Characters / Pokémon Sword and Shield: Gym Leaders

Main Character Index > Sword and Shield (Gym Leaders)

The Gym Leaders of the Galar region; beating them grants the eight Badges necessary to enter the Galar League. Due in part to how organized the Gym Challenge is compared to other regions, the Gym Leaders' roles in the League are a bit different from that presented in past games. In particular, there are structured ongoing competitions among the Gym Leaders themselves (there being around 18 such Gym Leaders for each of the 18 Pokémon types at any given time, with 8 in the Major Division and 10 in the Minor Division), which determine which ones are qualified to govern a stadium and be among the 8 Major Division Gym Leaders that take on challengers in the Gym Challenge, as well as the order in which the 8 Major Division Gym Leaders who qualify are taken on by participants. Further, those 8 top Gym Leaders also vie for the Champion title on a regular basis. As the Minor Division Gyms do not take part in the Gym Challenge (their role in the Galar Region seems to be honing their skills for the Major Division and training of a particular Pokémon typing), most of them play no direct role in the story (though the player character can buy their uniforms).

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Milo (Yarrow)

Milo / Yarrow (ヤロー yaroo)

Voiced by: Zach Aguilar (EN), Tarusuke Shingaki (JP) (Pokémon: Twilight Wings)

The Gym Leader of Turrfield who specializes in Grass-type Pokémon. He has a kind heart and is well liked by the Trainers of his Gym. His credo is to always enjoy battles, and he specializes in endurance matches with his Grass-type Pokémon.

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• All There in the Manual: According to his page in the art book, he has a younger brother. It also shows that he's actually quite short despite being so well-built, being shorter than Nessa.
• Arc Number: His Gym uniform number is 831, which is the same as the National Pokédex number of Wooloo, a Pokémon he herds.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: His German name is Yarro, which is barely changed from his Japanese name, Yarrow.
• Caring Gardener: A kind and gentle farmer who loves his Grass Pokémon dearly.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: While his battle ranking among the Major Division gym leaders isn't the best, Milo himself is noted to be incredibly strong. His rare League Card notes he easily rolls around hay rolls that each weigh over 770 pounds.
• The Cameo: He appears on the Isle of Armor with a Tsareena after you beat the postgame. Unlike any of his Gym Leaders peers, Tsareena is not one of his signature Pokémon until after completing the Galarian Star Tournament for the first time, where it replaces his Bellossom.^note His Tsareena is presumably the Dynamaxed one in Turffield Stadium that he fought against with the player character, Hop, and Piers.
• Call to Agriculture: He's musclebound through farm work and focuses his energy on working with Grass-type Pokémon on his farm.
• Discard and Draw: After completing the Galarian Star Tournament for the first time, Milo switches out his Bellossom for a Tsareena, which he uses in every rematch against him in the Champion's Tournament and appears with on the Isle of Armor as one of his signature Pokémon.^note His Tsareena is presumably the Dynamaxed Tsareena that was fought in Turffield Stadium during the postgame sidequest.
• Dragon Tamer: Has the Grass/Dragon Flapple or Appletun as his ace in Sword and Shield respectively for the Champion's Tournament, and Gigantamaxes them.
• Goroawase Number: As seen in his concept art, Milo has the number 831 on his shorts, which in Japanese is code for "yasai", meaning "vegetables".
• Guest-Star Party Member: In the first leg of the postgame sidequest, Milo joins you, Hop, and Piers for one battle to take down a Dynamaxed Tsareena that has been running rampant in Turrfield Stadium.
• Green Thumb: A Grass-type specialist.
• Heroic Build: He's built like a brick house and is a sweet, caring guy who emphasizes understanding and happiness between Pokémon and their trainers.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Non-dysfunctional variant. Nessa's League card reveals that while Nessa might consider herself his rival, Milo believes that he himself is his biggest rival.
• Meaningful Name: "Milo" is derived from the species name of the common yarrow flower, Achillea millefolium, fitting for his status as the Grass-type Gym Leader. His English name is also a mishmash of "mill" and "silo", which process and store grain respectively.^note One downside is that his Japanese name sounds like an insulting word.
• Nice Guy: The most genuinely compassionate and caring of the Gym Leaders.
• Non-Standard Character Design: While childish faces and hunky bodies are common on Pokémon's character designs, a combination of the two isn't. He also doesn't have a visible nose when viewed from the front and is one of the only characters in the franchise to have Skintone Sclerae.
• The Noseless: Downplayed. His design has a nose that can be seen from certain angles but it is not visible when viewing him from the front due to lacking the nose bridge highlight most characters have.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Milo is actually quite short despite his muscular frame, being shorter than Nessa and just barely taller than the player character. However, he's still very strong, as his rare League Card notes that he can easily lift bales of hay that weigh over 770 pounds.
• Red Baron: His title as the Grass-Type Gym Leader is "The Fighting Farmer".
• Running Gag: The people of Turffield state that Milo ends up chasing after rolling Wooloo very often... which also forces people to chase after him.
• Signature Mon:
  • The Gossifleur line in his Gym Battle.
  • He switches to the Applin line for the Champion Cup (specifically Flapple or Appletun depending on the version) as his Gigantamax Pokémon.
  • Oddly enough and unlike anyone else who appears in the Isle of Armor with their signature partners, Milo doesn't appear with any of those. Instead, he goes to the island with a Tsareena, a Pokémon he doesn't use in any of his battles until after completing the Galarian Star Tournament for the first time, where it replaces his Bellossom.^note His Tsareena is presumably the Dynamaxed one that was fought in Turffield Stadium during the postgame sidequest.
• Skintone Sclerae: He has no whites in his eyes, just green in his pupils, much like previous Grass type Gym Leader Cilan.
• Super-Strength: As befitting someone of his physical bulk. The rolls of hay in his Gym weigh over 770 pounds each, yet he can roll them easily.
• The Rival: Nessa sees him as this and in Masters, even mentions she's still training to try and defeat him despite being higher-ranked than him. Like with how Melony always defeats the higher-ranked Raihan, this is probably due to Milo's team having a type advantage against most of Nessa's Pokémon.
• Willfully Weak: His League Card notes that he has trouble going all out on opponents weaker than himself, which is one of the reasons he was chosen to be the first Gym Leader challengers face.

Nessa (Rurina)

Nessa / Rurina (ルリナ rurina)

Voiced by: Anairis Quiñones (EN, Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Tiana Camacho (EN, Pokémon Masters), Sora Amamiya (JP, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon Masters)

The Gym Leader of Hulbury who specializes in Water-type Pokémon. Despite her calm and collected attitude, Nessa hides a competitive spirit and an indomitable will.

