List of Johto Gym Leaders

Below is a list of Gym Leaders from the Johto region in the fictional Pokémon series of video games, anime, and manga. They all first appeared in "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver", and made later appearances in "Pokémon Crystal", "Pokémon Stadium 2", the "Johto Journeys" series of the Pokémon anime, and in the GSC series of the "Pokémon Adventures" manga.

Each of these gym leaders is in charge of a Pokémon Gym. In "Pokémon Gold", "Silver", "Pokémon Crystal", and "Pokémon Stadium 2", their main role is as one-off, more-difficult gym trainers the player has to defeat to progress through the game and face the Elite Four. They serve much the same role in the anime, each of them posing to Ash a challenge to overcome or task to complete before he earns the badges he needs to go on to the Johto Pokémon League championships.

Falkner

is in charge of the Hive Badge, and resides in Azalea Town. He is an expert on Bug-type Pokémon. His name derives from the word "bug".

In the video games

In in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, Bugsy's signature Pokémon is a Scyther, which he supplements with the largely ineffectual Kakuna and Metapod. Bugsy's special attack is Fury Cutter, which does low damage first, but builds up damage every time it hits. When the attack misses the power of the attack resets. Due to his overworld sprite, it is safe to assume he's the youngest Gym Leader to date.

In the anime

In the anime, Bugsy is a fairly nondescript gym leader whose gym is a large greenhouse dome with a forest-like interior. His motto is "Whoever learns the rules of the Bug Pokémon learns to rule the Bug Pokémon", and his signature Pokémon is Scyther, which he has specifically trained to counter fire Pokémon. His other Pokémon are a Spinarak that specializes in String Shot, and a particularly hard and hard-hitting Metapod. When Ash challenges Bugsy's Pokémon Gym, Ash's relatively inexperienced Cyndaquil fails to defeat Spinarak. Ash's Chikorita succeeds, but in turn is defeated by Bugsy's Metapod. Pikachu finishes off Metapod, and in the end, Cyndaquil comes back to defeat Scyther, winning Ash the Hive Badge.

In the manga

In "Pokémon Adventures", Bugsy is an androgynous-looking archaeologist investigating the Ruins of Alph and the Symbol Pokémon. His signature Pokémon is a Heracross, supplemented with a Metapod. He later acquires a Kakuna and Scyther. He also has a special method of catching Pokémon, one which was invented by him and Kurt, the Poké Ball master. Bugsy has an external capture net attached to his Poké Ball, so when he traps the Pokémon inside the capture net it is automatically sucked into the Poké Ball. If the Pokémon manages to escape from the Poké Ball, it will still be trapped inside the external capture net and thus will still be unable to break free completely. However, when Bugsy faces Suicune his efforts to fight the legendary Pokémon head-on fail as his Heracross's strength falls to the much-stronger Suicune. Eventually Bugsy tries to use the capture net method to capture Suicune, but Suicune manages to break Bugsy's net for the first time, and escapes. Later, he is defeated by Sabrina in the Gym Leaders' Challenge.

Whitney

is in charge of the Fog Badge (Phantom Badge in Japanese language versions), and resides in Ecruteak City. He is very mysterious, owing to his nature as a trainer of Ghost Pokémon. Appropriately, his name comes from the Latin word "mors, mortis" "death".

In the video games

In "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver", Morty's gym is in shadow, forcing the player to travel along an invisible path, battling lesser trainers along the way. Morty owns a Gastly and a pair of Haunters to supplement his signature Gengar. Morty's special attack is shadow ball. It does a good deal of damage and also lowers the opponents special defense

Morty also appears in "Pokémon Stadium 2". He has, along with his Gengar, an Ariados, a Sudowoodo, a Marowak, a Girafarig and a Noctowl.

In the anime

In the anime, Morty is one of few people who is knowledgeable on Ecruteak City history. (The only one who knows more is Eusine, the Suicune fanatic.) Morty knows quite a bit about the origins of Ho-Oh, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. However, he is too afraid of secret information slipping out to tell anyone except Ash and his friends. Morty also teaches classes about battling techniques and caring for Pokémon. He specializes in Ghost-type Pokémon. His Gastly defeated Ash's Pikachu but lost to Cyndaquil, which was later outdone by Morty's Haunter; putting Ash in a tight spot. However, Ash defeated Morty's Haunter and Gengar using Noctowl's newly learnt Confusion attack.

In the manga

In "Pokémon Adventures", he is an "item finder", using his powers as a psychic clairvoyant to locate lost objects and Pokémon and see objects at a distance. When Team Rocket attacks Ecruteak City, Morty is out of town but later assists in its reconstruction. His dream is to one day be able to see Ho-Oh. The rainbow Pokémon's power is so great, it blocks Morty's abilities. He and Lt. Surge finish in a draw due to his Misdreavus' Destiny Bond.

Chuck

is in charge of the Mineral Badge (Steel Badge in Japanese), and resides in Olivine City. She is an expert on Steel types, but also has an Ampharos which lights the Olivine Lighthouse. Her name is related to the word mineral or mine.

In the video games

In "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver", Jasmine's title is "The Steel-Clad Defense Girl". The player is unable to fight her immediately, as she is busy taking care of a sick Ampharos (renaming "Amphy") at the Olivine lighthouse. First, the player must get special medicine from the pharmacy in Cianwood City and give it to her. The Olivine City Gym is probably the most simply designed Pokémon Gym in Johto. It consists of one straight, fairly short boulder-lined walkway leading up to a small set of steps onto a raised stone platform. For this reason, and possibly due somewhat to Jasmine's shy nature, she appears to be the only member of her gym, accompanied only by her two Magnemites and her Steelix. Although Jasmine trains Steel-types, a villager says that she used to train Rock types such as Onix.

