Pokemon Scarlet and Violet make plenty of changes to the standard Pokemon formula. For example, there are the Tera and Paradox Pokemon. However, the biggest difference is easy to the gym battles.
Unlike before, when most players had to follow a certain order to fight Gym Leaders, Scarlet & Violet lets you take the series’ equivalent of boss battles in any order. But, while this is an interesting development, the Gym Leaders aren’t equally challenging. Instead, some are much more challenging than others, specifically based on how many Pokemon they have in their teams and how powerful their Pokemon are.
Because of this, there’s the ideal route to taking on the Gym Leaders in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet if you prefer to minimize your trips to the Pokemon Center.
If you’re having difficulty figuring out which Gym Leader you should go for first, we’ve got exactly what you need. Below, we’ve ranked the Gym Leaders of Scarlet and Violet based on who’s the easiest to go up against and who’s the hardest.
● Cortondo Gym: Katy (Bug-type)
○ Nymble (Level 14)
○ Tarountula (Level 14)
○ Teddiursa (Level 15)
● Artazon Gym: Brassius (Grass-type)
○ Petilil (Level 16)
○ Smoliv (Level 16)
○ Sudowoodo (Level 17)
● Levincia Gym: Iono (Electric-type)
○ Wattrel (Level 23)
○ Bellibolt (Level 23)
○ Luxio (Level 23)
○ Mismagius (Level 24)
● Cascarrafa Gym: Kofu (Water-type)
○ Veluza (Level 29)
○ Wugtrio (Level 29)
○ Crabominable (Level 30)
○ Mismagius (Level 24)
● Medali Gym: Larry (Normal-type)
○ Komala (Level 35)
○ Dundunsparce (Level 35)
○ Staraptor (Level 36)
● Montenevera Gym: Rhyme (Ghost-type)
○ Mimikyu (Level 41)
○ Banette (Level 41)
○ Houndstone (Level 41)
○ Toxtricity (Level 42)
● Alfornada Gym: Tulip (Psychic-type)
○ Farigiraf (Level 44)
○ Espathra (Level 44)
○ Gardevoir (Level 44)
○ Florges (Level 45)
● Glaseado Gym: Grusha (Ice-type)
○ Frosmoth (Level 47)
○ Beartic (Level 47)
○ Cetitan (Level 47)
○ Altaria (Level 48)
Gym Leader Battle Tips for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Tip #1
Gym Leaders in Violet and Scarlet do not scale to the level of your Pokemon. This may change in future patches, but at the moment, each one has a set level and difficulty. The game also lets you read the description for each Pokemon Gym, so you’ll know just how strong a particular leader is. This means Katy will still have the same Pokemon, even if you beat Tulip or Grusha first.
Tip #2
Gym Tests are a new concept introduced in Scarlet and Violet. Each Gym has a unique Gym Test that players have to pass before they’re allowed to proceed to the Gym Leader battle.
Tip #3
Gym Leaders use Terastallization on their last Pokemon, which, if in case you haven’t played the game yet, means that their Pokemon will turn into the type they use. It’s why Brassius is confident to use Sudowoodo even if he is the Gym Leader who uses grass-type Pokemon. The first thing he’ll do is to Terastallize the Sudowoodo, so it becomes a grass type at the start of the battle.
Tip #4
Choose Fuecoco, the fire-type crocodile Pokemon, for an easier time at the start of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for these reasons:
○ Katy and Brassius, the leaders of the Cortondo Gym and the Artazon Gym, respectively, are weak to fire. In fact, three Gym Leaders in Scarlet and Violet are weak to Fire, including Grusha of the Glaseado Gym.
○ Fuecoco’s final evolution, Skeledirge, is a unique fire/ghost-type Pokemon, so it’s immune to normal-type attacks. This also gives you an edge against Tulip, the Gym Leader of the Alfornada Gym.
○ Speaking of edges, getting your Fuecoco to evolve into Skeledirge before you face off against Larry of the Medali Gym is a good idea since he specializes in normal-type Pokemon.
○ It’s much more difficult to find fire types early in the game.
○ Skeledirge’s unique move is only second to Sprigatito’s.
Tip #5
The Montenevera Gym might be the most difficult Gym in Scarlet and Violet because of the Double Battles going into the Gym Leader battle.
Tip #6
Save Terastillizing for when you really need it. You can only use your Tera Orb once before you need to recharge it at a Pokemon Center.
You can only Terastallize Pokemon with your Tera Orb, and it loses its charge after being used once. It usually needs to be recharged at a Pokemon Center, meaning it’s important to save this power for big threats and enemies.
Which Gym Should I Beat in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet First?
Scarlet and Violet will have 18 badges for you to collect – eight Gym badges, five Team Star badges, and five Titan badges. These are the rewards you’ll receive for completing one of the three different mission types in the game. Because these are marked on your map and the open-world setting (well, semi-open-world), it’s easy to find yourself in Team Star bases and Titans that are more difficult for you.
Not to mention, even if you end up leveling your Pokemon to higher levels, you won’t be able to make other higher-level Pokemon listen to you unless you get the appropriate amount of badges first.
By default, your obey level in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is level 20. This increases by five levels for each Gym Badge you collect. This means that you’ll need to collect three Gym Badges if you want Pokemon at a maximum level of 35 to obey you.
Otherwise, they won’t listen to your command. The obedience level maxes out at 55 after collecting seven Gym Badges. Once you collect your eighth and final Gym Badge, all Pokemon will follow your command, regardless of their level.
Can you Fight the Gym Leaders in Violet and Scarlet Again?
You might have heard that you can rematch the Gym Leaders in the latest Pokemon game. But it’s not as straightforward as going up to them immediately after you beat them. First, you need to complete the main story of Scarlet and Violet first. Once you’ve done that, you can go back and see how the Gym Leaders you fought earlier in the game are doing.
Be warned. Each Gym Leader will have done a lot of training since. All of them will wield a much stronger five-Pokemon lineup, and every Pokemon will be level 65.
But, hey, at least you won’t need to complete the Gym Test again.
Conclusion
After Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduced the open-world concept to the franchise, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet refined it further. Hopefully, the next installment will be an evolution of this concept and improve the Gym Leaders. Although it’s nice that you can fight them in any order, you still do technically have to follow a rather linear path, if only because their levels and strength do not scale up or down based on you.
In any case, that’s it for our guide. We’ve given you plenty enough tips to plough through the Gym Leaders of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and back (literally) with relative ease. Do grab some Nintendo eShop Cards from OffGamers here for any future Pokemon drops!
