Gym
A Gym (Japanese: ジム Gym) is a place where Pokémon Trainers go to train their Pokémon. Just like real-life gymnasiums, where one can go to work out and build physical strength, Pokémon Gyms are places where Trainers can go to sharpen their battling skills and where their Pokémon can go to gain experience.
Often specializing in a particular type, Gyms create an environment which allows Trainers to test both their skills and Pokémon against those of others. The most powerful Trainer in a given Gym is called the Gym Leader, who is revered by both the lower-ranking members of the Gym and local fans. Usually, Gyms are designed to follow and suit the type that the Gym specializes in, such as Wattson's Gym that has electric gates to indicate that it is Electric. However, there are also Gyms that do not practice this, such as Viridian Gym or Cinnabar Gym.
Official Gyms are certified by a Pokémon League, and at least eight official Gym Badges are requested before entering a League Competition. Gyms are vital to a Pokémon Trainer's journey; they may have to travel far and wide, as there can only be one Gym per city. There are also unofficial Gyms that are not certified, many of which are prestigious nonetheless.
In core series games
Official Gyms
Most official Gyms feature a number of Trainers that the player may face before battling the Gym Leader. Their teams typically consist of the same type of Pokémon that the Gym Leader has. These Trainers cannot be battled after the Gym Leader has been defeated, with the exception of those found in Driftveil GymB2W2.
The Gym guide routinely stands at the entrance of the Gym, giving the player advice about the type advantages corresponding to the signature type of the Gym Leader.
There are generally eight known official Gyms in core series regions that include Gyms.
Gallery
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: HGSS pictures different colors, Generation VI pictures |
Generations II, V and VI have a unique design for each Gym (except Cinnabar Gym, which is destroyed). However, in Generation II, the only difference is the shape and color of the roof, with the exception of Saffron and Cerulean Gyms.
Generation I
Generation I
Generation III (Hoenn)
Generation III (Kanto)
Generation IV (Sinnoh)
Generation IV (Johto)
Generation IV (Kanto)
Generation II
Generation V
Unofficial Gyms
Saffron City Dojo
- Main article: Fighting Dojo
The Trainers of this Gym specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon. It used to be an official Gym until Sabrina defeated its Leader, Kiyo. After the player defeats the Dojo's Karate Master Kiyo, he will give the player either Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan as a reward.
Prestige Precept center
- Main article: Prestige Precept Center
Also known as the Pre Gym, this unofficial Gym of Phenac City doubles as an academy. In Pokémon Colosseum, its Leader, Justy, will not battle the Trainer until they have at least six Pokémon, and will give away TM27 (Return).
In Pokémon GO
- Main article: Gym (GO)
In Pokémon GO, Gyms are located at various locations in the real world, being depicted as large towers in the Map View.
If a Gym tower is red, yellow, or blue, that Gym is currently controlled by the team of that color; if a Gym tower is white, that Gym is currently not controlled by any team.
After selecting a team (which can only be done after reaching level 5), a player can battle at Gyms. At Gyms of the same team, players can train (which increases the Gym's Prestige) or support it by adding their own Pokémon as a defender. At Gyms of an opposing team, players can challenge them in order to decrease their Prestige. If a Gym's Prestige reaches 0, the Gym becomes free to be claimed by any team.
In the anime
In the anime, Trainers challenge Gyms in order to earn Badges, which grant them entry to that region's Pokémon League Conference. All official Gyms present in the core series games have been featured in the anime.
With the exception of the Orange Archipelago, most regions seem to have at least eight Gyms which Trainers can choose to challenge, and winning Badges from any eight qualifies a Trainer for the region's Pokémon League Conference. In Unova, while Ash originally intended to earn the Legend Badge, he ultimately earns the Toxic Badge from the Virbank Gym as his eighth Badge instead.
Many fellow Trainers that Ash has encountered have been shown to have Badges that do not exist in the games, such as Gary Oak earning ten Badges in Kanto. Other Badges observed in the anime which do not correspond to known Badges suggest that there are at least 9 Gyms in Hoenn, 11 in Sinnoh, 14 in Unova, and 11 in Kalos. Despite this, Ash's Badge case has frequently had indents specifically shaped for the Badges that appear in the games.
