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kalosian-woods · 3 months ago

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haii :3

i am here to cash in my "what are your thoughts on the Kaalos Gym Leaders?" voucher! either in this au or in general lol,

Waheyy, I'm so glad you decided to visit this humble abode and present the question that is so big that it cannot be contained in 3 maxxed out AO3 comments heh <33 I hope you enjoy your service in this super long ask and have fun at my exceedingly insane takes :P

Okay, so I'm just going to bounce around everywhere here because I have such a love for characters that ends up blurring the line with what we got in canon and what we can further extrapolate/build upon (in the AU verse), as well as bring up stuff I've already said beforehand for more cohesion + also gamesverse and maybe teraleaks as well, so it's going to get crazy around here. BUT such is the price of taking up a big project lol

Probably under the cut? Under the cut lol.

(Also because Tumblr hates me, I've got to cut this into three seperate posts so I don't clog up everything. Would just rb this but that'll ruin the surprise lol. Also it takes ages to make an individual post like this ngl)

So, of course, Kalos is the first/only region where we get focus on the resident travelling Gym Leader companion that actually has a connection with their Gym, as opposed to Kanto-Sinnoh where Brock was breaking free from that lifestyle and Unova where Cilan is presumably taking a break (presumably). With Clemont, his journey technically starts with his expulsion from his own Gym, which forced him to actually go beyond the limited and controlled enviroment of Prism Tower and see the outside world. And it so happens that he stumbles upon Ash who is rushing towards the Gym Battle and saves him from his own recklessness with his (Clemont's) own preparedness (the inflatable bag).

And honestly, I feel like that's such an amazing way to display both of their weaknesses and even a little bit of their strengths. Clemont is forced to walk around the place he was removed from/frozen by a sense of apphrension, Ash is forcing himself into a challenge he isn't ready for/blinded by passion. Clemont always being prepared while Ash is always active. The way that the anime highlights that in the two-parter by then having Clemont actively trying be complicit, little by little, in Ash's rescue of Garchomp by unlocking a side door to Prism Tower, then try to climb up to where Ash is, really shows how much he has went through in that initial meeting. Would Clemont from a day ago try to climb up Prism Tower to help save a crazed psuedo? No, but Ash's influence pushed him in ways that he never expected... even if he did freeze up at the end when Ash fell.

(the holy Clemont square of ep 2 and 3 lol)

So Clemont is deciding that Ash is the paragon of courage and that he needs to learn off him. It's interesting that 'courage' is the quality that he latches onto, because (as we learn later on) we learn that his particular problem is that he was unable to return to his Gym after getting kicked out by the robot that he built. But it wasn't that simple, was it? That robot was Clembot, a Gym Leader robot, and it utilised his own Pokemon against him-- of their free will-- to make sure that he stayed out.

Ash in relation to Pokemon and courage. These are all things that Clemont thinks are key to solving his problem. That's the reason why he takes up this journey alongside Ash, and it's his (self-perceived) failings as a Gym Leader that truly drives this reason along, because he can't face Clembot and his entire Gym Team with nothing, with an 'inexperienced Bunnelby' (literally his words), with just himself as he is.

Now this is where the AU is going to kick in because MAN does he just resolve that mini-arc/start of a greater arc so quickly (ep 9 my beloathed): Clemont avoids the Gym for some time and makes sure that everyone else does as well. He lies by ommission, because at the start the truth doesn't serve him, and then later on he's scared of their reaction, because they are one of the few people (Ash and Serena) who he's actually formed a good bond with. Despite starting this journey to discover courage that will help him take back the Gym, Clemont finds friends instead-- friends that will do anything for him, people and Pokemon. Because yes, it's not only Ash and Serena that he's found, right? It's Bunnelby and Chespin too (PLEASE WHY DOESN'T CHESPIN AID IN THE GYM TAKEBACK ;w;) (Serena could've maybe done a little more as well ngl). All of them, in conjunction, help him take back the Gym in the end. Clemont doesn't take back the Gym on his own, but with all of his friends by his side, and I think that's what really mattered at the end-- beyond out-of-the-box strategies and a malfunctioning robot. And I think that's such a beautiful lesson, that the best solution to your problems can usually be helped with teamwork and with others (courage in its own way).

