Gym Leaders/Elite Four Speculation

[Dedenne1]

I want a freaking dark type gym i mean comeon we have 6 gens it needs to come soon! Plus id love to see a fairy E4's room thatd be cool!

 

[Rivvon]

Dark type Gym. That's all I ask. Failing that...

I actually want to see the Gyms NOT employ a strict one-type deal. Maybe have Gyms be based around certain strategies, have Gyms do a central theme to them having types centered around that theme. Stuff like that.

See, I used to feel the same way. I would love, for example, a Psychic/Electric Dual-Type Gym where the Gym Leaders are a Double Battle game show host and assistant, or a Water/Fire Dual-Type Gym whose Leader is a fireman.

But my concern is, if that were to happen, we would never get a true Dark-Type Gym, because it would be half Dark, half something else.

Once we get a real Dark-Type Gym, though, I'd be so ready for dual-Type Gyms, or "themed" Gyms (I can imagine Whitney running one of those under the "cute" theme, now that her team is one Fairy- and one Normal-Type Pokémon, for example).

I actually watched this video by a YouTube named MysticUmbreon which is his theory on why Dark-type Gyms currently don't exist. Apparently he points out that Gym Leaders are meant to be a positive, role-model figure who serves to run and protect their city/town, and with Dark-type being called "Evil" in Japan it seems to be against that kind of role.

I totally get that. But the Elite Four can also be seen as positive role models, and we've had three of them specialize in Dark-Types. Our first Dark Elite Four specialist, Karen, is especially noteworthy in how she encourages the player to use Pokémon that they love, rather than simply picking the "strong ones." So ultimately I don't think the Japanese name of the Type should deter Game Freak from making a Dark-Type Gym.

I think something cool might be version exclusive leaders for the last gym! For the Sun version we could have a Fairy typed gym leader and for Moon we could finally get that much anticipated Dark gym leader. BW had this but both were a Dragon leader so this would be a little different. Would be cool to have a little more distinction between the two games :)

As much as I'd like to see version-exclusive Gym Leaders that take BW's method one step further by being different Types, personally I'd rather the Dark-Type Gym not be a part of that. Not only because I'd rather the Dark-Type Gym be canon in all playthroughs, and because I feel it would fall under the same category of "not being enough of a Dark-Type Gym because in the other game there's a different Type Gym" ... but because I normally pick my game based on the mascot, but in that case I'd have to buy the one that has the Dark Gym regardless of whether I like the mascot and other version-exclusive stuff or not...






That all being said, no Dark-Type Gym, no buy I'm hoping the Dark Gym is late-game, 7th or 8th, so it can really make up for all those gens of not having one.

 

[LilBueno]

Personally, I'd love to be able to rematch the Gym Leaders. Maybe a system like Origins implied where you can go back to the first Leader after gaining more badges and his/her team and levels change depending on how many badges you have.

Like someone said, I'd like both the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 to have more of a role in the overall region than simply battle once and move on.

 

[Flowerchild]

I want...

Gyms
1st: Dark(first dark gym)

I disagree. I want a Dark gym as much as anyone, but if it ends up being the first gym it'll probably just be Poocheyana and Mighteyana or something else really boring. Wouldn't you prefer a Dark gym as the 7th or 8th gym with some really cool new high-level Dark-types?

 

[MarinoKadame]

Flying was only used once as the first gym and I remember it was hard for most people.

 

[jombii]

Not a big-fan of giving names to things. However, since it is speculated that the new region is based on off singapore, I now want a Water-type gym based on Marina Bay sands or even the Merlion. We could even have a Grass-type gym based on Garden's by the bay. Or a shopping-style Electric gym based on Orchard. It'd be a cool concept. Really cool.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

They could always have the Dark type gym leader pull a Giovanni and Malva on us. I think an antagonistic gym leader would make sense if they want to focus on role-model gym leaders, this person would be the obvious exception. Or maybe a character who tries to show that Evil types aren't really evil. It'll make for an interesting gym leader imo. Fairy and Dark or Psychic and Dark exclusives is something I can see happen. Or maybe a pair of twins. In a way we'll get a dual type gym.

 

[Salzorrah]

Grass and Fairy Gym Leaders and Elite Four please :3

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I agree with having a Flying type elite four member.

I'd also like to see Normal, Grass and Electric elite four members.

As for the dark type gym leader. Personally I'd like to someone who was friendly and normal looking, maybe even a little plain...but with a vicious streak. I think it would be interesting for the gym leader to be deceptive in some way.

 

[DataFile]

I would like to have elite 4 be made of NPC's who served a part in game's story before,
(such as being "help me find my x" type of character) it could remind players of the quirky quests that they had in their adventure and give ending more closure.

