History Characters / PokemonGymLeaders

[[center:[[WMG:''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'' '''[[Characters/{{Pokemon}} characters Index]]''' ''([[Characters/PokemonTypes Pokémon Types]], [[Characters/PokemonRecurringArchetypes Recurring Pokémon Archetypes]])''\\
[-'''Pokémon Family Species:''' [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIFamilies Gen I]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationIBulbasaurToParasect Bulbasaur to Parasect]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVenonatToCloyster Venonat to Cloyster]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIGastlyToMiltank Gastly to Miltank]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIMagikarpToMew Magikarp to Mew]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIFamilies Gen II]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIChikoritaToGranbull Chikorita to Granbull]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIQwilfishToCelebi Qwilfish to Celebi]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIFamilies Gen III]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIITreeckoToSharpedo Treecko to Sharpedo]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Wailmer to Deoxys]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVFamilies Gen IV]] | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVFamilies Gen V]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationVVictiniToZoroark Victini to Zoroark]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVMinccinoToGenesect Minccino to Genesect]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIFamilies Gen VI]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIChespinToHawlucha Chespin to Hawlucha]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIDedenneToVolcanion Dedenne to Volcanion]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIFamilies Gen VII]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIRowletToComfey Rowlet to Comfey]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIOranguruToMelmetal Oranguru to Melmetal]] / [[Characters/PokemonUltraBeasts Ultra Beasts]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIFamilies Gen VIII]] ([[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIGrookeyToHatterene Grookey to Hatterene]] / [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIImpidimpToCalyrex Impidimp to Calyrex]]) | [[Characters/PokemonGlitches Glitches]]\\
'''Pokémon Human Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivals Protagonists And Rivals]] ([[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsKanto Kanto]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsJohto Johto]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsHoenn Hoenn]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsSinnoh Sinnoh]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsUnova Unova]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsKalos Kalos]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsAlola Alola]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsGalar Galar]]) | [[Characters/PokemonProfessors Professors]] | '''Gym Leaders''' ([[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKanto Kanto]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersJohto Johto]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersHoenn Hoenn]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersSinnoh Sinnoh]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersUnova Unova]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKalos Kalos]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersGalar Galar]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTrialCaptainsAndKahunas Trial Captains and Kahunas]] | [[Characters/PokemonEliteFour Elite Four]] | [[Characters/PokemonChampions Champions]]\\
'''[[Characters/PokemonVillainTeams Pokémon Villain Teams]]:''' [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamRocket Team Rocket]] / [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamAquaMagma Team Aqua/Magma]] / [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamGalactic Team Galactic]] / [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamPlasma Team Plasma]] / [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamFlare Team Flare]] / [[Characters/PokemonVillainTeamSkull Team Skull]] / [[Characters/PokemonTeamYell Team Yell]]\\
[[Characters/PokemonFrontierBrainsAndOtherFacilityHeads Frontier Brains And Other Facility Heads]] | [[Characters/PokemonTrainerClasses Trainer Classes]] | [[Characters/PokemonOtherNonPlayableCharacters Other NPCs]] ([[Characters/PokemonAetherFoundation Aether Foundation]] / [[Characters/PokemonUltraReconSquad Ultra Recon Squad]] / [[Characters/PokemonMacroCosmos Macro Cosmos]])\\
[[Characters/PokemonLegendsArceus Pokémon Legends: Arceus]]-]]]]]

Gyms are Pokémon facilities that serve to test how strong a Pokémon trainer and their Pokémon are. Each gym usually specializes in a single type (though there are exceptions). The highest ranking member of the gym is known as the Gym Leader. They essentially serve as this game's version of boss battles. Defeating them nets the trainer an emblem known as a badge. You need eight of them in order to compete against the Elite Four.

[[index]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKanto Kanto]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersJohto Johto]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersHoenn Hoenn]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersSinnoh Sinnoh]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersUnova Unova]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKalos Kalos]]
* [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersGalar Galar]]
[[/index]]

