3rd Gen Favorite Gym Leader?

Winona. What I can say? I've always had a weakness for Flying Pokémon because I never catch any Electric Pokémons or carried any Thunderbolts with me, so she became quite a handful. Back then I wasn't really into different Pokémon typings and all.
Plus she is adorable.

Tate&Liza :D Because psychic is awesome 'n Lunatone/Solrock is double the awesomeness *.*

This is going to sound weird, but Roxanne.... :D

This thread could've really benefited from a poll... :<



Without a doubt, Passion Burn (that is such a strange PokeNav nickname/designation... ) Flannery is my favorite Hoenn Gym Leader of all time. <3 She has/is:

-a great design (which manages to utilize the terrific color of red)
-an utterly awesome type specialty (Fire FTW!)
-a beautiful and unique name (you hardly encounter anyone with this name in real life!)
-a good Gym puzzle (and actually bothers to redesign it for Emerald!)
-cool Pokemon (although I kind of wish her signature Pokemon was slightly more cooler than Torkoal, but I'm not complaining too much, because at least it's not Magcargo.. Torkoal and Slugma/Magcargo aren't that bad, though, and at least she has caught an Arcanine, Rapidash, and Houndoom)
-an absolutely lovely midriff
-is close friends with another hot/cool Gym Leader (Winona, in Pokemon Special, at least)
-rematch quotes that can "kind of" be interpreted differently...
-a reference to "Disco Inferno"/'burn, baby, burn!' in one of her Pokemon World Tournament quotes
-delightfully decked out in denim, and
-all-around hot (in many more ways than one!). ;)

And also, DAT SMILE. 10/10; would be ecstatic if I got to visit the Lavaridge hot springs with her.

Also, I love how a large number of the members posting here seem to favor Flannery. :3

AlexOzzyCake said:

Flannery! She's so firey and exciting, I love her personality and her team is very cool indeed. I would have preferred for her to be a bit stronger and to make more of an appearance both in the games and the franchise in general but I loved the small amounts she was there for and she had the most notable personality by far out of the Hoenn leaders for me. I also liked Wattson's cheerful attitude and Wallace was rather fancy, but Flannery is top for me.

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This. Flannery's personality was just adorable, especially when she attempted to emulate an "elite, tough, and gruff" Gym Leader and later was essentially like "Ah, screw it. Lemme just be myself." I would just love it if she made more appearances in Pokemon media.

Varion said:

I like Wiona, merely because her outfit is somewhat different to everyone elses, It's a cool outfit.
Pluse she's ver cute <3

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Agreed; she's cool too. I love her outfit design, although, for years, her sprite made me think she was sporting the Zettai Ryouiki trope (as in, showing some minor leg/skin with some boots/shoes/stockings/whatever the white things on her legs are <3)... Only did her official Ken Sugimori artwork help to clarify that her outfit has some..interesting yellow rings/cinctures that encircle the upper part of her thigh.

ZachLMedia said:

Flannery. Her gym probably had one of the most mysterious mazes

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I agree; I actually bothered to memorize the Ruby/Sapphire Lavaridge Gym layout because Flannery enthralled me so much! As for Emerald, I keep getting confused each time I go in; I still haven't memorized the new layout to my liking... XD Ironically, it's more advantageous for me to memorize the Emerald layout, as Emerald introduced Gym Leader rematches and you have to navigate Flannery's Gym each time you want to rebattle her.

Really, all of the Hoenn Gym Leaders are top-tier in my book. Other than the extravagant Flannery, you have:

Roxanne, who IMO gives off a Cute Bookworm/Hot Librarian vibe, being a Pokemon Trainer's School honors student and is studious enough to handily kick your butt with Rock-types (in rematches and PWT at least; she kind of has to hold back in your initial match with her). :P

Brawly, who sports an awesome spiky/blue-colored hairstyle and general design overall, trains with freaking Bruno, employs powerful Fighting-type Pokemon, has the gall to teach a Meditite the utterly terrifying Focus Punch in your second Gym Leader match of the game (in Emerald), and even surfs on the side!

