Pokemon Sword & Shield: Ranking Every Gym Leader

Nessa was one of the first gym leaders revealed to us, and remains one of Sword & Shield’s best. We meet her early on, and after Milo has set the table, Nessa is the first gym leader with any semblance of a story.

We learn of her friendship with Sonia, and meet her by the lighthouse in Hulbury, giving her more depth outside of her specific role as gym leader. Through her links with Sonia, we see her pop up at various times through the story too, cementing her as a key part of Galar.

What really lands her so high though is her gym challenge. The inventive waterfall pipe maze is one of the few where the game actually attempts to stretch you. It might have committed to that further without the colouring coding maybe, but it’s still a nifty little mini game.

There’s just a few other flourishes to Nessa’s character which eke her ahead of Raihan and Bea. She has the most animated face, defining her character more, and she’s one of the few gym leaders whose reward uniform isn’t a standard football kit knock off.

Her special card in post game is actually special too.