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aka: Pokemon Gym Leaders

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These are the character sheets for the various Pokémon groupings: Shout Outs, Captain Ersatz and Expy references go here.

Be warned that spoilers pertaining to the plot from games preceding Pokémon X and Y will be unmarked, for the most part. Also be aware that there are heavy spoilers in Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokémon Sword and Shield, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in some of these links. Some are marked and some aren't.


    open/close all folders 
    Pokémon (Individual species) 
  • Pokémon: Generation I Families (#0001-0151)
    • Bulbasaur to Parasect (#0001-0047)note 
    • Venonat to Cloyster (#0048-0091)note 
    • Gastly to Tauros (#0092-0128)note 
    • Magikarp to Dragonite (#0129-0149)note 
      • Eevee Line (#0133-0136, #0196-0197, #0470-0471, #0700)note 
    • Mew Duo (#0150-0151)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation II Families (#0152-0251)
    • Chikorita to Granbull (#0152-0210)note 
    • Qwilfish to Celebi (#0211-0251)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation III Families (#0252-0386)
    • Treecko to Sharpedo (#0252-0319)note 
    • Wailmer to Deoxys (#0320-0386)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation IV Families (#0387-0493)
    • Turtwig to Bronzong (#0387-0437)note 
    • Chatot to Arceus (#0438-0493)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation V Families (#0494-0649)
    • Victini to Zoroark (#0494-0571)note 
    • Minccino to Volcarona (#0572-0637)note 
    • Cobalion to Genesect (#0638-0649)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation VI Families (#0650-0721)
    • Chespin to Hawlucha (#0650-0701)note 
    • Dedenne to Volcanion (#0702-0721)note 
      • Aura Trio (#0716-0718)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation VII Families (#0722-0809)
    • Rowlet to Comfey (#0722-0764)note 
    • Oranguru to Melmetal (#0765-0788, #0801-0802, #0807-0809)note 
    • The Ultra Beasts (#0793-0799, #0803-0806)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation VIII Families (#0810-0905)
    • Grookey to Hatterene (#0810-0858)note 
    • Impidimp to Calyrex (#0859-0898) (WARNING: Significant plot spoilers for Generation VIII games!)note 
  • Pokémon: Generation IX Families (#0906-1025)note 
    • Sprigatito to Espathra (#0906-0956)note 
    • Tinkatink to Miraidon (#0957-0978, #0996-1004, #1007-1008)note 
    • Paradox Pokémon (#0984-0995, #1005-1006, #1009-1010, #1020-1023) (WARNING: Significant plot spoilers for Generation IX games!)note 

    Human Characters 
  • Pokémon Red and Bluenote 
  • Pokémon Gold and Silver
  • Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
  • Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
  • Pokémon Black and Whitenote 
  • Pokémon X and Y
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon
  • Pokémon Sword and Shield
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus (ALL SPOILERS UNMARKED!)
  • Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  • Trainer Classesnote 

    Spinoff and Crossover games 
  • Pokémon Snapnote  (and New Pokémon Snap)note 
  • Pokémon Stadium (and Battle Revolution)note 
  • Pokémon ColosseumProtagonistsAntagonistsAlliesOthersFinal Bosses (SPOILERS)
  • Pokémon XD: Gale of DarknessProtagonistAntagonistsAlliesOthersGreevil & Allies (SPOILERS)
  • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
    • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue TeamThe ProtagonistsOther Rescue TeamsPokémon Square Villagers
    • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: ExplorersProtagonistsWigglytuff GuildOther Exploration TeamsTreasure Town VillagersVillainsOthers
    • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to InfinityProtagonistsParadise ResidentsFriends and AlliesVillains
    • Pokémon Super Mystery DungeonProtagonistsSerene VillagersExpedition SocietyVillainsOthers
  • Pokémon Ranger
    • Original gameThe Ranger UnionThe Go-Rock Squad
    • Shadows of AlmiaThe Ranger UnionTeam Dim SunSpoilers
    • Guardian SignsThe Ranger Union and AlliesThe PinchersOthersSpoilers
  • Pokémon ConquestRuling WarlordsJunior WarlordsOther WarlordsOthers
  • Pokkén Tournament
  • Pokémon Unite
  • Detective Pikachu (and Detective Pikachu Returns)note 
  • Pokémon GOProtagonistsAntagonists
  • Pokémon: Magikarp Jumpnote 
  • Pokémon MastersUnique to this game:
  • Super Smash Bros.

