Pokemon BDSP Gym Leader Breakdown

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]

Roark

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.

Gardenia

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.

Maylene

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.

Crasher Wake

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.

Fantina

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.

Byron

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.

Candice

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.

Volkner

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.

Conclusion

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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