These Pokémon Gym Leaders Make No Sense

[@karlotty]

Elesa was really impressive as a type specialist. She actually came in prepared. I remember being shocked seeing her Zebstrika flame charge on my grass type.

[@enigmatic2878]

Haha. Intimidate switch to boldore and sandile go brrrrrr

[@Rarest26]

The fact she obliterates all three starters alone is impressive.

[@crpineo]

@whatever oliver because nobody of any importance cares, or gives puns attention they do not deserve

[@Watch-0w1]

P me too I love the type specialist using unique strategies. It's almost sponsoring the type. It also reminds me of the Pokemon TCG,. Where each pokémon type have a unique strategy. Like fire it's all about gathering energy and burst in g one single attack. Electric is bringing down lightning strike that hurt your own Pokemon.

[@SJrad]

@@crpineo elesa would’ve enjoyed that pun.

[@edwardramos4591]

Volkner having a Rotom would've been neat, especially if Platinum decided to make it Starter dependent (appliance based on what's strong against the starter).

[@emperorcubone]

That's a great idea, and would be a much better use of that gimmick than the Striaton Gym in Unova!

[@rogue1248]

To be fair, the rotom forms were still new at the time and shared the og rotoms typing until Gen 5. It was impossible to fit that in if the forms don't even get STAB on their type moves.

[@rjd-kh8et]

Never could have happened since the Rotom forms didn't appear until Platinum, where they were locked behind an event.

[@umwha]

Why has nobody had that idea before!|

[@colinvandenberg3446]

Winona is another example of a type specialist who's a challenge with just one type. There's her Earthquaking Altaria of course but there's also her Double Team Swellow and her Skarmory that isn't weak to Rock.

[@emperorcubone]

Yep! Much better then your Slaking loving father!

[@robertlupa8273]

And Altaria isn't weak to Electric. AND Pelipper isn't weak to Ice. She's got it all covered.

[@nautgamingnautgaming9949]

@@emperorcubone the best thing about Winona is she destroyed my electric team twice Grant it electric types are horrendous in hoenn where ground grass types are EVERYWHERE and the electric type sadly just zaps n not does anything else move type wise

[@Lankpants]

@@emperorcubone Norman should have had a Swellow. It would have let him somewhat cover fighting types. His Linoone should have also had surf to let it hit rock types, it's also his gym's HM so that would have been pretty cool. He also potentially could have had a Loudred with earthquake and fire blast. I actually like Slaking as his ace, but his other mons should have been allowed to cover some of normal's weaknesses and show off its versatility as a type. Instead his mons only have weak non-stab options that don't really cover anything.

[@intotheindievods8821]

I would have mentioned how Koga is full of duplicates, despite Poison being the most common type in Gen 1

[@xyannail4678]

Koga's team isn't even full poison or at least I know

[@angelicwarrior118]

@@xyannail4678 I think it is in every game he is a Gym Leader in.

[@xyannail4678]

@@angelicwarrior118 I remember him having a Forretress in Gold, Silver, Crystal, the remakes HeartGold & SoulSilver; aside from that it's true that in the first games he uses two Koffings, one Muk, one Weezing in Yellow 3 Venonats and Venomoth and in the following games usually uses the Ariados, Crobat, Forretress team

[@xyannail4678]

@@angelicwarrior118 Edit: And now I realized what you mean, not the Elite 4 encounters but the Gym Leader' one, it's true.

[@RancorSnp]

@@xyannail4678 In gen 1 it was actually extremely common for the gym leaders to not actually be bound to their type, but instead have the type be like the main theme. But if you look at the gen 1 trainers a LOT of the trainers actually have pokemon that aren't their gym type. Now this may come from haphazard development, not enough choices, or intended pokemon being cut and replaced with the next best thing instead. But it is interesting that the series started with not having monotype gyms - and yet we fully expect the gyms to be monotype, and it would feel wrong to include pokemon that are of the "wrong type" now

[@Churdizard]

I totally agree with you about how gyms aren't showing off enough of their region's Pokemon, Johto especially. That's why I think modded Pokemon games are so cool, they can be improved upon so much.

[@Porkupine69]

Step 1: create new pokemon Step 2: give it to a gym leader in the next gen

[@emperorcubone]

IF that; there are almost 1000 Pokemon, so why do we keep seeing the same ones in gyms? Get rid of the Gyarados and Mr. Mime please...

[@TheRibbedDamascus]

Idk man, the worst one for me is Falkner, cuz honestly, when you beat him, he goes, "oh no, my dads prized bird pokemon!" Implying none of the Pokémon he used, he caught, he can't even catch a pokemon, and IS A GYM LEADER. So, to me, he is most unqualified by far.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah that's pretty bad... He's so underwhelming AND he couldn't even do that on his own!?

[@JamesJohnson-sl6zc]

Falkner is the worst. A Level 9 Pidgeotto and still gets his butt handed to him.

[@eastsidereviews727]

Falkner is such a dork.

[@ultimapower6950]

@@JamesJohnson-sl6zc well in fairness he shouldn’t even be a gym leader. His highest leveled mon is level 9

[@jordaninktv6538]

The shame of Falkner is they had options for a non-Kanto Pokemon. Don’t wanna use Hoothoot cause it appears in the Sprout Tower? Then let me introduce you to Natu, found in the nearby Ruins of Alph! Gen 2 Mon and not super strong, so perfect for the early game!

[@miscellaneoof]

I have an issue with Olympia. Her ace is a meowstic, which you’ve seen your rival use about 4 times by this point and many regular trainers use them as well. Malamar or Delphox would have been a better inclusion

[@tanandalynch9441]

Especially since Malamar having the dark typing negates the ghost weakness. And psychic makes it resistant to fighting. So your only option would be bug which it's 4x weak too. Not only that but I keep making the mistake of thinking it a water type and spam electric/grass moves

[@jerelgayle3625]

Or a Mega Alakazam cause it’s Kalos

[@miscellaneoof]

@@tanandalynch9441 you couldn’t sweep her team with bug either since she has a sigilyph

[@tanandalynch9441]

@@miscellaneoof yeah but there's electric bugs so you could if you had a galvantula

[@miscellaneoof]

@@tanandalynch9441 don’t think it’s available in x and y

[@samszczepanski2281]

3:08 If volkner could only keep one of his non-electric types, I feel that octillery would be the best choice, since it's an electric gym, you'd usually be using ground, which is weak to water, so octillery would throw a wrench into your plan and require extra thinking.