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• Adaptational Curves: Masters depicts her as bustier than in Sword and Shield
• Badass Armfold: Her default pose during a Gym Battle is standing with her arms crossed, and she's a powerful battler.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • During the "Winter Wishes" event of Masters, she mentions she's close with Elesa for them both being Models as well as Gym Leaders, and also with Lana for their love for fishing.
  • Humorously, Sonia points out that her Eiscue stubbornly trying to fish in an island with no Pokémon in its waters was the same as when Nessa tried to fish in a lake with no Pokémon in it when she was younger.
• The Cameo: She appears on the Isle of Armor with her Drednaw after you beat the post-game.
• Childhood Friends: With Sonia, during their days taking the Gym Challenge. This still is going strong during their adult years.
• Determinator: Masters reveals she fished in a pond with no Pokémon for a very long time, which Sonia points out after looking at Nessa's Eiscue doing the same in the Pokémon-less waters of Pasio.
• Elemental Eye Colors: Has blue eyes and is Galar's Water-type Gym Leader.
• Girly Bruiser: Nessa is both a model with long hair who takes great pride in her looks and a powerful Gym Battler and swimmer.
• Goroawase Number: Nessa has the number 049 on her shorts in her concept art, which in Japanese is code for "oyogu", meaning "to swim".
• Guest-Star Party Member: In the first leg of the post-game, Nessa joins you and Hop for one battle to take down a Dynamaxed Gyarados that has been running rampant in Hulbury Stadium.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sonia. Being one of her childhood best friends.
• Hidden Depths: Pun aside...
  • She and Bea seem to be friends, as both have unique dialogue when facing each other in the Galarian Star Tournament. There's also the fact Nessa is willing to take Bea to eat dessert if they partner up together. Likewise in the Sword version, she seems fond of Gordie, remarking when she teams up with him that she never tires of watching him do his flips.
  • As revealed in Masters, outside of being a Gym Leader and model, she's also really enjoys fishing in her spare time, loving the suspense of what Pokémon she might catch. This makes sense seeing as her father is a fisherman.
• An Ice Person: She pairs up with the ice-type Eiscue in her Holiday 2021 outfit in Masters.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nessa comes off as boastful and arrogant (and she can be quite the Sore Loser), but she still gives her challengers credit for surpassing her and for their training skills.
• Leg Focus: Befitting a fashion model, she often poses in ways that put her long legs on display. She shows them off quite deliberately when sending out her first Pokémon in battle, kicking one leg into the air all the way to her head similar to a baseball pitch build-up. Both her League Card and rare League Card emphasize this well, with the latter having her wear a dress that exposes only her legs, which are crossed and face the camera (and further emphasized by swapping her normal sandals for some high heels). Concept art also has her doing a full split and noting she stretches like this daily to stay in shape, explaining how she's able to kick so high when throwing her Poké Ball.
• Making a Splash: A Water-type specialist, and coincidentally the second to hold the position for the second Gym Leader of her respective region, after Misty.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Her English name, while coming from Irish mythology, is derived from Scotland's Loch Ness, fitting into how Galar is based on the UK and Nessa's status as the Water-type Gym Leader.
  • Her Japanese name comes from Cupid's Dart, a relative of the daisy that the Ancient Greeks used in love potions. Appropriate for a Ms. Fanservice.
• Ms. Fanservice: She wears a revealing uniform during Gym battles, and works as a model outside of them. Pokémon: Twilight Wings also has her in a swimsuit for a majority of the episode as part of a photoshoot.
• One-Steve Limit: Played with In-Universe. According to her rare league card, many people think that Nessa the stoic and composed fashion model and Nessa the Hot-Blooded and expressive Gym Leader are actually two different people, since she shows a completely different attitude in each of her roles.
• Proud Beauty: She is quite proud of her popularity and good looks, even blowing a kiss to the audience at her Gym as they cheer her on during the entrance ceremony.
• Red Baron: Her title as the Water-Type Gym Leader is "The Raging Wave".
• Sequence Breaking: In her rematches, she starts off with a Golisopod (a bulky Water/Bug type), who will switch out once its health is below half. Hit it with an attack that brings it to at least yellow (but not red) and she'll bring out a different Pokémon. Then she'll bring forth Golisopod again as her penultimate Pokémon before Drednaw. If you happened to defeat all of her Pokémon beforehand without her healing them, she'll heal her Golisopod. Do another attack to take it down and its ability will force it to switch out, bringing her to Drednaw - but without any introduction or music change (which usually happens when the Gym Leaders bring out their Signature Mon (but she will always Gigantamax it anyways). Cue taking out Drednaw, then her bringing forth Golisopod again, which gets the introduction and music change - which will probably be too weak to battle anyways.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: In her rare League Card, she's wearing a white dress with red high heels and has her hair styled nicely.
• Signature Mon:
  • Drednaw, her highest level Pokémon and the subject of both Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing.
  • Her Christmas 2021 variant in Masters gives her Eiscue.
• Sore Loser: She puts her hands on her head and expresses lots of frustration after losing against you in the Gym battle, though she manages to get a handle of herself shortly after the initial loss. She gets better.
• Stepford Smiler: Justified; as a model, smiling for the camera regardless of how she's feeling is essential for her job. Though people worry that her Sore Loser tendencies would have an effect on her modeling career, she still gives them a perfect smile every time. Her rare League Card makes it clear, however, that while in her Gym, Nessa is far more transparent with her emotions.
• Sweet Tooth: It's more or less a fact that Nessa enjoys inviting girls over for dessert, as shown in the Galarian Star Tournament when she proposes to Bea that she'll take them to eat dessert (if they win against you), and in Twilight Wings when she and Sonia take large bites of a slice of pie.
• Training from Hell: At Pasio, she made it her mission to fight Grass-type sync pairs in order to be better prepared to fight Milo.
• Unknown Rival: Her League Card mentions that she considers Milo to be her rival, whereas Milo believes himself to be his greatest rival.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Downplayed compared to Kabu, but still there. Her Drednaw hits hard, is very bulky, and can become a Lightning Bruiser when the rain is up due to Swift Swim which means it can easily be the first real opposition new players will face, but the rest of her team is easy enough that she isn't too hard for a normal playthrough. However, on Nuzlocke playthroughs she's considered infamous for her ability to end runs either by sweeping your team or leaving you too depleted to carry on afterwards.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: Wears a sporty swimsuit. Justified, since she's both a model and the Water-type Gym Leader.
• Water Is Womanly: Nessa is the Water-type Gym Leader of Galar as well as a calm, collected (most of the time) model who's proud of her looks.
• Workaholic: She's perfectly able to juggle her duties as a Gym Leader and a fashion model. This becomes a sore spot for her in Twilight Wings where she's unable to do both as well as she thought she did and gets a rather chilling suggestion from Rose that all but stated she should focus on one over both.
• Willfully Weak: Obviously Gym Leaders in general are this, but if you look at the gender of her Drednaw in her Gym Battle compared to the Champion Cup and onwards, it's a male that can't Gigantamax, whereas the female can.

Kabu

Kabu (カブ kabu)

The Gym Leader of Motostoke who specializes in Fire-type Pokémon. Invited in from the Hoenn region many years ago, he's had a storied history among the Galar Gym Leaders, going from nearly becoming Champion himself to even dropping into the Minor Division for a time as he tried different battle strategies with varying success. However, after a fantastic battle with Leon, he gained the confidence to settle into his current role as Threshold Guardian among the eight Major Division gym leaders.

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• Big Creepy-Crawlies: His Centiskorch is this, being a giant flaming centipede. And then he Gigantamaxes it.
• Birds of a Feather: He gets along quite well with Peony, implying that they've been friends ever since the latter was a Gym Leader.
• Boring, but Practical: How he feels about his fighting style: it's simple and straightforward, but can still pack a punch. However, he's still open to innovating new strategies, as brute force alone isn't enough to beat out stronger trainers.
• The Cameo: He appears on the Isle of Armor with his Centiskorch after you beat the post-game.
• Cool Old Guy: Appears to be the second oldest of the Major Division gym leaders, yet is very cordial with gym challengers and is energetic as can be.
• Damage Over Time: His main strategy is to inflict burn with Will-O-Wisp and then move in for bigger hits. In the case of Ninetails, it's his main opening strategy, inflicting a burn with Will-O-Wisp and then often following up with Fire Spin for an extra layer of Damage Over Time.
• Expository Pronoun: Despite being an older man, he uses the very youthful boku in the Japanese, showing him as someone still full of passion in spite of his age.
• Fireball Eyeballs: Gains these during his Gigantamax cutscene.
• Goroawase Number: He bears the number 187, code "hibana", meaning "spark".
• Guest-Star Party Member: In the first leg of the post-game, Kabu joins you and Hop for one battle to take down a Dynamaxed Torkoal that has been running rampant in Motostoke Stadium.
• Kubrick Stare: His battle intro is a close-up of his face, sporting a serious look. Yes, it is unnerving.
• Large Ham: He does a lot of pointing and can come off as extravagant when he's heated up.
• Meaningful Name: Kabu's name is from the Japanese for 'turnip', as the Galar Gym Leaders' have something of a fruit and vegetable theme. It also includes the Japanese for fire. It doubles as a pun of sorts with his Gym's emblem, which looks like a stylized kabuto helmet.
• Playing with Fire: A Fire-type Pokémon specialist.
• Red Baron: His title as the Fire-Type Gym Leader is "The Ever-Burning Man of Fire".
• Signature Mon: Centiskorch, which he Gigantamaxes.
• Silver Fox: Has greying hair and appears to be an older bloke with lines on his face. However, he's still in good physical condition with a nice athletic build, along with having a handsome face. And his rare League Card that he gives to you in the post-game shows that when he was younger, he didn't look much different to how he does now - just with messier black hair and a younger face.
• Threshold Guardians: Multiple characters comment how Kabu is the first major challenge of the Gym Challenge, with multiple Trainers dropping out of it due of them being unable to clear his challenge, let alone defeat him. He's aware of his reputation; after the player defeats him and starts to leave Motostoke, he makes a point of meeting them at the entrance of the city and seeing them off before they leave for Hammerlocke.
• Token Minority: Explicitly stated to be from Hoenn, is the only Gym Leader to still keep his original Japanese name in the English localization, and looks notably Asian (as Hoenn is based off the Kyūshū region in Japan). This is despite people in the Hoenn games not looking distinctly Asian. It's even reflected in his team, which are all Pokémon based on Asian mythology - Ninetales (Kitsune), Arcanine (Komainu) and Centiskorch (Tiānlóng or Oomukade). The symbol on his Trainer Card depicts the X-shaped flame of a Centiskorch's face, but it's also stylized to resemble a Kabuto helmet of Japanese samurai.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Both in-universe and played straight.
  • In-universe, Kabu is considered the first major roadblock in the Gym Challenge, with a lot of sub-par trainers failing to make it past him and giving up on their Challenge.
  • In-game, he's the first Gym Leader whose team is composed wholly of fully evolved Pokémon. All of them have some sort of variety to their strategy, and his Centiskorch will be the first Gigantamax Pokémon that the player encounters belonging to a trainer.