Gyms can be battled in any order, with Ash and his friends seeming to pick out Gyms based on their current location. However, at times, a certain Gym order has been implied in the anime. In the case of Hoenn, Ash originally challenges Norman in There's No Place Like Hoenn, at which time Norman explains to Ash that he must have three Pokémon to challenge the Petalburg Gym officially. Instead, Norman points to Rustboro as the first Gym Ash should face.
In Kalos, due to Clemont's perception of an ideal challenger of the Lumiose Gym, he programmed the Clembot—the substitute Gym Leader—to throw out challengers who did not have four Kalos Gym Badges. As a result, when Ash attempted to challenge the Gym shortly after arriving in the Kalos region, Clembot acted according to its programming and threw him out. After Clemont was able to reprogram the Clembot, he removed the Badge restriction, but Ash indicated he would still collect four Badges before challenging Clemont himself at the Gym.
Rules
Most Gym battles are conducted as Single Battles, although some have been held as Double Battles.
In most cases, Gym Leaders are not permitted to switch Pokémon while challengers are; although those that Ash encountered before Blaine did switch, since Ash's match against Blaine in Riddle Me This, only Lenora has switched out a Pokémon. Challengers are usually only allowed to use the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader, but some Gym battles—such as with Roxie and Grant—have exceptions. In a Gym battle, a Pokémon is determined unable to be unable to battle when declared as such by a battle judge.
Gym Leaders appear to be able to impose their own rules, in addition to the standard set of rules for Gym battles. In particular, the Orange Crew all have entire Gym matches devoted to unconventional battling styles.
Special rules
- For Mossdeep Gym's Mind Badge, Ash battled Tate and Liza in a Double Battle. For Anistar Gym's Psychic Badge, he battled Olympia in a Double Battle.
- Juan of Sootopolis Gym has a unique two round system, with the first round being a Double Battle. Once the challenger wins the first round, they enter the second round, battling against three of his Pokémon in a Single Battle. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute, and can use five Pokémon.
- When Ash challenged Whitney of the Goldenrod Gym in Johto to a rematch, he fought three-on-one in his favour, with Whitney only using her Miltank.
- For the Striaton Gym's Trio Badge, the challenger can choose which of the three Gym Leaders they want to battle. However, Ash challenged all three triplets, making the battle a best-two-out-of-three tournament, with Ash only earning a Badge after defeating at least two of the Gym Leaders.
- For the Nacrene Gym's Basic Badge, both the challenger and the Gym Leader use the same number of Pokémon, with both being allowed to make substitutions.
- For the Mistralton Gym's Jet Badge, the challenger and the Gym Leader used to engage in "Air Battles". In these, the Gym Leader first displays her three chosen Pokémon, followed with the challenger revealing their own three, then the Gym Leader decides the outcome of the battle using her own experience without even physically battling.
- For the Virbank Gym's Toxic Badge, the battle was teams were three-on-six in Ash's favor, with only him being allowed to make substitutions.
Orange League
In the anime-exclusive Orange League, the four Gym Leaders each have their own special requirements challengers must meet in order to gain their Gym Badges.
- For the Coral Eye Badge, the challenger and Gym Leader Cissy go head-to-head in three water-based physical challenges using their Water-type Pokémon.
- For the Sea Ruby Badge, the challenger must complete two of Gym Leader Danny's three challenges. These challenges are to climb a mountain without the aid of any of their Pokémon, build a bobsled (or toboggan) with the help of three of their Pokémon, and compete in a bobsled race down the side of the mountain against Danny.
- For the Spike Shell Badge, Gym Leader Rudy assigns the challenger an attack challenge in which they must use their Pokémon to knock down all the targets on a tricky water course. If they pass this pre-test, they must defeat Rudy in a three-on-three battle, with Pokémon of the same type battling each other.
- For the Jade Star Badge, the challenger must battle Gym Leader Luana in a Double Battle.
Puzzles
Some Gyms also require the challenger to undergo a trial or a test before they can battle the Gym Leader.
- The Fuchsia Gym in Kanto was set up like a ninja house and riddled with traps, with the Trainers had to make their way through before they were allowed to challenge the Gym Leader.