[@aaravdiwakaristhebest]

It don't needs that much thinking -_-

[@samszczepanski2281]

@@aaravdiwakaristhebest more thinking than "haha spam super effective earthquake"

[@domenicavallone28]

He literally could have had a pachirisu and a magnetzone instead, idk why they have pokemon outside their type specialty

[@timovos5371]

@@domenicavallone28 magnezone was national dex in dp, btw i prefer pokemon from a different type much more then an elite four trainer in emerald with 2 sealeo's, 2 glalies and a walrein as a team. So for that, DP already did a better job

[@toumabyakuya]

@@domenicavallone28 *"idk why they have pokemon outside their type specialty"* As said by Sam, to make the Gym Leaders a challenge instead of "spam super effective move to win".

[@IamDoomCrow]

Volkner does actually make sense, because the narrative was he grew bored of being a gym leader and wasn't inspired until the you the trainer comes along. He was all but giving his badges away, so his team does reflect that. It isn't until later (Platinum) where he puts forth the effort.

[@kalosianporygon]

Diamond and Pearl not having all newly introduced Pokémon on its National Dex is one of the most baffling things I've witnessed.

[@vaporterra]

It created so many problems for the Gym Leader and Elite Four members teams

[@RK-cj4oc]

Why?

[@deciduous_reaper]

Which was the reason Platinum had to fix the problem

[@MegaMilesprower]

The triplet gym at the beginning of gen 5 should have been the introduction to triple battles/Rotation battles, change my mind.

[@Kristalya]

I bet Sabrina was on a journey in the Johto region and was attacked by a Tyranitar that defeated her Psychic types. Then that Venomoth came and used Bug Buzz making the Tyranitar go away. Venomoth and Sabrina connected in a psychic way and became friends. Venomoth can learn so many Psychic type moves naturally even though it is not a Psychic type. 💚💜

[@spectrum-5]

Fun fact: When Koga doesn’t have a Venomoth, Sabrina has one. When Koga has a Venomoth, Sabrina doesn’t have one.

[@felipesilva3732]

I absolutely love when gyms dont use monotypes, like, uhhh Electric gym, spam earthquake. It would be nice if a Water gym, foi instance, used Dragalge, malamar, cursola, dhelmise, etc

[@nintendolife25]

Speaking of Brock, I really think Gamefreak should stop trying to promote Onix as his ace Pokemon. It makes sense in Gen 1 since the concept of evolution in older Pokemon did not exist at the time but because Steelix changed its typing from Rock to Steel, I think Brock is the only Gym leader who’s ace Pokemon isn’t a fully evolved one and its a relatively weak one despite its cool design and size. Brock has a Geodude too, right? His ace can be Golem instead. Btw, great video Emperor Cubone. You made a lot of strong points I agree with. :)

[@emperorcubone]

You make a good point, but I don't know, I think since Brock is the first gym leader ever an unevolved Pokemon makes sense for him to have. But Roxanne has a Nosepass, so that's at least one other...

[@Compucles]

@@emperorcubone At least Nosepass is a decent Pokémon. Despite its size, Onix's base stats complete suck in everything but Defense! I still have no idea how something that big only has 45 Base Attack!

[@myheartismadeofstars]

@@Compucles Probopass is also still a rock type, Steelix isn't

[@JaelinBezel]

Falkner’s Ace is an underleveled Pidgeotto

[@bobbymedina9622]

Funny thing, Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee finally caught on to this! In the initial gym battle, Onix of course is his ace. But when you rematch him, they actually changed his ace to Golem instead with Onix being just a member of his team which I think works perfectly! Golem is much stronger than Onix (and is fully evolved) as well as having evolved from the lowly Geodude from the initial battle. I think future games should do this, changing his ace to Golem but still keeping Onix around since it's very iconic to Brock!

[@topdog23100]

I kind of wish that the first gym in Black and White, the Striaton gym, was a triple battle/rotation battle (depending on your version). Having three gym leaders there and only fighting one of them is a missed opportunity in my opinion. Also, the eighth gym leader in Diamond and Pearl is a bit weird. Volkner, an Electric type gym leader, only uses like, two Electric types and an Ambipom. I especially find it weird considering that Sinnoh has quite a lot of Electric types like the Magnemite line, Pachirisu, the Shinx line, the Pikachu line, and the Elekid line, so I feel like his team could’ve been Magnezone, Raichu, Luxray, and Electivire

[@trisertricordoh2127]

On Volkner's case, he was gearing up to go challenge the Elite four as he was getting bored of being a gym leader. That is till your character arrives and gives him back the spark of challenge.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

I would agree if it wasnt the first gym. Ignoring ppl playing pokemon in general first time, triple/rotation battles themselves were a brand new concept for veteran players too, so throwing that at us out the gate might've been much. They should've been placed later, like Tate and Liza being double battle gym leaders but second to last

[@toumabyakuya]

In Volkner's case: It also makes him more challenging. If you cannot beat a team like his, then the E4 is still too much for you.

[@michealforguson5317]

I kind of like that idea. Introduce players to the Rotation Battles and Triple Battles earlier would have been awesome!

[@toumabyakuya]

@@michealforguson5317 Maybe around the 5th or 6th gym (similar to Tate and Lyza).

[@aurafox1]

An interesting note about Falkner's "underleveled" Pidgeotto, it actually *is* legal. In fact, in order to match it, you actually have to use the Move Deleter. But, in Yellow version, you actually can catch such low-level Pidgeotto in Viridian Forest and then trade it up into GSC through the Time Machine.

