5th Gen Your Favorite Unova Gym Leader

The Unova league had a lot of Gym Leaders over the course of two or so years--14 of them, to be precise! Who among them was your favorite, and why?

I really love a lot of them--some like Chili and Drayden for their designs, some like Burgh and Elesa for their quirkiness, and Cheren because...well it's thanks to his development as one of your rivals that I love him so much! But I think my favorite has to be Marlon.

First off, how does someone tan so well? What Marlon has done is seriously impressive. Secondly, I really love how he drives home one of the major points of B2W2's story: he doesn't want to help fight Team Plasma because he has nothing to do with them--he doesn't even know them! So why is he gonna fight battles that aren't his? BW and B2W2 contrast in that BW's story, the protagonist is a "chosen hero"--fighting Team Plasma is their destiny. But in B2W2, you're getting involved to save the Purrloin of your rival-friend's sister whose name you don't even know. It really makes you question if what you're doing is even worth your time. I appreciate that Marlon was able to bring that plot point more into focus. In doing so, he almost serves to make you question the plots of even previous Pokémon games, such as RGBY, where you face off against Team Rocket simply because they're in your general vicinity.

And did I mention Marlon's impressive tan?

It was annoying the poll made me only able to choose one, but I will acknowledge who did get my only vote, and that was Marlon. I love how cool his hair looks, and he uses my fave type. Plus, I love the theme of his Gym and the lilypad puzzle as well.

I also love all but one of the females (sorry Lenora but you're not my type), and the Striaton triplets. Cheren, although a hard first Gym, is awesome too.

Hikamaru said:

It was annoying the poll made me only able to choose one, but I will acknowledge who did get my only vote, and that was Marlon. I love how cool his hair looks, and he uses my fave type. Plus, I love the theme of his Gym and the lilypad puzzle as well.

I also love all but one of the females (sorry Lenora but you're not my type), and the Striaton triplets. Cheren, although a hard first Gym, is awesome too.

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Sorry I made the poll have you pick only one--I did that for me mostly though, because I know I'd just go ahead and pick most if not all of them if given the opportunity, ha ha!

Marlon's hair is cool, I agree. I actually like all the female Gym Leaders in Unova, but it's fine if you don't like Lenora; you can't like everyone, after all. Personally I thought she was really cool and intelligent, and I thought it was really cute how she was married. Although I gotta agree with you on the Striaton Trio, I love them a lot! And I could go on for days about how much I love Cheren, too, ha ha.

My favourite gym leader is Lenora, she had a wonderful personality and her pokemon were actually quite a challenge in my Pokemon Black Nuzlocke. R.I.P Oshy the Dewott...

and HOW is Marlon winning? Marlon is a disgusting waste of code... he did have the nicest gym though.

Marlon ranks second among my favorite gym leaders, next only to Volkner and only after Skyla. The thing I liked him about the most was his "not mine. don't care." attitude. And who the hell dives on the pool inside his gym after you beat him? Not Misty, not Wallace. Marlon. Marlon did an awesome dive. I love it.

Oddball_ said:

My favourite gym leader is Lenora, she had a wonderful personality and her pokemon were actually quite a challenge in my Pokemon Black Nuzlocke. R.I.P Oshy the Dewott...

and HOW is Marlon winning? Marlon is a disgusting waste of code... he did have the nicest gym though.

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But but but his tan! And his application within the central idea of the story!

Although it's nice to see a Lenora fan! I enjoyed how she was implemented into the story, being a museum curator.

Varys said:

Marlon ranks second among my favorite gym leaders, next only to Volkner and only after Skyla. The thing I liked him about the most was his "not mine. don't care." attitude. And who the hell dives on the pool inside his gym after you beat him? Not Misty, not Wallace. Marlon. Marlon did an awesome dive. I love it.

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I remember that! I loved how he just swam away after our battle. He's definitely a laid-back, cool dude.

My pick is Drayden.

His Gym in White 2 is impressive and despite being clearly of advanced years he is presented as very strong and tough. He even wrestles Dragons and his main Pokémon is Haxorus, my favourite Dragon Type.