- The Cinnabar Gym (again in Kanto) was hidden, and required challengers to find it by solving the riddles given by the disguised Gym Leader, Blaine.
- The Nacrene Gym in Unova could only be accessed if the Trainer picks the right book in an entire library.
- The Lumiose Gym in Kalos, when under the charge of the Clembot, used to first require Trainers to have four Badges before they could challenge the Gym.
Official Gyms
Orange Archipelago
The Orange Archipelago also contains its own league, complete with its own Gyms:
| Orange Islands | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gym | Prize | Type | Leader |
| Mikan Gym |  Coral-Eye Badge |
Water |  Cissy |
| Navel Gym |  Sea Ruby Badge |
Various |  Danny |
| Trovita Gym |  Spike Shell Badge |
Various |  Rudy |
| Kumquat Gym |  Jade Star Badge |
Various |  Luana |
| Pummelo Stadium |  Winner's Trophy |
Various |  Drake |
In Pokémon Origins
All eight Kanto Gyms featured in the games Pokémon Red and Green were shown in Pokémon Origins, which primarily showcased Red challenging the Pewter Gym in File 1: Red and the Viridian Gym in File 3: Giovanni.
Unlike the main series anime, the Gyms closely follow the system utilised in the games, where the challenger is able to use all Pokémon in their team against the Gym Leader. Gyms also have scoreboards featuring each Trainer's current Pokémon and their remaining HP. Gym Leaders may also hand out a TM along with their Badge, and are shown to be capable of altering their Pokémon used in battle, with Brock choosing two out of six potential Pokémon, and Giovanni using a different set of Pokémon than those used against his battle with Blue.
Unofficial Gyms
A.J.'s Gym
This Gym is run solely by the Trainer A.J., and is notable for its rigorous training methods. It is unknown what prize if any A.J. gave to any victorious challengers, because he left it to enter the Pokémon League after he defeated 100 challengers in a row using only his Sandshrew. This Gym appears in The Path to the Pokémon League.
Fighting Spirit Gym
This Gym was run by Anthony, who was training his Hitmonchan for the P1 Grand Prix. It did not appear to be used for actual Pokémon battles. Instead, it had the appearance of a gym used for training and exercising.
Kaz Gym
This Gym in Dark City wanted to become an official Gym to earn money, but was rejected by the Pokémon League. It has Pokémon of various types, but its primary Pokémon is an Electabuzz. This Gym appears in Showdown at Dark City and is run by Kaz.
Yas Gym
This Gym in Dark City wanted to become an official Gym to earn money, but was rejected by the Pokémon League. The Gym Trainers specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon but the Gym Leader's Pokémon is a Scyther. This Gym appears in Showdown at Dark City and is run by Yas.
Coastline Gym
This is an unofficial Gym that was featured in Just Add Water. It is located on the outskirts of Blackthorn City. Led by Dorian, the Gym specializes in Water-type Pokémon. Unlike the other Water-type Gyms, Dorian holds his battles underwater.
Although the Gym is unofficial, Dorian is hoping that by word of mouth it will become more popular. In fact, after Ash and his friends visited the Gym, they promised they would tell everyone at the Silver Conference about it. However, it hasn't been mentioned since then.
Powerzone Gym
This is an unofficial Gym run by Jessie, James, and Meowth in Gymbaliar!. They used the Gym as a method of training and building strategies, however they were on a losing streak until a wild Croagunk appeared and was used as Jessie's powerhouse.
Gallery
A.J.'s Gym
Fighting Spirit Gym
Kaz Gym
Yas Gym
Coastline Gym
Powerzone Gym
In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
In early chapters of Pokémon Adventures, Gym buildings were likely to be seen only when a character challenged the Gym Leader, as the building would host their Gym battle. In particular, Roxanne's Gym at Rustboro City appeared to be retractable, the building acting as both an examination hall and a battlefield.
The Gyms featured in the Diamond & Pearl arc and the Black & White arc started to incorporate the interior layouts directly from the games, to feature obstacles that Platinum and Black respectively had to overcome in order to reach the Gym Leader. This was not applicable for their final Gym challenges, as they challenged their respective opponents outside of the Gym.
In the TCG
In the Pokémon Trading Card Game, all Gyms are Stadium cards, which provide a specific effect while they are in play.
