Who's the Champ? :D
Yeah that's right I'm the Champ. Well at least in the Single Player Campaign.
(In homage to the best champ of all... Red, not Ash!)
But before that I had to face off with the 4 remaining gym leaders... which was still kind of underwhelming... None of them went over 3 pokemon and I was around a dozen levels above them. The older gym leaders were the ones you had to prepare for and I mean running around outside in the grass because your flamethrower wasn't killing their pokemon fast enough even though you have the type advantage.
So like i said before I wanted to do a short review of each gym leader. So here we go:
1. Viola of Santalune City
As a character I like Viola which is kind of common with most of the gym leaders. She's an avid or even obsessed photographer. She's always out to get a great picture which I find endearing. She has a hobby aside from being a pokemon trainer. Although her favorite subject matter is pokemon and it all might be a transition to a new version of Pokemon Snap.
As for her pokemon, Surskit Lv.10 and Vivillon Lv.12, they were pretty good choices for pokemon. I just wished they were stronger. Surskit being a water/bug type was a nice twist. Luckily I had a type advantage since I chose Chespin but its bug moves could still hit me. Surskit would've been more challenging if it had at least Water Gun instead of Bubble and had Infestation as well. Vivillon is pretty enough to be a nice pokemon to fight but the only moves it had was Tackle, Harden and... Infestation. It's not meant to be used more than once since it's a damage per turn move. Bug bite would've been a cool addition to its moveset.
So Viola as the first Gym is kind of easy. The gym puzzle is simple and kind of fun and works well with the 3D. So I give her a Flash Flash Flash could've been a nice strategy for her out of ten.
2. Grant of Cyllage City
Grant made me confused. He's always doing what appears to be a Freddy Mercury impression pose. Also what are those colored balls in his hair. Are those rocks? or eggs? Grant reminds me of those performance artists that pretend to be objects. He looks like he's wearing a black motion capture leotard. Maybe the balls are for motion capture...
His gym is pretty cool with a rock climbing element. Maybe they just wanted to get the message through that he was a Rock Type Gym Leader. Is that why he's always reaching up in his pre-fight pose? Oh wait hahaha I just got that. I usually only see the top half of his body so he looks like he's pretending to be a working shower.
His pokemon are ok, Tyrunt Lv.25 and Amaura Lv.25, but why are they both the same level. We know the pattern of Gym Leaders. They have around a couple of warm up pokemon then they release their signature partners. Brock had Onix, Blaine had Magmar and Whitney had her Miltank. Their last pokemon would be their biggest challenge to beat. Tyrunt and Amaura could've worked if they had another pokemon before them like maybe. Shuckle or Rogenrola and made Tyrunt Lv.27 and Amaura Lv.29.
So Grant you get a Freddy Mercury Win Pose Reversal Face Palm out of ten.
3. Korrina of Shalour City
Korinna looks cool just like her roller skating rink gym. She's all hyped up and twirls around on her skates a lot. Which is charming since again a gym leader with a hobby is a nice character.
What bothers me a little is that her character doesn't seem to match her Pokemon Type. She's the fighting type gym leader. Yet she doesn't seem to convey any of that message. Not even her gym does. It seems misplaced. If she was an ice type user and she suddenly had an ice rink in the middle of her skate park that would've been awesome.
Her pokemon are pretty good for fighting types. Mienfoo Lv.29, Hawlucha Lv.30 and Machoke Lv.28., but they seem to be jumbled in order The last pokemon should be Hawlucha. It has the speed to at least make the roller blades seem relevant. Pump the levels up by 5 and it would be a pretty even challenge for the 3rd gym.
Korrina gets a How do you even fight with roller skates on out of ten.
4. Ramos of Courmaline City
Not much to say about Ramos... He's an old veteran guy that reminds me of Master Roshi from DBZ or Happosai From Ranma 1/2. It's kind of intriguing if he was also part of the Pokemon War with Lt. Surge but I didn't really notice his backstory.
His gym was simple enough and swinging across the vines looked neat if it had a game mechanic like pressing a button to time your swing right it would've made it more enjoyable.
His pokemon aren't my cup of tea though, Jumpluff Lv.30, Gogoat Lv.34 and Weepinbell Lv.31. Wait scratch that his pokemon are ok except for Gogoat. I don't like Gogoat. It seemed forced. Jumpluff is great cuz it's grass/flying and has a lot of status effect moves (but Ramos didn't let it have any). Weepinbell is grass/poison and had at least Acid and Gastric Acid but if it were a Victreebell then it would've been done right. Gogoat is just meh (pun). It's plain grass type and had only 1 grass move which was Grass Knot. Grass Knot's damage is according to the target's weight so it's not very reliable.
