Rematch: Difference between revisions

A rematch or re-battle is the second or subsequent battle against a Trainer, Gym Leader or another notable opponent (e.g. player's Rival, Elite Four or a Legendary Pokémon).

In most games, it was mandatory for the player to defeat certain Trainers (e.g. the Rival, Gym Leaders) to advance within the game. Technically, if the player was defeated by, say a Gym Leader, and was given the opportunity to battle the Leader until he/she was defeated, it is still considered a rematch.

Most of the time, however, if a Trainer was defeated, he/she would not be available for a rematch until certain conditions have been met.

History

Rival and Elite Four

In the early Generation I games, only the player's Rival and the Elite Four were notably amongst the group of Trainers which can be re-battled. The Rival, Blue, would occasionally turn up to 'test the player's skills', and his eventual team would be pre-determined by the outcomes of his earlier battles with the player. Eventually after defeating the Elite Four, the player would realize that his Rival had become the Champion, and he would challenge the player once more to determine who the better of the two is. As the player defeats him and becomes the new Champion, the Rival together with the Elite Four can be rematched repeatedly, and this soon became the norm for all subsequent games, allowing the player to defeat his/her rival and the Elite Four for any the game's region repeatedly.

Regular Trainers

From Generation II onwards, rematches were extended to regular Trainers found along normal routes and caves. Appearing in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the Pokégear allowed the player to exchange telephone numbers with specific trainers, allowing them to contact the player should they decide to rematch. In Generation III, the Pokénav's Trainer's Eyes or Match Call found in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald has similar functions as the Pokégear, keeping track of Trainers who wants to re-battle the player. However, the only way to rematch with these trainers was to wait until they were ready, which meant that the player could not control who and when they wanted to battle.

With the introduction Vs. Seeker in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, this allowed the player to conveniently locate and identify trainers within an area who were ready to rematch, giving more control over who and where the player wanted to battle. The Vs. Seeker is charged by walking/running 100 steps, thus it also reduces the timespan a player has to wait between each rematch (as opposed to waiting for a call).

Gym Leaders

In Emerald Version, PokéNav's Match Call function also allows Gym Leaders to be re-battled, but in Double Battles.

Although the player cannot rematch the Gym Leaders in Diamond and Pearl, the feature returned in Platinum Version, allowing Gym Leaders (and tag battle partners) to be re-battled in single battles in the Battleground. However, the Gym Leaders can only be battled once per day, and the player cannot determine which four (or less) Leaders will appear at any one time.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Gym Leaders could be re-battled at the Fighting Dojo as many times as possible as long as they were free. It was also possible to know which Gym Leader would be available based on their schedule that they informed the player of.

Legendary Pokémon

In Pokémon Platinum, unlike the previous games where a Legendary Pokémon could only be encountered once, if the player fled from a battle with a Legendary Pokémon, or defeated it (deliberately or accidentally), it would reappear again after the player had defeated the Elite Four again. This was extended to all stationary Pokémon (i.e Red Gyarados, Sudowoodo and Snorlax) in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Rival Rematch

Since Generation I, the player's Rival plays a key role within the game, occasionally giving hints, helping out or even challenging the player to a rematch. With the exception of Brendan and May in Generation III, the player's rival can be repeatedly rematched after defeating the Elite Four of that region.

The following table shows where and when the player's Rival can be challenged for subsequent rematches:

Gym Leader Rematch

Gym Leader rematches were first introduced in Generation III in Pokémon Emerald. However in Generation IV, Gym Leaders were not available for rematches in Pearl and Diamond.

Generation III

Pokémon Emerald

In Pokémon Emerald, the Gym Leaders can be rematched through a Double Battle via the PokéNav's Match Call. The player must have defeated the Elite Four.

Generation IV

Pokémon Platinum

For details of any Leader's Pokémon, see Battleground.

In Pokémon Platinum, the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh, together with the player's previous tag battle partners, can be found in the Battleground. Up to four of these Trainers appear each day and they can be battled only once a day. Resetting before entering the Battleground would change the Trainers who are inside.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

For details of any Leader's Pokémon, see Fighting Dojo.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Gym Leaders of Kanto and Johto would be found in the Fighting Dojo. However, unlike Platinum, the Leaders will not arrive at the Dojo until they have been called on for a rematch.

To re-battle a Gym Leader, the player has to first obtain the Gym Leader's number. Following that, the player can call the Gym Leader at any time, but he or she will only accept a rematch when their schedule is free.

When a Gym Leader has accepted a rematch, he or she will stay in the Fighting Dojo until he or she is defeated. There is no limit to the number of times a Gym Leader can be rematched.

Note that the phone numbers for most of the Leaders can be obtained after defeating the Elite Four. However, rematches with the Gym Leaders cannot be scheduled until after the Earth Badge has been obtained (i.e. Blue has been defeated).

Gym Leader Phone Listing

Each Leader's telephone number must be obtained from them personally when he or she is out of their Gym (except Chuck and Blue, which have to be obtained from their wife and sister respectively). By speaking with them at the appropriate time and place, players can obtain their phone numbers.

The following table shows how each Leader's number can be obtained:

Gym Leader Rematch Schedule

The following table shows when the Gym Leaders are free to accept a rematch.

Note that 12:00 to 3:59am is considered night, so on Wednesdays, 12:00 to 3:59am, Chuck will accept a rematch instead of Morty.

In side games

In the Pokémon Ranger series, the Drowsy Guy will allow the player to re-do a memorable capture. In Pokémon Ranger, he allows you to battle the legendary beasts, while in the sequel, he allows the player to capture Darkrai.

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, Legendary Pokémon that have been battled must be fought again in order to be recruited. However, this is only true if the said Legendary Pokémon is involved in the storyline.

In the anime

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

In the anime, Ash always has to re-battle at least one Gym Leader as well as many other Trainers. Notable Trainers include Whitney and Pyramid King Brandon.

Trivia

• Unova is the only region where none of its Gym Leaders can be rematched yet.

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.