Favorite Gym Leaders and Elite Four members from each region!

[roserade407]

kanto;misty
jhoto;don't know the jhoto gym leaders.............
hoenn;flannery
sinnoh;maylene

 

[Camille]

Kanto - Sabrina (mysterious and tough to beat)/Lorelei (has a pretty diverse team, unlike Lance and Agatha, and I like her calm and collected personality)
Johto - Clair (looks cool and I like her attitude)/Koga (for the fact he got promoted from a Gym Leader)
Hoenn - Winona (love her design and team)/Glacia (mostly for her backstory)
Sinnoh - Candice (cute and I like her cheerful personality)/Bertha (don't really like Flint, Aaron, and Lucian)
Unova - Elesa (for her love of puns and the fact she becomes a role model for Bianca)/Caitlin(love her looks and backstory)
Kalos - Korrina (the most memorable of the region's Gym Leaders)/Drasna (for her design and backstory)
Never really played any of the Generation VII-VIII games.

 

[Epic Spheal]

Kanto:
Gym Leader: Giovanni and Blaine. The twist with Giovanni being the gym leader and evil team leader was nice and I just adored Blaine from both the anime and the games
Elite Four: Agatha. I adore old ladies who are tough and her having a rivalry with Oak is really cool

Special Mention: Blue. I put Blue here because he's both a gym leader and champion of Kanto and he serves in both positions! The twist of him being a champion works really well and seeing him in gen 2 be a gym leader was a nice initial conclusion to his arc prior to him becoming a battle facility head in SM/USUM

Johto
Gym Leader: Morty and Jasmine. I've always enjoyed their characters
Elite Four: Karen and Lance. Yes I'm going to be basic and say I loved Karen's iconic quote so much and it was nice to see Lance have a bit of progression as well

Hoenn:
Gym Leader: Norman, he was a super tough gym leader I struggled with as a kid and I really liked the small mini arc we had of us being able to surpass our own father in game
Elite Four: Steven and Phoebe

Sinnoh:
Gym Leader: Roark, Maylene, Byron and Volkner all thanks to the anime
Elite Four: Bertha and Cynthia. Bertha because she's one of the few Ground type specialists and Cynthia because of the anime (don't really care for her game counterpart)

Unova:
Gym Leaders: Lenora, Clay, Roxie
Elite Four: The Entire Elite Four is my favorite

Special Mention: Iris. Much like Blue before her, she served as both a gym leader and a champion

Kalos
Gym Leader: Grant and Ramos. Grant was literally my only challenge and Ramos is an adorable old man
Elite Four: honestly don't really care for this Elite four at all

Alola
Trial Captain: Kiawe, Mallow and Mina
Elite Four: Acerola and Molayne

Galar
Gym Leader: Milo, Kabu, Nessa, Raihan, Gordie

 

[PinkIceFox]

OH BOY I LOVE DOING THESE.

Kanto:
Gym Leader-Either Lt. Surge or Giovanni. Mostly because of my own interpretations of them but also because I like their designs.
Elite 4- Agatha. Slay, ghost grandma. SLAY.

Johto:
Gym Leader- Morty, but only after his HGSS redesign. His design is really, really nice.
Elite 4- Karen. I like her quote. I USE WHAT I WANT AND THAT'S WHY I DON'T DO COMPETITIVE. Now look at my adorable pokemon that I don't care about natures and IVs and what is EV training nope

Hoenn:
Gym Leader- Wallace. Wallace.
Elite 4- Sidney. I'm a sucker for sharp dressed men. Bonus points if they're punks. Why did the redesign take away his vest I love vests. Also... I kinda share his offense > defense ideals. Defense doesn't matter when you OHKO your opponents taps temple

Sinnoh:
Gym Leader- Roark. Rock nerd is adorable and precious. (Also why are there so many red-heads in pokemon with this basic hair shape WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, POKEMON)
Elite 4- Aaron. Heck yes, bug son. I don't know how you managed to get where you are but YES BUG SON.