(this is so beautiful fr.... :'D) (also yes the gif quality sucks here just take it pls)

Another pivotal moment in Clemont's (barely existing) Gym Leader arc is, of course, when he's getting ready to face Ash himself with the fifth badge on the line. XY EP62 / 'The Future Is Now, Thanks To Determination' is pretty light with the details, but listen I will take anything right now. And the fact that Clemont is wondering about his status as a Gym Leader and whether things should change because Ash is a friend, a friend who has taught him a lot during their journey together? Wondering if he can even face someone like Ash, who he has learnt is unpredictable, insatiable, and never stopping? And the way that he decides to take some time off to train up for it, because he remembers his promise to make it 'a Gym Battle he'll never forget' and he honestly, truly, wants to give Ash that???? He even returns Ash's call to beat him at the end by saying that he's going to win in the end PLS

Because, seriously, I'm so intrigued about the fact that he questions if it's okay for him to challenge Ash as an 'ordinary Gym Leader', and then follows it up with if he has gained enough skills to even be worthy of it. You'd expect that being an ordinary Gym Leader isn't that high with the word 'ordinary', but the way that Clemont feels like he's not worthy of it in comparison to Ash's progress?? And then he asks himself is there anything he can offer Ash as a Gym Leader???

(okay but seriously WHY didn't we go into this more???)

Ngl, the only continuation we get for this is the actual Gym Battle ep itself, which is sad because as you can see from my Clemont + Sawyer snippet, he could've done so much at the Gym. He was reflecting what it meant to be a Gym Leader independent of Ash and everyone else (which is so cool and such a nice parallel to the start where he had to get his Gym back with the power of friendship), so why didn't we see him actually interacting with other challengers? Helping them learn how to battle? Guiding them like he has seen other Gym Leaders in his journey? Finding a bit of his own groove with this whole buisiness, while also brushing up on his Pokemon's skillsets and getting ready for Ash himself. Yeah, we got Bunnelby learning Wild Charge and the whole trying to program Clembot to an Ashbot (so many implications that I'm not getting into rn), but we could've gotten so much more from that. Even the fact that Clemont is alone again has so much potential, as he's always been with Bonnie at the very least. Show us how that affects him!! And also show us him interacting with his father, his Gym Pokemon and also Clembot too now that he's finally back in Lumiose for an extended amount of time.

But even then, the fact that the Gym Battle is a continuation of their first ever battle is pretty cool lol, especially with the plot twist that Clemont throws in to throw off Ash. Not going to go through the whole Gym Battle but just,,, urgh, why didn't we get more of this?? Why didn't we see Clemont go through his reflection time thinking up of ways to stop Ash, throwing out plans and scribbling up machines to help perfect his strategies and idk maybe even take some of that creativity that Ash has (because dang it anime, Clemont is creative!! How else does he make his machines sans the names themselves??) and actually blend it with his analysis?? And for him to get a little obessessed over winning before realising through his own challengers that it isn't about winning or losing that makes the Gym Battle great or memorable, but the fact that the challenger has given it their all?? Because it feels like we got the Sparksnote version of it imo and I really like delving into cool issues like this, especially since it concerns a major aspect of one of the main characters here (no matter how much the anime wants me to forget).

OKAY, now onto other Gym Leaders because I can't keep yapping about Clemont unless I get another post (or an ask) (can you believe this is all from the anime, and specifically only at two points from S1 and S2 respectively??)

(also can I say the 'Gym Freaks' quotes on Bulbepdia never fail to get me laughing?? The games has the weirdest yet funnest scoops on Gym Leaders for sure lol)

VIOLA

Man, it's going to be hard to talk about her without getting into her relationship with Grant (in anime makes me scream, wdym they only have two appearances together???) or her relationship with Alexa (which isn't as touched upon in canon... or in my fics so far?? need to fix that) but can I just say I love this madwoman of a person fr.

