Gym Leader

File:Sword Shield Gym Challenge artwork.png
The **Gym Leader** (Japanese: **ジムリーダー** *Gym Leader*), also called **Pokémon Leader** or **Leader** in some early manuals, is the highest-ranking member of a Pokémon Gym. The main job of a Gym Leader is to test Trainers and their Pokémon so that they are strong and resourceful enough to take the Pokémon League challenge. If a Trainer defeats a Gym Leader in battle, then the Trainer earns that Gym's Badge.

Gym Leaders are also responsible for overseeing how their respective Gyms are run and maintained. Great care must be taken to make sure that their Gym reflects the best environment for the type in which they specialize, such as swimming pools in a Water-type Gym, trees and flowering plants in a Grass-type or a Bug-type Gym, or ice and snow in an Ice-type Gym. According to Morty, teaching young people how to battle with Pokémon of that particular type can also be the job of a Gym Leader. Unlike regular Pokémon Trainers, a Gym Leader has the right to directly challenge the Pokémon League Champion, as revealed by Brock in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!.

It has not exactly been made clear how Gym Leaders attain their position, but it appears that it varies for each Gym. Some of them founded their Gyms and are self-appointed. Others, such as Whitney, are chosen by the other members of the region's Pokémon League. A few appear to be passed on through families: Janine, Falkner, and Flannery all took over their respective Gyms from a close family member. However, Gyms do not necessarily belong to a particular family. Roark and his father, Byron, are both Gym Leaders at the same time, in different Gyms. Leaders can also choose to vacate their position. Examples include Koga, Giovanni, and Wallace. Some Gym Leaders also have secondary professions, such as Elesa being a fashion model, Valerie being a fashion designer, and Katy owning a bakery.

## Terminology

### English

In the English game manuals from Generation I, this is called "**Pokémon Leader**" in the section explaining and listing Gym Leaders. In later sections about the cities and towns, this was also shortened to "**Leader**". In the English game manuals from Generation II, both "**Gym Leader**" and "**Leader**" are used.

In *Pokémon: Official Nintendo Player's Guide*, this is written as "**gym leader**" in lowercase. For instance:

* *"Here in Pewter City, you'll face a Jr. Trainer before you do battle with the **gym leader**, Brock."* (page 21)

## Pokémon used

Nearly all Leaders rely on a single type of Pokémon. For example, Erika uses only Grass-type Pokémon in official Gym battles. Some Leaders, however, stray from this mold, albeit rarely. This is evidenced by the different types used by Blue during his reign as the Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym in Generations II, IV, and VII, although he is the only Gym Leader to do so. However, many Gym Leaders have one or two Pokémon that stray from their type theme. This is usually because of a lack of availability for Pokémon of a certain type, such as Sunyshore Gym Leader Volkner's Ambipom and Octillery in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

Geography and climate can often be connected to the type of Pokémon the Gym Leader of that area uses. Pastoria Gym Leader Crasher Wake uses Water-type Pokémon, a direct allusion to the flooded marsh that surrounds the area and the constant downpour that plagues Pastoria City. Another example of this is the Cinnabar Gym Leader, Blaine, who uses Fire-type Pokémon and lives in a volcanic area. Pryce, Candice, Wulfric, and Grusha, the Mahogany, Snowpoint, Snowbelle, and Glaseado Gym Leaders, respectively, use Ice-type Pokémon and live either in or near icy or wintry areas.

The character archetype can also reflect the type of Pokémon a Leader uses. For example, Roark and Byron, who are both miners, use the related Rock- and Steel-type Pokémon. Tate and Liza could be based on the archetype of twins who can communicate telepathically, and thus train Psychic-type Pokémon, and being twins, they also battle opposing Trainers in Double Battles.

## In the core series

 File:SwSh Prerelease VS Milo.png
A **Gym Leader** (Japanese: **ジムリーダー** *Gym Leader*), or **Leader** prior to Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, is the Trainer class name given to the Gym Leaders when they are battled in the Pokémon games. Despite Gym Leaders themselves being introduced in Generation I, the Trainer class did not appear onscreen until Generation II, and it has been incorporated into every game since. Gym Leaders are integral within the Pokémon universe. Occasionally, in order for one to advance in the game, the player must challenge and defeat the leader of a Gym. Each game is designed in such a way that the player will not be able to move forward until they receive a Gym Badge which will, in turn, either allow them to use an HM to overcome natural obstacles or trigger a necessary event to continue with the game. It is one of the player's main objectives to collect eight Gym Badges, allowing them to challenge the Elite Four.