Unova:
Gym Leader- Drayden. What is that thing on his face and why does everyone act like its a totally normal beard. I literally can only see this man with a massive underbite he tries to hide with a beard. He makes me laugh.
Elite 4- Grimsley. If you read my Hoenn choice, you know why he's here. Even if he is a heathen who wears low cut dress shoes without socks like some freak of nature EVEN WHEN HE'S IN THE KIMONO GRIMSLEY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

Kalos:
Gym Leader- Olympia. I want her clothes. I want to wear space.
Elite 4- Seibold. He looks like he'd be one of those tsundere options in Rune Factory or something. Silly smug little chef man. His full art card from teh card game makes me laugh. Silly man, you can't out fabulous Wallace.

Alola:
Trial Captain- Kiawe. Fire. Yes. Very. Indeed.
Kahuna- Nanu. The man's house is full of cats. Were I there in person I would have proposed to the man right then and there. Cats are great.
Elite 4- Kahili. Because she's the only unique one. Also because I love that her team is birds because golf terms.

Galar:
Piers. PIERS. Finally. The gym leader for dark types. FINALLY. What is this man's hair tho. Crimes against the universe were committed when whoever in gamefreak decided we didn't need voice acting. HOW VERY DARE YOU.
Bonus because there is no elite four- Melony. She's so pretty and awesome and mom. So mom. She would mom with my main pokemon OC's mom. Boss moms.

 

[Allemanduck]

Kanto:

Gym Leader --> Definitely Blaine. It is not the strongest, for sure, but the quiz aspect of its Gym and his character in the Pokémon: Adventures Manga really makes it sstand out for me.

Elite Four --> Lance. Common take, yes. Great character, love the importance it has in the Johto games and how it is also the League Champion in that region.

Johto:

Gym Leader --> Pryce. Love how it passes a wise vibe to me. "Pokémon have many experiences in their lives, just like we do. I, too, have seen and suffered much in my life. Since I am your elder, let me show you what I mean. I have been with Pokémon since before you were born. I do not lose easily. I, Pryce--the winter trainer--shall demonstrate my power!" That quote is simply amazing.

Elite Four --> Karen, without a doubt. She has the best quote in all Pokémon games and being a Dark type trainer is also really cool. "Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites. I like your style. You understand what's important. Go on — — the Champion is waiting." AMAZING!

Hoenn:

Gym Leader --> Norman. It is your father, come on. That battle is epic.

Elite Four --> I gotta say Drake. Worst Elite Four in the series, imo. But Drake is nice, cool looking and passes a tough vibe.

Sinnoh:

Gym Leader --> I'll go with Volkner. I'm not a huge fan of the Sinnoh gym leaders, overall. Even though his battle is rather forgettable, I still thinks it's a cool trainer with a great backstory.

Elite Four --> Bertha. That woman gave me nightmares during my first Platinum playthrough. Her team is great.

Unova:

Gym Leader --> Hard choice. Unova has the best characters in general. I'll go with Elesa. Love her character change to B/W from B2/W2, her Gym is gorgeous and I think her Pokémon are awesome.

Elite Four --> Hard choice. Again. But Grimsley is the way to go. Love his team, his character overall and I also love the fact that he comes back in Alola.

Kalos:

Gym Leader --> Grant. Love his gym and his Pokémon.

Elite Four --> Siebold. The closest I've got to a real challenge.

Alola:

Elite Four --> Olivia. Tough trainer, it was challenging to battle her.

Galar:

Gym Leader --> Raihan. Crazy awesome trainer, cool personality, nice backstory and I love the fact that it uses the weather to its favour.

 

[RK9]

Kanto:
Gym Leader: Sabrina.
Elite Four: None. They're all kind of meh. Guess if I have to pick one we can pick Lance cause at least he's a chuuni.

