Badge

This article is about badges in the main series Pokémon games. For the element in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, see Pokémon League (TCG).

Ash Ketchum examines a Badge he won from Cissy

A badge (Japanese: バッジ badge) is an item which denotes a Pokémon Trainer as having defeated a Gym Leader. Trainers need to collect a certain number of gym badges in order to qualify for a region's Pokémon League. Young Trainers usually begin their initial Pokémon journey by traveling from city to city in order to collect them. Badges are small enough to fit easily between one's thumb and index finger and can be pinned to a shirt or kept in a badge case.

In the games, Badges affect a Pokémon's behavior. A symbol of competence on the Trainer's part, badges force traded Pokémon under a certain level to obey. Additionally, Trainers cannot have a Pokémon use an HM move outside battle without the appropriate badge. Also, beginning in Generation IV, the number of badges a Trainer possesses affects the items that various Poké Marts will sell. The more badges, the more expensive and rare items become available for purchase.

List of badges

Indigo League

Indigo League
Number of Badges:			8	Region:	Kanto
Badge	Giver	Enables		Design basis	Notes
Boulder Badge グレーバッジ Gray Badge	Brock of Pewter City	Hidden Machine:	Flash	It is a simple gray octagon.	Lola, Flint and Forrest also give out the Badge in the anime.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Attack
Cascade Badge ブルーバッジ Blue Badge	Misty of Cerulean City	Hidden Machine:	Cut	It is in the shape of a light blue raindrop.	Lily, Daisy and Violet also give out the Badge in the anime.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	30
		Stat increased:	None
Thunder Badge オレンジバッジ Orange Badge	Lt. Surge of Vermilion City	Hidden Machine:	Fly	It is in the shape of an eight-pointed gold star with an orange octagon in the center.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Speed
Rainbow Badge レインボーバッジ Rainbow Badge	Erika of Celadon City	Hidden Machine:	Strength	It is shaped like a flower, showing grass. Its petals are rainbow colored, hence its name.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	50
		Stat increased:	None
Soul Badge ピンクバッジ Pink Badge	Koga of Fuchsia City	Hidden Machine:	Surf	It is in the shape of a fuchsia heart.	Janine replaces Koga in Generation II and HeartGold and SoulSilver.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Defense
Marsh Badge ゴールドバッジ Gold Badge	Sabrina of Saffron City	Hidden Machine:	Rock Smash*	It is a gold circle with a smaller gold circle inside it.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	70
		Stat increased:	None
Volcano Badge クリムゾンバッジ Crimson Badge	Blaine of Cinnabar Island	Hidden Machine:	Waterfall*	It is red and shaped like a flame.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Special Attack and Special Defense*
Earth Badge グリーンバッジ Green Badge	Giovanni of Viridian City	Hidden Machine:	Rock Climb*	It is shaped like a plant, which grows on earth.	Blue replaces Giovanni in Generation II and HeartGold and SoulSilver. In the anime, Jessie, James, Meowth and Agatha have all had the authority to hand out the Earth Badge.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	100
		Stat increased:	None

Orange League

These sets of Badges only appear in the anime. Trainers must receive these Badges from the Orange Crew.

Orange League
Number of Badges:			4	Region:	Orange Archipelago
Badge	Giver	Enables		Design basis	Notes
Coral-Eye Badge サクラバッジ Sakura Badge	Cissy of Mikan Island	Hidden Machine:	None	It is shaped like a clam shell with a small gemstone on it.	Its Japanese name comes from cherry blossom, referring to its color.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Sea Ruby Badge シラナミバッジ Shiranami Badge	Danny of Navel Island	Hidden Machine:	None	It is shaped like an oyster shell with a small gemstone on it.	Its Japanese name comes from the maxima clam.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Spike Shell Badge リンボウバッジ Rinbō Badge	Rudy of Trovita Island	Hidden Machine:	None	It is shaped like a Triumphant Star Turban with a small gemstone on it.	Its Japanese name comes from the Triumphant Star Turban (rinbōgai), a spiked shell.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Jade Star Badge ルリバッジ Ruri Badge	Luana of Kumquat Island	Hidden Machine:	None	It is shaped like a conch shell with a small gemstone on it.	Its Japanese name comes from lapis lazuli.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None

