Nice post!
My favorite gym leaders... I'll try to choose one from each gen, but I'm gonna have to include more for some regions!
Kanto:
![[Image: 97?cb=20140711192950]](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/c/c1/HGSS_Misty.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/97?cb=20140711192950)
MISTY!
I love her so much. I don't even need to explain why, right? Obviously the anime has had a big influence on all of us, but even without that, her larger-than-life personality is too adorable to not love her. I also LOVE how grownup she looks in Gen II compared to Gen I. All hail the character development!
Johto:
![[Image: 89?cb=20140712082353]](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/b/bc/HGSS_Jasmine.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/89?cb=20140712082353)
Jasmine.
She will always be my favorite Gen II gym leader, and a strong contender for my favorite ever. She is strong, pretty, kind and compassionate. She's definitely the one that stood out the most for me in the entire Johto region. I'll always remember discovering the steel type in her gym when I first played Gen II way back then, and I was blown away. It seems obvious now, but back then it was a huge deal!
Olivine is also one of my favorite cities ever, incidentally.
Hoenn:
![[Image: 187?cb=20141117092725]](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/4/43/ORAS_Wallace.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/187?cb=20141117092725)
Wallace.
I loved Wallace instantly. He's such a great character, in such a great city, and he really needed to be: I wasn't gonna let anyone take over Misty as the greatest water-type gym leader! But he was amazing. I also loved his Milotic so much, and I wanted one so badly, so I suffered through the whole 'throw away your social life to look for a Feebas and evolve it' debacle. But I did it!
I was really disappointed just before Emerald came out, because I had heard that he wasn't the Sootopolis gym leader anymore. I was relieved when I saw him in the Cave of Origin - and then completely lost my sh*t when I realized that he was the champion this time. I really really like Steven too, but Wallace has a special place in my heart.
Sinnoh:
I had to think about this one for a moment, actually. It's funny: I really like Gen IV, I love the new pokes introduced in that gen, I also love Team Galactic, and aren't we all grateful for the GTS? So yeah, I loved the games, but for some reason I don't even remember the gym leaders very well. They didn't have that much of an impact on me. But if I had to choose one, that would be...
![[Image: 202?cb=20140608163740]](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/8/84/Fantina.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/202?cb=20140608163740)
Fantina.
I'm not that fond of her, compared to the other gym leaders I mentioned, but she has a cool design. I also like ghost pokes in general, so she had an advantage! I remember liking her Drifblim a lot, and I thought it was cool that Drifloon/Drifblim's yellow cross was on her dress. Gen IV was the last one that I played in French, so she spoke in a broken French with a few English words thrown into it; I only discovered recently that in English, she uses French words instead. I thought that it was pretty funny.
Anyway, moving on!
Unova:
Ohhh boy.
I know that a lot of people didn't like Gen V, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. Many pokes I love were introduced in that generation, and I didn't really mind Team Plasma, although they weren't that amazing. But most of all, I LOVED the gym leaders in Unova. So...
![[Image: 125?cb=20140504145903]](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/8/85/Lenora.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/125?cb=20140504145903)
![[Image: 178?cb=20120615055924]](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/3/3d/B2W2_Elesa.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/178?cb=20120615055924)
![[Image: 245?cb=20120714095239]](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/d/d0/Black_2_White_2_Iris.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/245?cb=20120714095239)
![[Image: 220?cb=20140504152103]](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/3/39/Roxie.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/220?cb=20140504152103)
Lenora, Elesa, Iris, Roxie... the list goes on.
The Unova gym leaders are just so diverse! I love them all. Lenora is a huge favorite of mine. I mean, she's an archeologist, she's not stick-thin, she's a strong black lady in a mixed marriage... She's just SO COOL. She stands her ground and she's so badass and unique! I was really pissed when Cheren became the normal-type gym leader in BW2. I mean, I like Cheren, but come on, Game Freak? You had ONE black woman, did you have to cut her out of the games?!
Elesa... I'll be honest and totally superficial: I love Elesa because of how pretty she is. That totally worked on me, big time. I loved Iris because she was an energetic kid, a brown girl, and I loved to see her grow up and become the champion in BW2. And Roxie rocks. Literally.