Johto:
Gym Leader: Jasmine.
Elite Four: Karen

Hoenn:
Gym Leader: Flannery
Elite Four: Drake

Sinnoh:
Gym Leader: Volkner
Elite Four: Aaron

Unova:
Gym Leader: Elesa
Elite Four: Caitlin

Kalos:
Gym Leader: Korrina/Valerie
Elite Four: Siebold

Alola:
Trial Captain: Kiawe
Elite Four: Kahili

Galar:
Nessa

 

[stunning_cyan]

Kanto

Gym leader: Blaine
Elite four: Lance

Johto

Gym leader: Claire
Elite four: Will + Lance obviously

Hoenn

Gym leader: Tate and Liza
Elite four: None but I like champion Steven

Sinnoh

Gym leader: Fantina
Elite four: Lucian but I like champion Cynthia more

Unova

Gym leader: Cheren
Elite four: Grimsley plus N obviously

Kalos

Gym leader: None
Elite four: Malva perhaps but I like Diantha the champion more and I am intrigued by her

Alola

Trial master/Kahuna: Nanu
Elite four: Molayne


Galar

Gym leader: Bede

 

[Pikasso]

Kanto:

Gym Leader: Sabrina because I like Psychic types and she looks cool in HG/SS. Plus, her team is challenging to face since in Gen 1 there weren't any dark type Pokemon to beat her Alakazam easily with.
Elite 4: Lance because his design is awesome and I like his character overall in the Gen 2 games.

Johto:

Gym Leader: Morty. He's just so chill and nonchalant and I love his design in HG/SS. Also, I like how his team is pretty hard to defeat. His Gengar with Hypnosis and Dream Eater is really tough to face.

Elite Four: Karen because of her quote and how she encourages you to use your favorite Pokemon to battle with. Plus, her design in HG/SS is cool.

Hoenn:

Gym Leader: Brawly is awesome and I like his gym theme in ORAS, though Roxanne is a close second since she's very studious. I also like Winona because she looks very graceful in ORAS.

Elite Four: Glacia. I like ice types and she has a Froslass on her team in ORAS, which is one of my favorite Pokemon.

Sinnoh:

Gym Leader: Volkner. He's relatable and I like that his team consists of various Pokemon that aren't Electric types like Ambipom and Octillery. I also like that his Luxray gave me a challenge in BD since it had Ice Fang to beat ground types.

Elite Four: Aaron. His team is diverse and varied.

Unova:

Gym Leader: Skyla. I like her design the most, though I also like Elesa for her cool gym theme with roller coasters in B/W and a catwalk and fashion show in B/W2.

Elite Four: Caitlin for her appearance in the Sinnoh games, though I also like Shauntal.

Kalos:

Gym Leader: Valerie because she's mysterious and has a unique design. I also like her backstory and how she's from Johto. Also, her gym theme is cool since it's based on a dollhouse.

Elite Four: Drasna for her backstory.

Alola:

Island Kahuna: Hapu for her backstory.

Elite Four: Acerola. She's very adorable and I liked her character very much in S/M.

Galar:

Gym Leader: Nessa. I like water types and her gym theme is cool.

Paldea:

Gym Leader: Grusha. He's cool and I liked that his team is hard to beat. My team was underleveled in Scarlet, so I had to come up with a strategy to beat him and managed to win after losing a couple of times to him. I also like Brassius for his fun gym test that involves finding Sunflora in Artazon. In addition, I like Tulip because of how elegant she is and her gym test that involves an exercise regimen with Dendra is very enjoyable.

Elite Four: Hassel. He works as an art teacher at the academy, though I also like Poppy for her cuteness. She's also the youngest member of the Elite Four, which makes her unique.

 

[c la fet]

Kanto
Gym leader : Erika. I loved her wild personality in the old games, I wish they didn't erase it.
Elite Four : Agatha. Her story with Oak and Bertha is interesting and she has Gengar !

Johto
Gym leader : I'm hesitant. Jasmine is very unique and iconic but I like Clair and Morty too.
Elite Four : Karen, she's tough.

