Here’s Everything We Know So Far About ‘Pokémon Violet' and 'Scarlet’s’ Gym Leaders

It's a time-honored tradition in pretty much every Pokémon game: You capture some monsters. You grind out experience points by battling random other monsters. You do this for each area of the World Map, and you're forced to battle against a boss — aka the area's local gym leader — to earn a badge that shows you're on your way to becoming a Pokémon master. But is there any information available on the gym trainers in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet available?

If you aren't familiar with the title, then chances are you're not a Pokémaniac. The game follows the Poké-tradition of releasing two nearly identical titles that have slight variations. Chief among the differences between them is the variety of monsters players will be able to face off against and capture in the game.

Scarlet and Violet also have the distinction of being the first Pokémon games in the series that are open-world RPGs. The two Legendary Pokémon featured on the game's respective covers aren't just there for show. They're a huge part of the gaming experience. Scarlet players will control Koraidon, and Violet gamers will have Miraidon, and these two baddies will function as vehicles for players on their quest for Pokémon supremacy.

They turn into motorcycles, powerboats, and even aircraft vessels at different points in the game in order to help players more effectively navigate their respective environments. They'll also be aiding the players on their quests to become more adept at battling other people's captive animals, leading up to climactic gym leader contests.

One of the first new gym leaders in the game revealed by The Pokémon Company is Grusha, the head honcho of the Glaseado Gym who specializes in ice-type monsters. The main monster that he rocks is a Cetitan, and in addition to making monsters fight each other for a living, he's also a pro snowboarder.

As of this writing, Grusha is the only gym leader to be revealed by developers, and more are expected to be announced in the lead-up to the game's Nov. 18, 2022 release.

Traditionally, as mentioned above, previous Pokémon games would require players to defeat the gym leaders in a specific, linear order in order to progress through the game's World Map.

However, due to the open-world nature of Violet and Scarlet, Pokémaniacs will get to challenge the game's gym leaders in any order that they see fit, meaning that they can either save Grusha for last or tackle the ice-type-loving trainer right from the onset if they see fit.

Twitter account Centro LEAKS uploaded an image that is speculated to be an "accessory that Sprigatito's evolution uses."

The leaks account also states that Bisharp's evolution "is still [the] same type" and that there will be a new "fire blade Pokémon."

Sprigatito's evolution is also said to be a "Magician Pokémon" while Quaxly's is a "Dancer Pokémon." And that a "quartet" of sub-legendaries will all be Dark types mixed with Grass/Fire/Ice/Ground respectively.

You can view all of the leaks in the Twitter thread embedded above. As with any leaks, take some of these with a grain of salt until The Pokémon Company confirms them, or, you know, when the game officially drops.

Are you excited to play Violet and Scarlet when it drops?