Kalos:
![[Image: 250?cb=20140718172348]](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/a/a2/Olympia.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20140718172348)
Olympia?
That's kind of a default choice, because she sorta looks cool? But I didn't like the Kalos gym leaders very much. After loving the gym leaders in Unova, I was really disappointed. Their designs are boring and the art isn't all that great (wtf is going on with Valerie's eyes?)... And even the ones whose design I like, like Olympia, aren't very good characters. It's such a shame.
My favorite gym leaders... I'll try to choose one from each gen, but I'm gonna have to include more for some regions!
Kanto:
MISTY!
I love her so much. I don't even need to explain why, right? Obviously the anime has had a big influence on all of us, but even without that, her larger-than-life personality is too adorable to not love her. I also LOVE how grownup she looks in Gen II compared to Gen I. All hail the character development!
Johto:
Jasmine.
She will always be my favorite Gen II gym leader, and a strong contender for my favorite ever. She is strong, pretty, kind and compassionate. She's definitely the one that stood out the most for me in the entire Johto region. I'll always remember discovering the steel type in her gym when I first played Gen II way back then, and I was blown away. It seems obvious now, but back then it was a huge deal!
Olivine is also one of my favorite cities ever, incidentally.
Hoenn:
Wallace.
I loved Wallace instantly. He's such a great character, in such a great city, and he really needed to be: I wasn't gonna let anyone take over Misty as the greatest water-type gym leader! But he was amazing. I also loved his Milotic so much, and I wanted one so badly, so I suffered through the whole 'throw away your social life to look for a Feebas and evolve it' debacle. But I did it!
I was really disappointed just before Emerald came out, because I had heard that he wasn't the Sootopolis gym leader anymore. I was relieved when I saw him in the Cave of Origin - and then completely lost my sh*t when I realized that he was the champion this time. I really really like Steven too, but Wallace has a special place in my heart.
Sinnoh:
I had to think about this one for a moment, actually. It's funny: I really like Gen IV, I love the new pokes introduced in that gen, I also love Team Galactic, and aren't we all grateful for the GTS? So yeah, I loved the games, but for some reason I don't even remember the gym leaders very well. They didn't have that much of an impact on me. But if I had to choose one, that would be...
Fantina.
I'm not that fond of her, compared to the other gym leaders I mentioned, but she has a cool design. I also like ghost pokes in general, so she had an advantage! I remember liking her Drifblim a lot, and I thought it was cool that Drifloon/Drifblim's yellow cross was on her dress. Gen IV was the last one that I played in French, so she spoke in a broken French with a few English words thrown into it; I only discovered recently that in English, she uses French words instead. I thought that it was pretty funny.
Anyway, moving on!
Unova:
Ohhh boy.
I know that a lot of people didn't like Gen V, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. Many pokes I love were introduced in that generation, and I didn't really mind Team Plasma, although they weren't that amazing. But most of all, I LOVED the gym leaders in Unova. So...
Lenora, Elesa, Iris, Roxie... the list goes on.
The Unova gym leaders are just so diverse! I love them all. Lenora is a huge favorite of mine. I mean, she's an archeologist, she's not stick-thin, she's a strong black lady in a mixed marriage... She's just SO COOL. She stands her ground and she's so badass and unique! I was really pissed when Cheren became the normal-type gym leader in BW2. I mean, I like Cheren, but come on, Game Freak? You had ONE black woman, did you have to cut her out of the games?!
Elesa... I'll be honest and totally superficial: I love Elesa because of how pretty she is. That totally worked on me, big time. I loved Iris because she was an energetic kid, a brown girl, and I loved to see her grow up and become the champion in BW2. And Roxie rocks. Literally.
Kalos:
Olympia?
That's kind of a default choice, because she sorta looks cool? But I didn't like the Kalos gym leaders very much. After loving the gym leaders in Unova, I was really disappointed. Their designs are boring and the art isn't all that great (wtf is going on with Valerie's eyes?)... And even the ones whose design I like, like Olympia, aren't very good characters. It's such a shame.