Hoenn
Gym leader : Wallace, he's got a nice development in oras and he's a pretty funny character overall. Also he's got the face
Elite Four : Phoebe is intriguing which is something I like. And Drake is great too.

Sinnoh
Gym leader : Roark.
When I saw Roark for the first time, I was stunned. "A cute gym leader girl who breaks rocks with her bare hands ? Wow." The memories :')
Turned out I was wrong about pretty much everything but despite that, Roark became my favorite gym leader ever...
Elite Four : Lucian.
The strongest npc I've ever battled, I think. He will forever be the real Champion of Sinnoh in my eyes

Unova
Gym leader : Clay, I liked his personality and it's nice to see ground type specialists. I used to be obsessed with Elesa, her bw2 gym is cool
Elite Four : Shauntal, I loved hearing her stories.

Kalos 
Gym leader : Korrina. She's a great character with a nice story and a cool special theme. It's funny that she looks like a Hitmonchan, too. Viola and Valerie are my other favorites.
Elite Four : Malva. One of the most interesting and developed Elite 4 member in Pokémon, she deserves more attention. The best thing about her is her weird double personality.

Alola
Elite Four : The friendly Molayne. Making him an elite Four member was a very good idea imo

Galar
Gym leader : Piers and Kabu. Piers has the best facial expressions and Kabu reminds* me of Kazuyoshi Miura (famous soccer player)

Paldea
Gym leader : "Iono.
In the trailer I found her annoying but in the game she was way more likeable.
I like Brassius too, he fulfills Sudowoodo's dream of being a tree." (I copy pasted my own comment)
Elite Four : Rika or Hassel. Hassel is one of my favorite teachers. And Rika... She has Clodsire the muddy buddy

 

[Sheeer]

Kanto:
Gym: A toss-up between Erika or Sabrina. Lt Surge is a runner-up
E4: Lorelei

Johto
Gym: Clair
E4: Karen

Hoenn
Gym: Winona
E4: Glacia

Sinnoh
Gym: Candice or Crasher Wake
E4: Aaron. The concept of a bug type E4 is super unique and fun

Unova
Gym: Skyla
E4: Shauntal

Kalos
Gym: Valerie or Olympia
E4: Siebold

Alola
Trial Captain: Mina
Kahuna: Hapu
E4: Kahili

Galar
Gym: Bea
No E4 here so I wanna take this opportunity for a special honorable mention for Klara.

Paldea
Gym: Larry. Probably my favorite gym leader period
E4: Rika. I could gush about her all day but she really is just one of my favorite characters in the series period

 

[carpology]

kanto: blue for gym leader & lorelei for elite four
johto: bugsy & karen
hoenn: winona & glacia
sinnoh: gardenia & bertha
unova: iris & grimsley
kalos: valerie & drasna
alola: lana & olivia
galar: bede
paldea: tulip & i suppose rika

 

[bulbasaur's toys]

I really only care about gen 1 but I love Lance.
He's such a little cheater. His Dragonite knows barrier in red and blue. In johto he has three underleveled Dragonite and an Aerodactyl that knows rock slide. Even though, in gen 2 Aerodactyl can't learn rock slide for some godforsaken reason. Plus I love the cape.
For gyms depends on the game. Blaine is very epic on let's go and is a joy to the soul. In red and blue even though he is a quirky idiot who loves his super potions he really doesn't have a personality. Geovanni in red and blue is my fav. Shame he doesn't have that Kangaskhan because that is the hardest pokemon but at least he has a rhydon instead of two rhyhorn. I mean, Geovanni has a ton of dialogue in Kanto, so he has the most to work with. Plus he made me cry so there.
For other gens IDK. I've played a bit of gen 9 and I like Larry all and all but I never had the time to get attached.

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

Gen 1:
Gym Leader: Probably Blaine overall (I think Pokémon Adventures was a big influence on that). Koga's second...debatably my favorite if design was the only consideration.
Elite Four: Lance, although most of my exposure to him was as Champion in HeartGold. For Elite Four who were only ever Elite Four, it would probably be Bruno (again, mainly due to Pokémon Adventures).