For Alola' equivalent to gym leaders, see Characters/PokemonTrialCaptainsAndKahunas.
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:All Leaders]]
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** Inverted by ''Yellow'', which integrated some of their characteristics from the anime with their game selves; this has influenced some of their ongoing design in repeat appearances, such as Misty's connection to Togepi.
** ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'' give the leaders of Kanto and Johto a few extra character flourishes for comedic effect--Lt. Surge likes cute Pokémon, Erika is a wicked gossip, Clair is a {{tsundere}}, ''etc.''--but these extra traits largely exist only in their games of origin.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: It's implied that particularly powerful trainers can be appointed Gym Leaders by the Pokémon League, and some of them even turned out to be the authority figure of the place where they locate their Gyms.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: They are universally much more powerful than the other Trainers in their Gyms and usually the strongest trainers in the game up to that point. While their levels vary due to the typically linear nature of the games, in the story, the Gym Leaders are usually considered the most powerful Trainers in the region bar the Elite Four and Champion.
* BadassAdorable: Several Gym Leaders are young children and cute girls, still doesn't change the fact they're among some of the strongest Trainers in the region.
* BadassFamily: Many Gym Leaders are related to each other or to powerful Trainers in the same region:
** From Generation II, Janine runs the Fuchsia Gym while her father Koga holds a position in the Elite Four. Falkner also inherited the Violet Gym from his father, and Blackthorn Gym Leader Clair is the cousin of Kanto champion Lance, as well as a descendant of a long line of Dragon-type Trainers.
** From Generation III, Norman is Leader of the Petalburg Gym and also the player character's father. Flannery is Leader of the Lavaridge Gym and her grandfather was a former member of the Hoenn Elite Four. Psychic twin siblings Tate and Liza represent the Mossdeep Gym.
** From Generation IV, Byron and Roark are a father-son pair of miners who represent Canalave Gym and Oreburgh Gym.
** From Generation V, triplets Cilan, Chili, and Cress run the Striaton Gym together. Depending on the version, you'll fight either Drayden or his granddaughter Iris in Opelucid Gym, while in the sequels Drayden is the Opelucid Gym Leader and Iris is the Unova Champion.
** From Generation VI, Korrina is the Shalour Gym Leader and the granddaughter of Gurkinn, an expert on Mega Evolution.
** From Generation VIII, the Gym Leader of Circhester will either be Gordie or his mother Melony depending on the version. Piers, the Gym Leader of Spikemuth, is the older brother of [[spoiler:Marnie, one of the player's rivals and a very popular Trainer. In the post-game, Marnie has taken over Piers' position as Spikemuth Gym Leader herself]].
** Also in Generation VIII, it's noted the Galar region Psychic gym leaders have always been members of the same family line, and they are also known as powerful psychics themselves. Course since they currently are not among the 8 Major Division gym leaders you don't actually get to meet or fight any of them, except for Avery (who has not yet inherited the position) in the ''Shield'' version of Isle of Armor.
* BadassTeacher: Morty states that training young people in the ways of Pokémon battle is also the duty of a Gym Leader. Accordingly, most Gyms are filled with the disciples of the resident Leader, who the player must defeat in order to reach the Leader themselves (a few leaders, such as Jasmine, don't actually have any disciples).
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the Spanish translation, Generation I Gym Leaders are the only ones to keep their English names (barring punctual exceptions such as Iris). This extends to the Elite Four and even Professor Oak too, but it's more noticeable in the Leaders not just because there are 8 of them but also because the Kanto Elite Four names aren't particularly English-sounding (Bruno even is a Spanish name).
** Before being WillfullyWeak became a uniting trope for Gym Leaders, in the early generations they were sometimes depicted as being truly as weak/strong as they are when you fight them in the story. Falkner in Gen II, for instance, was noted to not even own the Pokémon he used, as they were actually his father's.
* ElementalPowers: Each Gym Leader specializes in a single type of Pokémon, although some Gym Leaders might throw in a Pokémon of a different type as a curve ball. The main exception to this however, is Blue, and so he uses a [[ConfusionFu diverse team of Pokémon]] based on his Champion team.
* FloralThemeNaming: In Japanese, all Gym Leaders are named after types of plants. For the Galar Gym Leaders in Gen VIII, the plant theme is largely kept for their English names as well.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: The Kanto Gym Leaders in Gen II and the remakes, the Sinnoh Gym Leaders, and the Kalos Gym Leaders each consist of 4 female Gym Leaders and 4 male Gym Leaders.
* GracefulLoser: Most Gym Leaders are accepting of their losses, congratulating you on your victory and giving you the earned TM and Badge with well wishes. There are exceptions though, most (in)famously Whitney and Clair.
* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: A gym leader's strength scales with the player's progress through their game, so despite their official League standing leaders fought early on will be weaker than the common trainers and {{Mook}}s you encounter midway through. [[Manga/TheElectricTaleOfPikachu Multiple]] [[Anime/PokemonOrigins adaptations]] indicate leaders [[WillfullyWeak select their team to meet a challenger's level]], which appears to have become canon late in the fifth generation, judging from Cheren's comment that he can't use his main team as a gym leader. Starting with ''Emerald'', most if not all Gym Leaders will rematch the player in the post game, letting the player see them at their full strength.
* PoorPredictableRock:
** As they focus on a single type, they really test you on your knowledge of type matchups. Bring an advantageous type to their fight and you'll usually prevail. As both the series went on and the further you progress into the game however, the Gym Leaders start to acquire stronger Pokémon with better movepools and abilities, making their teams tougher to deal with even if they're still all the same type.
** Zigzagged in the ''Stadium'' games; a leader's team will observe their designated type in Round One, but their Round Two team is free to include anything they want.
* PunnyName: Every Gym Leader's name is a pun that relates to their type or is otherwise meaningful in some way. For example, B'''rock''' is a Rock-type Trainer, and '''Mist'''y is a Water-type Trainer. Their names in the Japanese version occasionally combine puns related with their type specialty/traits with the FloralThemeNaming frequently used there. For example, the "take" in "Takeshi" (Brock's Japanese name) not only stands for "岳" (mountain peak), but also "竹" (bamboo).
* RedBaron: Everyone gets a cool title that describes some facet of their specializing type.
* SignatureMon: For the Gym Leaders, this trope works on two levels.
** Each Gym Leader specializes in a certain Type of Pokemon and all the Pokemon in their gym battle (and rematch, when available) are of that type. (Some leaders are indicated -- in spinoffs like the original ''[[VideoGame/PokemonStadium Stadium]]'' games or the TCG -- to have Pokemon outside their specified Main type).
** Every Gym Leader further has a signature Pokémon ([[DownplayedTrope or several]]) that they're associated with, which tends to be the highest-leveled member of their team and are nearly always sent out last. When fought in the Pokémon World Tournament in ''Black 2 and White 2'', the Gym Leaders always send out their signature Pokémon first.
* SignatureMove: Every Gym Leader gives out a TM, near-universally teaching an attacking move of their specialty type. Accordingly, they will have taught that move to most of their Pokémon. Prior to Generation III, the moves these [=TMs=] taught could ''only'' be learned by TM, giving you one chance to teach the Gym Leader's move to a Pokémon. In Gen III and beyond, several such TM moves became naturally available to many other Pokémon, making the Gym Leader's connection to the specific move weaker, but still present.
* ThresholdGuardians: Their primary purpose is to test trainers. Only trainers who beat eight of them in a region are dubbed worthy of challenging the League. Further, their badges often enable the use of Hidden Machines, special techniques allowing the player to traverse obstacles in the field.
* WillfullyWeak: They hold back and/or use weaker teams against challengers who are too low-level to face them at full power, since they exist to test your skill as a trainer, not to stop your journey cold. In games where you can have rematches with them, they show off their full power, where they're all on a roughly equal power level on-par with the Elite Four. This trope becomes more explicit as the generations go on, with Cheren in Gen V noting that he's not allowed to use his main team in gym battles, and in Gen VIII Nessa outright tells the player character that the gym challenge battles are indeed only "test battles" and that it's only after clearing all eight that the Gym Leaders will fight a challenger at full strength.
* WrestlingDoesntPay: Many Gym Leaders have secondary jobs/hobbies that are also mentioned in their official titles. Sometimes they relate to their preferred type, sometimes they don't. In some cases, their gyms also double as their non-gym-related place of business. [[ZigZaggedTrope Many of them are just gym leaders, though.]]
[[/folder]]
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* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: A gym leader's strength scales with the player's progress through his game, so despite their official League standing leaders fought early on will be weaker than the common trainers and {{Mook}}s you encounter midway through. [[Manga/TheElectricTaleOfPikachu Multiple]] [[Anime/PokemonOrigins adaptations]] indicate leaders [[WillfullyWeak select their team to meet a challenger's level]], which appears to have become canon late in the fifth generation, judging from Cheren's comment that he can't use his main team as a gym leader. Starting with ''Emerald'', most if not all Gym Leaders will rematch the player in the post game, letting the player see them at their full strength.