[@awesomeschwab]

I would’ve mentioned Raihan as well! His team is more weather focused than dragon focused, which isn’t a bad thing, I just would’ve liked a dragon gym of the “UK” region to be more draconic. I might’ve given him more of a pass here too if his Duraladon didn’t look like the least dragonest dragon of the dragons 😂

[@O.D25]

Nahhh, Altaria is still less draconic then Duraladon.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, I like his different theming but you're right, he's just as much of a Ground gym as he is Dragon...

[@luisvelez1952]

It’s strange that Raihan Duraludon is not mostly special attacker than physical, I mean it can learn Thunderbolt to cover his Sandaconda and Flash Cannon for stab move. Something that bothers me it that Duraludon for a Pokémon that lives on the snowy mountains doesn’t learn the move Ice Beam at all not even as a Tr.

[@colindion4611]

rainhan does you a lot more dragon types in his rematch

[@brendanboomhour7606]

Duraladon is more overgrown Zippo lighter than dragon

[@andykegs5584]

Honestly I’d like to see gyms focusing on a single type be a thing of the past. I’d much rather they had themes which allowed for different types and strategies. This way rematches, remakes and the like allow for much more diversity and means you can’t just spam a super-effective attack from a resisted Pokemon type. Examples Theme: Mechanic allowing for use of steel, electric and fire (maybe some other things) Theme: Amusement park allowing for all sorts of things like fairy, flying, psychic etc Gyms just to be reimagined to be more interesting.

[@emperorcubone]

That could be a good idea, but I think if they tried just a little more they could create strategies out of the mono-types, but they don't usually bother...

[@andykegs5584]

@@emperorcubone yeah but they’ll have done that for 8/9 gens soon so would be nice to see something different. Completely agree on the points where gym leaders don’t use Pokémon from their own Gen though that’s just annoying!

[@chrayez]

If they hadn’t tried to call Raihan a dragon specialist, I would have appreciated the weather theming a lot more. Even though his tournament team is even worse than his gym team, considering his multi-weather team in the tournament means he has to overwrite his own weather multiple times.

[@jreddie92]

I agree. What about along the lines of status type specialist? A burn specialist that uses fire, ghost, and water types with scald making it so you have to diversify your team with special attackers? Or frostbite for physical attackers, provided they bring it into the mainline games.

[@andykegs5584]

@@jreddie92 yeah good ideas, just something to spice it all up a bit really, so you don’t go into the gym thinking well I’ve got my one counter who’ll sweep this whole thing!

[@k2basior]

Morty not having Misdreavus is an offence

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

Two type specialists that really bug me are Flint and Volkner with their pre-Platinum teams. Ah yes,a fire specialist with only two fire types and an electric specialist with only two electric types. I'm so glad Platinum fixed their teams and was annoyed how BDSP didn't use the Platinum Dex.

[@toumabyakuya]

Oh, so you would prefer a "Press A to win" team over one that requires some thought to win?.

[@mastergreeen1385]

​@@toumabyakuya that is neither here nor there, the point here is that these characters are type specialists and they absolutely fail at that job besides, as shown in this video with Elesa's team, staying true to a single type doesn't automatically turn you into a "press A to win" type of opponent

[@toumabyakuya]

@@mastergreeen1385 *"the point here is that these characters are type specialists and they absolutely fail at that job"* How? Their ace is still of the correct type. If anything, that they can make a mixed team that supports their type shows how much they have mastered said type. *"as shown in this video with Elesa's team,"* Elesa, really? At best what she managed to do was make the fight longer, but not harder. Potions (of any level) nullify all her advantages. Besides, out of 62 Gyms, Elesa is the only one that does this, the majority still fits the rule.

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

@@toumabyakuya Their teams still required no thought in DP.

[@eumorpha876]

​@@toumabyakuya you can still make a team that requires thought to win using the Platinum dex mons. personally, i'd rather have the gym leaders and elite four use mons that i haven't fought a billion times before, like Volkner using an Electivire or Flint using a Magmortar or something. give Volkner a Wash Rotom! give Candice an Adamant Life Orb Mamoswine! you want off-type mons? give Wake an Altaria, clouds have water in them!

[@andyburris2555]

I replayed platinum recently and the rematches in the battle frontier are pretty fun specifically the type trainers, IE physical attack specialist, health specialist, etc. that could be a fun way to spice some gyms up.

[@skyrogue1977]

In Platinum, I think the Gym Leader rematches should have given them different Pokémon to what they had. Gardenia doesn’t have a Leafeon, which is mind boggling.

[@deciduous_reaper]

Especially that the moss rock is at Eterna Forest which is next to the city which is laughable

[@Neo_Bones]

In Scarlet and Violet the Gym Leaders mention Geeta forcing them to hold back so that trainers who face them can actually have a shot at winning, so I’m assuming that this is the case for Lance/Steven/Cynthia/Alder/Diantha/Leon as well

[@JaelinBezel]

The champion os supposed to be the strongest trainer in a region. What would be the point of holding back against challengers?

[@eastsidereviews727]

I think in general every Gym Leader should have at least 3 Pokémon. There is no need to provide so little of a challenge, even in the beginning. I'd have Gyms 1-5 with 3, 6 and 7 with 4, and Gym 8 with a team of 5. This ideal would cause the Elite 4 to each have 6 Pokémon, if they are the best trainers in a given Region, treat them like that and force the player to step up. The point about Brock having a fossil Pokémon is actually pretty smart. It acts as foreshadowing for where they may have come from and would also be another unique challenge for a trainer, Arceus help those who choose a Charmander in that case. I also really wish that we got more Gym Leaders or Elite 4 members who have a mixed type team. It's always fun to battle Blue or Cynthia because they offer a challenge and you have to think more on how to beat them.

[@emperorcubone]

Eh, I'm fine with at least the first gym using two Pokemon, but I generally agree with the rest...

[@juggertr0ll]

I know it's not in the regional dex, but Crasher Wake should've had a Poliwrath! He's a water user who wrestles!