Official Gyms
This listing is of cards based on official Gyms from the Pokémon games and often focus on the type speciality of a particular Gym.
Unofficial Gyms
This listing is of cards that feature TCG-exclusive Gyms, which focus on altering a certain gameplay mechanic.
| Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| No Removal Gym | T [St] | Gym Heroes | 
|
103/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| The Rocket's Training Gym | T [St] | Gym Heroes |
|
104/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| Narrow Gym | T [St] | Gym Heroes | 
|
124/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| Chaos Gym | T [St] | Gym Challenge |
|
102/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| Resistance Gym | T [St] | Gym Challenge |
|
109/132 | Leaders' Stadium |
|
|
| Rocket's Minefield Gym | T [St] | Gym Challenge | 
|
119/132 | Challenge from the Darkness |
|
|
| Ecogym | T [St] | Neo Genesis |
|
84/111 | Gold, Silver, to a New World... |
|
|
| Broken Ground Gym | T [St] | Neo Destiny |
|
84/105 | Darkness, and to Light... |
|
|
| Rocket's Tricky Gym | T [St] | EX Team Rocket Returns |
|
90/109 | Rocket Gang Strikes Back |
|
082/085 |
Trivia
- For Gymbaliar!, Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia is about Gyms. He writes this senryū about them: 「かてるまで なんどもちょうせん ポケモンジム」 "Until you win, battle again and again; that is a Pokémon Gym."
- This is also the episode Team Rocket set up a fake Gym, with Jessie acting as its Leader.
- In Generation I, a glitch allows Trainers to fish in the statues at the front of the Gyms.
- No known Gym has specialized in Dark-type Pokémon.
- As the Fighting Dojo in Kanto was once official, every region except Unova has had a Fighting-type Gym at one time.
- Despite the above fact, there has been a Fighting-type specialist in every region, either as a Gym Leader or an Elite Four member.
- A Trainer in the Glitter Lighthouse also says Jasmine used to specialize in Rock-type Pokémon, meaning every region except Unova has had a Rock-type Gym at one time.
- In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, each Gym's frame is colored according to the type, except for the Viridian Gym, which has no specialist type. The Viridian Gym's frame is green.
- In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, walking Pokémon are not allowed in the Blackthorn Gym and Viridian Gym because the flooring is unstable. Coincidentally, both Gyms are the last of the Gyms challenged in Johto and Kanto, respectively.
- Eight of the eleven Unova Gyms serve dual purposes, both as a place of battle and as a service: Striaton Gym is a restaurant, Nacrene Gym is a museum and library, Castelia Gym is a gallery showcasing the paintings of Gym Leader Burgh, Nimbasa Gym is a set of roller coasters to go with the Ferris Wheel in Nimbasa City in Pokémon Black and White or a fashion show catwalk in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Driftveil Gym is a mining operation, Mistralton Gym is an airplane hangar, Aspertia Gym is a school, and Virbank Gym is a music club.
- In Generation V and VI, Gyms do not take on a single appearance, with their look being customized to suit the Gym Leader's specialist type. Gyms previously only had unique designs in Generation II, where the roof colors differed between Gyms.
- In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, every Gym has, with the exception of Aspertia Gym, a unique remix of the usual Pokémon Gym theme music.
- Alola in Generation VII is the first region introduced in the core series to not feature any Gyms. Instead, the various trials of the island challenge fill that role.
In other languages
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See also
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The Pokémon League | 
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation Trainer • Battle • Gym Leaders Gyms • Badges • Referee Championship matches Elite Four • Orange League Champion League Pokémon League Conferences Indigo • Silver • Ever Grande • Lily of the Valley Vertress • Lumiose • Manalo |
Regional Pokémon Leagues Indigo • Orange* • Johto • Hoenn • Sinnoh Unova (BB) • Kalos • Alola • Galar • Paldea Areas of jurisdiction Pokémon League Reception Gate • Hall of Fame Palace of Victory • Cerulean Cave • Area Zero Others Admissions Exam • Pokémon Association PIA • World Coronation Series (Masters Eight Tournament) | ||
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This article is part of Project Locations, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every location in the Pokémon world. |