    Anime, Manga, and Other Adaptations 

    Pokémon in General 
The wide variety of magical creatures that inhabit the Pokémon world, who can be caught in Poké Balls and serve as partners, pets and companions to humans.
  • Animals Not to Scale: Pokémon based on animals are usually not close in size to the real things (with some notable exceptions like Mudsdale). Usually, if based on a large animal, they will be smaller (the blue whale equivalent, Wailord, is roughly half the length and much, much lighter than a real blue whale), and if based on a small animal, they will be larger (any Bug type, most rodents, and so on). Further, the size within a given species varies substantially more than in most real world animals (especially if things like Alpha and Titan Pokémon are considered).
  • Badass Adorable: Many species of Pokémon are just as cute and lovable as they are capable of kicking your ass.
  • Blood Knight: Regardless of size, shape or species, every Pokémon has one thing in common — they love to battle.
  • Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": Many Pokémon are categorized as real world animals (Pikachu, for example, is the "Mouse Pokémon").
  • Carnivore Confusion: Although meat products are shown to exist in the Pokémon world, the franchise has never given a definitive answer to the question of what exactly many of them are made from. This is not helped by the existence of certain curry ingredients in Sword and Shield such as boiled eggs, burger patties, bones, sausage, and Slowpoke tails. Or the Pokédex entries that imply certain Pokémon such as Lapras and Farfetch'd are endangered because humans were over-hunting them. Some foods seen such as Klawf claws are seemingly considered ethically sound to eat as the parts grow back (and crustacean Pokémon often drop their claws on their own), but most meat humans eat remains unexplained.
  • Casting a Shadow: The Ghost Type and the Dark Type.
  • Cast Herd: As of Scarlet and Violet, there are 1010 individual species of Pokémon known to exist, categorized by each generation's regional Pokédex: Generation I (Kanto) starts with 151, Gen II (Johto) adds 100 more, Gen III (Hoenn) adds 135, Gen IV (Sinnoh) adds 107, Gen V (Unova) adds 156note , Gen VI (Kalos) adds 72note , Gen VII (Alola) adds 88, Gen VIII (Galar and Hisui) adds 96, and Gen IX (Paldea) tops it off with 105. With the franchise showing no signs of slowing down, more Pokémon are being introduced with each new generation.
  • Cute Critters Act Childlike: Many continuities have unevolved Pokémon acting like young human children.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: As the player, you have to beat a Pokémon into submission before you can catch it. That's the rule and always has been.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In every main series Pokémon game, the player beats the local Olympus Mons into submission before stuffing them into tiny plastic balls.
  • The Dividual: Some Pokémon are made up of multiple individuals, including Exeggcute, Kangaskhan, Slowbro, Slowking, School Forme Wishiwashi, Falinks, Tandemaus, and Maushold. Regardless, when the player catches them, they only count as a single Pokémon.
  • Domesticated Dinosaurs: Certain Pokémon (including but not limited to some of the revived fossils) are based on dinosaurs and can be tamed by players and NPCs just like all the others.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Some Pokémon are much more alien in nature, enigmatic or even godlike. The box art legendary Pokémon and their equivalents tend to be personifications of concepts and physical gods with enough power to alter or even wreck the planet under certain circumstances. Even some non-legendary Pokémon, like Unown or Shedinja, are... off-putting. Yet you can pet them or feed them Pokeblocks.
  • Elemental Powers: The many species of Pokémon have one of the eighteen current types, and many have two types at once. So far, there is no Pokémon that is Typeless, or ???-type (unless you count the glitch Pokémon from Gen I).
  • Evolution Power-Up: A Pokémon's evolution almost always comes with a significant overall stat boost (an exception is the Scyther line, where its base stat total is reorganized instead of increased for Scizor or Kleavor).
  • Forced into Evil: No Pokémon, individual or species, is inherently evil, but many villains across the series exploit the power of Pokémon for their own gain. Pokémon Colosseum is one of the darkest takes on this trope, with Cipher corrupting friendly Pokémon into mindless fighting machines.