Bea (Saitō)

Bea / Saitō (サイトウ saitou)

Voiced by: Laura Stahl (EN, Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Shara Kirby (EN, Pokémon Masters), Eri Kitamura (JP, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon Masters)

The Pokémon Sword exclusive Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side who specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon. Bea is a prodigy in Galar karate, carrying on its century-old traditions and techniques. She is known for being stoic and rarely showing her emotions, and her battle style remains very precise even when backed into a corner.

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• Amazonian Beauty: She's got well-defined abs that are emphasized by her skintight leotard, along with stout legs and strong arms. She also wears a cute hair bow, and her special League Card emphasizes how pretty she looks even when just cracking a smile.
• Ascended Extra: Like all previous young female Fighting-type Gym Leaders, she receives special treatment in the anime, so much that she becomes the first Galar Gym Leader Ash faces off against and stays relevant for a long (if sporadic) while.
• Animal Motif:
  • Her hair-bow resembles a Tepig's ears.
  • Her overall design invokes a hare motif. Her hair-bow invokes the idea of rabbit ears and her overall design invokes Scorbunny, the Fire-type Pokémon starter. The motif suggests the theme of boxing hares.
• Artistic License – Martial Arts: She specializes in a style called "Galar Karate", but her fighting stances are that of a Muay Thai Kickboxer.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon while she herself is very much a sternly disciplined bruiser.
• The Cameo: In Sword only, she appears on the Isle of Armor with her Machamp after you beat the post game.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Like some other Fighting type trainers from past games, she's trained her own body to the point that she can directly fight with other Pokémon, sparring with her own Pokémon in order to train them and herself.
• Character Development: She appears to be less embarrassed of her Sweet Tooth cravings and smiles more often in Masters.
• Depending on the Artist: The artists can't seem to decide on just how tall or old Bea is. In the games, she's a bit taller than the player characters, implying she's a teenager. In the Twilight Wings special, she is much thinner and looks more like a 10-year old. The Pokémon Journeys season of the anime is more in-line with the game, being about the same height as Ash. Meanwhile, in Pokémon Masters, she stands a full head above her fellow teenagers and is as tall as most adults.
• Fangirl: Of Mustard, which makes sense, seeing as he was a former Champion and is a Fighting-type user like her.
• Goroawase Number: As seen in her official art and League Card, Bea has the number 193 on her shorts, which in Japanese is code for "ikusa", meaning "fight", perfect for the Fighting-type Gym Leader.
• Hartman Hips: She has a well-built body with a chiseled but slender physique. The one exception are her hips, which are shown to be especially wide compared to the rest of her body in concept art showing her in just her leotard. Justified, as her legs are more stout than her arms, lending themselves to her wider hips.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Bea shares the same Stow-and-Side Gym Challenge with Allister, which is basically the Disneyland tea cups attraction but with an added twist. While it is understandable for Allister given his visible age and the fact there is a Ghost-type modeled after teacups, the fact that Bea has the same challenge, along with her League Card mentioning she has a hidden Sweet Tooth, implies that the stoic martial artist may have childish tendencies of her own.
  • She appears to have a friendship with Nessa, given both have unique dialogue when facing each other and how Nessa looks forward to taking her to eat dessert (if they win against you).
• An Ice Person: She pairs up with the Ice-type Vaniluxe in her Palentine 2022 outfit in Masters.
• Leotard of Power: She appears to be wearing a very form-fitting black leotard under her shirt and shorts. Confirmed by concept art, showing that it's tight enough for her exact figure to be physical - likely why she covers it up with her shirt and shorts.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Her name in Japanese and English derives from "bean". Likewise, the former can also mean "to fight" while the latter can be read as a diminutive of "beat".
  • Beans are also, as far as vegetables go, an excellent source of protein - ideal for a physically fit Fighting specialist.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Is the only female character in the whole series to have visibly defined muscles, particularly her abs showing through her leotard.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Her Palentine attire in Masters is meant to be an outfit —made by Serena— to let her blend with the public and eat sweets without being seen. Apparently, it works well enough. Funnily enough, she's trying to control her temptations by having Vanilluxe around.
• Red Baron: Her title as the Fighting-Type Gym Leader is "The Galar Karate Prodigy".
• Riddle for the Ages: Her rare League Card has her smiling at an unknown figure, who hasn't been reported as a challenger who managed to beat her.
• Signature Mon: Machamp, which she uses to Gigantamax. She is also frequently associated with Sirfetch'd, her second strongest Pokémon during her initial Gym battle and the only member of her original team, aside from Machamp, to appear in rematches. It even serves as her partner in Masters. She also forms a sync pair with Vanilluxe in her Palentine 2022 outfit in Masters.
• Sweet Tooth: According to her League Card, she is noted to have one. Unfortunately, this added attention has made enjoying them more difficult in public. Twilight Wings more or less confirms this, where she is seen eating a bunch of it with her friends (hilariously, she's around Flapple, Appletun, Sinistea, and Polteageist while eating). The reason why she has a Vanilluxe in Masters is to control her temptation to eat sweets. As you may expect, she can't hold herself back.
• The Stoic: As befitting of a martial arts practitioner, she rarely expresses her emotions to maintain a steady state of focus. Her rare League Card speculates that it is the result of strict training from her parents.
• Version-Exclusive Content: Can only be fought in a Major League in Sword, taking Allister's spot.
• When She Smiles: Being The Stoic, her smiles are noted to be a rarity, though she will sport a genuine smile upon defeat by the player. She also smiles in the picture on her rare League Card, which speculates as to why Bea rarely smiles at all.
• Younger Than They Look: Downplayed. While she appears to be a young adult, concept art depicting her in school clothes suggests that she might actually be a teenager.

Allister (Onion)

Allister / Onion (オニオン onion)

^{Click here to see his real face. (SPOILERS!)} 

Voiced by: Casey Mongillo (EN, Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Nicole Gose (EN, Pokémon Masters), Ryō Hirohashi (JP, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon Masters)

The Pokémon Shield exclusive Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side who specializes in Ghost-type Pokémon, a position he achieved at a young age. He's extremely shy and fearful, so he hides his face with a mask when around other people. Allister rarely appears in public and apparently spends most of his time around ruins or in cemeteries.