[@k2basior]

Volkner having Rotom in the initial fight and Rotom Heat in the Rematch (or give one to Flint)

[@emperorcubone]

That'd be perfect!

[@LeonSteamhawk]

I'd love to see some feature where you could rematch gym leaders and they would mix up their teams. For their regular battle they would stick to their type and maybe not have a full team, but for their rematch, they would have full teams of six and some different types, with new Pokemon matching the leader's personality or theme.

[@A.E.S.R]

As someone who's been playing Pokemon since Gen 2, having different types of Pokemons learning that specific gyms typing is a great way to show newcomers that Pokemon can learn different type of moves that aren't their base type. Example octillery can learn basically any move that has to do with war sounding. Example Beam,blast,bomb. Another example, imagine if Lt.Surge had a trainer in his gym with starmie, starmie can learn thunderbolt and be a curb ball to all those newbies who thought ground type will take care of the gym.

[@gadobriel5417]

I think the Striaton gym battle should be a triple battle against the three elemental monkeys at the same time

[@gadobriel5417]

Maybe it would be difficult being the first battle, but that could be solved by leaving them with not that strong moves, or all three at level 5, or the leaders not being able to use potions, etcetera

[@emperorcubone]

Listen, what do you think; that's like the gimmick of the region or something? oh...

[@michaelnelson1127]

Or maybe you just fight all 3 monkeys in a regular battle? The anime did something similar, and Roark had 3 Pokémon last gen, so why not? Sure, Lenora might need a third Pokémon as well, in that case, but it’d be worth it.

[@nickdentoom1173]

@@michaelnelson1127 Lilipup, Tranquill, Watchog

[@michaelnelson1127]

@@nickdentoom1173 There, see? Problem solved.

[@matthaisstupidus]

I honestly think the inevitable Johto re-remakes should take the same approach to gym leader teams as LGPE, where every team was redone to provide better variety and consistency (best shown off with Sabrina's team as an example)

[@emperorcubone]

Honestly Let's Go did it much better than any remake in Pokemon history, so I hope they make a Johto version just for the improved gyms!

[@angelicwarrior118]

@@emperorcubone in this case, here are my ideas: Falkner: Team should be comprised of a Hoothoot and Murkrow that he ACTUALLY caught himself Bugsy: Spinarak and/or Ledyba and Heracross (I specify and/or to your opinion) Whitney: Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff (these two are still part Normal unlike the Clefairy line), Girafarig/Teddiursa, and Miltank Morty: Haunter, Misdreavus, and Gengar Chuck: Primeape, Poliwrath, and Hitmontop Jasmine: Magneton, Skarmory, Forretress, and Steelix Pryce: Dewgong, Sneasel, Jynx, and Piloswine Clair: Dragonair, Lapras, Aerodactyl, Steelix/Dragonair, and Kingdra I feel like more revisions can be done, but this is as far as teams composition go.

[@SolemnStormcloud]

I agree with your point, but I also think Sabrina's Let's Go team is a bad example of it: Half of her team (Slowbro and Jynx) is just two-fifths of Lorelei's team! I wouldn't have a problem with it had Lorelei's Slowbro been replaced with a Vaporeon or something, but as it stands, I don't like the redundancy.

[@angelicwarrior118]

@@SolemnStormcloud hey, at least both are Psychic. And I feel like Lorelei is really the one at fault to be fair.

[@SolemnStormcloud]

@@angelicwarrior118 Agreed. Vaporeon would work much better as an honorary Ice-type Pokémon, as it at least learns two Ice moves via level up (Aurora Beam and Haze), unlike Slowbro. Also, since Lance has a Seadra standing in for its part-Dragon-type evolution Kingdra-which is absent in Let's Go as the games don't feature any Pokémon introduced after Gen I (except for Meltan and Melmetal)-Lorelei's hypothetical Vaporeon could stand in for Glaceon, as well.

[@l-I-I__Iool]

Tate and Liza should have also been given gallade and gardevoir respectively in ORAS, along with their original pokemon. They fit so well with their gendered twin theme that this should have been a no-brainer.

[@emperorcubone]

That's true! I guess they just didn't want to interfere with Wally's cool new ace...

[@darrellsimon4462]

It's kinda surprising that they don't have the ralts line on their team at all

[@toetail8665]

Candace’s random Medicham always surprises me. Out of nowhere, for no good reason it appears…

[@VoxVocisCruora]

Lackluster and unchallenging for older players is one of the reasons why I would really like a difficulty setting added to Pokemon. The gym leader having two pokemon is fine for kids. But an increasing amount of Pokemon's audience is teens and adults, and that's not just too easy, it's boring. And as a fundamental rule, if your game is boring during one of the main times it really shouldn't be, you've got a big problem. Having the gym leaders programed to have different and increasingly challenging teams with higher difficulty choices is a simple, and just plain good, way to remedy a significant amount of that problem. It doesn't even have to be anything involved with the story, it could just be a simple question the game asks you when it's first starting, like it does with your starting player character look and your name. One screen, one question: "What difficulty level do you want to play on: easy, medium, or hard? This choice cannot be changed, so please chose wisely." The gyms are one of the main parts that are fun about these games, and it'd be nice to actually have to put in some effort, as an adult experienced player, into beating them. Having only about four, max, gym trainers in the gym challenges and then only about half a team for the Gym Leaders was incredibly disappointing in Sword. When you can speedrun the Water Gym with a single Joltik in ten minutes and oneshot everything just by being only about five levels over level for the gym, the game has a problem. When you can do the same thing with a Hatterene for the dragon type gym leader, even with the super effective weakness to steel, you have an even bigger problem. pokemon games need to figure out how to scale in difficulty if it wants to appease the wide range of it's audience. When I walk into a gym, I want it to be a fight. I want to struggle. I want to get frustrated and pissed off at it, and I want to feel smug and ecstatic when I managed to pull off a good play or my pokemon endure a hit that would've killed them because I put the effort into loving them. I want to smacked in the face with pokemon with movesets I didn't expect or prepare for. I want to be forced to strategize, I want to be forced to debate on if I should sacrifice a turn to use an item, to weigh those pros and cons, those risks vs the rewards. I want to earn my victory. I want that triumph to mean something. I want to experience to be memorable. Because otherwise what's the point of the gyms if they barely leave more of an impact than the average route NPC fight? The answer to 'How did you beat Leon?' shouldn't be 'I built a generic team and oneshot everything he threw at me with super effective moves because I accidentally got twenty levels higher than I was supposed to be for that part of the story whoops.'

