In the Pokémon games Gym Leaders are known for being the strongest trainers in their respective towns. There are eight across each region, each of them specializes in a certain type and style, many know how to account for their weaknesses, and they are all the ultimate test to see whether a trainer is ready to move forward to the next part of their journey.
Unfortunately, over the years, a few Gym Leaders have been a tad too easy by the set standards. Even though they may appear later in the game, some gym leaders are easier than those who precede them.
10 For Johto's Penultimate Gym Leader, Pryce Doesn't Put Up Much Of A Fight
After defeating Team Rocket at their hideout in Mahogany Town, players can finally obtain access to the Mahogany Town gym. Inside awaits the 7th Johto gym leader, Pryce, who uses ice-type Pokémon. Despite being portrayed as an elder with years of experience with Pokémon, he is somewhat underwhelming.
Pryce's Seel and Dewgong — despite being water-types — don't pack water-type moves, giving any fire-types an edge. They often rely on Rest which leaves them sitting ducks for two turns. Pryce's ace, Piloswine, isn't only weak to all three of the starter Pokémon, but is also a lower level than the ace Pokémon of the 6th gym leader.
9 Byron's Steel Types Are Easy To Rust
As the sixth gym leader in Sinnoh and the father of Roark, one would think Byron would be a tougher hurdle than his son. Alas, this wasn't the case. Although steel-types often proved defensively strong, Byron's Steel-type Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, didn't carry the best defensive typings.
Two of Byron's three Pokémon in Platinum — his Magneton and Bastiodon — have a 4x weakness to ground-type moves (and fighting in Bastiodon's case) and can easily be one-hit KOed. Byron's Bronzor in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl has weaker defenses due to being unevolved. His Steelix in all versions, although strong on the physical defense side, is easy to take advantage of.
8 Roxie May Rock But Her Poison Types Don't
As the second Gym Leader of Pokémon Black & White 2, Roxie has a very cool aesthetic of being a guitarist in a rock band. Sadly her battling skills as a poison-type gym leader leave something to be desired. Unless a player has challenge mode on, none of Roxie's three members are a threat.
Additionally, none of Roxie's poison types can damage steel types effectively. Steel types are easy to obtain at this point by either evolving the Riolu one caught prior at Floccesy Ranch into a Lucario or catching a Magnemite south of the city.
7 Brock's Rock-Hard Defense Isn't That Sturdy
As Kanto's first gym leader, it would be expected for Brock to set the stage for the gym leaders' challenges to come. However, Brock's rock-type Pokémon are generally pushovers no matter what the game. Two of the three starters can make quick work of Brock's Geodude and Onix in Pokémon Red and Blue and their remakes due to their 4x weaknesses to water and grass types and having low speed.
Even a resistant fire-type move can dent Brock's Pokémon given their low special defense. Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and their remakes only amplify the problem by failing to patch up the water and grass weaknesses and giving Brock two fossil Pokémon weak to electric types — which he lacked before.
6 Bugsy Doesn't Give Bug Types The Best Name
Back in the early generations of Pokémon, bug types were considered a joke due to having moves with low base powers and Pokémon with weak stats. Sadly, as the first bug-type gym leader, Bugsy did nothing to dispel those assessments.
While his Scyther can mount pressure with Fury Cutter, his remaining two Pokémon — Kakuna and Metapod — are stuck with weak attacks and poor stats. In a generation where one can get Flaaffy, Geodude, Pidgey, Quilava, Growlithe, or Spearow — who have strong matchups against these bug types well before this battle — Bugsy hardly stands a chance.
5 Wulfric Is A Disappointing Final Test
Ordinarily, the final gym leader of a region always provides a challenge in their type of Pokémon and movesets. Wulfric is the unfortunate exception to this rule. As an ice-type user, his Abomasnow and Avalugg quickly fall to any special fire-type move (or any fire-type move in the former's case).
None of Wulfric's team has any way to cover against fire-types. To make matters more laughable, his Abomasnow lacks a complete moveset. Aside from Cryogonal, Wulfric's team is incredibly slow. Avalugg takes hefty damage from any special move while Cryogonal takes just as much from any physical moves due to having low defense and special defense respectively.
4 Janine Has Much To Learn Before Being On Par With Her Father
Due to Fuchsia City Gym Leader Koga joining Johto's Elite Four, his daughter Janine took his place utilizing poison types just like him. Having said that, she doesn't live up to her father's strength, and the levels of Janine's Pokémon are astonishingly lower than most of the Kanto gym leaders in Johto's postgame.
The average player's team will likely be leveled well above Janine's at the time they challenge her, making her team easy to damage hard even with neutral hits and outspeed. Whereas her father rode high and frustrated players with several status techniques, Janine's team can't do likewise, despite using the same techniques.
3 Ramos Can't Compensate For The Shortcomings Of Grass Types
While grass types have an abundance of weaknesses that make them a liability, they have some tricks up their sleeves. Examples include strong status moves, good stats, and decent coverage to boot. The Kalos grass-type gym leader, Ramos sadly fulfills little to none of these criteria. His Jumpluff is fast but frail, allowing any stronger type to KO it.
Due to Weepinbell being an unevolved Pokémon, it's largely in the same boat. Ramos' Gogoat can catch fire types off guard with Bulldoze. But even then, it's weak on the physical side. Making matters worse, none of Ramos' Pokémon have full movesets aside from Weepinbell. It and Jumpluff lack Sunny Day to take advantage of their Chlorophyll ability.
2 Blaine Doesn't Burn Bright
Fire-types are extremely strong on offense and have a good matchup against and resisting a good number of types in the game. Unfortunately, Kanto's penultimate gym leader, Blaine, doesn't have much to showcase. Fire types share an unfortunate weakness to water types. And to get to where the gym is on Cinnabar Island, one must teach a Pokémon the water type move, Surf.
With Surf having a respectable base 95 power, and Blaine's team lacing solid defensive prowess, Blaine is a cakewalk. Some of his teammates can immobilize opponents with Fire Spin, but it has shaky accuracy and a low base power especially against water types. Additionally, Generation II games removes Fire Spin's immobilizing ability.
1 Jasmine Didn't Showcase The Steel Type Well Enough
Generation II introduced the steel type and the 6th gym leader. Jasmine was supposed to be the prime showcase of how powerful steel types could be. Sadly, she fell short of expectations. Jasmine had no underlings to show off all the different steel types and their uses, and her team failed to do the same.
Jasmine's two Magnemite, despite being at a level capable of evolution, are still in their base form. Given their low bulk and speed as unevolved Pokémon, they quickly fall to anything super effective. They are also mostly ineffective at hitting ground types. Steelix is slow and given its low special defense, will likely instantly fall to a fire type move