Top 10 Worst Pokemon Gym Leaders and Elite Four Members

You've battled them. You've gritted your teeth through their monologues. And after all that, you were rewarded with... a Butterfree that spammed Harden. Some Gym Leaders and Elite Four members are unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. Weak teams, boring personalities, embarrassing strategies, or a presence so bland they might as well be a walking NPC in a tracksuit. Yeah, we're looking at you, guy who thinks a Pidgeotto is a threat.

This list is where you get to vent. Here's your chance to call out the ones who showed up with the energy of a wet paper bag and the battle IQ of a Magikarp on tranquilizers.
The Top Ten
Bugsy

When you sweep a Bug gym leader with a Bayleef, you know something is wrong. His only competent Pokémon is Scyther, and he is way too easy to set up on. Not only that, but he is forgettable - no personality whatsoever. None.

Is Bugsy a boy or a girl? Seriously, look at him/her. It doesn't help that he/she specializes in the type with the lowest average base stat total.

Really, he, or she, as some people say, is a terrible idea! Pink hair, short jeans, neon green.

Wikstrom

While X and Y had lots of forgettable characters, Wikstrom is the most forgettable because not only does he have only four Pokémon, but he also has no personality and a bad design, even compared to the other XY Elite Four members.

His Aegislash is the only thing he has going for him in battle. Also, Klefki? Really?

Just look at his design, and you'll see he has a dried-out Staryu on his head!

Falkner

Mud-Slap. It's the perfect move to showcase why a trainer like you should use Flying-type Pokemon. - Falkner

His gym and his Pokemon were GIVEN to him by his OWN father. Yeah, that's how much he sucks.

How did he even manage to become a gym leader with only a level 7 Pidgey and a level 9 Pidgeotto?

Olympia Olympia is a character in the Pokémon video game series, specifically in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. She is the Gym Leader of the Anistar City Gym and specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. Defeating her earns the player the Psychic Badge.

X and Y had a lot of forgettable characters and gym leaders, plus the entire Elite Four and the Champion in general. Olympia just plain sucks! Her design is okay, in my opinion. I like her cape, but she's just so easy to beat in those games! I mean, Korrina was pretty hard, but this fight tones down the difficulty and makes the already easy games even easier!

Lacking in personality, having a weak team, and looking a bit creepy are all reasons I voted for her. While the first two apply to most XY gym leaders, the third one is a bit much.

Chuck

To be honest, I forgot all about him after I left his gym. That can't be a good sign.

He uses two Pokemon, one not fully evolved, from Kanto, despite being the 5th Johto gym leader. Also a bit boring in personality.

This guy seriously looks like Jack Black. Po the panda in human form.

Cilan Cilan is one of the three Gym Leaders of Striaton City's Gym, known officially as the Striaton Gym, in Pokemon Black and White. In the anime, he is classified as an A-class Pokemon Connoisseur and traveled with Ash Ketchum in the Unova region. He first debuted in Triple Leaders, Team Threats!.

Ignoring the anime, Cilan shares his spot with two others and is replaced in the next game. This leaves a really boring first impression that's never expanded upon. I'm not the biggest fan of Pansage, his signature Pokémon, either. Cilan is just forgettable.

Regarding the anime, the 20 episodes I watched and the movies he was in made me dislike him. His voice was annoying and his talks about food were boring. I can see why people would defend Cilan. I'm only voting for him out of the process of elimination.

Clemont Clemont originates in Pokemon XY, created by Nintendo & game freak. is a gym leader of the lumoise city. He specialized in electric Pokemon and is known as a genius... read more

The Gen 6 Electric leader is by far my least favorite leader in the series. I'm actually kind of surprised he's in the top 10, but very glad.

Personality: Possibly the blandest leader ever. An inventor? Nice, but we don't see him inventing anything. And that's about it. All he does is claim he does random stuff. Yeah, sure.

