Before the incarnation of our very own Pokémon community, we asked our members to roleplay as Pokémon gym leaders for a moment on Just About Video Games. With eight rewards up for grabs, the hope was that we'd get enough quality submissions to theorise our very own Pokémon game. And that’s exactly what we got.
Our community-sourced gym leaders hail from all over the Pokémon world, making our theoretical Pokémon game a bit of a globetrotting epic. We’re thrilled, then, to present the gym leaders you'll face in your world tour!
Laser-Bicep - Electric
First up is Laser-Bicep who has opted for an electric-type gym leader by the name of Sparky. He explains that if you look closely, Sparky's hair "sparks with static electricity" and "he has lightning bolts on his gym uniform with a custom-made staff that resembles a lightning rod". In this amalgamated Pokémon game, Vermillion City is where you'll find Sparky in the Volt Shock Gym.
Laser-Bicep describes Volt Shock Gym as being a "futuristic facility with metal walls and neon lightning bolt patterns, along with a large electric sign that flickers with energy above the entrance". However, once the challenger steps inside, they must complete a puzzle involving lots of switches to power up various elevators.
Sparky used to be in the navy but when he changed professions to pursue his dream of being a gym leader, he brought three sailors along with him, who act as the trainers you must battle before reaching the gym leader. Here are the Pokémon they battle with:
Tentacool, Starmie
Magnemite, Dugtrio
Zapdos
Interestingly, the first trainer completely switches things up and uses water-type Pokémon, which poses a tough challenge for the player, as they must adapt to deal with both water and electric-type Pokémon one after the other. The same goes for the Dugtrio in the second fight. Meanwhile, the Zapdos will have some devastating moves, though you don't need to worry about dealing with any other typings.
Then we come to Sparky's lineup:
Magneton: Thunderbolt, Tri-Attack, Thunder Wave
Electrode: Thunderbolt, Swift, Self-Destruct
Raichu: Thunder, Quick Attack
Defeating Sparky will earn challengers the Thunder Badge and HM01 Cut - sound familiar? Combined with being based in Vermilion City, I think Sparky may have a long-lost cousin…
Paul - Water
Paul is our next gym leader, and he's opted for water-type Pokémon, as he claims "Squirtle is the best!", and while Totodile will have words to say about that, we'll let it slide for now. His gym is found on a pier in a seaside town, which makes us wonder why the Pokémon series hasn't replicated Blackpool yet…
He describes the gym’s exterior as "a glass dome with an underwater entrance, and the inside looks like a luxury swimming centre with several large rooms, each with a pool". The puzzle that challengers must solve involves whirlpools that take the player from one room to the next, "like a classic Pokémon labyrinth", except you're riding your Pokémon via Surf. He also explains each room will have one trainer, and one of them will be a fisherman with six Magikarp. A Pokémon classic.
Paul's lineup consists of:
Squirtle with a high defence thanks to using Iron.
Croconaw with a high attack thanks to using Calcium.
Gyarados with lots of dragon attacks.
Blastoise with Surf.
Golduck with strong psychic attacks and debuffs.
Vaporeon with a ground-type move learned from Eevee, to catch out challengers who have focused on electric-type Pokémon.
As you can see, the battle against Paul gets progressively more difficult, starting off with a basic Pokémon, before going through stage one and two evolutions.
TheGreatestBanana12 - Fire
Next up is another classic typing, as TheGreatestBanana12 has opted for a fire-type gym. He explains this is because he's "always chosen the fire-type starters", which isn't a bad shout given the popularity of Charmander, Cyndaquil, Fuecoco, and co. He describes his gym as being red and yellow in theme, with plenty of flaming murals and statues around.
Inside the gym, challengers must obtain three fire emblems, acquired by defeating three trainers:
Hot Head Henry: Growlithe, Vulpix, and Ponyta
Pyromaniac Paul: Slugma, Pyroar, and Camerupt
Fire Eater Frank: Torkoal, Simisear, Talonflame, and Centiskorch
Challengers will then finally face Banana as the gym leader, who has a fully evolved tough team of six:
Arcanine
Solrock
Magmortar
Turtonator
Heatmor
Charizard
Challengers will need to come stocked with Water-, Ground-, and rock-type Pokémon to stand a chance here, because those six are some of the strongest fire types across every generation. Taking them all down will reward the Sun Flame Badge.
Scrbzy - Fighting
The fourth gym leader in the Just About Pokémon game is Scrbzy, who has opted for a fighting dojo as his gym. He explains that it's reminiscent of the dojo he trains at in real life, with a "simple, open square-shaped space with a pillar in the middle, rubber mats on the floors, and four punching bags dotted around on sliding chains from the ceiling". The puzzle involves sliding these punching bags - presumably with various obstacles and different paths to take - to the four corners of the room, to make Haydn, the gym leader, appear through a hatch in the floor.
However, moving these punching bags requires defeating four trainers first, whom Scrbzy describes as being at "different belt classes, progressively increasing in difficulty". We'd imagine the first few trainers may have Pokémon such as Machoke, Primeape, Hariyama, Sawk, and Throh, not to mention Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, the two most iconic fighting-type Pokémon.