Wattson, a determined, cheerful old guy who packs an electrical punch and never throws a match, even at his age (just try going up against him with a Rock-Smashless Grovyle...*shudders*)! I don't know why this guy had to wait until Emerald to use the Hoenn-native Manectric as his signature Pokemon; there are Electrike south and east of Mauville City - they're like right there, dude! Right next to Mauville!

Norman, who's the player's May's dad and all, all-around cool guy, is a literal BA Normal, and wreaks havoc with not one, but two Slaking (and a Blissey as a nefariously annoying bonus). Seeing that Pokemon's name alone is enough to give me flashbacks to battles with this guy. Taking him on without Combusken/Blaziken just seems nightmarish.

Winona, who moves gracefully with the wind, uses a shiny Pokemon (Swellow in the anime at least; I really wish her Emerald team had featured a shiny Swellow as a reference), and utilizes expert tactics to shut down Trainers who think they can just go in Thunderbolting her Pokemon like there's no tomorrow. Oh, and she eventually gets a Dragonite.

Liza & Tate, a tag-team that has a strengthened mental bond and will drain you mentally with their annoying Solrock/Lunatone combo. And double-battle Gym battle FTW!

Wallace, who inundates you with a plethora of Water moves (and still was pretty cool while serving in his Gym Leader capacity), and leveled up rather nicely to the point where he bequeaths his former Gym Leader status to his mentor and eventually assumes the mantle of Champion status (although Steven Stone is forever the true Hoenn Champion to me)!

Juan... Although I prefer the RS order where Steven is Champion, I actually prefer Juan as Sootopolis Gym Leader as opposed to Wallace... His design just seems to "gel" better with the other Hoenn Gym Leaders, what with that sharp outfit and that ravishing blue coat and nice sprite color palette and all. For some reason, his mustache, his French speech in Pokemon Special, and that white thing in his hair makes me think that he's French, but his name and one of the Latin American Pokemon anime narrator's comments suggests that he's Hispanic/Latino... So confusing. @_@



But yeah, Hoenn Gym Leaders reek of awesomeness, have great personalities, designs, and type specialties to boot, and are all-around great, elite, caring people who you would not want to aggravate in an alley or something. Brendan is quite the opportuned guy; one of his best friend's (canon-meshing due to anime, but although I play(-ed) the games as Brendan, I consider Norman to be May's dad...so yeah) dad is a Gym Leader, resides in Hoenn with no less than 3 gorgeous girls who are also Gym Leaders (Flannery, Roxanne, Winona), and wants to be Slateport City's Gym Leader himself! (at least NPC!Brendan does, after commenting about the oddity that a place as big as Slateport lacks a proper Gym)

my favorite is flannery because she freakin hot...did i just say that?

I love Wattson's incredibly jolly sprite, but I HATED battling him. Hands down the hardest gym leader battle in the game for me. On the plus side, once I finally beat him, I'd done enough grinding that I was actually slightly above the power curve for the rest of the game.

Loved Flannery cuz she was hot lol and Wallace was pretty art savvy and cool. I liked pretty much all the Hoenn Gym leaders actually.

Norman was great

I liked the idea of having a father in the games, especially since they actually made him a challenge unlike most of the gyms!

Norman because he can be a challenge and he is your DAD, he shows that the monkeys can be useful to use and his final one can be DEADLY if it can get you with a focus punch.

I liked Flannery because she was sooooo pretty! =) She was my first fictional girl character crush that i had....not that it matters, she's FICTIONAL =(

Wallace cuz he looks calm and chill gym leader

Norman the father with his Slaking

Yeah Norman was the hardest for me.

My favorite leader is Winona, great pokemon, and she's the only one I had difficulty with once

My favourite gym leader is Flannery.. I have many problems to defeat Flannery first time :D
Hot, hot, and hot!

MODE/EDIT:

And Winona, cool pokemons, hard to defeat for me

the battle with the dad was the coolest

henush said:

the battle with the dad was the coolest

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For me is the worst xD

Too easy... But fight against Dad is good idea

Wattson for me. I've always found him the most challenging leader, and considering I play Emerald a fair amount because of monotype challenges, he's always the one that manages to beat me. Generally, I enjoy his personality and that cheeky smile on his sprite is a nice touch. Plus, because of him you get TBolt. That's never gonna harm his rep.