'''Pokémon Human Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivals Protagonists And Rivals]] ([[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsKanto Kanto]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsJohto Johto]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsHoenn Hoenn]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsSinnoh Sinnoh]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsUnova Unova]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsKalos Kalos]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsAlola Alola]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsGalar Galar]] / [[Characters/PokemonProtagonistsAndRivalsHisui Hisui]]) | [[Characters/PokemonProfessors Professors]] | '''Gym Leaders''' ([[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKanto Kanto]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersJohto Johto]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersHoenn Hoenn]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersSinnoh Sinnoh]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersUnova Unova]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersKalos Kalos]] / [[Characters/PokemonGymLeadersGalar Galar]]) | [[Characters/PokemonTrialCaptainsAndKahunas Trial Captains and Kahunas]] | [[Characters/PokemonEliteFour Elite Four]] | [[Characters/PokemonChampions Champions]]\\

[[Characters/PokemonFrontierBrainsAndOtherFacilityHeads Frontier Brains And Other Facility Heads]] | [[Characters/PokemonTrainerClasses Trainer Classes]] | [[Characters/PokemonOtherNonPlayableCharacters Other NPCs]] ([[Characters/PokemonAetherFoundation Aether Foundation]] / [[Characters/PokemonUltraReconSquad Ultra Recon Squad]] / [[Characters/PokemonMacroCosmos Macro Cosmos]])-]]]]]