Should the series have gyms that don't focus on a single type?

[Sheep]

Pokémon gyms in the series tend to focus on a single type, and have less/almost none/sometimes even not a single Pokémon that doesn't have that type. Some have more different types than others, but they still tend to be a minority for the most part and are often dominated by a specific type.

Do you like gyms in the series having type focuses? Would you like to see them have a variety of Pokémon instead?

 

[Orion☆]

Yes, I love type-focused Gyms! They're practical for beginning/returning players to start getting the hang of the type chart. That said, I do wish there were more cohesion in the kind of teams that single-type Gym Leaders usually get. Oftentimes, they're just Pokémon of a certain type slapped together with no rhyme or reason; I wish there were more of a theme to them, such as physical/special attackers.

I also believe single-typed Gyms absolutely can and should co-exist with dual-typed ones and gimmick-based ones - but do leave the latter for the endgame, so as to give the aforementioned audience (and even fairly advanced players) a chance to figure out a strategy.

 

[ReKoil]

hmmm... yes. I do feel like most of the Gym Leaders are a tad on the easy side though. Maybe just make the Gym leader a forced Dual Battle to spice things up a bit?

I did also like the totem stuff from Alola though. Would not mind a gym where you like have to do a couple tasks, then fight a Totem Pokemon to prove yourself worthy to the Gym Leader so you can fight them. Instead of the usual slog of gym trainers.

 

[Duck]

I think future games could afford to shake up the formula, yeah. In many way SM and SwSh were testing the water with more complex puzzles and I absolutely believe we could start having more complex gym battles as well.

Still, I don't think they should be the only kind of gym battle. Dedicated weather teams can easily be monotype and still be very terrifying, and the gym leader could change the terrain or weather's starting conditions as a kind of "home team advantage" to suit them (e.g.: Steel leader having perma-rain).

As for non standard gym leaders, it can be just something broad as a concept like colors, aesthetics ("cute" Pokemon vs "tough looking" Pokemon), high attack, high speed, etc. Although like Vielleroue said, they probably should go towards the end, yeah.

Maybe just make the Gym leader a forced Dual Battle to spice things up a bit?

Raihan says hello ~

 

[Corveone]

Yes, I think type-based gyms are an outdated and stale formula. I don't see any fun in one-shoting an entire leader's team by just spamming a strong move all of their Pokémon are weak against. Especially against types that don't have good coverage options. What's one supposed to learn from these kind of battles?

I believe they should be based around themes, deciding the leaders' teams based on their personality, jobs, hobbies, battle style, or around specific strategies. Themes can obviously favor certain types (like how you can expect a leader who focuses on cute Pokémon to have some Fairy types, or a specialist in dirty tactics to have Poison and Dark types), but not based literaly on one type.

 

[Zeostar]

Gyms with more theme variety is one of the things I hope for most. It could get highly creative.

 

[ReKoil]

Raihan says hello ~

as do Tate and Liza.
I didn't say there weren't any at all lol

Across 8 gens of Pokemon those two are the only ones I can think of, which is obviously not a lot.

 

[Duck]

as do Tate and Liza.
I didn't say there weren't any at all lol

Across 8 gens of Pokemon those two are the only ones I can think of, which is obviously not a lot.

I meant that Raihan was really only a double battle sand team since half his team (the first battle) wasn't dragon type or even dragon looking.

Tate and Liza on the other hand felt more like random trainers in a route in RS / ORAS.

But Raihan existing the way it does (and the Galar Tournament at the end) is good since it means that Game Freak is starting to experiment a bit with possible gym / league makeups.

 

[colours]

strip type focus from every gym and make them focus on a specific theme, as mentioned in this thread already. physical attackers, special attackers, more bulky pokemon, defensive, you name it. it would make for interesting scenarios for the player to overcome rather than "oh, guess this gym leader uses a fire type, time to sweep with (insert almost any water type here)".

a hot take is that we should have a gym leader that focuses on inverse battling because that has been used once ever and i think a gym leader specializing on gimmicks would be fun.

 

[Explorer of Time]

I think gyms should stay monotype... however, that doesn't mean they can't have themes on top of that. With the sheer variety of Pokemon nowadays, there's plenty of room for weather monotype teams, phys/special monotype teams, defensive monotype teams, et cetera.

The Elite Four, however, I feel should branch out more, like they did in earlier generations.