His battle: He is undoubtedly the most annoying leader ever. Well, not in regular play - he's manageable there - but in a Nuzlocke, the only way to not have a bad time is to use the free Lucario or just simply hope you get a relatively decent Ground-type Pokémon. And hope your Ground-type Pokémon makes it to him. In my second X Nuzlocke run, I only managed to get a Dugtrio, and he died against a gym trainer. The actual gym battle itself didn't look too good either.

In the show: If memory serves, he was kind of annoying.

Overall, he's still a really bad leader. Bland, hard in a bad way, and forgettable as a whole.

Gardenia Gardenia is the Gym Leader of the Eterna Gym in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. She uses Grass-type Pokémon and is known for her lively and upbeat personality. Trainers who defeat her receive the Forest Badge... read more

Honestly, Gardenia, don't show your belly to the trainers. It's gross.

When I used Wing Attack, bam! Her Roserade fainted. Too easy! Train more, Gardenia!

Iris Iris is from the Pokemon bwhite version & Pokemon black 2 & white. She ether was the gym leader in Opelucid city in white version. She first appeared to aid Bianca, Burgh, and the playable character when Bianca's Munna was stolen, & acted as a bodyguard. In Black 2 & White 2, she was the champion. Iris... read more
Glacia

I don't know if it is just me, but I just can't stand Glacia. I only played Omega Ruby, not the original one, so I don't know if she was better or worse. She was forgettable, and I didn't really like what she said before the battle. Her design is really nothing special, and she was the number one person in the whole game that I had trouble beating.

My Pokémon were always getting confused and frozen. I had to waste 8 revives and over a dozen full restores to finally beat her stupid Froslass. Right when I killed Froslass, I was like, "Finally... Wait... She has ANOTHER FROSLASS!? DANG IT!" I haven't played the original Ruby and Sapphire yet, so I can't say much more, but in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, I just really hate Glacia.

The Newcomers

? Roxie
? Skyla Skyla is the Gym Leader of the Mistralton Gym in Pokémon Black and White. She specializes in Flying-type Pokémon and gives out the Jet Badge to trainers who defeat her. Skyla also works as a cargo jet pilot, adding a unique aviation-themed twist to her character... read more
The Contenders
Whitney Whitney is the Gym Leader of the Goldenrod Gym in Pokémon Gold and Silver. She specializes in Normal-type Pokémon and is especially known for her Miltank, which is infamous for its strength and difficulty. Trainers who defeat Whitney receive the Plain Badge... read more

She wasn't even that hard. My Skiploom could deal with the Rollouts easily because it was female, and I used Sleep Powder and Leech Seed. In my other gameplay, my Gloom beat her Clefairy and Miltank because I had enough time to use Growth a lot during Clefairy's Metronomes. And her Clefairy was a much bigger deal than her Miltank.

The Clefairy was more of a problem than the Miltank. You were given tons of chances to block out the Miltank, but Clefairy could even have Sacred Fire!

I traded for the Machop and evolved it into a Machoke. I honestly didn't find Miltank that hard. Her Clefairy's Metronome used Aerial Ace, though.

Clair Clair is the Gym Leader of the Blackthorn Gym in the Pokémon games Pokémon Gold and Silver. She specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon and is notable for using a powerful Kingdra as her signature Pokémon. Clair is also the cousin of Lance, a member of the Elite Four, and appears in later Pokémon titles... read more

The worst part about Clair is that you have to go out of your way to do something for her to "prove your worth" when you beat her instead of getting the final badge. At least with Jasmine, there was a sick Pokémon in need of TLC, but Clair just has anger management problems.

At least Whitney is a kid. Clair is an adult, and not only did she whine, but she made you do a side quest as well. At least she had a good team, though.

Wulfric

This trainer has only 3 Pokémon, and his Abomasnow only knows 3 moves! You really have to appreciate Diantha more, knowing how many trainers she probably faces as a result of these terrible Gym Leaders and weak Elite Four members. These Gym Leaders couldn't even qualify in a region like Kanto!

While his personality and design are fine, no 8th gym leader should be allowed to use three Pokemon with only three moves.

Aaron

Aaron uses one of the worst types of Pokemon. And to those who say he's the one with the Lucario, the Aaron we are talking about is in the Elite 4.