    Jessie's Ekans: Pokémon do bad things because master bad. Pokémon not bad.
    • As the series has progressed, this has been played with and downplayed many times (especially if certain dex entries are taken as literal truth), with various Pokémon being depicted as genuinely malevolent with little or no influence from humans (Malamar being a major example). That said, it has remained true that no Pokémon as a species have to be evil, and even the most dangerous species can be tamed and befriended at least on a individual basis.
  • Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: Many Pokémon are very small in their first forms, but huge in their fully evolved forms. For example, Aron is a little baby metal dinosaur about a foot tall, while its final evolution Aggron is a colossal beast almost 7 feet tall.
  • Green Thumb: The Grass Type.
  • Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: The Trope Namer. Any male and female Pokémon in the same egg group can produce offspring, which can lead to some… interesting couples. There is substantial evidence that the way they reproduce is not mundane.
  • Interspecies Friendship: A core theme of the franchise is the friendships formed between Pokémon and their human trainers. Just look at some of the things they can say when taken to Dr. Footstep in Diamond and Pearl:
    Cute Pokémon, at max friendship: If I said there can be friendship between Pokémon and people, will <Pokémon>'s friends understand? But if you see <player> and <nickname>, you will understand. Because <player> and <nickname> are friends!
    Tough Pokémon, at max friendship: <player> is... A remarkable human and Trainer. That I can always perform the best any <Pokémon> possibly can... I attribute that entirely to my partner <player>. When we travel, I can see wild Pokémon eyeing us enviously...
    Scary Pokémon, at max friendship: There are no Pokémon that dislike humans... Only humans that dislike Pokémon... We <Pokémon> are especially shunned... But <player> always treats me as a friend and partner...
    Slow Pokémon, at max friendship: Hnurrr... Me? Uhm... Other Pokémon, they say to me... "You're not thinking, are you?" How insulting they should say so. It isn't true what they say. Think, think, think, I do that. All the time, I think hard how to help <player>. I concentrate! Hnurrr...
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: Many Pokémon, especially in the earlier generations, are amalgamations of different creatures (e.g. the Growlithe-Arcanine line from Gen I is a dog-tiger hybrid).
  • Mons: The archetypal example since 1997.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: To their respective trainers. The role is usually filled by the protagonist's Signature Mon but they all qualify.
  • Pets Versus Strays: Often explained in the wider series canon as the in-game reason why wild Pokémon attack your loyal team. You're not just invading their territory — they're jealous of the attention your trained Pokémon are receiving from you.
  • Pokémon Speak: The Trope Namer, although it tends to vary by continuity. In the main anime, most Pokémon can only say their own names, while in the games, their cries have varied from bitcrushed, computerized sounds in the early installments, to more animalistic, high-quality noises in later ones. More "realistic" media like Pokémon Origins and Pokémon Detective Pikachu lean towards animalistic vocalizations, although the latter splits the difference by having some Pokémon make animal noises and others like Psyduck saying their names. A general rule of thumb is that in most media, cute Pokémon are more likely to say their names, tough-looking or scary Pokémon are more likely to make animal noises, and legendary or certain Psychic-type Pokémon are more likely to be able to talk.
  • Predators Are Mean: A good chunk of scary-looking Pokémon have rather frightening Pokédex entries detailing how they prey on other Pokémon or even humans.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: More often than not, the players' team could end up like this, especially if they use the lesser used Pokémon. Aside from the starter, your team consists of a bunch of mons picked up in the wild, with little to nothing in common with each other. Your team could consist of a Sun Wukong-esque fire monkey, a psychic HuMon who looks like a feminine girl in a dress, a hula-dancing flower, an Ax-Crazy three-headed dragon, a Smelly Skunk with Farts on Fire, and a tiny electric squirrel. You can take a scrappy gang like this to championship stardom, among many others.