[@shadowdragonlord2295]

What if they started making gyms based off a certain theme? Like a gym in a seaside town/city where the gym leader is a sailor and he uses Pokemon that have a sailor vibe to them.

[@emperorcubone]

Or even like Raihan with weather? Or some other battle gimmick?

[@nickdentoom1173]

Then it would literally still be a Water type gym.

[@shadowdragonlord2295]

@@nickdentoom1173 Some of the trainer class had the Machop like. And I can see them using a few psychic Pokemon to help predict the weather.

[@SargeWolf010]

Me: sees thumbnail Also me: I mean some Pokémon look better unevolved

[@theresivy]

funnily enough the only thing that stops the xyz anime arc from being perfect for me was how clemont had a bunnelby of all things

[@itsmanvir]

Omg pronouncing “delibird” like that makes so much sense! Sounds like “delivered” because it is delivering presents!

[@seandaniels7938]

Your intro always makes me wanna fire up my copy of x 😂 also 10:05 then it's me who does price 5th everytime

[@AlistairZands]

I really like the Blaze Black Volt White version of Striaton's gym. The trainers all have a water, a grass, and a fire type. Then the leader uses their elemental monkey alongside the starters of the same type. Alternatively, it would have been cool to be able to battle all 3 monkeys which would line up with Ash's battle in the anime and be an even more unique first gym experience.

[@jonahdengler3858]

Elesa in W2 was literally the only Unova Gym Leader that gave me 3 tries to beat!

[@deadlydingus1138]

I walked in to Raihan’s gym expecting to finally be able to use the hatterene that I worked to get before having access to them in the wild area because I thought he would actually have a team made up of dragon types.

[@chizzle72]

After watching this, it feels like they make Pokemon, just to make Pokemon, an never to make'em to balance out the Pokedex.

[@AfterTheFirstNever]

Always so thought out. Love watching, Emperor!

[@therfrouge456]

Wulfric 3 Pokémon no mega evolution Anime gave him one bruh

[@emperorcubone]

What? You expect the Gym Leaders to actually use the new mechanic of the generation? Like Z-Moves, or Giganta... yeah okay, that's weird they left it out...

[@nickdentoom1173]

Like, i can get why they didn't though, since it would have forced them to not use a Kalos mon as their ace.

[@therfrouge456]

@@nickdentoom1173 Bea Alister Melonie

[@highonsugar6273]

I really want a Kalos remake where they actually make the gyms good

[@saifn.7747]

In my opinion, I would’ve made it like this: 1- Viola (Surskit, Vivillon) 2- Grant (Tyrunt, Graveller) 3- Ramos (Mega Venusaur) 4- Korrina (Mega lucario) 5- Clemont (Mega Manectric) 6- Olympia (Mega Alakazam) 7- Valerie (Mega Audiono) 8- Wulfric (Mega Abomasnow)

[@zubairsadiq5565]

@@saifn.7747 In my opinion megas should start from Valerie who is not only the first ever fairy type gym leader but could be first mega gym leader of the region and mega mawile would make more sense and devastate the main player's team. And also every elite 4 member should have the mega as in anime

[@saifn.7747]

@@zubairsadiq5565 I disagree. Yeah I agree about Valerie’s mega idea but she honestly is too late for the Megas. I think they should start at LEAST at the fourth gym. Because the kalos gym leaders are already too easy.

[@michealforguson5317]

I would love the concept of Mega Evolution to be more widespread than it was in X and Y. The only battles you've had with it used against you was: 1. Against Korrina stop the Tower of Mastery. 2. I'm pretty sure Calem/Serena uses it. But I think it wasn't until Victory Road. 3. Lysandre uses it deep in his base.

[@gallantmon4]

@@michealforguson5317 Also Diantha has a Mega Gardevoir as her ace in the champion battle.

[@luxrayblast]

You forgot to mention that BOTH of Chuck's Pokemo were the only Fighting Types NOT on Bruno's Team, despite Bruno having THREE Fighting Types.

[@emperorcubone]

Well, that's an Elite Four problem, which is a different video...

[@trisertricordoh2127]

@@emperorcubone Funny enough if you look at the Gen 1 eleite four they all have two types they specialize in. it isn't till gen 2 that they started to only specialize in a singular type.

[@WaterKirby1994]

Lorelei: water & ice, Bruno: fighting & rock, Agatha: poison & ghost, Lance: dragon & flying Gen 2 had Koga: Bug & Poison, Karen: Dark & Poison. Only Will was pure Psychic type if I remember correctly.

[@luxrayblast]

@@WaterKirby1994 Xatu #1, Jynx, Xatu #2 & Slowbro: Are We a joke to you?

[@WaterKirby1994]

@@luxrayblast Each of the Pokemon you listed is Psychic Type. Will didn't randomly have something that wasn't Psychic. Koga had his Forretress, Karen had her Vileplume & Gengar which were both Poison Types.

[@janopsilver]

I would say Morty is quite bad in jhoto too. A Ghost type gym leader does not make sence, when there are only four ghost types in the game. And he still refuses to use the new misdreavus, instead he puts two haunters in his team from the previous generation.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, that's pretty bad. But at least he's still got more Pokemon than Clemont!

[@domenicavallone28]

There are only two fully evolved ghost pokemon during that point in the game’s history…why would they even try to make Morty (and Agatha) specialize in “ghost” types. Morty should have had a Misdreavus, Haunter & Ninetales (not a ghost, but learns a few ghost moves, its dex entries discuss hexes, and its fire type connects to his candle/flame gym theme, and the burnt tower!)