Johto League

Johto League
Number of Badges:			8	Region:	Johto
Badge	Giver	Enables		Design basis	Notes
Zephyr Badge ウイングバッジ Wing Badge	Falkner of Violet City	Hidden Machine:	Flash* Rock Smash*	It is shaped like a pair of wings.	The badge is named for the Greek god of the west wind. It is mentioned briefly in Book 23 of Homer's Iliad.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	20*
		Stat increased:	Attack
Hive Badge インセクトバッジ Insect Badge	Bugsy of Azalea Town	Hidden Machine:	Cut	It looks like a ladybug's back from a view above.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	30
		Stat increased:	None
Plain Badge レギュラーバッジ Regular Badge	Whitney of Goldenrod City	Hidden Machine:	Strength	It is a plain diamond.	This badge is not obtainable until after the player talks to Whitney a second time.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Speed
Fog Badge ファントムバッジ Phantom Badge	Morty of Ecruteak City	Hidden Machine:	Surf	It is shaped like a wispy ghost.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	50
		Stat increased:	None
Storm Badge ショックバッジ Shock Badge	Chuck of Cianwood City	Hidden Machine:	Fly	It is shaped like a fist.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	70
		Stat increased:	None
Mineral Badge スチールバッジ Steel Badge	Jasmine of Olivine City	Hidden Machine:	None	It is a steel-colored octagon.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Defense
Glacier Badge アイスバッジ Ice Badge	Pryce of Mahogany Town	Hidden Machine:	Whirlpool	It is shaped like a snowflake.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Special Attack Special Defense
Rising Badge ライジングバッジ Rising Badge	Clair of Blackthorn City	Hidden Machine:	Waterfall	It is shaped like a dragon's face.	This badge is not obtainable until the player has explored the Dragon's Den.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	100
		Stat increased:	None

Hoenn League

Hoenn League
Number of Badges:			8	Region:	Hoenn
Badge	Giver	Enables		Design basis	Notes
Stone Badge ストーンバッジ Stone Badge	Roxanne of Rustboro City	Hidden Machine:	Cut	It is shaped like a rectangle with two corners more emphasized.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Attack
Knuckle Badge ナックルバッジ Knuckle Badge	Brawly of Dewford Town	Hidden Machine:	Flash	It is shaped like a boxing glove.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	30
		Stat increased:	None
Dynamo Badge ダイナモバッジ Dynamo Badge	Wattson of Mauville City	Hidden Machine:	Rock Smash	It is shaped like a coiled wire.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Speed
Heat Badge ヒートバッジ Heat Badge	Flannery of Lavaridge Town	Hidden Machine:	Strength	It is shaped like a wisp of fire.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	50
		Stat increased:	None
Balance Badge バランスバッジ Balance Badge	Norman of Petalburg City	Hidden Machine:	Surf	It is shaped like two circles, counterbalancing each other.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Defense
Feather Badge フェザーバッジ Feather Badge	Winona of Fortree City	Hidden Machine:	Fly	It is shaped like feathers on a bird's wing.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	70
		Stat increased:	None
Mind Badge マインドバッジ Mind Badge	Tate and Liza of Mossdeep City	Hidden Machine:	Dive	It is shaped like a heart, with two sides closing in, possibly in reference to how Tate and Liza are twins.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	Special Attack Special Defense
Rain Badge レインバッジ Rain Badge	Wallace of Sootopolis City	Hidden Machine:	Waterfall	It is shaped like three raindrops, arranged like a level-2 Sierpiński gasket, possibly based, like the Triforce, or the mon symbol of the Japanese Hōjō clan, which is said to represent the three scales of a Shinto dragon.	Juan replaces Wallace in Emerald and the anime.
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	100
		Stat increased:	None

Sinnoh League

When badges are touched in the games, they play a single note, and will make a C major scale when all eight are collected. When a player rubs the stylus across them numerous times to polish them (they gradually tarnish), they will begin to shine. This process can be continued until four sparkles are visible. The notes are also the most clearly defined and accurately tuned when there are four sparkles.

Unlike previous generations, these badges apparently do not affect stats; if they do, no one informs the player of this fact. Furthermore, it is the number of badges that determines which Pokémon obey the Trainer, rather than the badges themselves (this distinction is important owing to the fact that the order of obtaining the Cobble, Fen, and Relic Badges can differ). For every second badge the maximum level of obeying Pokémon increases (2 badges - Level 30; 4 badges - Level 50; 6 badges - Level 70; 8 badges - Level 100).