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• Adorably Precocious Child: He's shy, short and as revealed by his rare Trainer Card, pretty young... and also the Ghost-type Gym Leader.
• Animal Motif: A subtle one, in that his mask resembles a Galarian Corsola's shell.
• Badass Adorable: He's a Token Mini-Moe and Gym leader at the same time.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: His name in French and Spanish is Alistair.
• The Cameo: In Shield only, he appears on the Isle of Armor with his Gengar after you beat the post game.
• Character Catchphrase: He tends to start sentences by introducing himself with the phrase "...'M Allister".
• Child Prodigy: According to the description in the official Pokémon Twitter, he became a trainer at a young age, and appears to be the youngest Gym Leader in Galar so far.
• Cool Mask: Wears a white mask with holes similar to that of either a skull or the face of a kodama, a Japanese tree spirit. We actually get to see what he looks like without it in post-game when he gives you his rare League Card showing it.
• Creepy Child: Gives off this vibe, with his pre-battle poses and purple eyes shining behind his mask... though he's also described as being really shy, and is actually quite a pleasant individual.
• "Darkness von Gothick" Name: Fitting for a shy Ghost-type user, "Allister" is both old-fashioned and evocative of the occultist Aleister Crowley.
• Detect Evil: According to the artbook, his Idiot Hair acts like a dowsing rod towards ghosts.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Has really pale skin mixed with unkept black hair to add to his ghostly persona.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Whether or not they are actually glowing is unclear, but the contrast between his mask and his eyes gives this effect whenever they are visible.
• Goroawase Number: Allister has the number 291 on his shorts, which in Japanese is code for "nikui", meaning "hateful".
• Informed Attribute: Is said to like hanging out in cemeteries, but Sword and Shield lacked a burial ground until the Crown Tundra expansion and is one of the few Gym Leaders to never be seen outside of the stadiums in-game.
• I See Dead People: He claims to have the ability to see deceased Ghost-type Pokémon (as opposed to the living Ghost types that everyone can see), but no one knows for sure if this is true. That his hair physically reacts like a dowsing rod to the presence of ghosts would seem to support it though.
• Jump Scare: Manages to pull this on the Taxi Driver twice in Twilight Wings.
• Limp and Livid: His Creepy Child persona extends to his posture and he often walks around in a swaying Zombie Gait.
• Mark of the Supernatural: Whenever his eyes are visible they glow in purple which his rare league card confirms to be his actual eye colour. Given his specialty in ghost types and their connection to the supernatural it's really fitting.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Allister comes from Alistair, a name associated with warriors with one of its meanings being "The one who repels men". An appropriate name for someone who controls ghost-type Pokémon. Likewise, he shares his name with the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley.
  • In keeping with the Galar Gym Leaders' fruit and vegetable Theme Naming, Allium is the genus of onions, garlic and chives, which are often credited with protection from evil spirits. His Japanese name is literally Onion, which in turn includes the term "Oni".
• Near-Death Experience: His ability to see the ghosts of the deceased apparently comes from an "incident" he was involved in when he was only four years old. Pokémon Masters sheds a little more light on this, though it doesn't explicity say what the incident in question actually was. Whatever it was, however, it left him at death's door and it took the help of Ghost Pokémon to guide him back to the land of the living. This has since resulted in Ghost Pokémon following him around everywhere.
• Nice Guy: Twilight Wings shows that despite his shy and introverted nature, Allister is a pretty sweet kid once you get to know him. In Episode 6, despite initially running from Tommy, after hearing his story, he agrees to help him get into the hospital so he could apologize to his friend John in person and he even musters up the courage to actually shake his hand at the end of the short.
• Red Baron: His title as the Ghost-Type Gym Leader is "The Silent Boy of Mystery".
• Shrinking Violet: He is described as being really shy, rarely making public appearances and hiding behind a mask when around other people.
• Signature Mon: Gengar is his strongest Pokémon and the one he Gigantamaxes. However, his design takes some elements from Cursola (his mask and the back of his suspenders) as well. His Cursola appears on all of his teams as well as in the anime, manga, and the Pokémon Scale World Set.
• Soul Power: The resident Ghost-type expert.
• Token Mini-Moe: The youngest Gym Leader in Galar, and rather adorable, in a somewhat unsettling way.
• Troll: Downplayed, but Twilight Wings shows that he's quite fond of using his Ghost-type Pokémon to scare others.
• Version-Exclusive Content: Can only be fought in a Major League in Shield, taking Bea's spot.
• Weirdness Magnet: At the age of four, Allister was involved in an incident that left him at death's door and it took the help of Ghost Pokémon to guide him back to the land of the living. Ever since then, Ghost-type Pokémon are attracted to Allister's presence and will follow him everywhere. And we see this throughout Episode 6 of Pokémon: Twilight Wings where there's a large amount of random Ghost-types hanging around him in the graveyard at the beginning of the short, including ones that normally wouldn't be in that environment such as Dhelmise. Later, after he accompanies Tommy to the hospital, other Ghost-types begin to show up around them.

Opal (Poplar)

Opal / Poplar (ポプラ popura)

Voiced by: Laura Post (EN), Ayumi Nagao (JP) (Pokémon: Twilight Wings)

The Gym Leader of Ballonlea who specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon. As one of the older Gym Leaders in the league, she wishes to retire and hand the position to someone else.

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• All There in the Manual: Her nickname being "the wizard" only comes up during her Gym battle when she quizzes the player and is not mentioned in-game at any point prior; the only way to know the correct answer beforehand is from her profile page on the Sword/Shield website.
• Age Insecurity: Opal's Gym battle requires challengers to answer a quiz while battling. If they answer correctly, their Pokémon's stats are boosted, but if it's wrong, the boost goes to Opal's team. However, correctly guessing Opal's age as 88 actually gives the boost to her team since she'd had preferred it if you were "a little more sensitive" about her age. Choosing the option that tells her she's 16 in the Dialogue Tree gets her to laugh and give you the boost instead.
• Behind the Black: Has a habit of "arriving" onto a scene via the camera panning slightly to one side to reveal her standing there the whole time, but characters sometimes jump in shock when this happens anyway.
• Berserk Button: As revealed in the Star Tournament, she does not like being called "Old Lady".
• Blatant Lies: There's no way you're only 16, Opal.
• The Cameo: Averted in regards to the Isle of Armor's cameos. She doesn't appear on the titular island because of her retirement and her position as a Gym Leader is now given to Bede (who does appear on it). Maybe justified given her age and not having a reason to come here at all.^note All of the other Major Division Gym Leaders seem to have come to train, which she doesn't need to do anymore.
• Childhood Friends: She's implied to be this with Mustard whenever they are paired up or competing against each other in the Star Tournament.
• Cool Old Lady: She acts like a doting and slightly kooky grandmother, but she's a trickster who always seems to know more than she lets on and as a powerful Gym Leader with a lot of experience.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Not as crazy as most examples, but definitely very eccentric. Her quizzes tend to be trick questions with unintuitive answers, with at least one "correct answer" being completely false. When training Bede as her successor, her rare League Card says that she says the correct answer is something one has to eventually come up with after thinking about it.
• Creepy Good: As a Fairy-type specialist, this is somewhat to be expected - her slight kookiness sometimes has an unsettling edge to it (usually emphasized with her eyes going eerily wide), but she's a benevolent figure.
• The Fair Folk: A Fairy-type specialist. In fact, her battle invokes the "mischievous" aspects of fairies, where she gives you a series of questions that try to trick you into picking the obvious answer instead of the "right" ones.
• Feeling Their Age: When Opal is about to Gigantamax her Alcremie, she nearly falls over from the weight of carrying the giant Poké Ball. She also walks very slowly, moreso than any other character in the game.
• Gag Nose: Easily the biggest in the series among the human characters.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In the Galarian Star Tournament, her team is below level 70, compared to the other Major Division Gym Leaders, who have a team with an average around level 73, pointing out the fact that she reached retirement.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Always sports a purple boa and various purple accessories, reflecting both her feminine appearance and her favorite color. As it turns out, despite how much she talks about the "pink" she likes to see in people, her actual favorite color is purple.
• Goroawase Number: The back of her dress has the number 910, which is code for the English word "cute".
• In-Series Nickname: According to her quiz, she's known as "the wizard".
• I Was Quite a Looker: Never shown in-game, but the artbook shows what she looked like when she was younger, and indeed, she was quite stunning.
• Life Drain: Her Pokémon know the move Draining Kiss and her Gigantamaxed Alcremie uses its G-Max move to restore its HP after dealing massive Fairy-type damage.
• The Mentor: She decides to name Bede as her successor after his removal from the Gym Challenge.
• Must Have Caffeine: Mentions her tea has "kicked in" when she sends out her last Pokémon.
• Never Mess with Granny: A Cool Old Lady Gym Leader who specializes in Fairy-Type Pokémon.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Her spindly limbs and Gag Nose are stylized features that make her look out of place compared to the more typical anime designs most other human characters have.
• Old Master: She's 88 years old and one of Galar's gym leaders, and has had the job for over 70 years with Mustard's League Card strongly implying she was even Champion for quite a while before he took the title, making her one of the strongest trainers in the region. She later takes up a teaching role to Bede, who succeeds her as the Ballonlea City gym leader.
• Parasol of Prettiness: She carries a parasol with her everywhere she goes, emphasizing her femininity and grandmotherly appearance. She tosses it aside in alarm when she's defeated.
• Passing the Torch: She wishes to hand over the reins of Gym Leader to someone else but also has set standards for the kind of person she is looking for (namely, lots of pink). She eventually settles on Bede, who succeeds her as the Ballonlea Gym Leader come the post-game, though she still continues to show up at the stadium. She says as much after her defeat that while it's not nice or wise to disrespect your elders, she also realizes that the older people must eventually step out of the spotlight for future generations to grow and build upward.
• Pink Means Feminine: She's a kooky old lady who carries a Parasol of Prettiness and insists on adding pink to everything. Right before she sics her Gigantamaxed Alcremie on you, she tells you that she's going to add more pink to your life. This is used as a trick question during her Gym battle though — purple's her favorite color, but pink is what she likes to see in other people.
• Pretty in Mink: She wears a bushy purple boa to the stadium even while decked out in the standard gym uniform. This is a hint to her actual favorite color.
• Red Baron: Her title as the Fairy-Type Gym Leader is "The Master of a Fantastic Theater".
• Signature Mon: Alcremie. Particularly the Ruby Cream form.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Has a habit of appearing out of nowhere in her initial encounters despite her old age.
• Trickster Mentor: Implied to be the case due to the quizzes she gives out during her Gym battle. And confirmed when she takes Bede as her successor, who is rather confused about her methods but keeps going.
• Troll: Opal claims she gives difficult quizzes to bring out people's true colors by forcing them into a corner. Most people think she does it just to screw with trainers.
• The Unfought:
  • Played with. You still battle her in her Gym, but unlike the rest of the Gym Leaders she can't be battled again in Champion Cup rematches due to Opal's decision to retire, giving her position to Bede, who can be battled in her place.
  • This is later averted with the Galarian Star Tournament where she also participates as either a potential opponent or teammate.
• Victory by Endurance: She specializes in this type of battling. Her Fairy-type Pokémon know the move Draining Kiss, which steals HP from her opponent to let her bulky Pokémon like Mawile outlast her foes. This is especially pronounced with her Gigantamaxed Alcremie, whose unique G-Max move restores its HP after use.
• Younger Than They Look: Parodied by her quizzes, which has one question's "correct answer" being to say that she's 16 years old, despite actually being 88 instead of merely looking elderly. Giving the actual correct answer results in a penalty.

