Fortree City Pokémon Gym Leader: Winona
The bird user taking flight into
the world.
Fortree City Pokémon Gym Leader: Winona
The bird user taking flight into the world.
The Fortree Gym cannot be accessed when the player first arrives in Fortree City, as an invisible Kecleon is blocking the path to the Gym. Once the player has met Steven on Route 120 and received the DevonScope from him, they can make the Kecleon move aside, allowing the Gym to be accessed.
The Gym's passages are blocked by rotating doors that turn when the player walks through them, requiring the player to backtrack and go through certain gates multiple times to access the Gym Leader. A group of ledges can be used as a shortcut to get back to the entrance.
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 Fortree Gym has appeared in two episodes of the anime.
In Who's Flying Now?, Ash and his friends reached Fortree City, and he was eager to challenge Winona to a battle. However, after reaching the top of the Gym's many steps, he was informed that the Gym Leader was actually in town celebrating a festival. Immediately, the young Trainer ran to the town to find the Gym Leader. He challenged Winona to a battle, and she accepted for the following day.
They battled in Sky High Gym Battle!. The battlefield is located on top of the Gym, so the Flying Pokémon can use the sky to their advantage. Winona was a strong battler, but Ash battled hard as well, and prevailed over Winona. He successfully won the Feather Badge, and headed off to Mossdeep City.
The first Pokémon Winona used in the Gym battle against Ash was her Altaria. With Grovyle's speed, Altaria's attack did not work again and again. Then finally, with a Leaf Blade, Altaria was defeated, despite the type advantage.
Winona's Pelipper was the second Pokémon she used against Ash. Ash battled with Pikachu, starting with a Thunderbolt. Pelipper countered with Steel Wing as a ground. Pelipper then used Hydro Pump, but its wing lost contact with the ground and Pikachu used its mistake to its advantage with a Thunder attack. Both Pelipper and Pikachu were knocked out due to the damage they took.
The final Pokémon Winona used against Ash was her ShinySwellow. It was shown to be a powerful battler, with powerful attacks like Aerial Ace and Hyper Beam. It defeated Ash's Grovyle easily and almost beat Ash's Swellow, but with a little quick thinking on Ash's part, his Swellow was victorious, winning Ash the Feather Badge.
Winona's Swellow was the fifth Shiny Pokémon to appear in the anime. It is also the first Shiny Pokémon owned by a Gym Leader.
In Generation III, it is possible to postpone this Gym until the player has the Rain Badge, since it is required to challenge Elite Four. This possibility is even acknowledged in-game, as WallaceRS/JuanE will mention that the player needs to earn the Feather Badge in order to enter the Pokémon League in case the player doesn't have the Badge by the time they defeat him. In Generation VI, this is no longer the case, as a Bird Keeper on Route 120 will prevent the player from advancing through a certain point of the route until they've beaten Winona.