36958


As far as I remember from the anime series and the games, after beating one of
eight Gym Leaders in a region, some leader said something about the next Gym
Leader.

Like they know who, where, or what specialist-type the next Gym Leader is.

But, I watched the current XY series, Clemont, the Gym Leader of Lumiose
City's Gym who travels with Ash, always wonders about the kind of next Gym
Leader that Ash will face.

**UPDATE**

Each region has 8 Gym Leaders, and they give a badge after being defeated. We
need all 8 badges to enter the Pokemon League to beat the Elite Four and the
Champion.

**I just want to know if they, as Gym Leaders, must have known each other or
not?**


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-10T09:40:37.273
29674
2016-10-20T16:46:28.183
2016-02-11T07:10:04.000
19592
17975
question
pokemon
Is it necessary for the Gym Leaders of a region to know each other?


You mention both the games and the anime. Well, the answer depends on the
canon referred to.

The _Pokemon Adventures_ manga depicts how the Pokemon League is organized
more clearly. The League sponsors gym leaders to run their gyms, challenge
trainers, and give out badges. They are occasionally called together for
meetings. In the manga we see the gym leaders gather together on several
occasions. For instance, in the Gold and Silver chapter, there are a set of
exhibition matches between the Johto and Kanto gym leaders. And since the gym
leaders are considered the elites, they are often called upon when calamity
strikes. Basically, the gym leaders are all part of the same organization and
are likely to know each other.

Contrast this to the anime, where how the gym leaders and Pokemon League are
organized is less clear. From observation of the gym leaders, it seems there
is little reason for them to know each other. If they're not hanging with Ash
or on a training journey in the next town, they mostly just seem to stay in
one place. So then, we get gym leaders like Clemont who only have heard rumors
about other gym leaders. Of course, post-XYZ, Clemont will have met all of the
other gym leaders of Kalos.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-22T03:29:08.813
34383
2016-07-22T03:29:08.813
19307
29674
answer


**No there is no reason to. As some of the strongest trainers of the region,
gym leaders may know each other but there is no necessity.**

Case in point, Misty didn't know Brock was Petalburg's gym leader even though
she was at that time not the Cerulean's leader. But throughout the journey
Brock doesn't recognise most of the gym leaders. On the other hand several
leaders know each other as well as the Elite Four. The reason for this is
probably gyms are taken over strong trainers who went to the league or the
Elite Four.

The reason why this is not a necessity that there is no set order for you to
fight the gym leaders. There is no prescribed order to fight the gyms in an
order. Even in the first generation games you could possibly battle Fuchsia,
Celadon and Saffron gyms in different orders. In future games the HMs can only
be used by defeating a gym and that HM is usually required to reach that next
gym and thus the need of order of a particular gym. Or sometimes its locked,
gym leader missing etc. other side quests.

In the anime, the current gym leader would realistically know which gym is the
closest and leaders are usually helpful enough to pass it on to the trainer.
But he is not required to fight the gym and may chose to proceed to another.
Example: Ash _skipped the Petalburg gym_ because Vigoroth was too powerful for
his team and came back later. (As I remember, been a long time since I last
saw Pokemon)

Also it is conclusive there are _more_ than 8 gyms in any region of pokemon.
Refer to: [Does each Region only have 8 gyms in
pokemon?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/35645/does-each-region-
only-have-8-gyms-in-pokemon/35652#35652)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-20T05:41:44.660
36958
2016-10-20T16:46:28.183
2017-04-13T12:54:49.117
-1
6368
29674
answer