Gordie (Makuwa)

Gordie / Makuwa (マクワ makuwa)

Voiced by: David Matranga (EN), Taku Yashiro (JP) (Pokémon Masters)

The Pokémon Sword exclusive Gym Leader of Circhester who specializes in Rock-type Pokémon. He's also Melony's son.

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• Acrofatic: He's the most heavyset of the Gym Leaders, and also has the physical prowess to pull off a backflip while throwing his Poké Ball.
• Badass Back: He spends his entire fight looking over his shoulder at you.
• Big Beautiful Man: A heavy and handsome Pokémon trainer fawned over by fangirls. He probably inherited this appearance from his mother.
• The Cameo:
  • In Shield, he briefly appears in Melony's rare League card.
  • In Sword only, he appears on the Isle of Armor with his Coalossal after you beat the post game.
• Cool Shades: To go along with his blazer, Gordie wears a stylish pair of blue-tinted sunglasses. The only time he's seen without them is in his rare League Card.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Of the Rock-type variety, as he's a specialist of it.
• Family Theme Naming: Combined with Punny Name, Gordie comes from gourd and his mum's name is Melony, or just Melon in the original Japanese. His Japanese name is based on the makuwa uri, or oriental melon.
• Goroawase Number: His number is 188, which can be read as "iwaba", "rock wall".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • While he can be cocky and a bit of a showoff, and is apparently a Sore Loser, he also frequently gives you encouragement when navigating the maze in his gym, is sincerely polite and congratulatory towards challengers despite his frustrations at losing, is pretty friendly when not battling you, expresses gratitude towards you and Hop for helping him defeat Dynamax Gigalith, and always tries to ensure the happiness of his fans by hosting events and giving out autographs. Contrast his mother, who is very outwardly pleasant but does have a stern and possibly stubborn side.
  • In Pokémon Masters, during "Victor's Cooking Class," he goes out of his way to make sweets for all his fans...but also a special batch for his mother, though he tells her she deserved special treatment because she's the president of his fan club and NOT because she's his mother and leaves. She's touched by the gesture, though.
• Like Parent, Like Child: He has the same defeat quote as his mother Melony during his Gym Battle.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: The official artbook shows that he has four other siblings — a younger sister and three younger brothers.
• Meaningful Name:
  • The stocky and tall man is named after a stocky and tall plant. Also a lot of gourds tend to have a bitter unpleasant taste, Gordie himself is a smug man who does not take defeat well, but he is not without redeeming features.
  • His English name sounds similar to the Spanish word gordito, meaning pudgy or chubby.
• Moe: An In-Universe example: his League Card reveals that his fans find the contrast between his cocky, crowd-pleasing attitude and his Sore Loser side to be endearing.
• Mythology Gag: A Rock-type Gym Leader whose parent is also a Gym Leader specializing in another type? Roark says hi. Interestingly, all four of them are named after gourds in the original Japanese version^note Makuwa (Gordie) = oriental melon, Melon (Melony) = melon, Hyouta (Roark) = calabash gourd, Tougan (Byron) = wax gourd.
• Pet the Dog: Despite being sulky when losing and quite cocky when on the field, he's apparently quite a supportive person given his words of encouragement to the protagonist when navigating his gym.
• Red Baron: His title as the Rock-Type Gym Leader is "The Hard-Rock Crusher".
• Signature Mon: Coalossal, which can Gigantamax.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Zigzagged, as he has to wear his uniform in the Gym, but he wears a stylish blazer over his jersey in addition to a few sharp-looking accessories. One trainer in his Gym also comments that he's very stylish so we can only assume his regular manner of dress is very fashionable.
• Sore Loser: His League Card heavily implies him to be one of these with regards to his habit of shutting himself in the locker room after defeats. Amusingly, his fans find this more endearing than anything. He actually keeps his composure when losing to the player and is a good sport towards them, but his dialogue betrays the fact that he's not exactly thrilled with himself.
  "I just want to climb into a hole...Well, I guess it'd be more like falling from here."
• Stone Wall: He uses a Shuckle as part of his team, which can take a lot of hits.
• Version-Exclusive Content: The Sword counterpart to his mother Melony.

Melony (Melon)

Melony / Melon (メロン meron)

Voiced by: Laura Post (EN) (Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Wendee Lee (EN), Yuko Kaida (JP) (Pokémon Masters)

The Pokémon Shield exclusive Gym Leader of Circhester who specializes in Ice-type Pokémon. She's also Gordie's mother.