Gen 2:
Gym Leader: Morty. I like his HGSS design, and him being the grounded counterpart to Eusine's slightly crazy.
Elite Four: Will. They just gave him a mask he wears at all times and zero explanation why. I'm intrigued. I also quite like his design, especially the HGSS version.

Gen 3:
Gym Leader: Norman. Can't say no to the one time they showed the player character's father.
Elite Four: Probably Drake for interesting backstory potential.

Gen 4:
Gym Leader: Errrrmmmm...probably Roark. He has an enjoyable design, personality, and grounding in the region (especially with his father being one of the other Gym Leaders). I also associate him with digging for fossils in the Underground, which is one of my most fondly remembered parts of Platinum. Gardenia gets a mention, too. I really like the pseudo-medieval aspects of her outfit, but the crop-top kind of ruined the cool factor for me.
Elite Four: Lucian. He's aesthetically my favorite of this Elite Four, and I quite like that he can show up in the Canalave Library.

Gen 5:
Gym Leader: Clay. Native Texan bias, I guess. (His clothes actually aren't that big of an exaggeration. Other than his legwear--chaps aren't really a thing that's worn outside of rodeos--he has the kind of dressed-up version of Western clothes that some people actually wear to formal occasions here. So when I saw him I just automatically assumed he hated suits and opted for the dressy-Western type of formal clothes instead.) Brycen is interesting, too. He has a roundabout link to my partial namesake, the Green Hornet, which is cool. (Brycen seems to be inspired by Bruce Lee, and one of Lee's first major roles was as Kato in the Green Hornet TV series.)

Elite Four: Grimsley, for the same reasons a lot of people like Grimsley.

Gen 6:
Gym Leader: Clemont. I have a weakness for gadgeteer characters.
Elite Four: Tie between Drasna for the very cool draconic elder concept and Wikstrom for just casually wearing a full suit of armor.

Gen 7:
Gym Leader Trial Captain: Accerola. She had by far my favorite trial, as well as a neat design, intriguing backstory, and fun personality (love her interactions with Nanu).
Elite Four: Kahili. I was very excited to see a new character in the Alola Elite Four amongst the familiar faces. Slowly realizing how good of an idea a Flying-Type specialist golfer is made me appreciate her even more as time went on.

Gen 8:
Gym Leader: Allister. Allister all the way. I have a hard time picking absolute favorites, but he's basically my all-time favorite Gym Leader.

Gen 9:
Gym Leader: Brassius. I like his friendship with Hassel (yes friendship the game doesn't confirm anything romantic leave me and my headcanons in peace please and thank you) and his artwork displayed around Artazon. I'm also intrigued by the fact that he somehow gets away with carrying a whip despite such things being promptly censored after Gen 1.
Elite Four: This gen had a reaaaaaally good Elite Four, but even though I like Rika a lot, I have to say Hassel. Him also being my favorite teacher AND this gen's lefty representation gives him the edge.

 

[Pasio]

When it comes to Pokémon characters, gonna have to be honest and say I don't particularly care as much about the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions as the vast majority of other Pokémon fans do, but I can probably make a list of who I prefer in each region.

Kanto:
Gym Leader: Sabrina - Is cool. Has cool powers. Is Pokestar movie actress. I like her badge. Is great in Pokémon Masters.

Elite Four: Loreli - I don't really care about any of the Elite Four in Kanto tbh but Loreli looks cool. I find Bruno and Agatha very meh, also kinda don't like Lance.

Johto:
Gym Leader: Whitney - lol. Her battle is iconic and it's always fun thinking back to it. She also occasionally competes in the Pokéathalon and has a charming design ig.

Elite Four: Koga - Well he's a ninja so I'll give him points for that. Other than that this Elite Four is not much different from Kanto. Will is eh, Bruno is still Bruno, Karen is one of my least favorite characters in the series.

