow. Called the "Conseil des 4" in the French versions of these three games, the first Elite Four follows the format explained in our guide to the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four: four back-to-back battles before the Champion's. Each room's decor usually reflects its occupant's type, with a few exceptions: Lorelei, the Ice specialist, battles the player on a stretch of water where you can even fish in the first-generation games, before Let's Go perches her on her Lapras.

Bruno, the Fighting expert, receives challengers in the second room, bristling with boulders in the first generation and then styled like a dojo in later games. Next comes Agatha, the oldest of the four, who relies on the Ghost type: in Red, Blue and Yellow, graves identical in every way to those of the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town surround her.

The last member of the group, Lance battles among statues that pay tribute to Dragons; FireRed and LeafGreen add six fangs, and Let's Go a Dragonite stationed at his side. The final room then holds a surprise: the player's rival is waiting there, crowned Champion just before the player arrived. It's Blue, or Trace in Let's Go. Once that battle is won, Professor Oak escorts the new Champion to the Hall of Fame, set up in an adjoining room, to record their team.

Three Years Later, a New Elite Four at Indigo Plateau

Spoiler warning: the end of this section reveals the final opponent of Gold, Silver and Crystal. When Trainers from Johto make their own way to Indigo Plateau, they find a largely new lineup. The first room is still covered in ice in Gold, Silver and Crystal, probably in memory of Lorelei, who once held it; yet it's now the Psychic type that's defended there by Will, and the remakes give him a black-and-purple room with a mystical feel.

In the second room, you meet an old acquaintance: Koga, who used to run the Gym in Fuchsia City, has joined the Elite Four, in a room full of plants that fits rather poorly with his Poison Pokémon. The only member of the old lineup to stay on the Elite Four, Bruno moves to the third room, ringed by bubbling lava in Gold, Silver and Crystal. The fourth goes to Karen and the Dark type: plain in the second generation, her room is decked out in the remakes with embedded crystals that make the floor sparkle.

At the end of the hall, no more rival: Lance has taken the Champion title and awaits the player with his Dragon Pokémon. The rival, meanwhile, lurks at the foot of the stairs. Silver demands one last rematch there on Mondays and Wednesdays: in Gold, Silver and Crystal, once he has lost to you at Mt. Moon, with Pokémon between levels 45 and 50; in the remakes, once the League is beaten and all eight Kanto Gyms are cleared, with a team that climbs as high as level 60.

What Let's Go Adds to Indigo Plateau

Let's Go keeps Kanto's Elite Four but beefs up the lobby. With the Champion title in hand, the player runs into a jeweler disguised as a Poké Maniac who sells nine Mega Stones at 30,000 Pokémon Dollars apiece, from Aerodactylite to Kangaskhanite by way of Gengarite and Gyaradosite: enough to trigger Mega Evolution in as many Kanto Pokémon.

Two other encounters are worth a detour. The Move Reminder charges one Heart Scale to help a Pokémon relearn a move it has forgotten. At the Pokémon Center, a Super Nerd trades his Exeggutor in its Alolan form, one of the regional forms found in the game, for a regular Exeggutor, and is happy to repeat the trade as many times as you like.

One last opponent remains, and a formidable one. Red waits at the entrance to the plateau, but only once you've beaten at least six Master Trainers, and he fields six Pokémon at level 85: a Venusaur that Mega Evolves, Arcanine, Lapras, Machamp, Snorlax and his Pikachu. Defeating him earns the player the title of Pokémon Master. Red doesn't stick around, though: he leaves the plateau, then reappears every time the Elite Four falls again.

⚡ Red fields his Pikachu at level 85: find the Electric Mouse in our Pikachu collection.

Indigo Plateau in the Anime and Spin-Off Series

Spoiler warning: this section reveals the outcome of the Indigo League in the anime and the ending of Pokémon Origins. In the first season of the anime, the location first appears in "Bad to the Bone" (EP073), then hosts the Indigo League tournament, the season's grand finale, where Ash Ketchum falls to Ritchie. It returns in episode AG180 of the Battle Frontier season, now the stage for the Grand Festival in Kanto, the grand finale of the Pokémon Contests in the region.

The fourth installment of Pokémon Origins, "File 4: Charizard," takes Red there after Victory Road. Once he has swept the Elite Four, Lance included, the hero discovers that the throne is occupied by Blue, his rival; their hard-fought battle goes Red's way, earning him his place in the Hall of Fame.

Pokémon Generations returns there twice. In "The Challenger," Blue defeats the Elite Four and takes the Champion's crown, but no sooner has he been crowned than Red shows up to challenge him for it. "The Legacy" then shows Silver in front of the League, questioned by Looker about his father, Giovanni, before he goes in to try his luck against the Elite Four. Finally, Pokémon Evolutions lingers there for a few seconds at the end of its eighth episode, "The Discovery": we glimpse Red and his Charizard, standing at the top of the stairs.

Name Origin, Movies and Trading Cards

The name seems designed to bring two regions together. Indigo is a color, but also the indigo plant, once used to produce that pigment; and Kanto names its towns after colors, while Johto names its towns after plants. The word therefore suits a place that hosts an Elite Four shared by both Leagues. Other languages took a different route: the Japanese Sekiei Kōgen evokes a quartz plateau, the Italian Altopiano Blu a blue plateau.

The movie Detective Pikachu gives it a nod in its very first minutes. On a road sign that Harry passes during his getaway by car, Indigo Plateau is listed less than 20 km away, alongside Ryme City, while Mahogany Town is a few hundred kilometers off. As for cards, it wasn't until January 29, 2011 that it entered the TCG in France, with the expansion HS—Triumphant.

Indigo Plateau at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where is Indigo Plateau?
  In Kanto: it's where the Elite Four and the League Champion are based. You always reach it by crossing Victory Road; on the map, it borders Route 23 in the Kanto games, Route 27 in Gold, Silver and Crystal, and Victory Road itself in HeartGold and SoulSilver.
• Who are the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau?
  In Red, Blue, Yellow and their remakes: Lorelei (Ice), Bruno (Fighting), Agatha (Ghost) and Lance (Dragon). In Gold, Silver, Crystal and their remakes: Will (Psychic), Koga (Poison), Bruno (Fighting) and Karen (Dark).
• Can you heal your Pokémon during the Elite Four?
  No: once you enter the first room, there's no going back to the lobby. You're better off visiting the nurse and stocking up on healing items at the Poké Mart before you start.
• When can you battle Silver at Indigo Plateau?
  On Mondays and Wednesdays, at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Elite Four. In Gold, Silver and Crystal, you must have beaten him at Mt. Moon; in the remakes, you must have completed the League and defeated all eight Kanto Gyms.
• How do you battle Red in Let's Go?
  Red only shows up once you've beaten at least six Master Trainers. He then waits at the entrance to the plateau with a team entirely at level 85, and comes back after each new victory against the Elite Four.

In short

Indigo Plateau fits into a single building, yet it has seen three different Champions depending on the game, not counting Red, who crashes the party in Let's Go. From each room's decor to its anime appearances, it remains the must-visit stop for anyone chasing that title, in Kanto and Johto alike.