Becoming a gym leader. (Theory discussion)

[Nick]

How do you think gym leaders are chosen?
How do you think gyms are formed?

 

[Sydian]

I'm sure only certain towns are chosen to have a gym leader, cause there are some towns without one. Usually the most bustling or historical towns have one (ex. Goldenrod, Opelucid, Sootopolis).

I think perhaps they have some sort of tourney in some places, and then others have a traditional thing of passing it down, such as the Lavaridge gym, since Flannery mentions her grandfather being a gym leader before her. And then apparently some are...hired I guess? Cause if you look at Norman, he moved his family to another region because he got a position there.

I think in regards to how gym leaders are decided upon just depends on the culture of the region, or even just the town/city itself. Cause there are quite a range of stories we see behind the reasons gym leaders are gym leaders. I don't watch the anime, so idk what that says in terms of these things.

As far as forming the gym goes, like I said, only certain towns can have one it seems. I don't have much of a thought on how they're formed though, honestly. In Unova, I find them much more unique, cause in some cases, they don't feel like gyms, they have another purpose. Elesa's gym is an actual runway used for modeling. Clay's gym is an actual mining cave. As for older gyms, idk what to make of theme. Evil cryptic places?

 

[CheekyCat]

Hm... I'm not entirely sure, but I think Sydian has a point. Personally, I think the Elite Four chooses the Pokemon Gym Leaders from a batch of worthy candidates, and it goes from there. As Sydian said, usually the Gym's are located in highly populated areas, so I think that THAT part of it was planned, as wouldn't it make more sense to have a busy/historical/important town/city have a Gym, where tons of trainers are more likely to gather than some rundown city/village/town/island? (*coughcoughCinnabarIslandcoughcough*)

 

[Nick]

I'd say Gyms are formed as a requirement of the Pokemon League, they establish 8 and use them as a training and qualification system for the regions trainers, as well as for the Leader to keep a responsible eye over his community (sort of like a town mayor, I guess) Imagine it like this, The League are admins, Gym Leaders are moderators :) Gym leaders are probably picked from societies trainers for being particularly skilled, knowledgeable and having good leadership skills and a positive approach to training Pokemon. Experience with the local area would be preferred, but as Sydian said, not essential, i.e Norman. Flannery's Grandfather could probably influence the League, but i'm sure she still had to earn the position.

Why do some towns have Gyms and others don't? Small towns are usually not on a major transit route, so they can't support one. Although Lilycove and Slateport Cities in Hoenn are huge, they don't have Gyms, perhaps they don't need or want one. Gyms are so important in the games but their origins are still pretty mysterious and unexplained...

But there are more than 8 gyms in a particular region.