I keep thinking about how dang tough she was a first Gym Leader (if we're going in order, in which most people in Kalos aren't??), with the use of ice to combat Flying Types as well as mons on the ground and Psychic as a busted move. We know that she also goes around the Battle Chateau enough to have risen to Duchess, in which wow girl you passed your in-games self and also ARE YOU OKAY???

(proof of how busted she is in the anime, fr -> going by maths she must've won around, if not at least, 227 matches by the time we see her in the anime, ready to ascend to Grand Duchess-hood) (also why is this so blurry it's not just me, right??)

Anyways, she's very competitive and I feel like that bleeds into her Gym Battling style, really challenging new Trainers (either that or really hamming it up). On one hand it's pretty harsh, but also it really gives you that sense of accomplishment and good experience/EXP yes I've got the Sawyer syndrome.

(fun lines part 1: i've noticed, even in dub, how worked up she can get in gym battles. dw girl we all know you're op, no need to kill him ^^')

But also we know that she takes breaks from the Gym (ep 1, when Alexa called ahead and had to break it to a very hyperactive Ash the bad news), can really take some stunning pics with only a fracion of her works lining the foyer of the Santalune Gym and is known as a Bug Type photographer (which I would imagine would take a lot of patience and finesse with how finicky that Type can be), and idk but I love this detail in the games where her hair barrette is a birthday gift from Valerie and her camera is another one from Alexa (she is loved!!! 🥺🥺🥺). All of these details really do lend a more comprehensive view on Viola as a person with her own interests and her own life, which is so good to have in the Pokemon anime.

We never really get to dwell on her too much AU-wise so far, but I'm thinking of a small detour way later where we meet up with her again and all that lol. She has so much more to give the group beyond a rematch and a badass showing at the Chateau-- I feel like her eye for detail with photography would work so well with Serena and possible Pokevision shenanigans (especially since Alexa is very much Like That :/ with Serena as it were), and her connections with others really gives her more chances to show up around the place and feel more grounded as a person with interests beyond destroying peoples dreams battling. Imagine a whole clothing collection Valerie made based on an album Viola filled out and gifted? Or her trekking over to a place that Alexa has scouted that is full of cool/rare Bug Types and taking her own pictures? The fact that photography relies a lot on the right place at the right time, with so many factors coming into it like lighting and angle, and how it's all condensed to singular pictures that can be interpreted differently with different people?? And the whole evanescent nature of it all can lend really well to XY themes overall just hire me writers (jk I've got the AU to scream about instead).

We've seen her in the heat of battle, so maybe the next time we see her it's in a more relaxed state where she's indulging in her own hobbies. Balacing life and work. And giving that little realisation to Ash, who was pretty bitter after the first loss, that, idk, it wasn't personal. That she has her own things going on, her own problems and her own life beyond the Gym and that battling isn't everything. Also because we deserve more casual Viola please :P

GRANT

Okay I've got to preface this by saying that yes, Grant has to have also won more or less 227 matches in the Battle Chateau exclusively in order to have been at the rank he was at the start of XY EP20 / 'Breaking Titles at the Chateau!'. They're both insane. They're both battle fiends. They both probably spent some nights over at the Chateau just battling everyone within view without taking breaks.