Sinnoh League
Number of Badges:			8	Region:	Sinnoh
Badge	Giver	Enables		Design basis	Notes
Coal Badge コールバッジ Coal Badge	Roark of Oreburgh City	Hidden Machine:	Rock Smash	It is shaped like a boulder and a Poké Ball combined. It also resembles Roark's helmet.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Forest Badge フォレストバッジ Forest Badge	Gardenia of Eterna City	Hidden Machine:	Cut	It is shaped like three trees of a forest, with the trunks whited out.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	30
		Stat increased:	None
Cobble Badge コボルバッジ Cobble Badge	Maylene of Veilstone City	Hidden Machine:	Fly	It is reminiscent of bricks or a tatami mat.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	50 (if obtained fourth)
		Stat increased:	None
Fen Badge フェンバッジ Fen Badge	Crasher Wake of Pastoria City	Hidden Machine:	Defog	It is shaped like a lake with gray reeds around it. It also resembles Crasher Wake's Mask.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	50 (if obtained fourth)
		Stat increased:	None
Relic Badge レリックバッジ Relic Badge	Fantina of Hearthome City	Hidden Machine:	Surf	It is shaped like a gray circle on its center with three purple circles around it. It also resembles Fantina's hair.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Mine Badge マインバッジ Mine Badge	Byron of Canalave City	Hidden Machine:	Strength	It is shaped like three stones and three pickaxes combined.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	70
		Stat increased:	None
Icicle Badge グレイシャバッジ Glacier Badge	Candice of Snowpoint City	Hidden Machine:	Rock Climb	It is shaped like an iceberg.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	N/A
		Stat increased:	None
Beacon Badge ビーコンバッジ Beacon Badge	Volkner of Sunyshore City	Hidden Machine:	Waterfall	It is shaped like a lighthouse.	None
		Highest level of obeying Pokémon:	100
		Stat increased:	None

In the anime

The anime has a few different rules for badges than in the games. Primarily, badges seem to do nothing beside signify the defeat of a given Gym Leader. A Pokémon may choose not to obey its Trainer even if he or she has gained all eight badges, such as Ash's Charizard.

Gym Leaders are quite lenient about giving out badges in the Anime. Additionally, Trainers do not necessarily have to win a battle with the Gym Leader in order to earn a badge. The Orange Crew, for example, all have entire Gym matches devoted to unconventional battling styles and Ash Ketchum was awarded several badges because of his kind heart and determination. In Kanto, Brock gave him the badge from his Gym because he was his friend (or at least that's what Misty says).

Participation in the Indigo Plateau Conference yields a final Indigo League badge at the closing ceremony. It is larger, however, and square shaped.

Pokémon Tech, a boarding school which educates Pokémon Trainers, is an expensive school for children of wealthy families. Moving up a grade in Pokémon Tech is the equivalent of winning two Gym badges. Upon graduation, students may immediately apply for entry in the Pokémon League.

Trainers can take a three-part test that awards a single badge which allows entry into the Pokémon League, as seen in The Ultimate Test. The test is called the Pokémon League Admissions Exam. It is convenient for people whose age, health, or work keeps them from traveling around to collect badges.

Badges in EP013
(Composite screenshot)

So far, Ash Ketchum has only obtained badges that are available in the games, with the notable exception of those he obtained in the Orange Archipelago. Several unknown badges can be seen at the beginning of Mystery at the Lighthouse, while many Trainers Ash has met have had badges that differ from those that are obtainable in the games.

It's also implied in the anime that a Gym Badge serves as a Primary ID for a Gym Leader (and probably a secondary ID for a Trainer), as Brock used his Boulder Badge to identify himself in order to clear his name from any accusations of stealing mechanical parts from a machine shop in Cerulean City.

Gary

Gary Oak acquired more than the standard eight Kanto League badges, thus leading to confusion as to whether or not there is a finite number of badges that can be given out in a given region. By The Battle of the Badge, he is shown to have at least ten badges, only 3 of which correspond to known Kanto league badges, suggesting there are at least fifteen gyms in Kanto. This would, therefore, provide one gym for each of the (at the time) fifteen types. Among these may include the Fighting Dojo, a gym shown to be defunct by Pokémon Red and Blue.

