Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are finally here, trainers. The Sinnoh Remakes are taking the community by storm. And nostalgia is hitting devoted fans in droves. This Pokemon BDSP Gym Leader Breakdown piece will go through all 8 gym leaders, listing their teams and recommended types for players to have against them.
[Related: Pokemon BDSP Elite Four Breakdown]
The 1st gym leader of the game, Roark has 3 rock-type Pokemon that can be hard to deal with. Especially if players have chosen Chimchar and haven’t evolved it into Monferno. They are as follows:
Geodude, Lvl 12: Rock/Ground
Onix, Lvl 12: Rock/Ground
Cranidos, Lvl 14: Rock
It is recommended that players use water, fighting, and grass-type Pokemon. In addition, unlike Brock, players are not as in trouble if they chose Chimchar. If players have Monferno, they can teach it Power-Up Punch and Mach Punch to put a quick end to Cranidos.
The 2nd gym leader players have to battle. Gardenia sports a team of spunky grass types as follows:
Cherubi, Lvl 19, Grass
Turtwig, Lvl 19, Grass
Roserade, Lvl 22, Grass/Poison
Players should use Flying, Fire, and Bug types for Cherubi and Turtwig. The same applies for Roserade, but with the added option of Psychic for those who want to make use of their Kadabra or Alakazam.
The 3rd gym leader who is located in Veilstone. A fighting-type master who, while given a bit of a nerf in this version, can still wrack a player’s brain. Her team is:
Meditite, Lvl 27, Fighting/Psychic
Machoke, Lvl 27, Fighting
Lucario, Lvl 30, Fighting/Steel
Players should use Flying, Psychic, Fairy, and Fighting for Lucario. Ghost can also work for Meditite.
The 4th gym leader is a water type expert located in Pastoria City. His Pokemon are as follows.
Gyarados, Lvl 27, Water/Flying
Quagsire, Lvl 27, Water/Ground
Floatzel, Lvl 30, Water
Players can counter the gym leader using mainly grass and electric types. Gyarados and Quagsire have type combinations that can render either inviable, so having both is essential.
The 5th ghost type gym leader and one of the hardest in any Sinnoh game. This is her BDSP team:
Drifblim, Lvl 32, Ghost/Flying
Gengar, Lvl 34, Ghost/Poison
Mismagius, Lvl 36, Ghost
This is a hard one to counter as ghost types are super effective to their own type. If the player does not have a ghost type that can outwall her or is not over-leveled enough, they run a huge risk of losing. Luckily for them, Murkrow and Eevee seem to be two dark types they can get before Fantina’s gym. Leveling up one of these into Honchkrow or Umbreon can give the player an advantage. Dark-type moves also work.
6th gym leader in Canalave City. This knight of the earth wields mighty steel-type Pokemon that can give players a long fight if they’re not prepared. His team is as follows:
Bronzor, Lvl 36, Psychic/Steel
Steelix, Lvl 36, Steel/Ground
Bastiodon, Lvl 39, Steel/Ground
Byron’s pokemon can be taken down by Fire-types, Fighting-types, and ground types.
The second to last gym leader in Snowpoint City and an ice-type master. Needless to say, if players choose Chimchar, they are in for an easy 6th and 7th gym fight. Candice’s team is as follows:
Snover, lvl 38, Grass/Ice
Sneasel, Lvl 38, Ice/Dark
Medicham, Lvl 40, Psychic/Fighting
Abomasnow, Lvl 42, Grass/Ice
Players can use Fire, Rock, and fighting to take care of Candice’s chilly ice types.
The last gym leader located in Sunnyshore City. He is an electric type master and in the originals, was in odd case as he did not have a purely electric type team. That team reappears below:
Raichu, Lvl 46, Electric
Ambipom, Lvl 47, Normal
Octillery, Lvl 47, Water
Luxray, Lvl 49, Electric
The easy choice for Raichu and Luxray is to use ground to bury them in the dirt. However, for Octilery and Ambipom, use Grass and electric (ironic to beat the electric master with his own type) and Fighting, respectively to send these two curveballs down.
With this Pokemon BDSP Gym Leader Breakdown in mind, players should be ready to conquer Sinnoh’s gyms. Some of these are tough and this is easily one of Pokemon’s most memorable line ups. However, with careful team planning and the creation of good move sets, new and returning players can overcome this list of trials with ease.
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