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6th Gen The Kalos Gym Leaders

Dragon

Dragon

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So guys, how did you like the Kalos Gym Leaders? Y'know, personally, I don't think they really "stand out" or "woooow" others because often enough, I totally forget who they are, and personally I think they're pretty easy to deal with. But still, I'd thought I'd make this a general discussion about them:



Anywho, just as a memory refresher: on this game, you have to battle 8 gym leaders: Viola, the Bug Leader, Grant, the Rock leader, Korrina, the Fighting Leader, Ramos, the Grass Leader, Clemont, the Electric leader, Valerie, the Fairy Leader, Olympia, the Psychic Leader, and Wulfric, the Ice Leader. All not too hard to battle against in my opinion, but all are pretty unique just the same.

Still, if you had to choose, who would be your favourite Gym Leader in Kalos? How easy or hard did you find the Gym Leaders? What did you think of the Gym Leaders in Kalos in general? Were they to your liking, or would you like to see more of them in the future or so? What do you think of the Gym Leaders in general? Feel free to discuss!
 
Consulting Detective

Consulting Detective

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Dragon said:
Still, if you had to choose, who would be your favourite Gym Leader in Kalos? How easy or hard did you find the Gym Leaders? What did you think of the Gym Leaders in Kalos in general? Were they to your liking, or would you like to see more of them in the future or so?!
Click to expand...

My favourite Gym Leader would have to be Valerie, just simply due to aesthetics.
400px-XY_Valerie.png

I didn't really find it all too challenging to find the Gym Leaders, which I thought was either due to (poor-ish?) game design or me just being more intuitive now that I'm older, so the game was a lot easier to navigate. Or maybe a combination of both? Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the Gym Leaders. The number of Pokemon in each one's team didn't increase to the extent that it has been in previous games, and that made it a lot easier to manage.

I was hoping that it'd be possible to go back and rebattle them, but that wasn't a feature in this version of the game, which is unfortunate.

I did enjoy their new designs, though. It was really nice to have the small introductory animation before each battle, and their Pokemon were balanced nicely.
 
Cerberus87

Cerberus87

Mega Houndoom, baby!
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Clemont aka Mousse from Ranma 1/2 is my favorite. He provides comic relief.

My lack of care about them is probably because I've only played through XY once.
 
Fun Size

Fun Size

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I like Wulfric the most out of all the gym leaders. He seems to really care about what happens to Pokemon even if they're not his shown by Pokemon Village.


300px-XY_Wulfric.png

Also (according to Bulbapedia), it is said he is "rumored to keep a photo of his dearest Pokémon in the locket he wears around his neck." I don't know why but I find this really nice. Maybe it's that fact that he looks tough and intimidating, but he is actually a nice person in real life.
 

JVS

The very best.
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It's true when you say that Kalos gym leaders don't stand up high enough when compared to other regions. Anyways, I liked each one of them (except Ramos) in a unique way. I found them easy to deal with, yes, but not that easy. My favourite must be Viola, because she was my first impact on the gym leaders of Kalos, and I lost to her on my first attempt. The others, it's easy to forget about them. Of course, Clemont is in the anime, it is the most well known, as Korny is, but it doesn't matter to me.

These gym leaders are as notable as the gym leaders in Unova or Sinooh.
 

Garchomp

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I really didn't think they were that memorable outside Korrina and Clemont. Then again, a lot of gym leaders from previous regions weren't that memorable either, so...
 

Pendraflare

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My favorite has to be Clemont, as I like the design of his gym's battlefield, and he has that cool arm that he sends out at you before you fight him. And his catchphrase, on how the future is now, THANKS TO SCIENCE!
 
Alfieri

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I thought Wulfric was the most chill guy (ugh).
He was an old dude that didn't have to speak philosophically. He just liked to battle and that was awesome. I don't really have any other favorite gym leader from Kalos.

Valerie's eyes creep me out though.
 
Dragon

Dragon

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My favourite Kalos Gym Leader? Hm, it's a tie between Valerie and Korrina~ Valerie? Well, because her appearance is way out there:

400px-XY_Valerie.png


Yeah, like first is the obvious outfit, haha. I guess she's going for the whole butterfly/fairy look? Still, it looks pretty weird, but downright awesome at the same time, and then there's her eyes.. I dunno, at first, I thought she readied her eyes like some sort of moth, but then I realize that.. they're actually pretty normal? Which, eh, it's a small point, but, I guess another reason why she looks so.. different, aha.

