Facing off against periodically appearing enemies that pose a higher degree of challenge than most other enemies has gone by many names, the most common of them being “a boss.” However, Pokemon coined the term, “Gym Leader” for these milestone encounters, even handing out badges in the process of beating them.
Pokémon is such a long-running and beloved series that it is very likely many readers will disagree with whatever order is on this list. There are so many gyms that are great for different reasons. These include memorable characters, inventive floor designs, and the experiences players felt while overcoming the challenging leaders of the gyms.
10 Pewter City Gym (Brock)
Brock was the very first gym leader players faced off against in the first generation of Pokémon games, as well as a beloved main character in the anime adaptation. As a Rock-type gym leader, players who chose Squirtle or Bulbasaur had plenty at their disposal to wipe the floor with him.
However, the most popular starter of this generation was Charmander, leading to a lot of struggle due to the most common Pokémon types leading up to this gym were Bug and Flying — and flying is weak to rock. Luckily, there was one option that players could use, if they chose Charmander, to gain an edge before getting to Pewter City, Diglett.
9 Goldenrod City (Whitney)
Whitney’s Miltank is a thing of nightmares which many players still say gives them shell shock. In a time before easy-to-access gaming guides were readily available for players at any moment, players had to struggle and try to figure out how to overcome this monster’s Rollout.
While many players today know how to overcome this gym leader thanks to leveling guides and what Pokémon to get early, those who were not in the know struggled time and time again as they would grind out levels for their party of Pokémon. This was essentially the Dark Souls of Gyms when the game was still new.
8 Medali Gym (Larry)
A lot of gym leaders are passionate about Pokémon, bursting with energy, and a lot of them have very captivating backstories that have led them on the path they are on — and then there is Larry. Larry is a salaryman who appears in the Scarlet and Violet games. Larry looks so overworked and unmotivated that it leaves many to wonder what drives him.
What pushes him up this list is the fact he is not just a Gym Leader, but also challenging enough of one to also be a member of the Elite Four in the same game. This was an interesting development, especially since it involves them changing the type usage of the foe.
7 Petalburg City Gym (Norman)
In the third generation of the franchise, players would play the son of a Gym Leader. The player would set off on a journey to grow and become stronger, later returning to the city of their father’s gym to challenge him.
This adds a lot of story integration and character growth elements to the game and makes for a very memorable and impactful Gym. Norman uses Normal-type Pokémon, including a spiritual successor to the much beloved Pokémon Snorlax in the form of Slaking.
6 Mossdeep City Gym (Tate & Liza)
Another third-generation gym that brought its own unique flair was the double battle duo of Tate & Liza. Double battles were a new mechanic at the time, and this was the first gym to incorporate it into the games.
While other gyms in the franchise may feature double battles on the way to get the Gym Leader, these two serve as the only Duo to control a gym together. They use Psychic-type Pokémon, but unlike the first generation of games, this game featured Dark-type Pokémon and moves for a wide range of battle options.
5 Nimbasa Gym (Elesa)
This gym feels very reminiscent of some temples featured in Final Fantasy games. It sees you navigating around a building sealed off from all outside light with the only illumination in the form of neon lights. Players zip about thanks to special pods on rails like some sort of theme park attraction.
This all fits with its gym leader’s theme of electric-type Pokémon. Elesa is an electric-type user and is also a fan favorite among gym leaders, both in terms of the games and the anime.
4 Saffron City Gym (Sabrina)
Before the second generation brought about Dark typing, players all relied on using Ghost types for their psychic needs, despite the fact that Psychic is also weak to Bug-type Pokémon. Sabrina is the Psychic-type gym leader of the original generation of games and anyone who didn’t pick up a Gastly from the previous town found themselves struggling against her beastly powerful Alakazam.
This Pokémon featured self-healing, could reflect attacks, paralyze, and just bombard players with an excellent damaging special attack — all in the hands of a Pokémon with a ridiculously high special attack stat. She stands as one of the greatest challenges in the entire game.
3 Striaton City (Cilan/Chili/Cress)
What makes this gym so unique and interesting is that the Gym Leader is different depending on your choice of starter. Similar to how previous game rivals would take whatever Pokémon type the player’s choice was weak against, this gym does the same and matches players up against a type disadvantage.
If the player chose Grass, their opponent uses Fire, if the player chose Fire, their opponent uses Water, and if the player chose Water, their opponent uses Grass. This means starting the game over and choosing a different type will not help players who feel their choice is not strong enough for the first gym battle.
2 Viridian City Gym (Giovanni/Blue)
This Gym has different reasons depending on the generation you are playing, but both put it high up on this list. In the first game, this is where you confront Giovanni, the head of the criminal organization Team Rocket.
It serves as a climactic build-up to both getting your final badge and besting the villain all wrapped into one. For the second generation, your rival in the previous game has claimed the spot of Gym Leader and the design sees a massive overhaul with needing to figure out which arrow sends you in the correct direction on a floor just riddled with arrows. Blue is one of the greatest trainers of all time and a worthy challenge for even Red.
1 Violet City Gym (Falkner)
Generation 2 was seen as “the sequel to Pokémon” and both fans of the original games and first season of the wildly popular anime were geared up and ecstatic for it. This would mean a whole new list of gym leaders, new kinds of Pokémon, and a whole new story to dive into. The first gym leaders players would face would be Falkner, a Flying-type Pokémon user.
Unlike the first game’s Brock, the only type of advantage players could get here is from the low chance of finding a Mareep on a specific route. The experience for players facing off against the first Gym of the first sequel is truly indescribable.