  • Riddle for the Ages: How Pokémon reproduce is a mystery in-universe. Over various games, there are hints to the process involved, but no firm conclusions. They evidently can breed, and the children will regularly inherit traits from their parents, but the Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action nature of possible pairings raises questions as to how. Daycare owners will regularly comment that they aren't sure how eggs end up in their daycare. Nurseries consistently use the terminology of "finding" eggs, not "breeding" them, as if they're not certain that the Pokémon are reproducing together despite specializing in obtaining eggs. No one has ever seen a Pokémon lay an egg, suggesting they aren't laid at all. Eggs suddenly appear in your basket during picnics in Scarlet and Violet, even if you've been watching that basket like a Hawlucha and none of the Pokémon have come near it nor each other. Certain species (such as Kangaskhan and Chansey) can come out of the egg already carrying young or more eggs. Professor Elm states that Pokémon eggs aren't eggs, but instead "cradles", which only manages to raise more questions about the nature of eggs. The only time it gets some level of concrete clarification is in Sun and Moon, where a Lunala and Solgaleo (which are extradimensional aliens, mind) combine their energy to create a Cosmog.
  • Running on All Fours: Many species of Pokémon will adopt a four-legged stance when moving quickly (and sometimes when walking as well), but will otherwise stand bipedally.
  • Sizeshifter: The ability to shrink to a tiny size is innate to all Pokémon, not a function of Poké Balls themselves. Some are able to utilize this ability in battle with Minimize, but for most, it can only be done as a reflexive action.
  • Small Parent, Huge Child: This trope applies to every hatchling belonging to a species whose size exceeds or dwarfs their parents'. For instance, the (fully-evolved) love child of Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action can be 200 times larger than daddy Skitty (if the mother is a Wailord) or 200 times smaller than daddy Wailord (if the mother is a Skitty). This can also be invoked by the fact that many base-evolution Pokémon can still breed, so a player can breed a base level Pokémon, then proceed to level and evolve the child instead of the parent.
  • Talking Animal: A few species of Pokémon, mostly Psychic-type or legendary Pokémon, are able to speak human language. This is usually accomplished via telepathy, but it can be done through other means; for example, in the anime, Team Rocket's Meowth taught himself to speak by reading a picture book.
  • Undead Abomination: The Ghost Type, despite being a case of Dark Is Not Evil (Usually) is made of various specter-like beings who can drain emotions or curse with magic their enemies. Some of them, like Dusknoir or Drifloom have connections to the Afterlife and the former even is subtly implied to be an afterlife drone sent to bring deceased souls to it.
  • Undying Loyalty: A properly trained Pokémon will literally fight to the point of near-death to protect you and your honour. Even if the trainer decides to release their entire team, the last member will always refuse to leave you alone.
  • Was Once a Man: A few species of Pokémon, particularly Ghost-types, are said to be either transformed humans or the spirits of deceased humans — although this is mostly limited to Pokédex entries, some of which may not be 100% true, and so far there has not been a canonical instance of a human permanently transforming into a Pokémon. Kadabra's Pokédex entry claims that the first Kadabra was previously a boy with supernatural powers, and Ninetales is said to have resulted from the merging of nine sacred wizards or saints.
  • Whale Egg: Aside from the ones that can't breed at all, every Pokémon reproduces by laying eggs. In the games, these eggs uniformly have a plain white design with green spots, similar to Yoshi eggs, but individual species have their own egg designs in other media, such as the anime.
    • Though one old man in Coumarine City in X and Y explains it's not always necessarily an "egg", and sometimes it should be understood more of as a "cradle". Make of that what you will.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Played with. There are no innately unsympathetic or evil species of Pokémon. Name a species and you can find someone, somewhere who loves and cares for them. That being said, small and cute Pokémon are more likely to serve in heroic roles, while big, scary-looking, or tough Pokémon are more likely to serve in villainous roles. But Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity provides one of the biggest subversions with the tiny adorable Munna as the Big Bad and the big, scary, Dark-type, three-headed Hydreigon being a hero trying to stop her.

    Pokémon Trainers in General 
The humans that catch, work with, train, and battle Pokémon in their daily lives either as a hobby or a career.
  • Bad People Abuse Animals: Most Trainers are good people who love and care for their Pokémon, but there are also Trainers who hurt, abuse, and exploit Pokémon. Those people can range from villain teams who exploit Pokémon for their own goals, to poachers who steal Pokémon to sell, to ordinary Trainers like Paul from the Diamond & Pearl series who put their Pokémon through Training from Hell and abandon them if they don't perform up to standard in battle.