Hoenn:
Gym Leader: Norman. Crazy powercreep from Flannery that brings forth a rewarding battle in return. He is also serves as the player character's father, which I think is cool. We especially get to see his character stand out in ORAS.

Elite Four: Glacia - She was the most difficult battle I ever had to face through as a kid, alongside Steven. Kids back then were struggling with Cynthia? Haha try running through the Elite Four with just a Sceptile with 4 steel-resistant moves. It was wild. This was my first Pokémon adventure and I'll never forget just how powerful this Elite Four felt to me, even if they're all just pushovers now. Hilariously enough I also love how Glacia threatens overleveled Rayquaza trying to solo the Elite Four, as I've lost to her using it in bad E4 runs. Aside from that, this is the main Elite Four member who sticks out to me when E4 are mentioned because of what I went through here.

Sinnoh:
Gym Leader: Maylene? - It hit me that Sinnoh's group of gym leaders overall don't particularly stand out to me, but Maylene did due to her unique design and her ace being a Lucario, which was major for its time.

Elite Four: Flint - Reminds me of a Showdown user. Other than that I find this group of Elite Four rather forgettable despite battling them hundreds of times over as a child and bearing through them in BDSP. Even when I probably battled them more than every pool of Elite Four bar Unova. Sry

Unova:
Gym Leader: Brycen - He plays as Brycen-Man. You get an epic battle with him where you have a Level 99 Lucario solo a team of 6 level 99 Pokémon. Need I say more?

Edit: Yes I do actually. Check out Pokémon Generations Episode 13. Brycen will not disappoint.

Elite Four: Caitlin - I liked how they brought someone from a Battle Facility over to the Elite Four. Other than that her team is quite impressive for an Elite Four in the series.

Kalos:
Gym Leader: Wulfric/Olympia - Say what you want about these in-game battles but Wulfric regularly goes into a village to check up on Pokémon who ran away after suffering abuse from their trainers, which I find very cool. Especially when one of those runaway Pokémon is a Mewtwo!! Aside from that, I find him having the most memorable quotes out of any Gym Leader in the series. Olympia is also placed here for three reasons. 1) She has the coolest Gym design in the games. 2) She was really dope in the anime. 3) Her battle against Ash still reigns to this day as my favorite Gym Leader battle in the anime.

Elite Four: Siebold - That Gyarados set isn't an Elite Four set. It's way too good for that. It's the BDSP E4 set before the BDSP E4. It's a set from one of those trainers you battle 40 streaks up in the Battle Maison. Literally the exact same set I swept Platinum Cynthia with while being 12 levels below her. Insane. I've had more difficulty with this Gyarados than I had with entire Elite Fours combined, including the Kalos one of course. Not prepping for this Gyarados honestly makes him a top tier difficulty Elite Four in the series I swear. I know it's Kalos, but as an adult, most Elite Four in general are very easy.

Alola:
Trial Captain & Totem: Lana/Kiawe - Lana's trials in all versions were fun for me. I liked the twists she pulled off, the differences in her behavior across SM and USUM, and the overall Totem boss fights. As for Kiawe, his trial is funny as some random hiker friend attacks you due to being so excited?? but what really puts him up there is that hellish Totem Marowak fight in USUM. Whew... I never brought a dedicated hardcounter but that one totem was more difficult for me as an adult than... literally every Gym leader/totem/villain fight aside from this in a mainline game's script.

Elite Four: Kahili - Cool backstory. Was an island champion before entering the Elite Four? That immediately tells me this is their strongest E4, and she doesn't disappoint too badly. I also like the whole flying-type golfer theme behind it.

Galar:
Gym Leader: Piers - Hates Dynamax (man of culture). Piers has a cool character in him and it was nice how he had people cheering his sister on to take over his position as a Gym Leader. Also this was the first Dark-type Gym in the series.

I'll stop there since I'm not well-versed in Paldea's Gym leaders and especially not the Elite Four. Honestly wasn't for Galar either but Piers's traits immediately shoved him above the rest of Galar's pool for me regardless of what the rest do.