Joining the Elite Four.

I want to hear your theories. How do you think you become a member of the Elite Four? What are the requirements you feel that someone should have before joining?

I've always felt like the Pokemon League was a ladder and that one should probably be a Gym Leader before becoming Elite Four. After a given amount of time those with a certain win/loss ratio would be considered candidates for Elite Four and those candidates would be thrown into a tournament-style thing with all of the current Elite Four members. I think it would be Round Robin, and those who come out on top with the best records would be the new Elite Four, positions 1-4 depending on the records maybe, and the rest would be out of the League entirely, their Gym Leader positions filled appropriately.

Honestly, its the pokemon you have. No matter how good your record may be, with boring weak pokemon in the Elite Four, its no longer interesting. Maybe Cynthia didn't even need to be a gym leader. They saw she had Garchomp, Milotic, and Spiritomb and thought, "What a great trainer, lets see how she does against the Elite Four. She beat them all with Garchomp. End of story. The again, who decides the champions and Elite Four members?

Thanks to Pokemon BW2, it's a very strange topic. Who decided that Drayden suddenly wasn't good enough to be the 8th Gym Leader despite having a better typing and better damn Pokemon than Marlon? With Cheren it's more justified since he's young compared to the rest of the Gym Leaders of Unova and was just recently appointed.

For the Elite 4, I'm not sure how it's set up. Maybe a tournament is held whenever a new member of the Elite 4 is needed due to an absence, explaining how Caitlin manages to become an Elite 4 member in Gen V.

I'd like to see this topic elaborated on in the future in either the games or the anime. Probably the games, as the anime is a bit iffy in general.

The anime concept is cooler as the elite four are presented as something spectacular and well "elite". They seem almost impossible to beat in combat and when they are beaten the victor is named the champion. From the anime standpoint and some backstories/flashbacks i guess they started out as normal trainers and became so strong that they got to become the elite four.

However, i have no evidence to support my point of view.. so yeah

There's a fanfic that I'm reading that offered a good idea as to how gym leaders are chosen.

When a gym leader is killed/decides to retire, they hold a tournament filled with some of the best trainers that do not hold a position of authority. The top trainer gets the job of gym leader. If there are more than one slot, then the top however many spots that need to be filled get them. They are then placed in random statuses depending on what the current gym leaders and Elite Four members think would suit them best.

If the champion resigns or dies, each member of the Elite Four moves up one position while the eighth gym leader takes the place as the first opponent.

I'm not quite sure how they would handle it if the champion resigned in a region where a challenger has the ability to choose which member they challenge first.

I feel as if gym leaders are graded in performance in battles, and if they get higher than a set point made for to-be Elite Four members, then they're put in line to become Elite Four. Like how you go to university where I live...the better you do, the better the university you go to. The better a gym leader you are, the more a chance you have of becoming an Elite Four. The tournament theory works too - maybe it could be a round robin tournament, and the one with the most wins becomes an Elite Four member.

In real life, you're usually not handed-over your job position directly; have to work it up slow, bit-by-bit. You first have to apply for a lower-level position, arrange an interview, and get into the job, somehow. If you're doing well and start developing respect among employees and bosses, you get rewarded with a promotion offer. If you accept, there you go--you're now at some leadership level. Same applies in Pokémon world, I believe. First, you register for some Gym trainer position by filling out forms, and show-off your knowledge to whoever's in-charge. When it's time for current depart, you might be able to get a hold of their position and become the new leader. After few months of gaining experience, you're then eligible to join Elite Four, and should they ever need someone new, you could apply instantly and prove if you're worthy or not.

Of course, there could always be other ways (having good relations with higher-ups, perhaps?), but right now, this is the only one that seems most logical. Well, at least to me, anyway.

I feel like all of the Elite 4 members from every region had some backgrounds, either having a Pokemon stolen by evil syndicate members or having other tragic backgrounds. They have gone through some complicated obstacles and they have gone through brutal battles, and now they became Elite 4.

I'd like to think there are many things needed to become an E4 member. Along with taking a few rigorous tests, I think these are some key points as well.

You have to have been a gym leader for at least 3 years
You must be a certified typing ¨master¨
You have to had traveled to at least one other region