Ever wonder how exactly one becomes the leader of a Pokémon gym? We have a few questions ourselves, and theories on who should be leading these gyms.
Pokémon games have been a part of our lives for more than two decades. Even though they have changed in order to keep up with the technology on which the games are played, some elements have remained the same. Players still travel around fictional worlds battling Pokémon, meeting other trainers and, above all else, catching 'em all.
Another aspect of Pokémon games that has stood the test of time is its gyms. Trainers are tasked with traveling from gym to gym, battling each leader in order to attain a badge.
We have one burning question: how in the world does one become a Pokémon gym leader? There are a number of things that make the selection process seem pretty arbitrary.
First of all, gym leaders are hardly the most formidable trainers a player will come across. Aside from that very first clash with Brock in Pewter City, we feel as if we have been pretty prepared for every gym leader we have come across. Players will also meet plenty of other trainers with an array of badges on their travels, so these so-called elite trainers must lose on the regular. That doesn't stop them from being shocked about it, though. Every. Single. Time.
Some gym leaders are so easy to beat that we've often thought they've gone easy on us as most of the time, the character we're in control of in Pokémon games is a child. We'd certainly feel pretty bad about beating up what is effectively a child's pet, or collection of pets. Then again, this is supposed to be their profession, so perhaps they should show a little less mercy during battles if that is indeed what's happening.
Which brings us neatly on to the most important point of all. If a gym leader is beaten, shouldn't they then have to relinquish that gym to whoever toppled them? That would make the Pokémon series of games very different. The very best of us would still be held up in that aforementioned gym in Pewter City, taking on all comers. We'd also only ever have one badge, or risk losing our job as gym leader should we venture off to find more. Maybe we don't want to lead a gym after all, it sounds pretty stressful.