  • The Beastmaster: Pokémon battles are a part of life for many Trainers.
  • Blood Knight: Both Pokémon and their Trainers enjoy battling.
  • Cast Herd: Just like there are many, many species of Pokémon, there are many, many Trainers. Listing every individual Trainer in the franchise would fill several pages sorted by their roles and debut generations.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: It's not that unusual for the best trainers to develop their own superhuman abilities seemingly as a byproduct of working alongside their Pokémon, to the point that some can even match their power directly in a fight. Some humans even develop such abilities on their own.
  • Child Prodigy: The playable character is always this or a Teen Genius when it comes to Pokémon training. It is noted many times that most people who take on Gym challenges can't make it past the fourth Gym no matter how long or hard they work (things like maxing out a Pokémon's level with items or grinding in battles tend to not be shown as things trainers in-universe are able to do, at least if their own potential as trainers is not high enough), and even people who have trained for decades often can't get their Pokémon to high levels. That the player character can, and do so quite quickly, is always regarded in-universe as an exceptional thing. Not that this is restricted to the playable character, as there are numerous other examples through the series of trainers who surpassed most adults despite still being children. Indeed, it's outright noted that age has little to do with how powerful a Pokémon Trainer you can be.
  • Humans Are Special: Despite most of them not having superpowers of any sort (there are psychics, those with superhuman strength and/or durability, and even magic users, but they are overall a minority), humans in the Pokémon world have managed to become the dominant lifeform on a planet full of creatures that can breathe fire, summon lightning storms, make plants grow, and more. Part of this is their ability to bring out greater power in those creatures as their trainers, another is their minds working in ways that even the most intelligent Pokémon find incredible or hard to comprehend.
  • Kid Hero: With very few exceptions, the protagonists in the Pokémon franchise are children or young teens (depending on the game). In the anime, a child usually starts their journey when they turn 10 (contrary to popular belief, this does not apply to the games).
  • Made of Iron: Though it's not often commented on, humans in the Pokémon world seem to be notably more physically resilient than their real-life counterparts. Pokémon can and have killed people, but it is rare and we see many take attacks just as well or even better than an average Pokémon can (with some trainers famous for having their Pokémon attack them directly during training).
  • The Power of Friendship: The central theme of the franchise is the bond that connects Pokémon and their Trainers.
  • Rousseau Was Right: Even if there are bad people out there who seek to exploit Pokémon, the majority of humans are good people who care about their Pokémon and are loved by their Pokémon in turn. A recurring theme in the franchise is that of a Pokémon (often a legendary) believing that Humans Are the Real Monsters, but being proven wrong by seeing a strong bond between a kind Trainer and their loyal Pokémon.
  • Vague Age: The characters' ages have always been a bit questionable, thanks to the Puni Plush style and Ken Sugimori's Art Evolution.

    Gym Leaders in General 
Gyms are facilities that serve to test how strong a 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.
  • Adaptation Personality Change:
    • 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.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: 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.
  • Badass Adorable: 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.
  • Badass Family: 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. Generation IX would later introduce Drayden's grandson Drayton as well as Driftveil Gym Leader Clay's daughter Lacey, who serve on the Elite Four of the Blueberry Academy.
    • 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 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.
    • Generation IX brings us another example: Academy mathematics teacher Ms. Tyme is a former Rock-type leader who was renowned for her skill and popularity (to the point that some students approach her just to ask why she quit), and her sister Ryme is the current Ghost-type leader of Montenevera's gym.
  • Badass Teacher: 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).
  • Breakout Character: Gym leaders tend to appear in many adaptations in major roles. Brock, Misty, Iris, Cilan, Clemont, and technically Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and Kiawe were main cast members of Pokémon: The Series at different points (Brock being the most notable, filling the role in first 13 seasons). Iris is also the main protagonist of the Unova chapter of Pokémon Generations, with mostnote  of her fellow gym leaders in crucial roles.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • 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 Willfully Weak 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. Clair's opening speech in the same games famously has her declare she doesn't hold back against anyone, and she initially treats actually giving the player character a badge as something to be avoided rather than, you know, part of her job description.
  • Elemental Powers: 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 exceptions to this however, are Blue, who uses a diverse team of Pokémon based on his Champion team as well as Larry, who specializes in Normal-types as a Gym Leader but uses Flying-types as a member of the Elite Four.
