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Favorite Anime Potrayal of (Non-Main Character) Gym Leader

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ehh123

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Since everyone is saying how they like that the anime is showing Elesa's supermodel side that is talked about in the game, I thought I would make this thread. What is your favorite anime potrayal of a gym leader? This isn't counting Ash's companions, so no Brock, Misty, Iris or Cilan.
 
I quite like how the writers gave Candice a bigger role by making her an acquaintance of Zoey. Kinda ironic considering that a character got more development for knowing Zoey, while Zoey herself received none xD
 
Sumomo!

She was a character that received loads of development, was just sweet and adorable and modest, and seemed very human and real. She gets the win of best gym leader portrayal in my book. <3
 
Sinnoh in general was pretty good to its Gym Leaders.

Roark had a "I'm going to be King of the Fossils!" flashback, and a later episode to focus on his desire to be better than his father.
Gardenia got off to Grass-type attacks, a proved a capable tutor to Cacnea.
Maylene developed an inferiority complex thanks to Paul being a prick, resulting in the first non-Ash gym battle in the main cast.
Crasher Wake... well he was pretty much the same, which considering his game persona, isn't that bad a thing.
Fantina, IMO, meshed her Top Coordinator status into her Gym Battling style better than Juan, and her tactics led Ash to develop the recurring technique, Counter Shield, which she picks up on, names it, the uses it against him. Bonus points for appearing as a judge in the Grand Festival.
Byron FUCKING LOVES FOSSILS, STEEL-TYPES, AND DEFENSE.
Candice is Zoey's childhood friend. They agreed together to support each other as they pursue their goals as trainers, and by the Grand Festival, they both reached them.

Admittedly, Volkner's story is the only one that sort of suffered. His original story is already unique by game standards. And was perhaps bogged down because we had to wait so long for that battle.
 
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Joshawott said:
I quite like how the writers gave Candice a bigger role by making her an acquaintance of Zoey. Kinda ironic considering that a character got more development for knowing Zoey, while Zoey herself received none xD
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Definitely, not only was Candice shown to be an energetic character and well-developed, but the implied relationship with Zoey was very well done for a childrens show. I truly must applaud the writers for promoting same-sex relationships in a mature and sophisticated manner.

I also loved Flannery in the anime. A beginning Gym leader who needed help from her grandfather to run the Gym? I am also surprised her half-shirt was left as is in the anime, not even 4kids lengthened it!

I also loved Pryce's story with his lost Piloswine.
 
Definitely Maylene! I could relate to her so well, and her emotional development was handled quite nicely. It made me care about her so much.

I also liked Morty's development back in Johto. I liked how he was teaching a class about ghost types.
 
I liked Clair being nice instead of a bitch, Sabrina as self-possessed instead of rather kind(Adventures Sabrina FTW, though!), Lucy as having a squinty fetish instead of being overtly dommy, Lance as a secret agent instead of a douchebag, the nice version of the Snowpoint Temple Priestess, and farmer's niece Whitney who doesn't cry.
 
My top 3 would have to be...

In third, Pryce. I loved the sob story that led him to become a bitter old man, but then seeing his changing for the better.

In second, Maylene. Loved the development, her interactions with Lucario, how she and Dawn related and gained confidence from one another, and her battle with Ash was the second best gym battle in Sinnoh, second only to...

In first, Fantina. Hilarious, she was just hilarious and energetic, but I also loved her style as a battler, combining contests and battling, as well as her keen tactics.
 
I liked Anabel's appearance in the Anime. She was funny, cute, and I just all around like how she was portrayed.
 
lemonwhogirl said:
I liked Anabel's appearance in the Anime. She was funny, cute, and I just all around like how she was portrayed.
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Anabel is a Frontier Brain, not a Gym Leader.

Anyway, I liked Erika's and Gloom's story way back in Kanto.
 
Brawly. Because while you'd expect him to be sort of dumb with the surfer stereotype? They actually made him quite intelligent. A little hippie-ish sure, but still pretty smart.
 
I definitely liked Roark and Byron XD I was screaming with laughter while watching the two episodes they were together - Byron was SO FUNNY XD That was the most comical gym battle I have ever seen.... though I kinda wished he would stop swirling his shovel XDDDD

I agree Volkner needed more development.
 
Pryce.

Can easily say, without any doubt, that he was far superior to his Special incarnation.
 
Gliscor'd said:
Definitely, not only was Candice shown to be an energetic character and well-developed, but the implied relationship with Zoey was very well done for a childrens show. I truly must applaud the writers for promoting same-sex relationships in a mature and sophisticated manner.

I also loved Flannery in the anime. A beginning Gym leader who needed help from her grandfather to run the Gym? I am also surprised her half-shirt was left as is in the anime, not even 4kids lengthened it!

I also loved Pryce's story with his lost Piloswine.
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come again? They seemed like really good friends but I never got a hint that they were a couple though. what were the signs?

I liked volkner best I think his character was very similar to the game and just like the game, a battle really fired him up again.
 
Gliscor'd said:
I truly must applaud the writers for promoting same-sex relationships in a mature and sophisticated manner
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You mean with Volkner and Flint? Yeah, I thought it was pretty well done too :3

On that note, I liked Volkner's portrayal a lot because it came with a cute back story and fanservice. That, and he stayed pretty true to his game characterization :3

Also, does Gary count? He wasn't a traveling partner. He had bitches and a car. Yeah.
 
ShinjIteru said:
On that note, I liked Volkner's portrayal a lot because it came with a cute back story and fanservice. That, and he stayed pretty true to his game characterization :3
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OMG, come to think of it, that WAS awesome fan service XD I totally liked Volkner in his younger age - so cute! I also liked the young Roark - and his 'Daddy~!' made me squeal LOL
 
one word only needs to be said; Byron.

I do also like Sabrina's story. Sabrina is probably the Gym leader with the most variety of development for each piece of canon; anime, Electric Tale of Pikachu, PokeSpe, etc. & I love em all.
 
220px-Young_Roark.png

250px-Young_Volkner.png


The ultimate fan-service of the series XDD
 
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