Ramos you get a How did you survive the war seriously? out of ten.
5. Clemont of Lumiose City
It took a while before I could finally battle Clemont cuz of the whole power plant fiasco. (Thanks a lot Team Flare). But out of all the gym leaders I found Clemont to be my favorite in Pokemon Y. He's an inventor. He has a lil sister that overcompensates for him. He has a Dr. Octopus arm. He also helps out with creating new inventions for pokemon trainers. He's pretty awesome.
His gym is pretty fun cuz it's a game show type of gym. His lil sister is, ofcourse, the host and quizmaster and you pick the elevator door with the right answer. I just found it to be fun. Yeah you can still fight but the quizzes just make it more enjoyable.
His pokemon are in a bad need of a power up though. With only 3 pokemon, Emolga Lv.35, Magneton Lv.35 and Heliolisk Lv.37, even Ramos should've had another pokemon to be his main fighter other than Gogoat. Heliolisk however isn't such a bad main fighter. It's an electric/normal type which had Thunderbolt. At least it had a strong damaging move. But again it had Grass Knot... WHYYY??? Clemont badly needed at least another main here. Ampharos comes to mind as well as Galvantula.
Clemont gets a Dr. Octopus should get you as an assistant out of ten.
6. Valerie of Laverre City
They just had to put Valerie in. With the new fairy type, it wouldn't be a big deal if none of the Gym Leaders didn't use it. So now we have Valerie who has the personality of a doll... which isn't much. She's pretty to look at with her giant dress but like most dolls that's about it.
Her gym is a doll house with warp points that was already done by Sabrina... who also liked dolls in the anime. Hmmm... seems like there's a pattern...
Her pokemon however were a lot more fun, Mawile Lv.38, Mr.Mime Lv.39 and Sylveon Lv42. Don't get me wrong... they're still underwhelming cuz she should have at least 4 by now but i like Mawile and Sylveon. Mr. Mime was ok since he had a psychic type and has some potential to be a problem. I wish Mawile had a stronger moveset and Sylveon was a pretty good main but again felt incomplete.
Valerie gets a Kristen Stewart acting award out of ten.
7. Olympia of Anistar City
Olympia appeared around the time where I thought the Gym Leaders were starting to beef up. She seemed pretty strong. Her fortune teller outfit brought it on. I like her design. I wanted her to have a cool quirk though like she can only see doom and gloom in the future like Cassandra from Greek Mythology. But she's a nice lady with psychic powers so i guess that's fine.
Her gym is pretty awesome. It takes place in the Astral plane. So you're not sure if you're actually in the gym anymore. You run around trying to get to her platform and then you fight.
Her pokemon are likeable enough, Sigilyph Lv.44, Slowbro Lv.45 and Meowstic Lv.48, but again why can't you have more than 3? Meowstic doesn't seem to cut it as a main fighter. Mewtwo would've been awesome but I think there's a rule where Gym leaders can't use legendary pokemon. Either way there's a pretty awesome roster of psychic pokemon to choose from. Alakazam for one or maybe even Gothitelle or Reunicluse if they want to be modern and showcase the new pokemon.
Olympia gets a was this fight all a dream out of ten.
8. Wulfric of Snowbelle City
I mentioned that Clemont was my favorite Gym Leader in Gen 6 but Wulfric is a close second. He's actually intimidating to look at with his buffness and Walrus style beard. Also they both have cool names. Also I like that Wulfric is kind of the guardian for Pokemon town in the winding wood area. He's like Santa... if he worked out.
His gym is fine i guess with rotating cube floors and switches. It provides an ok challege. It's fine and ok... moving on.
Here's where it gets interesting. I mentioned before that Korrina should've been the Ice type Gym Leader. Wulfric would look amazing as the fighting type right up there with Chuck, Brawlie and Maylene. He's big and tough and apparently has big and tough pokemon. If it wasn't for his color scheme and town location you wouldn't even know he had ice type pokemon.
His Ice type pokemon though are pretty nice, Abomasnow Lv.56, Cryogonal Lv.55 and Avalugg Lv.59. Like I said big and tough but again... ONLY 3 Pokemon... T_T Where's Frostic or Glaceon?
Wulfric as a the final gym leader you get a Your team do not give your awesomeness justice out of ten.
So there you have it... My review for the 8 gym leaders in Pokemon Y. They seemed more like a side note and would have loved to see them used more in the story. Also it they were a bigger challenge. But it was still fun... and that's we really need right?
... right?