  • Floral Theme Naming: 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.
  • Gender-Equal Ensemble: The Kanto Gym Leaders in Gen II and the remakes, the Sinnoh Gym Leaders, the Kalos Gym Leaders and the Paldea Gym Leaders each consist of 4 female Gym Leaders and 4 male Gym Leaders.
  • Graceful Loser: 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.
  • Improbable Age: Several Gym Leaders are young children or pre-teens, including Tate & Liza, Bugsy, Iris, and Allister.
  • Improbable Power Discrepancy: 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 Mooks you encounter midway through. Multiple adaptations, such as The Electric Tale of Pikachu and Pokémon Origins, indicate leaders 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.
  • Poor, Predictable Rock:
    • 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.
  • Punny Name: Every Gym Leader's name is a pun that relates to their type or is otherwise meaningful in some way. For example, Brock is a Rock-type Trainer, and Misty is a Water-type Trainer. Their names in the Japanese version occasionally combine puns related with their type specialty/traits with the Floral Theme Naming frequently used there. For example, the "take" in "Takeshi" (Brock's Japanese name) not only stands for "岳" (mountain peak), but also "竹" (bamboo).
  • Red Baron: Everyone gets a cool title that describes some facet of their specializing type.
  • Signature Mon: For the Gym Leaders, this trope works on two levels.
    • Each Gym Leader specializes in a certain Type of Pokémon and all the Pokémon in their gym battle (and rematch, when available) are of that type. (Some leaders are indicated — in spinoffs like the original Stadium games or the TCG — to have Pokémon outside their specified Main type).
    • Every Gym Leader further has a signature Pokémon (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.
  • Signature Move: 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.
  • Threshold Guardians: 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.
  • Willfully Weak: 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. It's also noted in Galar that, unlike other regions, the Gym Challenge there must be done in a set order, which is set based on a Gym Leader's strength. Milo, who is noted to hold back even when he doesn't need to, is thus placed as the first leader one must face, while Raihan, Champion Leon's personal Rival, is last. In Paldea the strength a Gym Leader uses is to some degree influenced by their gym's location, with Katy noting that since her gym is so close to the academy it tends to be the first one new trainers go to and thus she has been told to be especially soft on them in battle.
  • Wrestling Doesn't Pay: 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. Many of them are just gym leaders, though.

    The Elite Four in General 
The Elite Four are trainers of the highest caliber in the region. Traditionally, the player has to face all four of them back to back without going back to a Pokémon Center to heal them (though items can be used during challenges). Much like Gym Leaders, they usually use Pokémon of a certain type. Defeating them, however, isn't the last hurdle to becoming a Pokémon Champion. Rather, next the player must face the Champion...
  • All-Powerful Bystander: They generally stay out of the way of the main plot, even when it would be good for them to get involved.
    • If you talk to Marshal after you beat him in B/W, he mentions that Alder ordered them to be neutral. This is also discussed in Gen I and the remakes, where a hopeful kid says "wouldn't it be cool if the Elite Four came here and kicked Team Rocket's butt?" Naturally, they never do and you have to do the dirty work yourself.
    • Lorelei does return to the Sevii Islands to help defend a cave from Team Rocket in the postgame of the remakes. Some dialogue in FR/LG implies that she's left her post to defend the island in the future afterwards.
    • Malva takes it to a new level in that she was a member of Team Flare.
    • The Alolan Elite Four isn't formed until after you beat the villainous team, but Hala is seen partnering with Tapu Koko to fight an Ultra Beast unleashed by Lusamine.
    • Averted in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, where Lorelei fights off a trio of Rocket grunts that try to gang up on the player character, and Blue later mentions he intends to call on Kanto's Elite Four, if necessary, to help get rid of Team Rocket.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Toughest trainers in the region. The games that feature them in sequential arrangements (from Gold and Silver on) also further exploit this trope by having members of the Elite Four that come later in sequence almost always specialize in types that are weak to or resisted by preceding members, and therefore implying them to be even more badass: Will's Psychic specialty precedes Koga's Poison, Glacia's Ice Pokémon are followed by Drake's dragons, Flint's Fire types come after Bertha's Ground types, etc.
