What's the least sensory issue inducing gym?

[ekatheparas]

So my friend has a few sensory issues, them being the normal: loudness, brightness, crowds, texture, etc. As we debated, I referred game wise as the Striaton gym, and possibly one of the Paldean gyms (I haven't gotten to know them properly yet, never been able to get the games, never grew up with pokemon games, just the anime and manga lol).

What would be the least sensory issue inducing gym? It could include battle facilities too!

 

[Herbizarre]

Easy picks would be the Gen 1 gyms since they're quite lacking in sensory overload. Gen 2 also, except maybe Pryce's gym where you have to do the ice puzzle and have to move very fast on ice. I don't know how big of a deal this would be, but I'm assuming it's not that big. But for these generations (and I'm only talking about the original games of these generations, so no remakes), the sensory issue your friend would need to worry about aren't from the Gym themselves, but from specific moves that can have flashing animations like Thunder in Gen 2, or Psychic in Gen 1. It doesn't help that the latter is a very strong move in Gen 1.

If I have to make an honest pick though, I'd go with Roxanne and Roark's gyms. Nothing like rocks that are part of the background to avoid sensory issues.

 

[Okido]

This is actually a remarkably interesting question to think about from an in-universe point of view. Bright or colored lights, loud music, large groups of people, fast movement, and cramped/mazelike/vertical spaces are all things that can give me and many others sensory overload or migraines very quickly — and yet, it's never occurred to me that most Gyms feature one or more of those things in some way, lol. It must absolutely suck to be a Trainer in some regions, if you physically can't stand that kind of stuff for one reason or another.

I took a look at the layouts of every Gym in the games (excluding things like Alola's trials, or Galar/Paldea's Gym challenges), and I agree that the Striaton Gym would actually be quite pleasant, maybe the most of any Gym! The lights are dim and warm, and the interior design is very average and inviting. It actually looks like somewhere I would want to visit on my own time; which makes sense, since in B2W2 it had been converted into an actual cafe/restaurant.

Seeing as the Gym designs got more and more extravagant and complex with every generation, most of the Kanto and Johto ones are pretty tame as you'd expect, but later regions like Unova and Kalos (+ ORAS Hoenn) are where it'd get pretty rough I'd say. The least aggravating ones to me would probably be the GSC layout of the Azalea Gym (a relatively open space full of grass), or the Pewter Gym (literally just a single flat room with some rocks). They're on the basic side, but as a result I imagine it'd be quite hard to find something uncomfortable in either of those.

Though, while it's the opposite of what you asked, with this in mind I also tried to find the most overwhelming Gym interior, just because it was amusing to me...

Spoiler

While trying to think of ones that would be the least stressful on the senses, I considered Gyms like Eterna, Olivine, and Cerulean; but it looks like those all have some pretty harsh artificial lights in them that wouldn't be enjoyable if you're prone to headaches and the like. The Cerulean Gym would also most likely have a pretty strong pool chlorine smell, and is completely windowless outside of HGSS, which are definitely big negatives for some.

My picks for the worst would probably be either version of the Nimbasa Gym (a dark room with many neon lights and screens, rollercoasters in BW1, and blaring music with a large cheering audience in B2W2), the Lavaridge Gym (a labyrinth of trap doors, full of hot steam that you can barely see through), and the BW1 version of the Castelia Gym (having to walk through walls of honey). The B2W2 version of the Driftveil Gym would be pretty bad too — a dark, claustrophobic, underground mine, consisting of a maze of conveyor belts. (Just look at it!)
From an out-of-universe perspective, they are very well-designed, and a lot of fun to experience ingame... but I know for a fact that if I were in the Pokémon world, I would personally hate having to visit these places for a badge. - -;

I also think that the Gyms featuring sliding ice puzzles, like Sootopolis, Mahogany, or Snowpoint — or those floor tiles that hurl you around the room spinning, like Viridian or Mossdeep — would make anyone feel sick after a few minutes, not just those who are sensitive to these things. :p
(There are also some Gyms that feature fantastical impossible things like molten lava or teleportation panels, which, if I had to guess, would probably be pretty unpleasant... but obviously we'd have no way to know that for sure, so for the sake of fairness I'm not gonna include those.)

And as for battle facilities, I think the Kalos Battle Institute/Battle Chateau, or Emerald's Battle Arena/Battle Palace are the most peaceful and would be your safest bet.
Plenty of others have bright, patterned, visually complicated interiors; like the Factories, or the Platinum Battle Hall. I also believe the Battle Subway would honestly be the worst of these, for obvious reasons, lol.

