Aaron's Top 5: Pokemon Gym Leaders

Gym leaders, the trainers in charge of seeing if the player is worthy of moving on the region’s league. They range from goofy (Wake) to intimidating (Chuck), to flushed out and engaging (Elesa) to ‘I hate you’ (Grant). In any other game, their called ‘Boss battles’. Here, they’re called Gym battles. Either way, I’m listing the ones that I consider to be absolute bosses.

5: Korrina, Kalos

A gym leader that you face before and after the gym battle. Hey! That’s pretty cool! Like most of the Kalos gym leaders, she isn’t that hard to beat. Korrina’s Meinfoo was able to land a few hits but I’m putting her on for her place in the story. 

Gen 6 introduced mega stones which is basically a power boost and Korrina did a great job easing the gamer into the concept. Being a gym leader, it makes sense that she’d be trusted with that power. Plus she’s related to the ‘master of mega evolution’. Korrina makes sure you deserve the power she’s giving you along with a Lucario.

What I like is that they could’ve just made her a simple hard ass. Instead, she’s a vibrant roller bladder who doesn’t get mad at anything. The littlest things can go a long way.

Meinfoo, Machoke, Hawlucha, Lucario*

4: Clay, Unova

This guy is a walking Saturday morning cartoon character. And I know exactly what cartoon he’s from too (Xialin Showdown). A business eccentric Texan with a 10 gallon hat who speaks in countryisms. You can’t read what he’s saying and not smile. It’s so over the top and hilarious and yet he doesn’t smile at all. I swear, the only thing missing is if he wrestled for 20 years and then became a wwe commentator.

As for the battle, he’s good! He’s working with ground types and unlike Giovanni, he throws in a Palpitoad to mess with the trainer a bit. Plus, his Excadrill is a tank even if you do come in with a type advantage based strategy.

Krokorok, Palpitoad, Excadrill, Sandslash*2

3: Janine, Kanto

Everyone else can go home! This is the greatest gym ever and I don’t care what anyone else says! They’re ninjas hiding behind invisible walls! How is that possible! This is such a cool concept! I need to face the gym leader last so I can enjoy this. You know? The gym leader…the one that’s dead center in the middle of the gym so therefore your attention is automatically drawn to her. Great hiding spot honey.

Poison types eh? This should be easy. Or her Aridos’ are complete powerhouses. Her Venomoth has a wide skill set. The Crobat is as fast as a hedgehog, and that Weezing just doesn’t give a damn about your ground type. Yeah, for the daughter of an elite four member, Janine is underappreciated in my view. There’s a much thicker backstory to this character but a lot of it isn’t in the foreground. Kind of like she’s living up to that reputation as a ninja. I love subtly.

Aridos, Crobat, Weezing, Venomoth, Aridos

2: Norman, Hoenn

Luke! I am your father! Yeah! The fourth gym leader is the in character’s father! You get this info right at the start so you get a lot of build-up to this face off. Norman’s dojo gym is unique giving you the option of what type of trainer you get to face. There’s no puzzle or obstacle to get over and it’s not straight forward either. It’s a simple pick an opponent for your legalized fight club. 

Unlike fight club, the final battle with Tyler Durden himself isn’t as memorable. Not to say it was very easy, but in the remake, the experience share makes all your Pokémon a bit higher leveled and if you had a Machamp like I did…three hits for each Pokémon. 

So why not just put the original version on the list? Well, the 3d facial expressions helped the story for Alpha Sapphire a lot and I enjoyed the battle a lot more seeing Norman’s face before and after his child defeats him. It’s so close to being #1 but it’s still great.

Slaking, Vigoroth, Slaking

1: Clair, Johto

I’m going to say this right now. She should’ve been the champion! Hell, at least she uses two different dragons, they were accurately leveled, and was hard to beat…Lance! Ya fucking cheater. 

Two Dragonair that paralyze you and have a counter for whatever ice type you drag in. A Gyarados because why not? And a Kingdra that’s a girl…a Queendra…whatever, I’m more worried about that thing’s hyper beam.

Speaking of hyper, Clair throws a temper tantrum when you finally beat her. After, she sends you into the dragon den for a quiz, she reluctantly gives you the badge. I kind of like how the final gym leader is still sort of immature while the very first one in Johto seems wise. In fact, all the Johto gym leaders seem to have a calm outlook and attitude. Normally I’d hate a character who’s a brat but this contrast really does make me love her a bit more. This also makes her more parallel to the rival for gen 2 since Silver has a ‘damn anyone who gets in my way’ attitude as well. 

I love subtly.

Dragonair, Gyarados, Dragonair, Kingdra