  • Badass Crew: Though they never fight together, they're the toughest trainers you can fight, at least until the postgame; even after, they tend to be the among the toughest.
  • Boss Bonanza: They're all in the one location. From Gen I-IV, they're fought one after another in a set order, and from Black and White onwards, you can fight them in any order as their levels are all the same, though you fight the Champion after dealing with all four.
  • Boss Corridor: From Gen I-IV, you walk between the rooms they're in. This was stopped from Gen V onwards, but returns with a vengeance in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Their mere existence basically serves as this to all trainers in their region, as beating them and then the Champion is seen as one of the hardest things to do, and for good reason.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: Your end goal is to do this to them.
  • Elite Four: The trope namer. They're not bad guys, but excluding the Champion, there are always four. No more, no less. Their Japanese name even uses the traditional name Shitennō (四天王) to reflect this.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Kalos' and Alola's Elite Four members all reference flowering plants in their names.
  • Graceful Loser: They always lose with dignity. The closest that they get to anger at you is disbelief.
  • Later-Installment Weirdness: In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Galar region does not have an Elite Four. Instead, it has a Champion Cup where the Player Character has to fight two of their rivals (Marnie and Hop) in the Semifinal Round (plus an interruption by Bede); three gym leaders in the Final Round; and then the Champion, Leon.
  • The Notable Numeral: The Elite Four.
  • Obstructive Code of Conduct: The Unova Elite Four reveal that they aren't actually allowed to interfere with challengers outside of their assigned battles. Not even the king of Team Plasma openly announcing that he'll use the champion title for his own agenda is enough to make them break this code.
  • Personality Powers: Most tend to behave in relation to their types, but there are exceptions.
  • Pre-Final Boss: The final Elite Four member is the last thing standing in the way of the player and the Champion, though starting with Generation V this isn't set in stone since the player no longer has to face the Elite Four in a predetermined order.
  • Sequential Boss: Four in a row, followed by the Champion. In Black and White, you take on the Elite Four, then the legendary, then N, and then Ghetsis.
  • Smurfette Principle: Karen in Gen II's Elite Four, and Bertha in Gen IV's. Inverted in Gen VII, with Hala (in the original Sun and Moon) or Molayne (in Ultra Sun and Moon) as the only male.
  • Threshold Guardians: They act as the final obstacles between a trainer and Champion.
  • Took a Level in Badass: An integrated mechanic, appearing in Fire Red/Leaf Green, Platinum, Heart Gold/Soul Silver, Black/White, Black 2/White 2, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and Sun/Moon, which can take quite a few new players off guard. The Elite Four's level will often rise from anywhere between 15-20 levels depending on the generation, with more powerful Pokémon in place of weaker ones. Additionally, owing to the Pokédex being upgraded, they can use Pokémon that aren't normally in that region.

    Pokémon Champions in General 
After defeating the Elite Four, the trainer now has to face the regional Pokémon Champion. Pokémon Champions are the toughest trainers in the entire region and serve as the Final Boss of the main campaign. Defeating them triggers the Credits Roll, and unlocks post-game content.
  • The Ace: As the Champion, they're supposed to be the strongest trainers of their respective regions.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: It's implied they have some sort of legal authority, though it's not made clear exactly what their exact responsibilities are.
  • Big Good: Zigzagged throughout the series. Some Champions act as guides for the protagonists throughout their journey but leave stopping the evil teams' plots to them (Steven, Cynthia, Alder, Kukui), some don't do anything noteworthy outside the League (Iris, Diantha, Geeta), while others are actually shown patrolling and defending the region (Lance, Leon).
  • Boss Bonanza: They're at the end of one against the Elite Four.
  • Breaking Old Trends: In most regions, the Champion is a rank held by only a singular individual at a time, with them becoming former Champions as soon as they are defeated in an official match or retire from their position. In the Paldea region, however, "Champion" is a rank held by anyone who passes the League Assessment Test (basically the usual Elite 4 and Champion system with some extra steps) rather than a position held by a singular trainer, with Geeta being the "Top Champion" of Paldea (tasked with being the final obstacle for prospective Champions) while Nemona is just a "normal" Champion. Further, in Paldea it does not appear there are any situations involving battle where a trainer can lose the Champion rank either. Notably, the Paldea region may have more in common than expected with how other regions used to function, as it's stated in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee that in Kanto at least, up until the events of those games, anyone who defeated the Elite 4 simply got the title "Champion" and that was it (they had no standing Champion to take on as a final obstacle). On the other hand, in Galar the practice of having a standing Champion goes back for over 50 years.