And yes, I mentioned Korrina before too; mostly because she doesn't 'look' like a fighting gym leader but oddly enough, it kinda works well as a simple rollerskater design!

tumblr_nckia2byVS1sr6y44o1_500.gif


I JUST wished that she used her Mega Lucario in her Gym Battle instead of a seperate battle near the tower.. I think it'd be way more epic that way! Otherwise, yeah, I think her lore is pretty interesting, in which I hope we cna see more of her soon!
 

RaRa91

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I didn't feel that the Kalos gym leaders were any more or less memorable than those of other regions. I guess people may think that because the games are still new and we haven't had years to play them. I'm sure they'll pop up in future generations to come and the memories will come flooding in.

As for my favorite Kalos gym leader, it would have to be Korinna.
 
Hiatus

Hiatus

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For me, one favorite is Valerie, the fairy-type Gym Leader.

Fairy is a new type in Pokémon X and Y, and I feel they had done a nice job here to show it off by giving this typing its own leader, in a way. This helps make it more out there, so to speak, and the more fans see fairy-types, the easier it will become for it to be accepted by audience, in a way.

Put that aside, her design is also rather nice-looking, which I'm indeed fond of! Her team, alongside, was pretty challenging as well; when I'd first faced her, I certainly could not get her beaten. I had to go up against Valerie twice to actually get her defeated. When it comes to putting together this particular Gym Leader and whatnot, I feel they have done an excellent job!
 

Hikamaru

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My fave of the Kalos Gym Leaders is a tie between Valerie, Olympia and Clemont.

Valerie is the first ever Fairy-type Gym Leader and I can pretty well say her design sums up so much of the type's general traits, they look mysterious but still a force to be reckoned with in battle. I also love her Gym's design, which ties in well with her secondary occupation which is a fashion designer.

Olympia is one who I mainly loved for design, and her Gym is really beautiful with that stars theme which is also easily present in the starry sky pattern on her cape and has star-shaped earrings. Also, speaking in haiku is what makes her a unique character in my thoughts.

As for Clemont, I really like him in the anime and he uses some of my fave Electric-types such as Heliolisk and Emolga. Also, how can you not love a nerdy inventor like him? He was essentially one of the first XY characters I fell in love with.
 

Bellsprout

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I didn't care for most of them and in battle they weren't that memorable either. I do have to say though I really love Valerie. I love her design, the type she represents, her city was my favorite, and her gym was pretty cool. I think she brings an eerie factor to the fairy type that I really like to see it associated with.
 
giradialkia

giradialkia

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I don't really know why - maybe it's because I've been playing as long as I have (and I shudder to think the series might be getting a little stale for me) - but the Kalos Gym Leader's were a little disappointing on the whole. Their designs were fine, and all that jazz, but it just felt very much like they didn't have much character behind them, for the first time in a long while. Viola takes pictures and has a sister - really feels like they just dropped that when there could have been more of a story to it. Cliff climbs rocks. Korrina? Don't get me started. Though my judgement is partially clouded by the fact that I battle her like 3 times before FINALLY getting the darn Mega Stone. Then Ramos is just and old gardener. Clemont... actually he seemed to give off a SMIDGE of character, along with his sister. And not because they're in the anime (I've yet to even watch that).

To get to the point, very few of the gym leaders had much.. 'to them', so it was hard to feel like beating them was an accomplishment, added to the fact that they just weren't that challenging to battle, either.
 
Nah

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giradialkia said:
I don't really know why - maybe it's because I've been playing as long as I have (and I shudder to think the series might be getting a little stale for me) - but the Kalos Gym Leader's were a little disappointing on the whole. Their designs were fine, and all that jazz, but it just felt very much like they didn't have much character behind them, for the first time in a long while. Viola takes pictures and has a sister - really feels like they just dropped that when there could have been more of a story to it. Cliff climbs rocks. Korrina? Don't get me started. Though my judgement is partially clouded by the fact that I battle her like 3 times before FINALLY getting the darn Mega Stone. Then Ramos is just and old gardener. Clemont... actually he seemed to give off a SMIDGE of character, along with his sister. And not because they're in the anime (I've yet to even watch that).

