Pokemon Sword & Shield: Ranking Every Gym Leader
The fabled 18 didn’t arrive, but the ones we got were still pretty great.
Gym Leaders have always been a core part of the Pokémon canon, dating back to the very first two we ever met: Brock & Misty. Sun & Moon toyed with the formula last time around with middling results, but Sword & Shield went back to traditions.
The gym trials add a little bit of extra character, and did a good job at making the world of Galar feel like a living, breathing place. The fact the gym leaders seemed like much more active part of the story helped them stand out this time too.
There’s also the version exclusive leaders joining into the equation, as well as some in game events which changed the makeup of the rosters.
The rankings aren’t based on strength, as that seems unnecessarily harsh on the early game gym leaders. Instead, their design, their teams, their gym itself and their trial plus their involvement within the story all factor into things. Obviously their general personality and likability or coolness matter an awful lot too.
Sword & Shield released under a bit of a cloud, with the most controversial run up to a Pokémon game ever. It seems to have weathered that storm though, coming safely through the other side.
12. Gordie
Gordie is just such a pain. Being a Sword exclusive doesn’t work against him in principle, but when he’s meh, it feels like a waste of an exclusive. In this mother/son match up of Gordie and Melony, Sword players definitely got the short end of the stick.
Melony seems a better fit for Circhester anyway, but that’s just for starters. While Melony has a sweet yet stern motherly vibe, Gordie’s personality seems to just be ‘he’s cocky’, and nothing else. When Raihan and Leon both do that schtick so much better than Gordie, he’s between a rock and a hard place.
His design is an uninspired collection of things that made you cool in the ‘90s, while his backwards battle stance just makes zero sense. Exclusives should be a chance to run wild with ideas, and really try and pull a player towards a version. Cynically, the ideal scenario is that players can’t choose, and instead buy both.
No one is going to buy Sword for Gordie.
His gym challenge at least feels like an homage to previous tricky dungeons, but that too feels better suited to Melony’s ice. He just can’t catch a break.