Pokemon Sword & Shield: Ranking Every Gym Leader

Look, Marnie is a fantastic character. Her punk aesthetic is inch perfect for her cheeky cockney personality, and while Sword & Shield throws a fair few rivals at you, she stands out as the best. As a gym leader though, she’s a whole lotta nope.

For one thing, you don’t even get to battle her in any gym leader capacity. You can challenge her through the Champions Cup, but it’s just not the same. The decision to have Piers feature heavily in the post game in his sister’s stead aids his stock, but only diminishes hers.

Then there’s the fact she becomes gym leader after all. Piers seems pretty great at it, holding his own without Dynamaxing and all, while Marnie seems to have her own thing going on. Filling Piers’ shoes just feels so unnecessary.

It might have seemed sweet at least, but the fact that it totally steps on Bede’s toes ruins that. Marnie’s a silver medalist in her own narrative. She’s a great character, but she shouldn’t even be here to begin with.

It says more about Gordie than it does Marnie that she avoids last place here.