The Sootopolis Gym's door is initially locked. It will only open up once the player has solved Hoenn's weather crisis.
Generation III
Sootopolis City Pokémon Gym Leader: Wallace
Artist, and lover of water
Sootopolis City Pokémon Gym Leader: Juan
The Gym Leader with the beauty of pure water!
In Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, to reach the Gym Leader, Trainers must step on every ice tile to activate the stairways to the next level. If any tile is used twice, the player will fall to a lower floor, where the Gym Trainers are located. No matter where he or she falls, at least one Trainer must be challenged before the stairs can be returned to. The levels on the basement floor are separated with ice slides, allowing the player to only move downwards.
When defeated, WallaceRS or JuanE will give the player the Rain Badge as well as TM03 (Water Pulse) as a reward.
Generation VI
Sootopolis City Pokémon Gym Leader: Wallace
Artist, and lover of water
In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the player can walk across the ice diagonally instead of just straight. The second and third puzzles now also contain solid platforms which can be stepped onto multiple times without them breaking. Once a puzzle is solved and the player has entered the next level, the cracked tiles on the lower levels can be stepped onto without them breaking. The ice slides on the lower floor are replaced with stairs, allowing the player to freely move between the different levels of the floor. In addition, two Trainers can now be battled on the main floor.
When defeated, Wallace will give the player the Rain Badge as well as HM05 (Waterfall) as a reward.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
Trainers with a PokéNav by their names will be registered in the Trainer's Eyes or Match Call function after the first battle, and may have a rematch with the player with higher-level Pokémon.
The Sootopolis Gym first appeared in The Great Eight Fate!, when Ash and his friends first arrived there. They met up with Juan, who was putting on a water show with all the Pokémon in his Gym.
After challenging Juan, Ash learned that the battle would be divided up into two parts. The first part was a Double Battle. Once both of Juan's Pokémon fainted, the battle would switch into one-on-one battles. Ash's battle with Juan ended in Eight Ain't Enough! in Ash victory, earning him his Rain Badge.
Interestingly, Juan did not use his in-game team in the anime, but rather Wallace's Ruby and Sapphire team.
Sootopolis Gym is also the home to Sebastian, the assistant at the Gym.
Sealeo made a cameo during its first appearance in Team Rocket's electric net but was eventually freed.
In the next episode, Sealeo was one of the two Pokémon Juan used in the first round of his battle with Ash. Sealeo used Blizzard on Pikachu and Snorunt, but Snorunt countered it with Icy Wind. It then tried to hit Pikachu with Aurora Beam, but Pikachu dodged. When Ash switched Snorunt for Corphish and attacked with BubbleBeam, Sealeo dived into the water and tried hitting Pikachu again, but once again Pikachu dodged. After Sealeo was left alone against both of Ash's Pokémon it used Ice Ball repeatedly and almost won the battle, but was eventually taken down by Corphish's Crabhammer.
Seaking battled alongside Sealeo in the Double Battle against Pikachu and Snorunt. It used Horn Drill to reflect Pikachu's Electric attacks at Snorunt. When Ash's Pokémon were attempting to attack from up close, Seaking hit Snorunt with Hyper Beam, forcing Ash to switch Snorunt for Corphish. Seaking then dived and used Horn Attack, but Corphish caught it by the horn. Seaking followed up with Horn Drill, damaging Corphish, but was then hit by Pikachu's Iron Tail and fainted.
Luvdisc first appeared in The Great Eight Fate! where it put a dazzling performance with the other of Juan's Pokémon, it was later captured by Team Rocket but helped to get free.
The second round of his battle with Ash, Juan chose Luvdisc against Grovyle. Luvdisc started out with Water Pulse, but Grovyle dodged in time and countered with Leaf Blade. Luvdisc, however, was fast enough to dodge that attack and use Sweet Kiss, confusing Grovyle. Grovyle hit itself in confusion, and Luvdisc finished it off with Water Gun, which resulted in a loss for Grovyle despite the type advantage. Ash switched back to Corphish. The two Pokémon kept dodging each other's attacks, until Luvdisc dived underwater and Ash ordered Corphish to hit the water with Crabhammer. Corphish's attack, however, sprayed the battlefield with water, simulating heavy rain, which activated Luvdisc's Ability, Swift Swim, allowing it to move even faster than before. Eventually, though, Corphish managed to hit Luvdisc with another Crabhammer, taking it out of the battle.
The fourth Pokémon Juan used against Ash was Whiscash, who easily defeated Ash's Corphish with Surf and Rock Smash. Ash then chose Swellow, but Whiscash grabbed it and used Tickle, followed by Hyper Beam. Juan thought he won the round, but Swellow recovered and used Aerial Ace, even after Whiscash dived underwater. After missing another Hyper Beam and getting hit by another Aerial Ace, Whiscash was unable to battle.
Milotic first appeared in The Great Eight Fate where it was used in a water exhibition. It also won in a battle against Team Rocket. Milotic is Juan's strongest Pokémon as well as most experienced. It won Juan many Contests as well as the Ribbon Cup many years ago when he was a Pokémon Coordinator. He later used Milotic as his final Pokémon in the Gym battle against Ash.
With its elegant grace and power, it was able to gain the upper hand against Ash. It defeated Ash's Swellow with Hydro Pump and Twister and put up a good fight against Pikachu as well thanks to its ability to Recover after Electric attacks and drawing in Pikachu's Thunder with Iron Tail. However, Pikachu pulled Milotic below the water and then used Thunder to defeat it earning Ash the Rain Badge.
Despite being a Water-type Gym, this Gym's puzzle resembles an Ice-type Gym.
This is one of the only two Gyms that have different Gym Leaders in the same generation depending on the version. The other Gym is Opelucid Gym.
This is also the only eighth Gym to not have any Ace Trainers in any of its appearances.
There is a glitch in Pokémon Emerald on the bottom floor of the Gym where the player can walk into the wall above the ladder.
Due to Wallace giving HM05 (Waterfall) in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, this is the only Gym in which the player is ever rewarded with an HM rather than a TM.