[@jcohasset23]

It was a mistake to have a Ghost type gym in Johto since all the player sees is the same 3 pokemon through it (yeah I don't get why he doesn't have a misdreavus though since it's only available to capture at the very end of the game it would be kind of pointless anyways). A better option would have been to have a Ground gym (as there are a lot of gen 2 ground pokemon that trainers don't use) with Morty and a Ghost type acting similar to the Fighting gym in Gen 1.

[@miscellaneoof]

@@domenicavallone28 they should have just done a dark gym tbh

[@megatronjenkins2473]

Feeding the PokéAlgorythm, gotta eat 'em all!

[@andrewfreeland4858]

"is that all it takes to get a pass?" Yes, yes it does

[@ScottaHemi440]

it is odd how they dropped the ball so much on some of these decisions.

[@g4brielb0nfim]

I think most gym's are poorly thought out, you're more than welcome to make part 2, 3, 4...

[@BlueEyesWhiteJoeWBush]

Another thing for Johto is Morty. Why didn't he have a Misdreveous? The whole Johto gym leader challenge was abysmal

[@nickdentoom1173]

Same for Whitney. Give her three Pokemon, one if which is a Cleffa or Igglybuff (Instead of Clefairy, since the Daycare is right before Goldenrod) and Teddiursa.

[@BlueEyesWhiteJoeWBush]

@@nickdentoom1173 right?? Good point. Or even an Aipom or a Stantler since they are caught near Goldenrod

[@thePersonoyt]

If you ever get to 1M subs, you should change your channel name to emperor marowak

[@crep50]

Raihon. Despite the fact that he is meant to be the _dragon type_ leader, only half of his Pokémon are even dragon type, one being a secondary type, while _3 are ground._ He is not a dragon leader. He is a ground leader. In The rematch fight he does have more dragon types though, so at least it’s not all bad.

[@marcodipietro813]

i mean, i personally think he's one of the best leaders out there- he's less a Dragon leader than a Sandstorm leader and for one I think that's cool as heck

[@blakdeth]

I just hope that person in the hazmat suit in the latest scarlet and violet trailer winds up as a poison gym leader with an actually competent team. Poison only has two weaknesses and both can be immunities. All you need is a crobat/levitate pokemon and any poison dark type. And the only time that happens is when you rematch koga as an elite four member in hgss, with his skuntank and drapion, And Klara with her drapion and galarian wheezing. Neither of those are gym battles. I want my favorite type to have a diverse and challenging gym for a change.

[@MashIsMe]

I was so thrown back at how you said Deliberd but like.... It makes sense though, being a pun and all 😵🥴

[@emperorcubone]

I don't think that's the official pronunciation, but it just makes way more sense than a Deli...

[@k2basior]

Johto Leaders should take like the whole list

[@nazeersadek6705]

Except for Whitney she was done in a right way

[@k2basior]

@@nazeersadek6705 they could've given her a 3rd mon but outside of that she's ok:-)

[@nazeersadek6705]

@@k2basior you really want a third Pokémon while also keeping Miltank? 😂

[@k2basior]

@@nazeersadek6705 the more the merier:-D

[@nickdentoom1173]

@@nazeersadek6705 Igglybuff or Cleffa, since the daycare is on the route before Goldenrod. That one instead of Clefairy and then Teddiursa as the third mon.

[@armorbearer9702]

Mankey's sprite is pretty funny in gen 2. He took some ballerina classes.

[@randomname285]

Also none of Pryce's Pokemon have a water type move for dealing with fire types despite two of them being water type

[@SilverZephyrFalcon]

A couple picks for a list like this would be the Yellow teams for Sabrina and Lt. Surge. I know it's meant to be based on their anime teams, but Surge only having his Raichu and Sabrina only having the Abra line make those fights really weird. Sabrina in general is a weird one, since she has Venomoth in most of her other appearances, but it's one of Kanto's many fake Psychics, so I could see giving it a pass. But no Hypno? Especially when Koga's POISON gym has several? And her trainers using Gastly and Haunter instead? It ends up feeling pretty random.

[@WaterKirby1994]

Yellow Koga was Too Many Venonats to where he's considered a Bug Type Specialist (he had Forretress & Ariados in Gen 2) just as much as a Poison Master. Spamming 3 of the same Pokemon then its evolved form is not becoming of a gym leader for a common type. At least Sabrina used both Kadabra & Alakazam in Red & Green with Abra being more fitting than the random Venomoth on her team.

[@ErrorMessage01]

Faulkner is the biggest facepalm for me.

[@5ashll303]

They could’ve given the unova first gym leaders a starter that is either the same one as yours or the one you are strong against. It would teach you about type weakness pretty good. Also johto Is the king of dumb gym decisions.

[@emperorcubone]

This especially works well because you can only trade after you've beaten this gym so it'd be a nice reminder of the cool things you didn't pick but could get now!

[@Aesculathehyena]

"Do you think Brock should have had a fossil Pokemon to highlight where you needed to go to resurrect them?" You mean... On Cinnabar Island? Your arrow pointed to where you get the Old Amber.

[@HaukimYT]

Here is a cool idea gamefreak could have implemented for the striaton city gym, a triple battle. Black and white were the first games that had triple battles, but you as the player rarely do triple battles in the games. Striaton city gym would work well as an introduction to the triple battle mechanic, they could've done it by having Cilan, Chili and Cress bickering about who gets to battle the trainer, add a brief pause and then have them say something like "You want to face all three of us!?!?" and then follow up with "We'll make it a triple battle, *insert pun about serving a three course meal*" and the battle starts. So, instead of chosing one gym leader based on the choice of starter pokémon and battle with one of the elemental monkeys and a lillipup. We could've fought against all three gymleaders and their elemental monkeys in a more fun and interesting way. Yes, there are plenty of possibilities to catch 2 or more pokemon and you're given one of the monkeys by an npc in the dreamyard as a part of the story before the gym battle.

