7th Gen Your thoughts on SM not having gyms?

Initially I thought it would be an interesting idea. But I ended up just missing the gyms. The challenges were identical really, except you fought a few low leveled wild Pokémon instead of gym trainers and a strong totem Pokémon instead of a gym leader. Practically it didn't change really, and it ended up being just boring.
 
I liked the attempt to try something new. The captains had interesting gimmicks and quirks to make them stand out from gyms, but I do feel like there could have been some more battling involved. To be the champion your pokemon experience matters most. Not finding out which berries make the best ingredient for a soup.
 
Well it was better than the dumb gym 'challenges' we get nowadays. Paldea's gym challenges are somehow worse than those of Galar.

Gen 7's Trials had it's own charm and I wouldn't mind seeing something like it again, though with Raids and Titans now being a thing doubt it will.
 
It was interesting on paper and was executed pretty well, but some of the trials were just... meh, like the Electric one in Sun/Moon. I'm glad this one was done differently in US/UM. I think it as a nice change of pace from doing gyms for so long, and I would like something like this again someday, but not island trials just trials in general, maybe.
 
Honestly it didn't seem too different to me. We were still battling bosses/leaders in a specific order to progress and defeating a certain amount unlocked the Pokémon League - similar to badges, just without physically handing us a badge at the end. So I got used to it very quickly! Next time I'd love if they could go a more unique route entirely but understand that may not happen since the current formula already works so well.
 
The idea of changing the gym system was really interesting, but trials weren't the right answer. After all, it's pretty much the same thing. The idea wasn't bad, but they could have found another way imo.
I am not saying that gen 8 gym puzzles/challenges were better, even if some actually were, but imo Galar didn't fail to give an order and explanation about how the competitive circuit works in the region. I felt that it kinda finally it made sense for gyms to exist and the different challenges, which were different from just puzzles and battling were a nice touch. Unfortunately they were easy, Gen 9 went back to make gyms loose importance and the puzzles/challenges were even worse. Some gym leaders were a little stronger than the ones in Galar (from my experience).
 
It was a breath of fresh air in my opinion. Not only did Game Freak do something different as opposed to gyms, but they also did something that highlighted cultural differences in the Pokémon world. I really felt like I was in another location experiencing the most of their culture, which was awesome.
 
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