Mine is Watson. He reminds me of my late Great Grandpa and that is the reason I grew on him. He reminds me of my "hot blooded electric" Great grandpa.

None other then one and only NORMAN ! Norman is a really great gym leader he deserve what he is. He is the really man i see in Emerald i really like him. and also his strong normal type Pokemon.

Norman is the Gym Leader of Petalburg City's Gym, known officially as the Petalburg Gym, and the father of the player in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. He is an expert of Normal-type Pokémon, and hands out the Balance Badge to any Trainer who defeats him.

Norman is also the player character's father in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald no matter which gender is selected. The other gender choice (and therefore the rival) is the child of Professor Birch.
Although he is the first Gym Leader encountered, he refuses to battle until the player has at least four Badges. Before stating this, he first introduces the player to Wally (secondary rival) which is when the Pokémon catching tutorial happens. Once he is beaten, he gives the player the Balance Badge.
Norman and his family are originally from Johto. He, as well as the player, have just moved to Hoenn so that he could take up the position of Gym Leader. People have come to describe him as someone who "lives for Pokémon."
Norman also provides special items scanned in via e-Reader to the player.

Norman's Pokemon :

Vigoroth was first seen in There's no Place Like Hoenn after Norman agreed to have an unofficial battle with Ash due to his lack of having less than three Pokémon. After a tough battle with Ash's Pikachu, Vigoroth managed to defeat him. Later, it helped in destroying one of Team Rocket's mechas that was attacking the Gym.
It appeared again in Love, Petalburg Style!, when May, Max, Brock and Kenny saw it hanging from a brunch at a place where Norman keeps his Pokémon. It then hugged Max. Team Rocket also planned to steal it for Giovanni, along with Slakoth and Slaking. When Ash arrived at the forest, Vigoroth fell onto Ash. Ash was happy to see Vigoroth again.
Vigoroth was seen again in Balance of Power, in Ash and Norman's official Gym battle, where it was the second Pokémon used by the Gym Leader. It at first managed to easily dodge Torkoal's Overheat, and knocked out Torkoal with Scratch. After this, it had an intense battle with Ash's Pikachu. Norman ordered Vigoroth to use Scratch, but was surprised when Ash told Pikachu to take the hit. Vigoroth's Scratch attack hit home, but the powerful Pokémon was suddenly paralyzed by Pikachu's innate Static Ability. Seizing the opportunity, Pikachu attacked with Iron Tail, knocking Vigoroth out. However, Pikachu wasted all of his energy, and was also knocked out in the process.
Vigoroth's known moves are Scratch and Flamethrower.


Slaking :

Slaking made its debut in Love, Petalburg Style!, in which it was staying in Norman's greenhouse with the rest of his Pokémon. It later battled against Ash's Grovyle in Ash's Gym Battle against Norman, but was ultimately defeated.

Slakoth :

Norman's Slakoth first appeared in Love, Petalburg Style!, at a forest where Norman keeps his Pokémon. It appeared again in Balance of Power!, during Norman's battle with Ash. The match started with Norman's Slakoth against Ash's Pikachu. Utilizing Pikachu's speed, Ash ordered Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Slakoth dodged this and counterattacked with Shadow Ball. Jumping out of the way, Pikachu attacked with Iron Tail but missed once again as Slakoth leaned out of the way. Dazed, Pikachu was unable to dodge Slakoth's Hidden Power, and was blasted across the arena.
As Pikachu recovered from Hidden Power, Ash realized that he needed to change his strategy. He decided to try Electric attacks and ordered Pikachu to attack with Thunderbolt. However Slakoth dodged this attack as well, and responded with Blizzard. The incredible cold kept Pikachu from attacking back, so Ash recalled him and sent out Torkoal instead. Torkoal used Flamethrower, which easily blasted through Slakoth's Blizzard and scored a direct hit, knocking Slakoth out.
Slakoth's known moves are Shadow Ball, Hidden Power, and Blizzard.


His Pokemon are Mostly the Slakoth family but he also does appearance in Black 2 & White 2 where he use really very Attacking Normal type Pokemon. His name Norman and Normal are kinda same the designer and director give him a very good name that match with Normal :)