Otoshi

In addition, before Ash competes in the Indigo League, a Trainer named Otoshi is shown in the episode Bad to the Bone; he owns eight badges, but only shares four in common with Ash; later in the episode another Trainer is seen with eight other completely different badges altogether. In total, Ash, Gary, Otoshi and the other Trainer display 28 different types of badges, so there must be at least this number of gyms in Kanto at the time, assuming they are all from the same region.

On closer inspection, Otoshi's badges each look somewhat similar to Ash's badges and only differ in size and shape. Similarly, what can be identified as a Soul Badge, Thunder Badge, Marsh Badge, and Volcano Badge slide across the screen every time his Marowak knocks out a Pokémon in his flashback. His badges are in this order from upper-left to bottom-right: Thunder, ? (Rainbow), Cascade, Volcano, Marsh, Soul, Boulder, and Earth. This hints that there may be different varieties of the same badge.

Later, during Ash's Johto League challenge, he is given what is referred to in the show as the "Silver Wing Badge"; however, this is not an official gym badge and is not recognized in the games as a badge at all, but rather an item used to make Lugia appear in the Whirl Islands.

Morrison

At the Hoenn Pokémon League Championship in Saved by the Beldum!, Morrison is shown to have an eighth badge different from Ash's, suggesting that there are at least 9 gyms in Hoenn.

Mismagius

In Ash's dream in Malice in Wonderland, Ash has many badges that haven't been on-screen before, as well as some older badges. Considering it was only a dream, it is probable that some of the badges seen don't exist at all.

Barry

In Barry's Busting Out All Over!, it shows that Barry has three badges. While the Forest Badge and the Mine Badge are no different, Barry has a third badge that is different from the eight Sinnoh badges. This could imply that there are at least nine Gyms in Sinnoh.

Gallery of unidentified badges

Gary's 10 badges	Otoshi's 8 badges	An unnamed trainer's 8 unidentified badges
Morrison's 8th badge	Ash's badges in the dream	Barry's 3 badges

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

In Pokémon Adventures, badges have mystical and mysterious qualities that can somehow increase the power of the Pokémon owned by the Trainer who wields the badges.

It is not known what sort of material badges are made of, but they have been used for other purposes. The Masked Man, for instance, made an armored mask out of crushed badges.

Team Rocket used seven Kanto Gym badges to power a machine that combined Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres into a single beast. The machine also had a secret slot for the Earth Badge, which Lance manipulated to further his own goals by turning Cerise Island into a giant badge energy amplifier.

Badges are not required to enter the Pokémon League tournament; however, without eight badges, a Trainer must battle their way in to qualify for the finals.

In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga

In the Electric Tale of Pikachu, badges work in a way similar to the anime, however, there are some minor differences. All badges have the Pokémon League logo printed on them.

In addition, Pokémon Trainers are organized by class, much like Pokémon Tech "Class D", "Class C" and so forth. Badges increase the the rank of the Trainer who owns them. Ash once believed that he could increase his rank by capturing rare wild Pokémon, however this was not the case.

Trivia

• With the exception of the Rainbow Badge and Rising Badge, all badges were renamed for audiences outside of Japan before Generation III. Generation III was the first time none were renamed, and this continued in Generation IV with the exception of the Icicle Badge, which had been the Glacier Badge in Japan. This was changed due to the fact that the badge of Mahogany Town is called the Glacier Badge in English, while it is called the Ice Badge in Japan.
• The Orange League is the only known Pokémon League with fewer than 8 badges.
• With the exception of the Earth Badge, obtaining a region's eighth badge enables the use of HM07 (Waterfall) outside of battle. In Kanto, the Volcano Badge, its seventh badge, enables the use of Waterfall, while the Earth Badge would technically enable the use of HM08 (Dive), if it could be used outside of battle.
• The Japanese names of the Kanto badges are all colors, following the color pattern for the town and city names.
• Surprisingly, it is possible to obtain certain badges in a non-linear order.

	The Pokémon League
	Participation Pokémon Trainer • Pokémon battle Gym Leaders • Gyms • Badges Frontier Brains • Symbols • Prints	Pokémon League Conferences Indigo • Silver • Ever Grande Championship Matches Elite Four • Orange League
	Battle Frontiers Hoenn and Kanto • Sinnoh and Johto