Haydn's party consists of the following:
Hitmontop
Poliwrath
Toxicroak
Blaziken
Iron Valiant
Lucario
There are a lot of dual types here, which Scrbzy explains is to "exploit any weaknesses" his opponents have, so you'll need to also deal with water-type moves from Poliwrath, poison-type moves from Toxicroak, fire-type moves from Blaziken, and fairy-type moves from Iron Valiant. Get through all of those, along with Hitmontop to start, and you'll face off against Lucario, one of the highest base attack Pokémon there is. Good luck!
Marcus - Dark
Marcus is next up, with a dark-type gym themed around superheroes. Examples he gives include Batman, Blade, Daredevil, and Moon Knight, but he also includes "heroes who were originally evil but use their powers for good" such as Hawkeye, Batgirl, Kamen Rider, and Ultraman Geed, as they are "a light in the dark".
The gym itself is a stadium with a secret entrance, but to ensure only the most determined and worthy can challenge Marcus, the location of the entrance changes every day and potential challengers must find it based on clues. The gym is found in "a city which used to have a high crime rate but is now quite peaceful"; the Gotham vibes post-Batman are strong.
Completing the gym’s puzzle requires using a torch to navigate a dark room and light four lanterns. Each lantern is guarded by a trainer - likely with Pokémon such as Sneasel, Houndoom, and Thievul - and defeating them will allow you to light the lanterns, revealing the path to the gym leader.
Once you make it to Marcus, you'll be up against these dark-type Pokémon:
Lokix
Zoroark
Greninja
Umbreon
Meowscarada
Absol
Expect a lot of Crunch, Pursuit, and Feint Attack moves, and make sure you're not too worn down by the time you get to Absol at the end, because surprise: it's actually Mega Absol.
EveOnlineTutorials - Steel
EveOnlineTutorials has opted for a gym based in an industrial steel factory, which he describes as having a "steel maze" for challengers to tackle before they reach the gym leader. Dotted throughout the maze as you turn each corner are four trainers with the following Pokémon:
Trainer 1: Magnemite, Aron
Trainer 2: Magnemite, Mawile, Metang
Trainer 3: Magneton, Bronzong, Excadrill
Trainer 4: Ferroseed, Klang, Bisharp, Honedge
It goes without saying that challengers should bring fire-type Pokémon to deal with this gym, as it should quite literally melt all the Pokémon in the way. Especially Ferroseed, being a steel/grass dual-type. Once you get past them all, you'll face this stacked team:
Steelix
Aegislash
Klinklang
Copperajah
Scizor
Duraludon
Steel-type moves are some of the rarest in all of Pokémon, but we'd imagine these metal beasts use plenty of Flash Cannon, Iron Tail, and Metal Claw.
Cherebi - Ghost
There are loads of iconic ghost-type Pokémon, and Cherebi has picked a few of them for her gym. Much like Paul lifted Vermillion City from Kanto, Cherebi has placed her gym in the Grandtree Arena of the Obsidian Fieldlands area from Hisui, in Pokémon: Legends Arceus, as she explains that's her favourite Pokémon game.
In the gym itself, challengers must take a picture of a ghost-type Pokémon in the area to access the gym leader. Cherebi made no mention of trainers standing in the way, but we'd imagine there will be at least a few spectral battlers such as Channelers, Psychics, and Mediums before you can face off against Cherebi herself.
As for Cherebi's lineup, here's what you'll be fighting against:
Pumpkaboo
Mimikyu
Mismagius
Chandelure
Decidueye (Hisuian)
Gengar
Some serious fan favourites here, including spooky Pikachu, aka Mimikyu, and Gengar, one of the best Pokémon of all time.
AirGaram - Fairy
Finally, we have AirGaram with their gym leader, Lyra, and her fairy-type gym. AirGaram explains the gym is set in a mystical forest - a popular haunt for fairies - and presenting the challenger in the centre of the opening room is a Xerneas statue. Interacting with this statue will unlock four rooms in each corner.
Each room will consist of a trainer, and each fight will have Misty Terrain permanently applied, with Sweet Scent happening on the first turn every time. Here are the Pokémon owned by the trainers you'll need to defeat if you take on the gym:
Ninetales (Alolan), Rapidash (Galarian)
Floette, Mawile, Sylveon
Dedenne, Shiinotic, Mimikyu, Clefable
Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, Dachsbun, Alcremie, Granbull
Those are some tough foes, so you'll almost certainly need to retreat to a Poké Center a few times during your time in AirGaram's gym. Once you defeat all four though, you can grab a gem from a pedestal behind each trainer and present them to statues of the four Tapu Pokémon surrounding the aforementioned Xerneas. When all the gems have been delivered, a secret door at the top of the room will open, presenting Lyra and her team "based on a fairy's tricks":
Grimmsnarl: Light Screen, Spirit Break, Reflect, Parting Shot (with Light Clay and Prankster)
Ribombee: Sticky Web, Moonblast, Bug Buzz, Quiver Dance
Primarina: Sparkling Aria, Moonblast, Misty Explosion, Calm Mind
Togekiss: Air Slash, Aura Sphere, Tailwind, Roost
Tinkaton: Gigaton Hammer, Knock Off, Fake Out, Play Rough
Gardevoir: Moonblast, Psychic, Shadowball, Mystical Fire
If you can take down Lyra, you'll surely be ready for the Elite Four. Have your own idea for a Pokémon gym? Let us know on Just About Pokémon and check out all of our currently active bounties!
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