Leaders do not seem to be required to be in their Gyms at all times, as they may have other duties. Giovanni, for example, could keep his title as a Gym Leader despite not being at the Viridian Gym during the majority of the events of Generation I, and his successor, Blue, was also absent from the Gym several times. Beginning in Generation IV, Leaders are increasingly encountered outside of their Gyms, evident in the remakes Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where the Leaders have to be found in different locations at specific times before they can exchange phone numbers with the player for a rematch at the Fighting Dojo. Some Leaders even appear across regions, such as Jasmine appearing in Sunyshore City, Crasher Wake on Route 47, and Maylene in Celadon City. Leaders can even challenge other Gyms and the Elite Four (like Volkner wanted to do). In later games, it is made apparent that Gym Leaders know each other and are acquainted with Gym Leaders from other regions, as well as with members of the Elite Four and Champions. Examples of this are Jasmine being friends with Erika, Volkner being friends with Flint, Brawly training with Bruno, and most Unova Gym Leaders coming together to fight Team Plasma's Seven Sages.

In addition, some Gym Leaders may be required to use Pokémon different than their usual team, such as Cheren in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. Due to their higher AI compared to regular Trainers, Gym Leaders are also one of the few Trainers to employ the use of Potions when battling.

Gym Leaders in Galar have two divisions: major and minor. Upon completion of the main story, during the Galarian Star Tournament, Klara**Sw**/Avery**Sh** reveals that they have become a minor division Poison**Sw**/Psychic**Sh** Gym Leader.

### Gym Trainers

In addition to Gym Leaders, there are also Gym Trainers. They are Trainers that are either a devotee or apprentice to the Gym Leader, who follow the same type theme as the Leader does. It is usually necessary to defeat multiple Gym Trainers before challenging the Gym Leader. Some Gyms in the game require the player to solve a puzzle, and one must often use Gym Trainers as obstacles to reach the solution. They have no direct impact on the overall plot, other than rarely offering the player helpful advice. It is also worth noting that the type of Trainer appearing in a Gym will depend on the Gym itself. For instance, Gardenia employs Aroma Ladies and Beauties, exclusively, while Misty recruits Sailors and Swimmers; these Gym Leaders represent the types Grass and Water, respectively. However, starting in Generation VIII, they only have the Trainer class "Gym Trainer", as well as a special introduction featuring their Badge.

## In the anime

### Main series

 File:Cilan Skyla anime.png
In the anime, Trainers challenge Gym Leaders at their respective Gyms in order to earn Badges. If a Trainer earns eight Badges from one region, they become eligible to enter that region's Pokémon League Conference.

There are more than eight Gyms, and thus Gym Leaders, in each region. Many Trainers in the anime been shown to have Badges that do not exist in the games, such as Gary earning ten Badges in Kanto. Other Badges observed in the anime which do not correspond to known Badges suggest that there are at least nine Gyms in Hoenn, 11 in Sinnoh, 14 in Unova, and 11 in Kalos. 11 Gyms have been shown on-screen in Unova.

In *The Great Eight Fate!*, May mentioned that the Sootopolis Gym is the last Gym of the Hoenn League, implying that there is a fixed order of Gyms. However, in the next episode, *Eight Ain't Enough!*, Juan is surprised to hear that the Rain Badge was Ash's eighth Badge.

All Gym Leaders since Flannery have appeared in at least one episode before Ash earned a Badge from them. Several other characters have become or were Gym Leaders in that canon at some point, such as Brock's brother Forrest, Misty's sisters, Flannery's grandfather, and Kanto Elite Four member Agatha.

In *Cilan Takes Flight*, it's shown that, although Gym Leaders generally get along, they tend to disagree on things, in particular if their ways of running a gym clash.

In *Pokémon the Series: XY*, all of Kalos's known Gym Leaders teamed up to help in the final battle against Team Flare and the Giant Rock in *Rocking Kalos Defenses!* and *Forming a More Perfect Union!* .

In *Pokémon Journeys: The Series*, some Gym Leaders from different regions were seen participating in the World Coronation Series, such as Visquez, Korrina, Raihan, Bea, and Volkner. It's also revealed that Bea travels across different regions of the Pokémon world to battle other Gym Leaders, such as Korrina and Chuck to be able to train for the championship. In *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*, Paul was revealed to have been offered a Gym Leader position at an undisclosed Gym.