  • Color Motif: With the exception of Blue, Trace, and Nemona, the Champions are always associated with a specific color that shows either in their Champion room, battle screen, or clothes.
    • Lance: Vermilion.
    • Steven: Purple.
    • Wallace: Cyan.
    • Cynthia: Black.
    • Alder: Dark Red.
    • Iris: Violet.
    • Diantha: White.
    • Leon: Burgundy.
    • Geeta: Dark Blue
  • Dare to Be Badass: Their mere existence basically serves as this to all trainers in their region, as beating the Elite Four and then the Champion is seen as one of the hardest things to do, and for good reason.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: Your end goal is to do this to them.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: In Generation I, while those who defeated the Elite Four were always called Champions, the concept of a standing Champion (that is one who serves as a final challenge after defeating the Elite Four) didn't exist, and it was implied that the League's Elite Four was led by the member that faces the challenger last. Starting from Generation II, a standing Champion is introduced to lead the Elite Four and gets faced only after the others are defeated. This is explained in detail in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! where the decision to change how the Elite Four and Champion work is discussed at the end of the game.
  • Fighting Your Friend: With Blue being the notable exception, the Champions are friendly to the player, with some of them also serving as mentor figures who provide guidance to the player in their journey, and Trace being the player's friendly rival, then the player challenges the Champion for the title in a climatic battle.
  • Final Boss: They're the last big challenge of the main story (or in Mustard's case, the DLC story) before the credits roll. Averted with Alder, as you have to beat N and Ghetsis instead, and you can only battle against Alder in post-game. Similarly averted with Geeta, who's the penultimate boss of the Victory Road storyline and plays no role in the actual final storylinenote .
  • Graceful Loser: They almost always lose with dignity, with the closest that they get to anger being disbelief.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: A meta-example. While the player is capable of using 6 Pokémon from the moment they get their starter, most NPC opponents do not use 6 Pokémon, except for Rivals (and only near the end of the game) and Pokémon Breeders (in some games, and their teams tend to be weaker than the average trainers in the area to make up for that). Champions however, always have a full team.
  • King Incognito: While Alder and Leon introduce themselves as the Champions immediately, and Blue and Trace weren't the Champions until the end, usually the Champion is a recurring character who doesn't show any signs of their status aside from a few clues until you defeat the Elite Four.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Their identities become this overtime due to various official material, such as merchandise.
  • Personality Powers: Zig-Zagged. Some of them have their personalities and teams built around a general theme (around a specific type or motif), while others don't.
  • Signature Mon: While as individuals they all have their own ace, as a whole, they favor Fossil Pokémon and the pseudo-legendariesnote . Starter Pokémon as well as other powerful Pokémon that don't meet the definition of a pseudo-legendary, such as Gyarados, Milotic and Aggron, have also shown up in a number of Champion teams. Many of the Champions also include at least one Dragon-type Pokémon in their teams, even if they do not specialize in Dragon types.
  • Uniqueness Decay: In Generation IX's Paldea region, Champion is not a position held by a single trainer in the region and instead just anyone who completes the League Challenge. Geeta is officially the "Top Champion".
  • Walking Spoiler: Generally, the Champions fall into this, since the game keeps the identity of the Champion a secret until the player faces them in the Pokémon League, until the games have been out for long enough, by which point, the identity of the Champion becomes something everybody knows. The only exceptions are Alder and Leon, who are casually introduced as Champions in the first five minutes of their screentime as well as Geeta, who is stated to be Top Champion partway through the Gym Challenge.



Alternative Title(s): Pokemon Champions, Pokemon Elite Four, Pokemon Frontier Brains And Other Facility Heads, Pokemon Gym Leaders, Pokemon Other Non Playable Characters, Pokemon Professors, Pokemon Protagonists And Rivals, Pokemon Villain Teams, Pokemon Glitches

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