Silver Conference

The Silver Conference is the championship competition in the Johto League.

Tradition
&nbsp The Silver Conference begins with the the passing of the ceremonial torch lit with Ho-Oh's sacred flame. The opening ceremony is so important to the conference that the competition could not be held without it.

&nbsp According to legend, the site of the Silver Conference was once the setting for a great war. People fought hard and left the area a war-ravaged place. Both the land and the Pokémon in the area suffered from the humans' hostility and carelessness. Ho-Oh appeared and used its sacred flame to burn life back into the place. Ho-Oh returned things to normal, but one tree continued to burn, serving as a reminder of the event. The fire from that tree was taken and placed in a shrine on Mt. Silver.

Rounds
The Silver Conference competition is divided into three parts: pre-screening qualifying rounds, semi-finals, and the finals. Before every match, a digital spinner randomly decides which Trainer will go first. The Pokémon used in the match must be decided before the match and entered into the computer system.

Screening
The competition begins with the Athlete's Greeting. Registered Trainers are screened at assigned courts. Lower skilled Trainers are weeded out in three rounds of one-on-one battles. Trainers are judged based on their battling ability, so a Trainer may still be able to advance to the semi-finals even if he or she has one loss. The top 48 Trainers move on the preliminaries.

Semi-finals
A point system is employed in the semi-finals. The 48 Trainers are split into 16 groups of 3, and each group, known as a block, participates in a round-robin tournament in a series of three-on-three matches. Three battlepoints are awarded for every win, one point for every draw, and no points for every loss. The 16 Trainers with the most battle points out of the Trainers in their blocks will move on to the finals. In the event of a tie, another round-robin is held.

Final rounds
After a day of no battling, the final battles are held in Silver Stadium with rotating grass, water, rock, and ice fields for each battle. Each Trainer fights a sudden death full battle. After a Trainer's first three Pokémon are defeated, there is a short intermission. Losing Trainers are eliminated and winning Trainers continue on until a Pokémon League Champion is determined.