Gym Leaders in Pokémon are far from easy to defeat. Even though they each specialize in one main type of Pokémon for their teams, each of them presents a challenge to trainers to defeat. Some might even defeat trainers during the first attempts of earning a badge, forcing trainers to go through rematches.
As a Gym Leader, there are many perks to being one such as automatically earning some respect thanks to their status and also having more opportunities to battle each other and other trainers. However, there are also downsides such as constantly facing defeat at some point, maintaining their actual gym buildings, and constantly training during downtime to keep their teams in shape.
10 PERK: Most People Automatically Respect Gym Leaders
Much like how the Champions in every region are generally respected by the people, the same also happens for Gym Leaders. They automatically earn a lot of respect from the public for their positions, how tough they are with their Pokémon teams. It is also rare that anyone bothers underestimating them in battle unless they have a seriously big ego or act immature from past battle wins. Many people acknowledge that being a Gym Leader is a very important position, both for teaching new generations of trainers and for the other responsibilities they have both in and out of their gyms and give them a lot of respect for those reasons.
9 HARSH REALITY: Gym Leaders Must Constantly Deal With Being Defeated In Battle
Considering that the point of Gym Leaders is so that Pokémon trainers can battle them and earn badges from them, this means that all Gym Leaders must inevitably face defeat. Some might be tougher than others to win against, especially if they have Dragon-type or Dark-type Pokémon, but all of them must face defeat at some point, no matter how much they dislike losing against other trainers. Being in a position as Gym Leader means that they constantly have to watch themselves being surpassed by opposing trainers, potentially other Gym Leaders, and even future Champions.
8 PERK: Gym Leaders Often Get To Challenge Trainers And Each Other To Battles
Being a Gym Leader means that they often get to challenge trainers, and sometimes each other, to battles. Any lover of Pokémon battles will often have opportunities to battle new opponents as a Gym Leader since there are constantly new trainers coming to the Gyms to earn their badges.
The constant opportunity for battles also allows Gym Leaders to try new strategies against their opponents, and challenge the opposing trainers to come up with their own unique and clever strategies to defeat them. No Pokémon battle can ever be the same, even if Gym Leaders can only use one main type of Pokémon.
7 HARSH REALITY: Gym Leaders Can Only Use One Main Type Of Pokémon
One of the worst parts about being a Gym Leader is that they must specialize in using one main type of Pokémon. For example, all Fire-type Gym Leaders must use Fire-type Pokémon. This gives them an obvious advantage against some types but also gives them a blatant disadvantage against other types. If a Steel-type Gym Leader encountered a trainer with Fire-type Pokémon, it would be extremely hard for the Steel-type Gym Leader to win any matches unless they came up with strategies to turn the advantaged Pokémon into disadvantages. Some Gym Leaders do use dual-typed Pokémon to try to get around this or teach their Pokémon moves that can counter types that they are disadvantaged against, but these strategies only work so well.
6 PERK: Gym Leaders Often Get To Pass On Their Teachings To Other Trainers
Since the point of being a Gym Leader is to challenge trainers to improve themselves, that also means that they sometimes get to teach other trainers about their battle strategies. This teaching could extend to trainers personally training a few trainers as part of their Gyms, or giving demonstrations to trainers watching them during battle. Either way, it's a fun opportunity for Gym Leaders to show off what it takes to get to the top as a Pokémon trainer and they also get to be the person showing other trainers the ropes instead of being taught what to do in battles.
5 HARSH REALITY: Gym Leaders Must Constantly Train During Downtime To Stay On Top Of Their Game
Many Gym Leaders must often take time to train outside of battle and keep up the strength of their Pokémon teams, giving them little time to genuinely take a break. Maylene and Crasher Wake, for example, took time outside of their Gyms to specifically train and get stronger with their own Pokémon.
Sometimes the training can be fun, but it can also be fairly brutal, especially if the Gym Leaders decide to train in the harshest environments possible. This could lead to endangering the Gym Leader and their own Pokémon, such as Bea and her team being stuck in a cave-in during an episode of the miniseries Pokémon Twilight Wings.
4 PERK: If You're Related To A Gym Leader, You Could Possibly Automatically Inherit The Position
Some Gyms have family members taking control as leaders right after their close family members and previous leaders decide to retire. Flannery, Falkner, and Janine were all Gym Leaders that took on the role of Gym Leader after close family members of theirs stepped down from their positions. It is also possible that you and your parents could be Gym Leaders of different-typed Pokémon, like how Roark and his father Byron were the Rock and Steel-type Gym Leaders in Sinnoh respectively. This could either lead to some fun family reunions in the future or awkward fights like what Roark and Byron went through, but it usually leads to the former than the latter.
3 HARSH REALITY: It Can Be Easy To Lose Confidence After Losing Several Battles
Even though it can be fun to battle many trainers and potentially other Gym Leaders, it can also be tough to deal with so many losses in a row. This could lead to Gym Leaders losing a lot of confidence in themselves as Gym Leaders or even as trainers, to begin with.
One example of this is when Maylene almost entirely quit being a Gym Leader after Paul easily defeated her team and called her weak. If it wasn't for Dawn's interference at the time, she likely would have gone through with the decision. Gym Leaders must constantly train hard, battle hard, but also have the emotional and mental strength to deal with their losses and stay on top of their game.
2 PERK: Gym Leaders Have The Right To Directly Battle The Pokémon League Champion
Unlike trainers, who must go through the Elite Four or a similar set of high-level trainers first before battling the Champion, Gym Leaders get the right to directly battle the Champion and bypass those other trainers. This is likely because Gym Leaders have already proven that they are high-level trainers themselves, even if they only specialize in one main type on their teams. However, a victory likely won't come easily, considering that the Champions themselves are extremely strong. An example of this is Raihan and Leon's known rivalry with each other, with Raihan constantly trying to beat Leon with his Dragon-type team and losing.
1 HARSH REALITY: Gym Leaders Must Not Just Maintain Their Teams, But Also A Whole Gym
Though Gym Leaders need to maintain their teams, they also need to maintain their physical gyms. This is so they can make sure their Pokémon can thrive in the environments they battle in when facing opposing trainers and other challengers. Gym maintenance can include keeping up rocky terrains for Rock-type Gyms, refilling swimming pools for Water-type Gyms, and maintaining grassy terrains in Grass-type Gyms. It is unknown exactly how expensive this maintenance can be, but it likely takes a lot of effort and money considering how much it can be destroyed with every Gym battle possible.
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