<p>Steven is the current reigning champion of Hoenn in the anime, because there has been no news of him being dethroned by anyone. The previous champion was Wallace (confirmed in Sinnoh during the Wallace Cup arc) but in Kalos, the Hoenn champion was mentioned to be Steven, so it is plausible that Steven defeated him or Wallace stepped down. Champions in the anime can be replaced (Iris replaced Alder, for instance, and Steven replaced Wallace) by trainers who have defeated the Elite Four and then defeated the current champion (with reference to Sinnoh, this system was brought up by Lucian). Trainers must earn the right to challenge the Elite Four by winning the League Conference of their respective region (eg. Lily of the Valley Island Conference for Sinnoh, Vertress Conference for Unova), at least this is how it works in Sinnoh and presumable all other regions with League Conferences so including Hoenn. The games are separate from the anime so I am not sure why you are confused between Wallace and Steven being the champion since it seems pretty clear that the latter is the most recent champion of Hoenn. I hope this helps?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-09T10:39:54.863Z
2022-06-09T10:39:54.863Z
Ella S.
<p>When I heard about the Masters 8 in the <em>Pokémon</em> anime, I was expecting all the champions from the known regions to go to Galar and have a battle with each other, with Alain/Alan being the only one to not be a champion and instead a Kalos league winner.</p>
<p>However, I was quite surprised at how the champion of Hoenn is Steven and not Wallace. As much as I am a big fan of Steven, and I know that he appeared as Champion in the XYZ and Mega Evolution specials, I thought Wallace was the champion of Hoenn. But in the games, the title of champion (for Hoenn specifically) has been tossed around between Steven and Wallace, in the games and some other media of Pokémon.</p>
<p>Did Steven take the title of champion from Wallace? Can former champions still retain their champion titles? Or are they doing this because they have to continue with the X and Y timeline events and make him Champion?</p>

<pokemon>
Why is Steven representing Hoenn at the Masters 8 tournament and not Wallace?
# Why is Steven representing Hoenn at the Masters 8 tournament and not Wallace?
Posted by: username_0 on 2022-06-04
When I heard about the Masters 8 in the *Pokémon* anime, I was expecting all the champions from the known regions to go to Galar and have a battle with each other, with Alain/Alan being the only one to not be a champion and instead a Kalos league winner.

However, I was quite surprised at how the champion of Hoenn is Steven and not Wallace. As much as I am a big fan of Steven, and I know that he appeared as Champion in the XYZ and Mega Evolution specials, I thought Wallace was the champion of Hoenn. But in the games, the title of champion (for Hoenn specifically) has been tossed around between Steven and Wallace, in the games and some other media of Pokémon.

Did Steven take the title of champion from Wallace? Can former champions still retain their champion titles? Or are they doing this because they have to continue with the X and Y timeline events and make him Champion?
**Tags:** pokemon
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2022-06-09. Score: 2
Steven is the current reigning champion of Hoenn in the anime, because there has been no news of him being dethroned by anyone. The previous champion was Wallace (confirmed in Sinnoh during the Wallace Cup arc) but in Kalos, the Hoenn champion was mentioned to be Steven, so it is plausible that Steven defeated him or Wallace stepped down. Champions in the anime can be replaced (Iris replaced Alder, for instance, and Steven replaced Wallace) by trainers who have defeated the Elite Four and then defeated the current champion (with reference to Sinnoh, this system was brought up by Lucian). Trainers must earn the right to challenge the Elite Four by winning the League Conference of their respective region (eg. Lily of the Valley Island Conference for Sinnoh, Vertress Conference for Unova), at least this is how it works in Sinnoh and presumable all other regions with League Conferences so including Hoenn. The games are separate from the anime so I am not sure why you are confused between Wallace and Steven being the champion since it seems pretty clear that the latter is the most recent champion of Hoenn. I hope this helps?
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