Throughout all of the Pokémon anime, Ash has never done a proper Elite Four challenge. This is mainly because, in the anime, one must win the regional Pokémon League in addition to collecting all the Badges; only then would they be allowed to fight the Elite Four and the Champion in the Champion League. However, Ash never won a League until the Manalo Conference, after which he was crowned Alola's first Champion. Thus he never got the chance to participate in a Champion League. This is a bold choice on the anime's part and one of its biggest deviations from the plot of the mainline games.

While Ash never got the chance to battle the Elite Four as one would in the games, the anime once offered him a satisfactory alternative. After his loss in the Indigo League Conference, Ash was given another chance at glory with the Orange League. This League would have him face off against the four Gym Leaders of the Orange Crew and one Supreme Gym Leader. In a number of ways, challenging these five trainers can be seen as Ash's equivalent to battling the Kanto Elite Four and Champion.

Ash is eliminated from the Indigo League in Pokémon

It's important to remember the context in which Adventures on the Orange Islands was written. This season takes place shortly after Ash had lost the Indigo League Conference. At this point, there was no telling when he would get a good chance to battle the Elite Four like in Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, or even Yellow. It's possible that the anime staff thought that even if Ash never got his Champion League, they could at least give him the next best thing.

There are a lot of ways in which the Orange Crew is reminiscent of the Elite Four besides how many of them there are. For one thing, they pose a notable challenge compared to Kanto's eight Gym Leaders, though not in the way one would think. Instead of facing challengers in simple one-on-one battles, each Gym Leader makes trainers perform different trials that really test their abilities and lateral thinking. In this way, the Orange Crew challenges trainers more than the Kanto Gym Leaders ever could.

On another note, both the Orange Crew and the Elite Four have more religious-sounding names in Japanese. In the Orange Crew's case, they're known as Southern Cross (サザンクロス). As for the Elite Four, they're also known as the Four Heavenly Kings (四天王). This grand naming structure may further point to the connections between the two groups.

Pokemon Drake's Dragonite

If the Orange Crew is really supposed to be like the Elite Four of the games, then that would make Drake the Champion. Besides being the fifth and final member of the Orange Crew, he's one of if not the only trainer who is ever fought in a full six-on-six battle, a common trend among Champions even in later games. Since Gary was beaten at the Indigo League Conference and Lance hadn't debuted yet, it makes sense that Drake would be introduced to fill the role of Champion.

Drake also uses a Dragonite as his main Pokémon, just like Lance. Technically, Lance wouldn't become the Kanto Champion until Pokémon Gold and Silver, which wouldn't debut until a couple of months after the episodes where Ash battled Drake. However, seeing as Ho-oh was introduced as early as the first episode, it stands to reason that the anime staff was given some insight on this matter, too. If this is the case, then it's more than likely that Drake was meant to stand in for Lance at the time.

Another way the Orange League mirrors the games is in its grand prize. After beating the Supreme Gym Leader, Ash was inducted into the Orange League's Hall of Fame. He even takes a picture with the six Pokémon he used to win. This may not compare to entering the Hall of Fame for the Kanto Champion League, but it's a close second.

Of course, there are a few things to suggest that the Orange League was not meant as a substitute for the Champion League. For one thing, the Elite Four were confirmed to actually exist in the anime; Bruno appeared in the previous season, and Lorelei (Prima in the English Dub) appeared during Ash's adventures through the Orange Islands. In other words, The Orange Crew and the Kanto Elite Four are confirmed to be two separate entities.

Ash wins the Orange League in Pokémon

However, Ash's winning the Orange League could be meant as a more immediately attainable goal for the young trainer. In the anime, the Elite Four are treated as nigh-unbeatable veteran trainers. Even in later seasons, Ash and his friends would constantly get trounced by any Elite Four member they went up against. Like the Pokémon League, the Elite Four was visualized as a challenge that Ash was still a long way from being ready to face. By introducing the Orange League, the anime gave viewers the immediate satisfaction of seeing Ash enter the Hall of Fame while still giving the boy something to strive for.

Ash may never enter a proper Champion League. Even in the latest seasons, which have him battling Champions and Elite Four members alike, his matches are formatted more like online battles than the Story Mode of a core series games. This is probably even more challenging than battling the Elite Four, but it would still be nice to see Ash attain this goal that's been dangled over his head since the first season. Thinking about it like that, it's nice that he at least has his Orange League triumph to look back on.