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• Acrofatic: Downplayed. She's not overweight or even heavyset to the same degree as her son, but she's still thicker in build than most female Gym Leaders and still jumps high into the air before throwing her Poké Ball during a Gym Match.
• Always Someone Better: According to her profile page on the Sword/Shield website), she always beats Raihan in battle, because all of her Pokémon counter his with their various moves.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Her rare League card features her teasing an annoyed Gordie.
• Big Beautiful Woman: Downplayed in her official art where she is curvacious but not at all fat, played more straight in-game with her model being heftier. Either way though Melony is fairly tall, has large curves, long silver hair, and a gentle, sweet face. Her son clearly took after her in this regard.
• The Cameo: In Shield only, she appears on the Isle of Armor with her Lapras after you beat the post game.
• Crazy-Prepared: Between her Gym team and her Champion's Cup team, she has multiple ways of dealing with Ice-types' many weaknesses such as an Eiscue that knows Surf to deal with Fire and Rock-types.
• Depending on the Artist: Her concept art and official art show her to be pretty curvy, but her in-game model is much more curvacious and buxom than what the art shows. Which version shows her actual proportions isn't clear.
• The Dreaded: When she arrives in Pasio, the thought of fighting her at all scares both her son and Raihan, and they warn Gloria to be careful with her, even if Melony asked Gloria to be her teammate with Nessa.
• Expy: Ice-type specialist, has a large bust size, says she's going to "freeze you solid" in her pre-battle quotes, has both a cold & motherly side to her, and her signature Pokémon is a Lapras. Sound like a certain lady from the original Kanto Elite Four to anybody else?
• Family Theme Naming: Her name is Melony (just plain Melon in Japanese) while her son is named Gordie, from gourd.
• Follow in My Footsteps: In Shield, Melony wanted Gordie to inherit her position as Circhester's Ice-type Gym Leader, but he wanted to raise Rock-types instead. Their fighting divided the entire town and ended with Gordie going off on his own. The two haven't seen each other much since then, although Melony is rumored to be in his fan club. In Sword, it's not clear if a similar incident occurred, or if Melony was ever even a Gym Leader.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her top doesn't do a lot to hide her figure. Justified, as a cozy sweater that fit her shoulders and waist so well probably would stretch a bit to accommodate her bust.
• Goroawase Number: She's got the number 361, which is code for "samui", meaning "cold".
• Happily Married: While her husband is not directly mentioned, Melony proudly wearing a ring on her left hand, and her having five kids of various ages, implies this.
• An Ice Person: Pun aside about how nice she is, since she's also the region's Ice-type specialist.
• Like Parent, Like Child: She has the same defeat quote as her son Gordie during her Gym Battle.
• Meaningful Name: Her name and her specialization in Ice-type Pokémon could be a reference to the wax gourd, which is also known as a winter melon. It also signifies both her round full body and her mostly sweet nature. Melony also happens to sound very similar to "melody", likely in reference to how her Signature Mon, Lapras, is known for its sweet singing voice.
• My Beloved Smother: To the endless chagrin of Gordie. She's even part of his fan club!
• Mythology Gag: A Gym Leader whose son is a Rock-type specialist? That also describes Byron from Diamond and Pearl.
• Nice Girl: Despite being a Stern Teacher, Melony is also a very sweet and motherly woman. She expresses genuine proudness about her students and also towards the player when they demonstrate themselves. Contrast with her son, who is more cocky and egotistical, while still being a decent person.
• Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: It's mentioned that she's the only Gym Leader Raihan has never defeated even once. Even with her good type match-up against him this is impressive, since he's said to be as strong as the Champions of some other regions.
• Red Baron: Her title as the Ice-Type Gym Leader is "The Ice-Cold Professional".
• Power Stereotype Flip: Melony is a warm-hearted, kind woman who doesn't act cold or aloof like an Ice-type specialist would be expected to.
• Sexy Sweater Girl: Wears a form-fitting white sweater that highlights her curves.
• Signature Mon: Lapras, which can Gigantamax. That said, she bears some similarities to her Frosmoth, namely her neck ruff. Additionally, Melony almost always leads with Frosmoth and it has appeared with her in all forms of media.
• Status Effects: Most of her Pokémon pack Icy Wind, which slows the target down. This is designed to compensate for her team's low to mediocre Speed.
• Stern Teacher: Her League Card expresses this, as whoever becomes her alumni goes rigorous training in order to become stronger. Lampshaded in the Galarian Star tournament as well, as Raihan expresses he knows how strict she can be, and she'll go as far as to order the player to keep their posture on the first round. That said, she is also able to express proudness.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She tends to flip between being a cool-headed, stoic coach, and a motherly, affectionate lady.
• Version-Exclusive Content: The Shield counterpart to her son Gordie.

Piers (Nezu) (Unmarked Spoilers)

Piers / Nezu (ネズ nezu)

Voiced by: Edward Bosco (EN, Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Aleks Le (EN, Pokémon Masters), Kishow Taniyama (JP, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon Masters)

The Gym Leader of Spikemuth who specializes in Dark-type Pokémon, and leader of Team Yell.