To get to the point, very few of the gym leaders had much.. 'to them', so it was hard to feel like beating them was an accomplishment, added to the fact that they just weren't that challenging to battle, either.
Click to expand...
I agree with you that while the Gym Leader designs themselves were fine, they were kind of lacking in character. Thing is though, most Gym Leaders in the games have been that way.



IDK why Game Freak didn't give us a Dark type gym leader this time though. That is STILL the only type to not have a gym. Yet we've had an Electric type leader in every region but Johto (Lt.Surge in Kanto, Wattson in Hoenn, Volkner in Sinnoh, Elesa in Unova, and Clemont in Kalos), but there's been 3 times Dark has been an Elite 4 type (Karen in Johto, Sidney in Hoenn, Grimsley in Unova). C'mon Game Freak.
 
Emboar

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My favorite Kalosian gym leader would have to be Wulfric. When I first saw his silhouette, I thought he'd be a big, tough, angry gym leader. His name also sounds frightening. But while playing, I found out that he's actually a soft, caring gym leader, unlike what I thought. His gym is the type I like, being difficult to navigate.
 
bobandbill

bobandbill

one more time
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giradialkia said:
I don't really know why - maybe it's because I've been playing as long as I have (and I shudder to think the series might be getting a little stale for me) - but the Kalos Gym Leader's were a little disappointing on the whole. Their designs were fine, and all that jazz, but it just felt very much like they didn't have much character behind them, for the first time in a long while. Viola takes pictures and has a sister - really feels like they just dropped that when there could have been more of a story to it. Cliff climbs rocks. Korrina? Don't get me started. Though my judgement is partially clouded by the fact that I battle her like 3 times before FINALLY getting the darn Mega Stone. Then Ramos is just and old gardener. Clemont... actually he seemed to give off a SMIDGE of character, along with his sister. And not because they're in the anime (I've yet to even watch that).

To get to the point, very few of the gym leaders had much.. 'to them', so it was hard to feel like beating them was an accomplishment, added to the fact that they just weren't that challenging to battle, either.
Click to expand...
I'll agree that a number of them felt pretty one-dimensional at best. I think part of the problem is that these games followed on from 5th generation which was by far better with its Gym Leaders. Like or hate them, they all had some interaction with you outside of the gym, many with a hand in plot events. B2W2 even threw in bonus extra 'flashback' scenes for gym leaders. They felt much more real... and then here barely any gym leader dared to step outside, even given the circumstances.

Even the Champion was hardly seen, a rarity for Pokemon games outside of the Kanto games. ORAS even showed a few Gym Leaders outside of their gyms post-game, at least. It's better than what XY offered in this regard. Couple that with the sudden insistence that XY Gym Leaders would only have up to three Pokemon? Terrible.
 
atmmachine11

atmmachine11

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Wait Kalos had Gym Leaders? Oh right....too be honest, all joking aside, I forgot like all of them. I beat them so easily and quickly it did not really matter. The only one that was a bit hard was Clemont cause I purposely brought weaker level Pokemon just to give myself a challenge. He's cool.
 
Meganium

Meganium

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I wasn't all too impressed with Ramos as a grass-type leader, and this is coming from a grass-type fan. I didn't like the format, and Ramos just sounded ehhh. I expected more from that gym.

However, Valerie was the most challenging of all. Had to challenge her several times because her Sylveon really packed a punch, and I didn't have anyone that would take advantage against it. I guess I have mixed emotions with most gyms. But I still enjoyed them nonetheless.
 

Guest123123

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I really hope Z or whatever the follow up to XY is has more Gym Leader involvement. The only one who was important outside their gym was Korrina. I did like how Wulfric took care of Pokemon in the Pokemon Village, and that would be nice to see expanded on in some kind of subplot or sidequest. It would be neat to be able to compete in Cyllage's cycling races too with Grant being to them as Lisia is to contests. I honestly thought we would be able to do the races when it was first mentioned in-game.

As for my favorite, it's Valerie. I love her costume, her dollhouse gym including the outside with the treehouse and clock (warp tiles are getting old, though), the Fairy type, and her overall appearance. I don't find her eyes creepy at all. I find them enchanting. I have a thing for unnatural eye colors in general, and Valerie's outfit and personality enhance their appeal.
 
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