He is also the Mayor of Opelucid City and comes across as being wise. It is a shame for me that he was not made Champion in the second games instead of Iris.

CharmedGardy said:

My pick is Drayden.

His Gym in White 2 is impressive and despite being clearly of advanced years he is presented as very strong and tough. He even wrestles Dragons and his main Pokémon is Haxorus, my favourite Dragon Type.

He is also the Mayor of Opelucid City and comes across as being wise. It is a shame for me that he was not made Champion in the second games instead of Iris.

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I think being a champion means having to waste alot of time hanging out that the mountain so Drayden wouldn't be able to juggle managing the town and making trips to victory road/E4 even if iris was left in charge of the gym.

Iris also has too much free time on her hands, is strong, is considered a genius and already has experience as a gym leader. I can understand why she was chosen to be the figurehead of the pokeleague. Personally I would have prefered if Catherin became the new champ(due to her extensive experence as a battle brain) and Lenoria took her place to show how scary audino is properly leveled up

As for my fav gym leader is clay due to him being able to transfrom a rundown shipping town into a busting tourist trap that rivals ninbasa city.

I rather liked Lenora. I think I have a soft spot for anyone with an afro. She also had some character development in the sequel, which is cool.

My favorite Unova Gym Leader is Clay. He's a cowboy with a cool manner of talking, he was good with construction, and he usually proves a pretty good challenge with the team he uses, particularly Excadrill. So yeah, he's my favorite of them.

Cilan, because i loved the pansage from the anime :)

CharmedGardy said:

My pick is Drayden.

His Gym in White 2 is impressive and despite being clearly of advanced years he is presented as very strong and tough. He even wrestles Dragons and his main Pokémon is Haxorus, my favourite Dragon Type.

He is also the Mayor of Opelucid City and comes across as being wise. It is a shame for me that he was not made Champion in the second games instead of Iris.

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Drayden is one of my favorites, too. He has a cool design and I think it's great how he's this buff old guy with the most impressive beard ever who wrestles Dragons and acts as mayor of one of the coolest cities.

llysender said:

I think being a champion means having to waste alot of time hanging out that the mountain so Drayden wouldn't be able to juggle managing the town and making trips to victory road/E4 even if iris was left in charge of the gym.

Iris also has too much free time on her hands, is strong, is considered a genius and already has experience as a gym leader. I can understand why she was chosen to be the figurehead of the pokeleague. Personally I would have prefered if Catherin became the new champ(due to her extensive experence as a battle brain) and Lenoria took her place to show how scary audino is properly leveled up

As for my fav gym leader is clay due to him being able to transfrom a rundown shipping town into a busting tourist trap that rivals ninbasa city.

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While I played through Black and Black 2, so Iris was never a Gym Leader for me, I have to agree with you--as capable as Drayden is when it comes to the potential for being a Champion, he strikes me as the kind of guy who wouldn't take the position because his mayoral duties come first (and because he'd be happy to give Iris the chance to take the spot as Champion--seems like he's a softie deep down!).

Pendraflare said:

My favorite Unova Gym Leader is Clay. He's a cowboy with a cool manner of talking, he was good with construction, and he usually proves a pretty good challenge with the team he uses, particularly Excadrill. So yeah, he's my favorite of them.

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Now that you mention it, I also remember having a bit of a hard time with Clay's team. The whole idea behind him is cool, though, I admit; a sort of prospector-esque figure who built his empire from the ground-up.

Marlon, no doubt about it. That dude takes the same, "play for fun" attitude that I have most of the time these days (unless someone haxes me on the ladder). His design and Gym are also great.

I like Roxie, She's a rocker and i like musical characters

Tie between Elesa and Clay.

Best design vs. Best character

Eros said:

I... I really love Burgh. Right down to the little bit we see of him, to his design, to his type speciality and back down to his gym designs and sweet, sweet theme in B2W2. Elesa & Skyla are just behind

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Aaaah it's really cool to see a Burgh fan! I really love how eccentric he is, and I also love that he's a painter; I feel like he doesn't get enough appreciation, to be honest.