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• Achilles' Heel: None of his Pokémon know any coverage moves whatsoever and given three (four in the Champion's cup) have 4x weaknesses, it's relatively easy to smash his team.
• Anti-Villain: A type IV (Villain in Name Only). He never shows up as a villainous figure despite being the "leader" of Team Yell, and he never consented to the grunts (who were actually his gym trainers) barricading Spikemuth so nobody except Marnie would complete the badges. Having already believed that nobody wants to fight him because of Spikemuth being a backwater town without Dynamax energy, this only added to his fear that he and his town will just fade into obscurity. The reasons behind him forming Team Yell is also a mix of both good and bad reasoning, as he does truly love his sister and partly formed the team so that they could cheer her on and boost her confidence. On the other hand, Marnie never asked for him to do this, and it turns out that a reason he wanted her confidence boosted was so that she could abandon her Champion aspirations and replace him as Gym Leader because he's that convinced he's doing a miserable job at it. Ultimately, Marnie does so, but only after the Champion Cup is finished and on her own terms rather than his.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: Invoked. Piers gets his own battle theme separate from those of the other Gym Leaders, and the battle with him in Spikemuth is the culmination of the Team Yell storyline. Interestingly, though, it seems to be Piers himself who is invoking the trope, as he's the one singing to his rock song, and it's his theme.
• Badass Normal: Due to Spikemuth lacking a power spot and his arena being structurally-incapable of hosting Dynamax battles anyway, his battles are fought traditionally. Even without this physical limitation, Piers refuses to ever Dynamax his own Pokémon out of principle. Despite this, he's one of the toughest Gym Leaders in Galar and Raihan even comments that Piers' regular Pokémon still almost managed to take down his Gigantamaxed Duraludon during the Champions' Tournament.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: His German name is Nezz, which is barely changed from his Japanese name, Nezu.
• Big Brother Instinct: He cares a lot for his little sister in his own way. When Dynamaxed Pokémon start appearing all over the Galar region in the post-game, his mind will always wander to Marnie's safety even if the locations of the giant Pokémon are nowhere near Spikemuth.
• Breaking Old Trends: Piers is the first Gym Leader to represent the Dark-type in twenty long years and six generations since its introduction.^note While Nanu serves a similar purpose, he is an Island Kahuna, not a Gym Leader.
• British Rockstar: His primary design motif is modeled after British rock musicians, complete with a radical fashion sense and a Northern accent. His Gym Battle theme is even a rock song, despite the other Gym Leaders' battles being accompanied by electronic music.
• Brother–Sister Team: When in the Galarian Star Tournament, one of his potential partners when you challenge him is Marnie.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": Has Team Yell's "Y" symbol adorned on his shirt, painted on his gym's battlefield, and on one of the walls as a large neon light... because it's his symbol, and Team Yell are part of the Gym. The similarity between both symbols can be seen as early as Motostoke, where Piers' Gym symbol is on a banner of the Motostoke Gym.
• Brutal Honesty: One of Piers's defining traits is his tendency to never mince words; if something comes to mind, he'll immediately put it into words. For instance, he never loses an opportunity to remark on Hop's recklessness, and unlike the other Gym Leaders (who invite you to call them if you need their help), he will ask you to not call him again since, from his experience, it's never for anything good.
• Calling Your Attacks: He has tendency to reveal his strategy early on, which translates to him revealing what move or ability his Pokémon has when he sends them out.
• The Cameo: Despite not being a Gym Leader anymore, he appears on the Isle of Armor with his Obstagoon after you beat the post-game like anyone of them.
• Character Tics: According to his concept art, he has a tendency to fiddle with his accessories. This includes his choker in his main artwork.
• Climax Boss: As the "leader" of Team Yell, his battle serves to uncover Marnie's motivations and Team Yell's very own nature (they're just Gym Trainers). The battle itself features an unique song that's distinct from the usual Gym Leader theme, and there's an uncharacteristic focus on Piers' Pokémon that makes the fight feel more dramatic than it is, presumably due to this being the very first Dark-type gym in the series.
• Cool Big Bro: To Marnie. It doesn't get much cooler than a big brother who founded an entire villainous team just to cheer for his little sister.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite his intimidating appearance, he's very affable and down-to-earth. In fact, he ends up being one of the most proactive non-protagonist characters, helping the player both indirectly and directly in the final act of the main scenario and the beginning of the post-game scenario, respectively.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's either rocking out like a maniac, or apathetic and snarky. When he becomes the main ally of the post-game quest, it's clear that he's less here to be extra firepower and more to just throw endless jabs at everything that's going on.
  Bede: Please... please don't tell me you came here to help? First of all, you're a bit too late to be of any use, and second, I didn't need any help.
  Piers: What an obnoxious Gym Leader. The next Gym Challenge is shapin' up to really be somethin'.
• Emo Teen: Vague Age is in effect with him, but Piers is a glum and sardonic young man with a fairly low opinion of himself.
• Face of a Thug: His rockstar face paint invokes this. However, Piers is pretty down-to-earth and approachable.
• The Fettered: Piers refuses to Dynamax his Pokémon, believing he can defeat the opponent with his team through skill and strength alone. It's not all talk either; in the Champion Cup finals he's able to defeat Kabu and, from his opponent's own admission, come very close to defeating Raihan.
• Freaky Fashion, Mild Mind: His overall design, from his pale skin, to the spikes, to all the contrasting colors, makes him look similar to a villain team member which, considering the fact he's the leader of Team Yell, is likely very intentional, or at least an aggressively hammy rocker. However, despite his looks, he turns out to actually be pretty nice, down-to-earth, and overall relatable once you interact with him.
• Foil: To Leon. They're both the older brother of one of your rivals, but while Leon is usually too busy with his duties as Champion to help his brother, Piers gives his sister plenty of support on her journey in the form of Team Yell. Also, while Leon is the most popular trainer in the region and well-known for his Gigantamax Charizard, Piers is more obscure and doesn't Dynamax any of his Pokémon. It's also worth noting that by the end of the game, both of them are considered rivals and Worthy Opponents by Raihan.
• Goroawase Number: His number 061, can be read as "warui", which can be translated to English as "bad".
• Guest-Star Party Member: In the first leg of the post-game, Piers joins you and Hop to take down Dynamaxed Pokémon that have been running rampant in the other stadiums.
• Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: Downplayed. He doesn't necessarily hate being a Gym Leader, but music is more of his calling. So his job as a Gym Leader gives him a platform to perform his songs at least to an extent since you can't Dynamax in his gym.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: When the player first encounters him, he mentions that he figured that nobody was coming to challenge him because he wasn't that great of a Gym Leader (in truth, Team Yell barricaded the entrance) and later says to Marnie that she won't learn anything from watching him lose. With that said, when it's time to battle, he has no issues talking down to the player to get the crowd pumping.
• Interface Spoiler: His gym's connection to Team Yell can be given away the moment the player tries to edit their online Trainer Card as the "Dark Gym" and "Team Yell" logos (which are both the same symbol rotated at a different angle) are both available as icons.
• Large and in Charge: Piers towers over the rest of his gym.
• Lean and Mean: Subverted. He's noticeably skinnier than most characters, and the leader of Team Yell packing a bunch of powerful Dark-type Pokémon. However, he's a pretty decent guy.
• Looks Like Cesare: Relatively tall and gangly with deeply under-shadowed eyes and black-and-white hair.
• Manly Tears: A conversation in Masters has him look away after Rosa tells Hugh's story on his sister's lost Purrloin, getting all sentimental about anything like that happening to Marnie's Morpeko. We don't see him crying, but Marnie points it out.
• Meaningful Name: His name is taken from the plant genus Juniperus, while in Japanese he's named after the temple juniper.
• Monster Brother, Cutie Sister: Subverted. Piers' appearance is far more gangly and intimidating compared to Marnie's cute goth girl look, but he's much more laidback than he looks.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: His design motif is that of a rock star and his ace is a Pokémon based on Gene Simmons of KISS.
• Oop North: Like all characters from Spikemuth, his dialogue indicates he has a Yorkshire accent, though his is much less prominent than Marnie's.
• Passing the Torch: Like Opal, Piers wants to retire after the Champion Cup, though in his case it's so he can focus on his music. This ends up zig-zagged, as Marnie flatly refuses in the main storyline while she's still competing for the Championship, but does take the gym over in the post-game after she discovers that she's very good at leading Team Yell (the Spikemuth Gym trainers) and quite enjoys it.
• Retired Badass: In the post-game, Piers steps down as the Gym Leader of Spikemouth and gives the position to his sister, Marnie. He does so to focus more on his music career and because he thinks Marnie would be a better Gym Leader. This doesn't stop him from backing up the player and Hop when the Dynamax Pokémon start rampaging or taking part in the player's rematch tournaments, not to mention Raihan still wants a rematch with him whether or not he still has his title.
• Signature Mon: Obstagoon, to the point of getting a special introduction mid-battle by Piers himself. It even gets its own cutscene when it uses Throat Chop.
• True Final Boss: After the postgame and all of the DLC has been completed, if the player decides to team with Marnie in the Galarian Star Tournament, Piers and Raihan will serve as their final opponents of both the tournament and the game overall.
• Useless Useful Spell: In all battles, Piers' Obstagoon has no recoil moves to take advantage of Reckless. This doesn't really hinder him too much since Obstagoon battles more defensively anyway. In addition, his Scrafty knows Intimidate to drop physical attacker's stats. However, most Fairy-types (which Scrafty is 4x weak to) prefer special attacks and as such are unaffected.
• Walking Spoiler: There's a good reason he's the only Gym Leader to not show up during the Gym Challenge's opening ceremony. While the fact Marnie is his younger sister is now known, talking about him in length gives away the fact that he founded Team Yell and that they're not a villainous organization due to all of them being his Gym Trainers.
• Weak, but Skilled:
  • Of all the Gym Leaders, Piers is the only one who lacks the means to use Dynamaxing; and when he's in a Stadium where he can use it, he actively refuses to. With that said, as befitting of the penultimate Gym Leader, he can still put up quite a fight without it. Even Raihan, the only Trainer that could be considered Leon's rival, finds him a very tough opponent even with his use of Dynamax and Piers's abstention of it.
  • It is worth noting that it's rumored that Raihan is strong enough to be a Champion in another Region. With Piers being a tough foe for Raihan even with Piers handicapping himself; this could mean Piers is a Champion-level trainer as far as lore is concerned; or at least strong enough to compete with Champion-tier trainers.
  • Something to be worth noting is how much attention Piers brings to his strategy. He points out that his Malamar has Contrary and that his Scrafty has Intimidate (which is only available as a hidden ability). He has Toxic and Sucker Punch for his Skuntank. He may be calling out his strategy, but it's worth noting that his team looks like something you'd see in a competitive team, and thus is more difficult to handle. In addition, three of his Pokémon have 4x weaknesses (e.g. Scrafty is very vulnerable to Fairy-type attacks) with Toxtricity (Ground-types) being added in the Champion's Cup and his Pokémon don't have any coverage moves whatsoever, instead using various "sneaky" moves such as Scrafty's Fake Out and Sand-Attack.
  • It becomes even more pronounced when one takes into account that Gym Leader positions are explicitly stated to be ranked based on power, meaning that Piers, as the seventh Gym Leader, is technically the third-strongest trainer in all of Galar, right behind Raihan and Leon.

Raihan (Kibana)

Raihan / Kibana (キバナ kibana)

Voiced by: Nazeeh Tarsha (EN, Pokémon: Twilight Wings), Mike Dent (EN, Pokémon Masters), Kosuke Toriumi (JP, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon Masters)

The Gym Leader of Hammerlocke. Although primarily a Dragon-type trainer, he focuses on using weather conditions. To incorporate the strategy, he foregoes having a mono-type team in favor of including Pokémon with abilities that set up weather. He views himself as the greatest rival to the current champion, Leon.