[@rayyaninspookymonth1630]

3:44 pachirisu's cute but counterpoint: pachirisu didn't use a single attack, it just used its supporting status moves to save its partner garchomp for the win.

[@choueriito2548]

Crasher Wake also comes to mind for poor team composition with two of his three Pokemon being quad-weak to a type you'd naturally bring to a Water gym and his Floatzel has nothing to cover it against electric types despite being capable of learning Dig via TM.

[@SilverZephyrFalcon]

Totally. As with many gen 4 leaders they improved this in Platinum with him getting a Quagsire. You can't sweep with an Electric type anymore, and you can't sweep with a Grass type either since Floatzel has Ice Fang. It makes a good upgrade, especially since he's now the 5th gym leader.

[@theinsanegamer1024]

The most egregious thing I find is that houndour, a Pokémon that evolves at level 24 at a point your levels would be about 25ish, isn't found in Mt. Mortar. Oh? A ghost gym? What is good against ghost? Dark! Oh? An ice type gym in mahogany town. What type is good against ice that can evolve at about level 25 and can possibly take on a level 32ish Pokémon, maybe a fire type...? Yeah he has a lot of water types but they pull tricks like that sometimes. Seriously they had a perfect location practically gift-wrapped for them but nope! Post game only for some reason.

[@tanandalynch9441]

The only reason I survived Elesa was because my serperior was over leveled enough to take out her Emolga despite having a slight disadvantage. Her Zebstrika was taken out by an earthquake

[@rachow2371]

now that you mention it, im sure it didnt start in sinnoh, but pearl was the game i grew up on and i was Obsessed with the fact Roark had a cranidos. i was so jealous until i fought his dad and realized bastidon is p cool too XD man gen 4 was great

[@acetrainerleo483]

Even i feel clemont should have a dedenne. Which would be a nice nod to the anime. Least falkner and bugsy had least 1 johto pokemon in the anime

[@emperorcubone]

Well, the games would've been first, but maybe that's another thing we missed out on by never seeing a Z Version...

[@fireembliam9090]

Or Luxury.

[@ImyIsStillHere]

@@fireembliam9090 Clemont deserves luxray

[@MysteryGuradian]

Thanks for the great Videos it's realy interesting and nice to hear (It is nice Because i am Sick 🤧 and Just to hear Something Fells good)

[@jonmcknight18]

Raihan is more of a sandstorm specialist then Dragon

[@rayyaninspookymonth1630]

2:44 what about Pokemon of that type that have a secondary type that can resist or be straight-up immune to a type it's weak to?

[@bathilra5364]

I am so happy that in the new games will be more like in universe for being a trainer

[@Watch-0w1]

I love the type specialist using unique strategies. It's almost sponsoring the type. It also reminds me of the Pokemon TCG,. Where each pokémon type have a unique strategy. Like fire it's all about gathering energy and burst in g one single attack. Electric is bringing down lightning strike that hurt your own Pokemon.

[@ggrarl]

The TCG also combines several types into one energy - Grass includes Bug, Psychic includes Ghost and Fairy, Water includes Ice, Dark includes Poison, Fighting includes Ground and Rock...maybe the gyms should try using multiple Types (like the Dojos in Temtem)

[@jumborancher]

I know this was about gym leaders but E4 Flint in DP sinnoh only having Infernape and Rapidash as his fire types, but they did *improve* it in Pt

[@kylesmith9573]

I agree with your picks but inhave to ask a question. Did you seriously claim that platinum and emerald, the definitive versions of gen 3 and 4, and main reason for them being considered by most to be the best gens were barely played? The moment they came out the others became basicaly irrelevant and people are still begging to this day for emeralds battle frontier to come back.

[@emperorcubone]

I was just going by the sales numbers; they are to this day the second and third Worst selling Pokemon games ever, only behind Crystal. Obviously the people that played the games loved them, but yeah nobody really bought them, which is probably why they decided to stop making them.

[@renshipeter157]

Don't blame Clemont for only having 3 moves. Every Kalos leaders Pokemon only have 3 moves Edit: Blame Clemont. After double checking the only gym leader Pokemon after Clemont that only has three moves are Valerie's Mawile and Wulfrics Abomasnow.

[@emperorcubone]

That's not true; most Pokemon in the last three gyms have a full moveset...

[@renshipeter157]

@@emperorcubone you are 100% right I was misremembering. The only gym leader Pokemon after Clemont that only have 3 moves is Valerie's Mawile and Wulfrics Abomasnow

[@ImyIsStillHere]

He's too busy inventing mew two hands to come out of his back pack to worry about catching pokémon. Except In the manga when he has a flipping army of them

[@fouraztecas6342]

the staryu reference was amazing...my cousin n i were terrified of onyx when i was 8 in 99..the voltorb n raichu in the lt. gym . n the rest..availability references in gyms are dumb

[@bowtieguy85]

Roxanne from hoenn having 2 geodudes

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

Eh no? A Geodude and nosepass

[@Zackattackback]

Pronouncing Delibird like "delivered" instead of Deli-bird makes so much more sense.

[@colew-e5x]

So I remaked using ai so it may not be the best way for but here my remade Striaton City gym Gym Name: “Unova Elemental Café Gym” Gym Leaders: 1. Cilan (Grass-type specialist) 2. Chili (Fire-type specialist) 3. Cress (Water-type specialist) Gym Badge: Trio Harmony Badge Gym Puzzle: The gym has three interconnected sections, each specializing in one of the three types. Trainers must defeat the Gym Leaders in sequential order, starting with Cilan, then Chili, and finally Cress. Each section is themed to represent the Gym Leader’s type: 1. Cilan’s Café: • The Grass-type section resembles a cozy café filled with hanging plants and flower arrangements. • Trainers face Grass-type Pokémon challenges and café-related puzzles, like serving orders to Pokémon customers. 2. Chili’s Grill: • The Fire-type section simulates a fiery kitchen with flaming grills and hot stoves. • Trainers battle Fire-type Pokémon and solve challenges involving extinguishing flames and navigating through a sizzling kitchen. 3. Cress’s Aquarium: • The Water-type section resembles an underwater wonderland with bubbling streams and a serene aquatic environment. • Trainers take on Water-type Pokémon and solve water-related puzzles, such as manipulating water levels and avoiding underwater currents. Cilan’s Team: 1. Lilligant (Grass) 2. Leavanny (Grass/Bug) 3. Simisage (Grass) Chili’s Team: 1. Pansear (Fire) 2. Sawk (Fighting) 3. Darmanitan (Fire) Cress’s Team: 1. Panpour (Water) 2. Basculin (Water) 3. Ludicolo (Water/Grass)

