The main purpose of nearly every main series Pokémon game is to beat the gym leaders and Elite Four , and eventually challenge the reigning Champion. Give or take some detours - fighting the regional evil team, catching some Legendaries - this is the basic goal of every generation.

Considered the strongest Trainer in the entire region, the Champion battle will likely be the toughest. Pokémon Champions will constantly heal, have powerful and even rare Pokémon, and be blessed with a killer musical theme. But who is the best Pokémon Champion? Most definitely live up to the hype and deliver a truly spectacular fight, but there are always some exceptions.

Updated on November 2022 by David Caballero:

The recently released Pokémon Scarlet & Violet introduces a new region based on the Iberian Peninsula. Paldea is full of challenges, Pokémon, and Trainers that will test the player's skill as Trainer in preparation for the ultimate battle: the Pokémon League. Logically, the games feature a new Champion who s the ranks of the franchise's best and brightest. This new Trainer is a worthy addition to Pokémon's stable of Champions, keeping things challenging for fans who eagerly wait to prove themselves as the very best like no one ever was.

11 Diantha

By far, the least interesting, least memorable, and weakest Champion is Diantha, the final challenger in Pokémon X & Y. Her team is surprisingly weak; not only does she have two Pokémon with six 2x weaknesses, but one of them, Aurorus, is 4x weak to Fighting and Steel. Mega Gardevoir is her team's saving grace, but she alone can't make up for four lackluster teammates.

Unlike other Champions, Diantha lacks a substantial role in the game. She shows up only a couple of times and never helps the player in any meaningful way. Unfortunately, Diantha is outright disappointing, both as a challenger and character.

10 Geeta

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet has many challenging Gym battles and Trainers to deal with, but the Champion is somewhat underwhelming. Geeta's team lacks coverage and isn't particularly versatile; three of her Pokémon are weak to Fire, and while Avalugg and Kingambit know Ground and Rock moves, none have STAB damage, meaning any capable Fire-type might take the damage but will still get the job done.

Her ace, the Rock/Poison-type Glimmora, has an incredible ability that becomes useless by being the final Pokémon in battle. Its Tera type is also Rock, meaning it doesn't even have a different typing to give it an edge. As for the rest of her team, Veluza should fall against a powerful Electric-type move, while Espathrea will be no match for a Ghost-type. Overall, Geeta is far from the strongest Pokémon Champion, but at least she's not the worst.

9 Wallace

After Steven steps down, Wallace becomes the Hoenn region's Champion, and, suffice it to say, he doesn't live up to the challenge. For starters, he runs a Water-type team, which makes the battle considerably easier. The Water-type has several strong Pokémon and only two weaknesses; however, one is Grass, an incredibly common type in the series.

Wallace's team is not as easy to beat as Diantha's; indeed, his Earthquake-knowing Gyarados and his ace, the bulky Milotic, can make things difficult for players. However, Wallace seems more like a Gym Leader than a strong Pokémon Champion, a letdown compared to his mighty predecessor.

8 Alder

The first of Unova's two Pokémon Champions, Alder is the League's final challenge in Black & White. Alder has the unique privilege—or misfortune—of being the only Champion who players can't battle after the Elite Four. Instead, the player goes against fan-favorite character N, who already fought and defeated Alder.

At one point in the games, Ghetsis, one of the best villains in the Pokémon games, even suggests Alder didn't win the Champion title but took it after the League asked him to as a favor. Alder runs a diverse-enough team, though he has three Bug-type Pokémon. Alder is far from the best Pokémon Champion in the games, and his reputation further decreases considering his successor, Iris, is simply much better.

7 Leon

Leon is the most recent addition to the Champion canon and Sword & Shield's resident superstar. He is very much involved in the storyline and is even the brother of the main rival character, the too-good-for-this-world Hop. Leon is hyped up for much of the game, and multiple characters talk about his strength.

RELATED: Cynthia Vs. Leon - Which Pokémon Champion Would WinIn the end, Leon puts up a good fight, but effort alone is not enough to make someone the strongest Pokémon Champion. His team has some real threats -- mainly Decidueye and Dragapult -- and his ace, the Gigantamax Charizard, has some surprises under its wings. Still, after so much talk about his talent for battle, Leon ends up being more bark than bite.

6 Professor Kukui

Although not exactly a Pokémon Champion, Professor Kukui acts as the final challenger in Sun & Moon. No Pokémon League exists in Alola before the games' events, so the player participates in the first-ever League Challenge. Kukui, the League's founder, bestows the Champion title to whoever defeats him.

Kukui has a very balanced team that covers up to nine different types. He also has whichever Starter is strong against the one the player chose, further enhanced by the generation's gimmick, a Z-Crystal. Lycanroc and the frustratingly bulky Snorlax are his team's main threats, making Kukui a worthy rival that never quite becomes one of the strongest Pokémon Champions.

5 Lance

Originally an Elite Four member in the Generation I games, Lance becomes the Indigo Plateau Champion in Gen II's Silver & Gold and their remakes. A Dragon Master, Lance was quite the opponent when the games first came out, especially considering the Dragon-type was still extremely overpowered.

Four of his Pokémon are weak to Ice. However, Blizzard is wildly unreliable, and Ice Beam wasn't available in Gen II. That leaves Aurora Beam, Ice Punch, and Icy Wind as the only attacks to exploit the weakness, and none were guaranteed to OHKO. Lance's ace, Dragonite, is one of the best non-Legendary Dragon-types in Pokémon, and he had three. While this Dragon Master's reputation has decreased considerably in recent years, he was the strongest Pokémon Champion when his games debuted.

4 Iris

Another Dragon Master, Iris is Unova's second Champion, appearing in the Gen V sequels, Black 2 & White 2. In White, she acts as Gym Leader for Opelucid City before taking on the mantle of Champion.

Despite being considered a Dragon-type trainer, she only has three dragons in her Champion battle. One of them, the terrifying Hydreigon, is extremely tough to beat, but her Dragon Dance-spamming Haxorux is the real challenge. Iris puts a more exciting and difficult battle than Alder's. Her rematch battles are just as tough, proving that she is one of the best Pokémon Champions in the franchise.

3 Blue

When players first enter the Champion chamber in Pokémon Red & Blue, they expect to meet the leader of the Indigo Plateau. To their surprise, they instead find Blue, the rival character, revealed as the newest Pokémon Champion after just defeating the previous one.

RELATED: Each Generation Starter Pokémon Trio, RankedBlue's battle carries a significant and unique weight; not only is he the player's main rival, but he's also an actual rival. Unfriendly, unkind, and cocky, he relishes always being ahead of the player and acts as annoying as a rival should. His team is extremely balanced and includes the Starter strong against the one the player chose and a slew of Kanto superstars like Arcanine, Golem, and Exeggutor. The battle is thrilling and challenging, and even though the player prevails, Blue's reputation is intact, for he truly is one of the best Pokémon Champions.

2 Steven

In the Generation III games, Ruby & Sapphire, Steven Stone is the Champion of the fan-favorite Hoenn region. A collector of rare stones and the son of the president of the Devon Corporation, Steven specializes in Steel Pokémon and wanders the Hoenn region, helping the player on several occasions.

Steven's team only has three Steel-types, plus three Rock-types and two Psychic-types. However, despite his seemingly unbalanced team, Steven is a juggernaut. His Arnaldo is particularly deceitful, but his Metagross is the real threat. In ORAS, Metagross can Mega Evolve, adding an extra layer of difficulty to the battle. Steven's reputation has prevailed over the years, to the point where some fans even consider him the strongest Pokémon Champion. Alas, he's only a very close second.