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• Always Second Best: Raihan gets established as the second strongest trainer in Galar, he's also never beaten Leon in a Pokémon battle. In fact, his rivalry with Leon is so popular that he actually has fans who follow him specifically because they love how much of an underdog Raihan is. His rare League Card even mentions that prior to the player character, Raihan came the closest of any trainer to actually defeating Leon (stating he has knocked out more of Leon's team in a single battle than any other challenger).
  • It's also stated on his League card that Raihan is rumored to be strong enough to easily become the Champion if he tried competing in another region, but chooses to stay in Galar because he wants to beat Leon.
  • Raihan has never won a match against Melony, despite being the strongest Gym Leader (according to her profile page on the Sword/Shield website). Given that Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types, this actually makes sense. Though the fact his ace is Gigantamaxed Duraludon - a Dragon/Steel-type - that can normalize Ice-type damage, it speaks volumes Melony can beat him even then. This may because she has a Galarian Darmanitan who has Earthquake which is super effective against Duraludon.
• Ambiguously Brown: He is likely British Asian ^note  South Asian or West Asian as his first name has origins in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit as well as Asians make up the largest UK minority and Galar is based off the UK.
• Animal Motif: Dragons. His hoodie has a different-colored section of fabric on the stomach that evokes a scaley underbelly, while the inside of the hood is red and lined with triangles of white fabric, evoking a dragon's maw. He also has pointy teeth and slightly slit-looking pupils.
• Break the Haughty: While Raihan is rather chill about his losses, defeating him in the first round of the Galarian Star Tournament will have him say he's not too happy for losing early, and that cue’s the negative comments in his next selfie.
• The Cameo: He appears on the Isle of Armor with his Duraludon after you beat the post game. Special mention when he is in a sandstorm where he repeats his quote when he activates said weather in his first battle.
  Let the winds blow! Stream forward, Sandstorm! Nah, just having you on...
• Camera Fiend: His primary use of his Rotom Phone is to take selfies wherever and whenever he wants, as he takes some sort of picture in practically all his animations. Additionally, his league cards note that he used to only post defeat selfies before moving on to uploading shots of his daily life to social media.
• Cute Little Fangs: He has a noticeable fang when he grins, befitting his dragon motif.
• Determinator: He is always determined to defeat Leon and later, the player character. He finally manages to do so in Masters in a time based battle, however his celebration is short lived since Leon manages to defeat him once again.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Though a Dragon-type specialist, his Gym battle also emphasizes Rock- and Ground-types to exploit Sandstorm.
• Dragon Tamer: Specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon, and coincidentally the third to hold the position for the eighth Gym Leader of his respective region, after Clair and Drayden/Iris.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he walks onto the pitch during gym orientation, he waves to his fans — and then pauses to whip out his phone and get a selfie.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Subtle, but in his (heart embossed) rare League Card there's a guy in the crowd giving him the exact same lovestruck stare as many of his female fans.
• Extra-ore-dinary: His Signature Mon's primary typing is Steel and despite being a Dragon-type Gym Leader, he's set as a Steel-type character in Masters.
• Genius Bruiser: Along with being a Dragon-specialist, Raihan's team also specializes in double battles and Weather Manipulation.
• Goroawase Number: He's got the number 241, code for "tsuyoi", meaning "strong".
• Internet Jerk: Not him, but some of the people that see his selfies.
  • Raihan's rare League Card states he had started to take more selfies about his daily routine, but ever since his long losing streak against Leon, people started to post harsh comments on them.
  • Confirmed by the Galarian Star tournament, as he lampshades this should he lose on the first round.
    Raihan: I normally look good even when I lose, but losing in the first round is just too pathetic. The comments on this selfie are gonna be fun...
• It's All About Me:
  • Downplayed. While he's not a bad person, he's pretty self-assured about his strength, such as in the Isle of Armor when you meet him on the beach, where he tells the player to imagine them battling on the beach with him winning.
  • It's also Played for Laughs — if you defeat him in a match, he often says he at least still looks good when losing, before deciding to snap another selfie.
• Jerkass Realization: Once you defeat him for the final badge, he realizes he had grown quite conceited and overconfident despite not even being able to claim the title of Champion, and he praises your strength. Although this is played with in that he isn't actually irritating.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's quite self-centered, and conceited about his strength, but he's nevertheless laid-back and friendly towards the people he knows. He also evacuates the entirety of Hammerlocke during the second Darkest Day.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor: He's quite hammy during his Gym Battle with you, takes a Primal Stance as his idle stance and even Milks the Giant Cow during battle, and his normal League Card◊ depicts him roaring, but outside of the ring, he's quite a pleasant person and, as seen in his rare League Card◊, he appreciates his fans.
• Meaningful Name:
  • His English name is taken from the golden rain, one of the names for the common laburnum. His name being a reference to rain also ties into his focus on Weather Manipulation during battles.
  • In Asian languages such as Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit the name can be interpreted to mean heaven's flower, sweet basil or fragrant. Considering all three languages are commonly used as first name among the UK's largest minority: British Asians ^note  Asian in the UK usually refers to South Asians and to lesser extent West Asians
  • His Japanese name, Kibana, is derived from the Japanese name for the common laburnum ("kibanafuji"). "Kiba" also means "fang", so it could also be a reference to the Cute Little Fangs he has.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's a very handsome young man and is fully aware of it too.
• Mythology Gag: Much like another Dragon-type user, it's not uncommon for him to do a large roar with his arms up when his Pokémon attack.
• Narcissist: He's quite confident about his strength as a trainer.
• Primal Stance: Not as pronounced as the typical use, but his idle animation when battling has him leaning/crouching pretty far over and bobbing up and down with his hands turned upward and half-clenched and his mouth opening and closing with his lips drawn back from his teeth, like a dragon prepared to attack.
• Red Baron: His title as the Dragon-Type Gym Leader is "The Tamer of Dragons".
• The Rival: He has a fierce ongoing rivalry with Leon, the current reigning champion. Notably, Leon also shares this sentiment, greatly respecting Raihan and viewing him as a Worthy Opponent.
• Selfie Fiend: He's constantly taking selfies at every opportunity, such as when he walks onto the pitch during gym orientation, right before the player starts their battle with him, and —perhaps most amusing of all— right as he's about to throw his Gigantamaxed Poké Ball and unleash his giant Pokémon.
  • When Raihan was added to Pokémon Masters, the official Twitter page provided an image template of Raihan taking a selfie and had promotional campaign for players to post their own Raihan selfies.
• Signature Mon: Duraludon, which can Gigantamax.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Not only is he handsome and has dark skin, his in-game model also shows that he is a few heads taller than the protagonist and is even slightly taller than Leon.
• True Final Boss: After the postgame and all of the DLC has been completed, the team of Raihan/Leon (if the player teamed with Hop) or Raihan/Piers (if the player teamed with Marnie) will serve as their final opponents of both the Galarian Star Tournament and the game overall.
• Waistcoat of Style: Wears a light gray one as part of his 2.5 Year Anniversary attire in Masters.
• Weather Manipulation: Both Raihan and his Gym Trainers all use Pokémon that can change the weather through abilities and moves to play to their Pokémon's strengths. He even has cutscenes in-battle when he changes the weather and will compliment the player if they change the weather themselves. His first team is entirely built around Sandstorm, but he revamps his team before the Champion's Cup to lead with Sun and finish with Sand (although Goodra seems to focus on Rain instead, with water attacks and Thunder to take advantage of its own Rain Dance).
• Worthy Opponent:
  • After you defeat Leon, Raihan views you this way, considering you as his newest rival. He is said to be aiming to get stronger in order to defeat you someday.
    Raihan was saying that now he needs to take you down as well as Leon. He seemed very pleased.
    • This comes up again in his cameo on the Isle of Armor where he says he's doing private training in order to defeat you and Leon.
  • Raihan also develops a massive amount of respect for Piers in the post-game, acknowledging that Piers managed to push him to his limits without even using Dynamaxing, and requests a rematch with him in the future where neither of them would use it to even the playing field.