[@Malik_Maverick]

I think a cool thing they should have done especially in G1 is revamp the TMs they gym leasers give you. Like Brock giving you Bide? I get it somewhat because if you have a Rock type that can take a few hits then dish it out, it’s fine but most people can pick up on super effective moves. I think Brock should have given the player Rock Slide and the little girl that gives you the TM for that could give you either the Bide TM or another one. It’d be so cool to have such a strong move early in the game especially with so many Bug/Flying/Fire types. Misty’s Bubblebeam is cool I guess but I found myself just stick to Bubble/Water Gun until I could get Surf. Thunderbolt is obviously amazing from LT. Surge. Mega Drain is meh 🫤 Toxic is cool, Psywave is garbage - I usually just sell it because almost every PKMN that can learn PW can learn Psychic and I can just trade it to my G2 game and teach it Psychic then trade it back since the TM is buyable in G2. Fire Blast I realized as I got older is not worth it over Flamethrower due to its lower accuracy and PP - and I think all ‘mons that learn FB can learn FT so I just do the G1 to G2 move tutor thing again 😅 Earthquake is cool especially since Dig does the same amount of damage in G1 and you don’t have the EQ mechanic of hitting Dig in that gen, so you can have 2 hard-hitting ground moves in one team.

[@thecoffeeneverfails]

So looking at the new games my main hope is that they at least make the gym or equivalent follows the Pokémon journeys explanation so we can get some replay value of the main game

[@rjd-kh8et]

Clemont would have been even easier if he had a Dedenne instead of Emolga, since Dedenne lacks the Ground-type immunity.

[@peggingthestallion6365]

We need one for rivals or random battles

[@tanandalynch9441]

Also at least in BW2 they only have Cheren be the normal gym leader. The normal gym was removed and Straition gym became purely a restaurant

[@________ess]

We know that volkner could have used a rotom seeing as he has one in the pokemon journeys anime, where it worked well

[@MazterP28]

I wish gen 2 all the gym leaders had the new Pokémon. Like Faulkner gets hoot Hoot at night, and pidgey in the day. Bugsy could use ladybug, and spinark at night. Whitney Is okay, morty should of had misdreavus, chuck should of had hitmontop, jasmine should of had scizor and skarmory, pryce should of had sneasel, jynx, piloswine, cloyster, lapras. Claire could have dratini, dragonair, seadra, and kingdra with dragon rage and dragon breath and outrage.

[@talenstout8324]

IT’S TO EARLY FOR THOSE NEW UNOVA POKÉMON, YOU CAN’T FIND THEM YET. IT’S TO EARLY FOR DREEPY, IT’S TO EARLY FOR THOSE STATS OR 4 MOVES.

[@Radnick0024]

For most of R/B/Y, I give them a break since they didn't have much Pokémon to work with, but the Poison Gym... why tf did they use mostly Drowzee, Kadabra, Sandslash, and a few Arboks?? Not to mention Koga just has a family of Koffings and a Muk. Excuse me?? Kanto's _most prominent_ type is Poison, and you only used 3 species in the entire gym?? Koga's team in Yellow was even worse, 3 Venonats and a Venomoth. In the anime-- which Yellow was heavily based off of-- he has only 1 Venonat that evolved and a Golbat. Just... wtf? No Nidorans? Tentacruel? Beedrill? Vileplume? Victreebel? Gengar? Like c'mon.

[@marcoasturias8520]

Honestly, I hope someday Pokémon will stop the type gyms in favor of strategy gyms. Like, having a status problem specialist, a booster, set up, tank, etc

[@emperorcubone]

Don't forget Trick Room! At least one region could go with theme gyms, but that would be a little harder for small kids to grasp than just, "use Water against this one."

[@Pizza7478]

It would honestly make more sense for what the Gyms are supposed to be lorewise, a test. I can see a first Gym being like "Lol you figured out Type Matchups right?" but all of them being that? No. Instead they should start with that, but have every Gym after using more and more complex strategies and tactics. Would serve as a better learning experience as well.

[@nathanlamont9920]

that would require them actually working on the A.I that can only win because one not playing the game in YEARS or Hax. The game sells like hotcakes so no need for them to really change much.

[@drakemore7784]

Before you start, Bugsy. Level 12 and 13 metapod and kakuna. OMG evolve them, they might have been tougher to beat

[@zacmayes2802]

Just finished playing black 2 a day ago. I won against elesa when my snivy got a crit and accuracy drop using leaf tornado. To be fair I was under leveled lol

[@DrakeKnight99]

See that's why use themes in my region Like i have one that's a haunted house and she uses ghost, bug, dark, poison and the like cause they spooky The only one I have so fsr that's mono type is my water gym and that's they're food themed

[@bluntizard4481]

Where is Lance and his ILLEGAL Dragonites

[@tacobowler]

Bugsy literally focuses on spinerak in his interior decorating! But can’t even have one on his team?

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, if HGSS could change up the inside so drastically why couldn't they touch the team?

[@Timmothy_plays]

You know what didn't make sense? Korrina showing off her *MEGA* Lucario, giving YOU a Lucario AND it's mega stone, all before you even reach her gym,.... AND THEN NOT EVEN USING HER *MEGA LUCARIO* IN THE GYM BATTLE!!! Seriously what the heck was GF thinking with the Kalos Gyms?!?!

[@dominicstevens4499]

Makes perfect sense he pressed B