 

[pkmin3033]

Anyone else want the Elite Four and Champion to be antagonists? It's a little dark for a Pokemon game (not the manga, though) but I'd love it if the E4 were the four executives of the evil team, with the Champion being the boss. That'd make it a lot more personal and interesting when you took them down in the Pokemon League.

 

[LilyGardy]

I disagree. I want a Dark gym as much as anyone, but if it ends up being the first gym it'll probably just be Poocheyana and Mighteyana or something else really boring. Wouldn't you prefer a Dark gym as the 7th or 8th gym with some really cool new high-level Dark-types?

Being late game has is still unmemorable if the Leader does nothing. Look at Valerie in XY. The first ever Fairy Leader and had no story relevance.

If we get a Dark Gym most will be happy even if it is early on and can be swept by whatever early game Bug there is this time.

Dark has already had representation in three of the Elite Fours tied with Ghost, Dragon and Psychic who had a Gen more. I'd like to see more variation in the Elite Four something like:

1. Rock
2. Grass
3. Normal
4. Fairy

 

[Nekaku]

What if we get a mix from past games? So like Brock,Falkner,Bugsy,Drayden? I say this due to what looked like Red from behind in one of the images. That or you can customize your look again and this time they went all out with options.

 

[Rambler]

I have a couple of ideas for gym leaders; One would be a dark type gym leader with a biker gang motif, with the gym looking like an auto shop, and the gym leader himself resembling Ron Perlman's character from Sons of Anarchy.

In contrast, the second gym leader would be a ground type gym leader, and would be a young girl, very (what's the word?) "Earthy." Often seen wearing a brown hoodie and shorts. Enjoys mud baths.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

All I want from the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four is to not use Pokémon from the same family line and Pokémon not associated with their mono-type team. We don't want another Norman and DP Flint situation do we?

Anyone else want the Elite Four and Champion to be antagonists? It's a little dark for a Pokemon game (not the manga, though) but I'd love it if the E4 were the four executives of the evil team, with the Champion being the boss. That'd make it a lot more personal and interesting when you took them down in the Pokemon League.

I've actually thought of that idea for my Pokémon/Mario crossover idea, where Bowser and his minions take over a region, and after beating all 7 Koopalings + Bowser Jr., you have to deal with his four executives before facing him.

 

[Hikamaru]

All I want from the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four is to not use Pokémon from the same family line and Pokémon not associated with their mono-type team. We don't want another Norman and DP Flint situation do we?

I'm pretty sure we'll get a big enough regional Dex so that we won't get another situation like this. Even in X/Y, there was a notable amount of diversity in the trainers' teams, even the regular trainers.

 

[firekid115]

I don't really care about the typings of the gyms this time around, although it has been a while since we've had a fire type gym. I'd also like a leader or e4 member who specializes in the poison type.

However, my biggest concern about the leaders are their designs and plot relevance. I kinda miss when the leaders just looked like ordinary people that had lives outside of their gym. Just for comparison. . . .

The X/Y designs are a little too out there for me personally lmao Grant's hair looks really stupid and I'd like to see a return to their older style of character designs/art.

 

[Hikamaru]

The X/Y designs are a little too out there for me personally lmao Grant's hair looks really stupid and I'd like to see a return to their older style of character designs/art.

Interesting point you have. Not that I have anything against Gym Leader designs being more overdesigned, but maybe Sugimori's "return to simplicity" plan might be to give us new Gym Leaders with designs reminiscent of the early generations.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

So I read a suggestion that perhaps to keep with the space them the gym leaders will specialize in a type based on the Japanese names for the planets. Mercury is Water Star, Venus is Gold star (steel), Earth is well kind of different but is related to earth (chi) (Ground), Mars is Fire Star, Jupiter is Wood Star (grass), Saturn is Earth star, Uranus is Sky star irc (Flying), Neptune is Sea king star (Ice or water with the first one being the other), or having Pluto instead of Neptune ( Pluto does surpass Neptune every so often due to it's elliptical orbit) which irc is Underworld star (ghost).

 

[Hikamaru]

So I read a suggestion that perhaps to keep with the space them the gym leaders will specialize in a type based on the Japanese names for the planets. Mercury is Water Star, Venus is Gold star (steel), Earth is well kind of different but is related to earth (chi) (Ground), Mars is Fire Star, Jupiter is Wood Star (grass), Saturn is Earth star, Uranus is Sky star irc (Flying), Neptune is Sea king star (Ice or water with the first one being the other), or having Pluto instead of Neptune ( Pluto does surpass Neptune every so often due to it's elliptical orbit) which irc is Underworld star (ghost).

A planetary naming theme is something I have seen before in Pokemon, with the Team Galactic admins being named after planets. I would love to see something similar done with the Gym Leaders in Sun & Moon, at least the Japanese names.