 

[Devalue]

Wants to see more variety. Hopes to see more gyms like Raihan's, as mentioned above. Should be a mix still. Agrees with Vielleroue about teaching players, especially new ones. Personally likes the idea of:

- Gyms 1-3: Fire, Water, and Grass. Guarantees one good and bad match-up for your starter. Introduces new players to the game better.
- Gym 4: Debuffs. Tosses Charm, Eerie Impulse, Sleep, and Paralysis at you. Encourages you to switch.
- Gym 5: Abilities. Wants to see Protean, Disguise, and Simple (with boosting moves) here.
- Gym 6: Hold items. Prepare for Trick shenanigans. Might use Red Card or Eject Button. Would also like to see Harvest put in work.
- Gym 7: Double battle + weather. Perhaps a rain team with Storm Drain, Water Absorb, and a lot of Surfing? Should not be too optimized, though. Doubts the player to be.
- Gym 8: Terrain. Contains some Seed + Unburden combinations. Rocks you with Expanding Force or Rising Voltage, depending on the terrain.

More options:
- U-turn + Volt Switch gym, much like Elena in Generation 5.
- Heavy Defense or Special Defense, sort of like Wulfric in X/Y. Add in Reflect and Light Screen too.

Aimed to teach mechanics. Shows off several this way. Hopefully demonstrates why [X] can be good and how to use it yourself.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Yes, the series should definitely have gyms that don't focus on a single type. I personally believe that gyms having the same type makes the games much easier than they should be. All that is required to defeat them is to bring one Pokémon that can hit all their Pokémon super-effectively. Instead, I believe gym leaders should specialize in certain strategies instead.

 

[Palamon]

I'd like to see gyms that don't have a singular type focus in Scarlet/Violet, but from the looks of what's known so far, that's not happening, so...

But, yes, I would like that someday. It'd be interesting. They were kind of partway there with the Striaton Gym where they only really had one Pokemon that was the type they're supposed to be, and Raihan whose team was only part Dragon, but I digress.

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

It would be very refreshing for a new formula, but i also dont mind that its stayed similar for so long

 

[IndigoBlue]

It would be cool to have gyms that focus on different regions instead

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Wants to see more variety. Hopes to see more gyms like Raihan's, as mentioned above. Should be a mix still. Agrees with Vielleroue about teaching players, especially new ones. Personally likes the idea of:

- Gyms 1-3: Fire, Water, and Grass. Guarantees one good and bad match-up for your starter. Introduces new players to the game better.
- Gym 4: Debuffs. Tosses Charm, Eerie Impulse, Sleep, and Paralysis at you. Encourages you to switch.
- Gym 5: Abilities. Wants to see Protean, Disguise, and Simple (with boosting moves) here.
- Gym 6: Hold items. Prepare for Trick shenanigans. Might use Red Card or Eject Button. Would also like to see Harvest put in work.
- Gym 7: Double battle + weather. Perhaps a rain team with Storm Drain, Water Absorb, and a lot of Surfing? Should not be too optimized, though. Doubts the player to be.
- Gym 8: Terrain. Contains some Seed + Unburden combinations. Rocks you with Expanding Force or Rising Voltage, depending on the terrain.

More options:
- U-turn + Volt Switch gym, much like Elena in Generation 5.
- Heavy Defense or Special Defense, sort of like Wulfric in X/Y. Add in Reflect and Light Screen too.

Aimed to teach mechanics. Shows off several this way. Hopefully demonstrates why [X] can be good and how to use it yourself.

These are actually some great ideas right here. Maybe Game Freak should hire Devalue for their creative team. lol

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Imo, yes. It would make the series a lot more interesting and probably a little bit more difficult. I mean, even having a good monotype team makes the game harder, but I will never expect from GF to give to the first gym leader 4/5 pokemon lol. Anyway, about strong monotype teams, I found Wallace's one to be quite strong and solid back in gen 3.

 

[chriton]

Wouldn't mind seeing gyms/E4 trainers based on Egg groups.

 

[Corveone]

Wouldn't mind seeing gyms/E4 trainers based on Egg groups.

I just noticed we have a (very few) like that. For instance, Lance and Aaron's teams are actually more based on Dragon and Bug egg groups respectively, rather than the types.

 

[Cosmega]

Yes but also no?
I do think that single-typed gyms are a good way of teaching new players the mechanics of the game and the type advantages and weaknesses.
On the other hand, I guess that themed gyms would be a good idea too, like Raihan, whose team is kinda sandstorm-themed.