Monster Battle tournaments supposedly began in ancient times after the Tochikan people learned how to regenerate monsters from discs. A large festival was held in Tochika every few months (at that time, it was a large area of the countryside) called the Tochika Festa, and people would bring monsters that they trained in combat for a tournament battle. Soon, other cities began adopting this custom, and some even erected large arenas for the sport to be held and witnessed in. The Great 5 tournament became the standard for people who wanted to become famous as Breeders. It consists of 5 battles, one in each area on the continent.
Official monster battle tournaments did not become organized until hundreds of years later, several years after the Final War ended. By that time, the continents had divided, and areas had to come up with their own battling rules. The first Monster Association, FIMBA, was created then and others followed suit. Many more coliseums were built, and ranks were assigned.
Each tournament has different qualifications. For example, some are type-only tournaments, where only Beast-types or Sprite-types may enter. Some are species-only (ie, meant for only Suezos). Some tournaments can only be entered with an official invitation, usually set forth as a test from the Monster Association to gauge a Breeder's skill level before allowing them to raise more powerful monsters. Most tournaments are divided by Breeder rank, so only level A monsters can compete in level A tournaments. Some tournaments are done sudden-death/elimination style (bracket), some only consist of one battle, and some are done round-robin style (grid). It all depends on the game, the location, and the Breeder rank.
All official monster battles culminate in the annual Legend Cup tournament, which is qualified by four smaller battles that change yearly. Each Monster Association has their own Great 4 tournaments, and once those are won, they become eligible to travel to whichever city is hosting the Legend Cup of that year (sort of like the Olympics). The Searchers plan to win IMa's Great 4 and qualify for the championship in the third season of the anime series, as well as being the way to "beat the game" in most of the video game installments.
Another tournament of great importance is the Emperor's Cup, which is held in the same arena on Age. Although it is separate from the Association Monster Battles, this tournament is available upon request. It has the same qualifications as the Legend Cup, but only one opponent--a Diva named Dynast who is the oldest living monster known to date. If a breeder manages to beat both the Legend and Emperor's Cup they are bestowed the rank of Legendary Breeder, a title only held by four people in history: Pabs, Tesca, Magna, and Fleria.
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