In *Pokémon Horizons: The Series*, the Rising Volt Tacklers have encountered several Gym Leaders, such as Brassius and Kabu, in their search for the Template:Shiny Rayquaza that once belonged to the Ancient Adventurer Lucius. In addition, Iono once helped Dot search for a missing Liko in her hometown of Levincia.

## List of Gym Leaders

### Hoenn League

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, it is possible to break the order and skip fighting Winona until after defeating Tate and Liza or Wallace**RS**/Juan**E**. Regardless, the player must still defeat Winona to gain access to the Pokémon League. This is not the case in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where a Bird Keeper on Route 120 prevents the player from advancing until Winona has been defeated.

### Paldea League

The Gym Leaders of the Paldea region are the first ones who can be challenged in any order rather than the usual fixed order. However, the levels of their Pokémon remain the same regardless of when they are challenged. The Gym Leaders are listed in order of lowest level to highest.

## Trivia

* For DP009, Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia is about Gym Leaders. He writes this senryū about them: 「ジムリーダー　いのちをかけて　かかってこい」 *"Gym Leader, put your life on the line and challenge me."*
* The Dark type did not get a Gym until Generation VIII, twenty years after the type debuted in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Previously, there have been three Elite Four members (Karen, Sidney, and Grimsley), as well as an island kahuna (Nanu), who specialize in Dark types. The other seventeen types have at least one Gym associated with them, with the new types, Steel and Fairy, getting Gyms in their respective debut generations.
	+ As of Generation VIII, every type has been specialized in by at least two Gym Leaders.
* Every Gym Leader that specializes in Steel-type Pokémon uses Steelix in battle.
* In the Johto saga of the anime, none of the Gym Leaders had exactly the same lineups as they do in the games.
* The Sinnoh saga marks the only time in the anime that all Gym Leaders in a region have used exactly the same teams as in the games.
	+ However, Volkner only used three of his four Pokémon in his battle with Ash.
* In the games, every Gym Leader has at least one Pokémon in their party that knows the TM move they give out upon defeat. Former Gym Leaders do not count in this, as Wallace when he is faced as Champion and Giovanni when he is faced in Generation IV do not have Pokémon that know the move they gave out as TMs when they were faced as Gym Leaders in previous games. Koga, despite not being a Gym Leader in Generation IV, has several Pokémon that know Toxic, the move he last gave out as a TM.
* Since Generation IV, there has consistently been a Grass-type Gym Leader in each region.
* From Generations I to V (not counting remakes), every move that was in a TM given out by a Gym Leader was a new move for that generation, and many of them were rarely (if ever) seen on any other Pokémon in the generation they were introduced. This trend has been broken in Generation VI, where only three Gym Leaders—Viola, Korrina, and Valerie—hand out TMs with moves new to the generation.
* Most of the core series Gym Leaders have Japanese names consisting of three katakana. This includes all Kanto Gym Leaders in Generation I and III games, all Johto Gym Leaders, and at least half of the Gym Leaders in every game.
	+ Blue (Japanese: グリーン *Green*) is the only core series Kanto Gym Leader with a Japanese name longer than three characters.
* In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the player can continue the game without defeating Winona of Fortree City until attempting to battle the Elite Four.
* The Orange League is the only one so far in which Ash has successfully defeated all the Gym Leaders without a rematch.
* In *Pocket Monsters: The Animation*, it was mentioned that the position of Gym Leaders was very unforgiving, as it had a three-strike rule stating that if a Gym Leader lost three times in a row, the Gym will be disqualified. It also revealed that being a Gym Leader was costly, leaving little pay, and the government can't provide for them. It also revealed that the rather brutal nature of Gym leading was one of the reasons why Misty's and Brock's parents ended up abandoning them to Gym duties.
* Prior to the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield, Gym Leaders were referred to as Gym Masters in a since-deleted tweet by the official Nintendo of America account. This term was also used by Blaine in the anime episode *Riddle Me This*.
* Gyarados and Pelipper are the most common Pokémon found amongst Gym Leaders, being used by seven each.
* Besides Larry, every Paldea Gym Leader has one Pokémon that is not of the type they specialize in. However, they can turn these Pokémon into their specialized types through Terastallization.
* Marnie is the only Gym Leader who doesn't use the Trainer class "Leader" or "Gym Leader" when battled at a Gym.
* Prior to Generation VII, all the Gym Leader's English names are puns based on their respective specialized types. In Generation IX and VIII, they all possess flora-based names similar to the Pokémon Professors. The same applies to each Elite Four member of those generations.
* Sinnoh is the only region where the sixth Gym Leader is never female.