Aaron, the one that died with the Lucario? Yeah, he was really annoying. I don't know any other Aaron, so...

I ALWAYS forget about him because he doesn't really have anything to do with the plot.

Maylene Maylene is the Gym Leader of Veilstone City in the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl video games. She specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon and awards the Cobble Badge to trainers who defeat her. Maylene is known for her discipline and youthful determination, and her team often includes the powerful Lucario... read more
Clay
Elesa

Sigh... this Gym Leader. When I bought Pokémon Black for the first time, many friends warned me about this fight. I struggled a bit with Lenora, and Burgh was pathetically easy, but this was the battle where I had to try my hardest to keep my cool. Even with a Sandile or Krokorok, you can still lose to her "death weapons" - her twin Emolga and a Zebstrika.

Rock Tomb can deal heavy damage to her Emolga, and Dig is effective against her Zebstrika, but if you don't have either of those TMs, you're in trouble. I do like Elesa's character in the games, and I respect Zebstrika because of her, but her fight feels like such a time-waster. Shocked again... "Let's try the red one. Not again!" -Homer Simpson, getting electrocuted repeatedly

Blaine
Lt. Surge Lt. Surge is a fictional character in the Pokémon series and the Gym Leader of Vermilion City who specializes in Electric-type Pokémon. In the anime, he is portrayed as arrogant and aggressive, often belittling other trainers. His main Pokémon is Raichu, which he evolved from a Pikachu immediately... read more

Lt. Surge's puzzle is super annoying in the way that it's planned out. You have to look through the trash cans to activate a switch, which in theory is right next to it. But if you fail to find it, the gym arena resets the switches, and you must find the first switch all over again. I mean, that's just the floor. The gym battle is worse, as he has his Voltorb and his Raichu, and unless you have a Ground-type, they're tough to beat.

In Pokémon Yellow, this guy uses only one Pokémon. That's just plain dumb. I know Pokémon Yellow is based on the anime, but it would have been better to give him additional Pokémon since the player can.

Valerie Valerie is the Gym Leader of the Laverre City Gym in Pokémon X and Y. She specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon and is also known as a fashion designer who hosts fashion shows in her gym. Valerie's character design and gym reflect her interest in elegance and mysticism, themes that are closely associated... read more

Uses the worst Pokemon type of all time.

Morty

He has a bland personality like a lot of other gym leaders. He has an incredibly uninspired and lazily put together team (seriously, how hard would it have been to at least give him a Misdreavus?) and has so many counters to him that it makes the battle incredibly easy without having to grind levels. Johto had tons of lame gym leaders, but Morty is by far the worst of them.

He's Mort-poo and will weaken all my Psychic Pokemon in Let's Go Pikachu. Only Pikachu himself can help me win!

Misty Misty, known as Kasumi in Japan, is a character in the Pokémon franchise. She is the Gym Leader in Cerulean City and specializes in Water-type Pokémon. In the games, she is known as the Tomboyish Mermaid... read more
Siebold
Erika Erika is the Gym Leader of the Celadon Gym in the Pokémon video games. She specializes in Grass-type Pokémon and awards the Rainbow Badge to Trainers who defeat her in Pokémon Red, Blue, and subsequent versions. Erika is also featured in the Pokémon anime and trading card game.

Rude? He called her best product trash. Ash gets 1 for arrogance.

Along with being sexist in the anime, she has little personality in the games. Easily the worst Kanto leader.

Burgh

This guy himself is fine. What bothers me, however, is that stupid English name! Seriously, I get they wanted a name that sounds like bug, but that one has to be the worst. Bugsy, as a name, was fine. However, Burgh simply sounds like someone is throwing up. I watched his battle against Ash in the anime, in the dubbed version, and every time Ash said his name, I had trouble taking it seriously because it sounded like he was about to throw up. Seriously, how hard was it to keep Arti/Arty/Artie? That doesn't sound too ridiculous or too hard for kids to remember, right? Even some other languages kept this name, but they just had to go and give him a throw-up noise as a name...

Again, not hating on the guy himself - he's fine.

8Load More
PSearch List