In "Pokémon Stadium 2", the player must battle her twice. In Round One, she has a Magneton, Forretress, Steelix, Skarmory and unusually, a Mantine and Corsola. In Round Two, other than Steelix, she has a totally new line-up of Blastoise, Rapidash, Slowbro, Scizor and Stantler.

She appears in "Pokémon Diamond and Pearl"; she apparently came to the Sinnoh region to make herself stronger. She gives the player HM07 after he/she defeats the 8th gym leader, Volkner. She also appears as an opponent alongside the player's mother and Hearthome Gym Leader Fantina in the Master Rank Pokémon contests (she has a Steelix named Rusty).

In the anime

In the anime, Jasmine's Ampharos, named Sparkle, is used to light the way over the shore but it has become ill. She asks Ash to fetch her medicine from Cianwood City, and Ash and his friends retrieve the medicine and send it back with one of Jasmine's students, Janina. Several weeks later, Ash and his friends return from the Whirl Islands and Ash challenges Jasmine to a Gym battle. Ash's Pikachu defeats Jasmine's Magnemite but is defeated by Steelix. However Ash's Cyndaquil came through and beat Steelix with great difficulty earning Ash his Mineral Badge.

Unlike her other incarnations, the anime Jasmine is a far more confident girl, especially during her second appearance, where she makes an entrance via summoning her Steelix as she herself somersaults off the cliff she is standing on then landing on her Steelix. Later, during the Gym match, she appears to be anything but meek since she doesn't hestiate to tell Ash she will not make the battle easy for him.

In the manga

In "Pokémon Adventures", Jasmine is caught in an earthquake caused by Team Rocket while traveling through Ecruteak City, and when she climbs the Tin Tower to get away from the shaking she gets caught in some rubble. Using Ampharos to send off a distress flare, she catches the attention of both Gold and Silver. The two boys try to rescue her, but Ampharos does it successfully, leaving the young rivals trapped in the tower.

Jasmine later recovers. At the Pokémon League Tournament, she fights against and defeats Brock. She covers her Steelix in rubble to make it look like an Onix, thinking that the newly-discovered Steel Pokémon would be too horrifying for people to see. Jasmine once specialized in Rock-type Pokémon before Crystal and Professor Oak discovered Steel-type Pokémon. Her two Togetics are the parents of Gold's Togepi.

Pryce

is in charge of the Rising Badge, and resides in Blackthorn City. She is an expert on Dragon types. Lance, the head of the Kanto Elite Four, is her cousin, and she once trained with him for the Elite Four. In "Pokémon Crystal", she also has a grandfather who lives inside the Dragon's Den. Her English name derives from "clear".

In the video games

In the Pokémon video games, Clair's title is "The Blessed User of Dragon Pokémon". Descending from a long line of Dragon-type trainers, Clair is very arrogant, speaking of herself as "the world's best dragon master". She claims she can hold her own even against the Elite Four. Her special attack is dragon breath which deals a good deal of damage and it may paralyze the opponent. Her only known loss had been to her cousin, Lance. She owns three Dragonairs, but her most powerful Pokémon is Kingdra. Upon her defeat, Clair refuses to accept that the player is better than her unless they pass the "Dragon User Challenge". In "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver", Clair gives out her badge only when the player goes into the Dragon's Den and finds a Dragon Fang, after which Clair appears behind the player character and gives them the Rising Badge. In "Pokémon Crystal", earning the badge instead involves navigating the Dragon's Den and finding the shrine at the center. After the player successfully answers Clair's grandfather's questions about Pokémon raising, Clair hands over the badge when her grandfather threatens to tell Lance about her reluctance.

In the first battle with her in "Pokémon Stadium 2", Clair has an Arcanine, a Rhydon, a Lapras, a Dragonair, an Ampharos and her signature Kingdra. For the second battle, she discards her Lapras and Arcanine for a Charizard and a Nidoking.

In the anime

After Ash Ketchum and his friends arrive at Blackthorn City, they discover a Dratini and a Gyarados in a river. Afterwards, they meet Clair and follow the Dratini for some time, and end up freeing it from Team Rocket. Later, Dratini evolves into a Dragonair, much to Jessie's dismay. Clair performs the Dragon Fang ritual at a ceremony, then faces Ash in a Gym Battle, which is interrupted when Team Rocket steals the Dragon Fang. Ash, Clair and Team Rocket all end up in the Dragon Holy Land, where Team Rocket tricks a Dragonite into helping them. Luckily, Liza and Ash's Charizard arrive to save the day. Ash's Charizard later helps him earn him his rising badge by beating Clair's Dragonair (Kingdra was defeated by Snorlax and Gyrados by Pikachu).Claire also appeared in the next episode where she helped Ash get his badges which were stolen by Team Rocket.

In the manga

In "Pokémon Adventures", Clair is one of the first to meet Suicune and she is outclassed quickly by its use of Mist to create a reflection of itself. Later, she challenges Blaine at the Gym Leaders' Challenge, in the hope that Blaine would know what became of her cousin Lance after Blaine and Lance's battle at Cerise Island the year before. Despite a Team Rocket attack which traps all the Gym Leaders on a bullet train, she forces Blaine into fighting their duel. However, Blaine quickly wins, relying on his Entei's powerful attacks. This victory is the tiebreaker in the Gym Leaders' Challenge, giving the win to the Kanto Gym Leaders with four wins, three loses and one draw.

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