 

[ekatheparas]

This is actually a remarkably interesting question to think about from an in-universe point of view. Bright or colored lights, loud music, large groups of people, fast movement, and cramped/mazelike/vertical spaces are all things that can give me and many others sensory overload or migraines very quickly — and yet, it's never occurred to me that most Gyms feature one or more of those things in some way, lol. It must absolutely suck to be a Trainer in some regions, if you physically can't stand that kind of stuff for one reason or another.

I took a look at the layouts of every Gym in the games (excluding things like Alola's trials, or Galar/Paldea's Gym challenges), and I agree that the Striaton Gym would actually be quite pleasant, maybe the most of any Gym! The lights are dim and warm, and the interior design is very average and inviting. It actually looks like somewhere I would want to visit on my own time; which makes sense, since in B2W2 it had been converted into an actual cafe/restaurant.

Seeing as the Gym designs got more and more extravagant and complex with every generation, most of the Kanto and Johto ones are pretty tame as you'd expect, but later regions like Unova and Kalos (+ ORAS Hoenn) are where it'd get pretty rough I'd say. The least aggravating ones to me would probably be the GSC layout of the Azalea Gym (a relatively open space full of grass), or the Pewter Gym (literally just a single flat room with some rocks). They're on the basic side, but as a result I imagine it'd be quite hard to find something uncomfortable in either of those.

Though, while it's the opposite of what you asked, with this in mind I also tried to find the most overwhelming Gym interior, just because it was amusing to me...

Spoiler

While trying to think of ones that would be the least stressful on the senses, I considered Gyms like Eterna, Olivine, and Cerulean; but it looks like those all have some pretty harsh artificial lights in them that wouldn't be enjoyable if you're prone to headaches and the like. The Cerulean Gym would also most likely have a pretty strong pool chlorine smell, and is completely windowless outside of HGSS, which are definitely big negatives for some.

My picks for the worst would probably be either version of the Nimbasa Gym (a dark room with many neon lights and screens, rollercoasters in BW1, and blaring music with a large cheering audience in B2W2), the Lavaridge Gym (a labyrinth of trap doors, full of hot steam that you can barely see through), and the BW1 version of the Castelia Gym (having to walk through walls of honey). The B2W2 version of the Driftveil Gym would be pretty bad too — a dark, claustrophobic, underground mine, consisting of a maze of conveyor belts. (Just look at it!)
From an out-of-universe perspective, they are very well-designed, and a lot of fun to experience ingame... but I know for a fact that if I were in the Pokémon world, I would personally hate having to visit these places for a badge. - -;

I also think that the Gyms featuring sliding ice puzzles, like Sootopolis, Mahogany, or Snowpoint — or those floor tiles that hurl you around the room spinning, like Viridian or Mossdeep — would make anyone feel sick after a few minutes, not just those who are sensitive to these things. :p
(There are also some Gyms that feature fantastical impossible things like molten lava or teleportation panels, which, if I had to guess, would probably be pretty unpleasant... but obviously we'd have no way to know that for sure, so for the sake of fairness I'm not gonna include those.)

And as for battle facilities, I think the Kalos Battle Institute/Battle Chateau, or Emerald's Battle Arena/Battle Palace are the most peaceful and would be your safest bet.
Plenty of others have bright, patterned, visually complicated interiors; like the Factories, or the Platinum Battle Hall. I also believe the Battle Subway would honestly be the worst of these, for obvious reasons, lol.

the idea of going to driftveil gym terrifies me, I get very unnerved whenever i visit caves and underground areas. It's like the pressure just changes ever so slightly enough to disturb me

 

[ekatheparas]

I

Easy picks would be the Gen 1 gyms since they're quite lacking in sensory overload. Gen 2 also, except maybe Pryce's gym where you have to do the ice puzzle and have to move very fast on ice. I don't know how big of a deal this would be, but I'm assuming it's not that big. But for these generations (and I'm only talking about the original games of these generations, so no remakes), the sensory issue your friend would need to worry about aren't from the Gym themselves, but from specific moves that can have flashing animations like Thunder in Gen 2, or Psychic in Gen 1. It doesn't help that the latter is a very strong move in Gen 1.

If I have to make an honest pick though, I'd go with Roxanne and Roark's gyms. Nothing like rocks that are part of the background to avoid sensory issues

Nothing like the rocks

Love your signature!!

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

In terms of least overwhelming to the senses, I'd definitely have to say something like the Pewter Gym, given how simple its layout is.