I mean, the WAY that we are introduced to him in the anime is so refreshing and new!! He's in a battling enviroment but not in the Gym, not in his own 'carved' out area but in a communal space where chivalry is valued above all else (why no Wikstrom here it's perfect for him ;w;). He's hanging on a wall; like seriously what a WAY to really showcase how a character is like. And Viola walking in and noticing him and he notices her and waves first?? Just what is this guy /lh

I guess this is a good place as any to really get into the infamous Grant and Viola dynamics, but dw, we'll get into Grant as an individual later. Since I love to abuse dot-points to break up the monotony of paragraphs:

The way they are so casual with each other never fails to astound me. We rarely, if ever, have Gym Leaders that know each other-- Sure, there's E4 Flint and Gym Leader/E4-adjacent Volkner, the family relationship of Champion Lance and Gym Leader Claire, and Gym Leader Juan and his mentorship with Gym Leader/Champion Wallace (and everything for the memory links in the BW2 games), but we never really get explicit relationships between actual Gym Leaders on-screen, especially in the anime!! Even in XY (help me). So the fact that Viola and Grant readily know each other is so, so good to me <33

Speaking of casual, their banter!! Please!! Viola has had enough of his wall talk but still indulges in it anyways, she doesn't even have to look at him to know he was the one who fell, and he has no shame in just brushing off the incident and just harping on about the many intricacies of walls overall. Like, c'mon, what is this:

(get a room you two /j)

They can both get serious however, and the way that he takes her word for how gutsy Ash and his Pokemon can be (with a pinch of salt heh) is pretty cool to see. Again, we don't get to see Gym Leader interactions in the anime much, so seeing how they would react to a potential challenger moving across the region is fun! Although idk how legal it is, considering how Brock once said in S1 how he can't rat out another Gym's team/type... I mean, get yourself a rival/competitive bestie/whatever they are who is just as willing to bend the rules as you are!

Their battle. Where to begin. We've seen Champions (Cynthia) go up against E4s (even in Unova... hi one and only appearance of Caitlyn in the anime, at least you actually showed up ;w;), and Gym Leader (Skyla) against idk what Cilan was doing, but woo boy do NOT skimp out on these two Kalosian Trainers. While, yes, the Type match-up left a lot to be desired, I feel as if they both got their very unique battling styles from going toe-to-toe against each other, constantly improving their techniques and working with strengths/weaknesses in mind. That's how Viola was able to react so quickly against Grant's versitile Rock Tomb, and how Grant based his whole strategy to countering her speedy attacks by pulling in Rock Polish (and that cool Rock Tomb, seriously that was so fun to see!!). Honestly, it feels like Viola might have won their last match by the way that Grant has so many countermeasures against her, but it was a very close match this time regardless (just check out the way their Flash Cannon and Signal Beam cancelled each other out!!).

(the way that they read each other... it really speaks to their experience of the other's battling style)

We get a heck-ton of it in the Battle Chateau ep, but that isn't the only time. DESPITE me being blind to the fact that people really ship that particular moment (??) the Kalos Crisis really showed how even with the burning passion to eviscerate the other in battle, they watch each others back when trouble is ahead and would even...

Ahhm. Yeah. Sacrifice themselves. XY loves people jumping off stuff, evidently lol. But seriously, even with me and the rivals/competitive besties goggles on, you can tell that they really value and care for each other!!

About Grant himself, well, he's definitely a character and a half with his... okay I'm going to stop thinking about walls, lol. He doesn't actually get introduced as a Gym Leader until the very end of this episode; initially, Ash (and the gang, yes, that includes Clemont for some reason) is led to believe that he is just a strong Trainer by the COTD and Viola, and he doesn't correct them. He only-- just barely, may I add-- remembers to tell Ash that yes, they will meet again in Cyllage, and that's what clues them into his actual status. Which is interesting in the way that a lot of the Gym Leaders in Kalos are just met as ordinary folk-- Viola was just taking pics of Ash before following up after him, and Grant was just having fun at the Chateau (and Clemont was wandering around Lumiose is he okay?? /j). We've come a long way from just meeting the Gym Leaders straight up in their Gyms in Kanto, that's for sure.

And his Gym?? Immaculate. The famous rock-climbing wall (which he made optional!! It has no ill effect on the way your challenge is accepted!!) is such a cool way for him to connect with challengers, showcasing his love for (Rock Type) Pokemon and giving Trainers a new view, so to speak.

(also check out the gangs faces 5 seconds after lol VVV)

The way that he gets them to experience the wall so he can use it as an apt metaphor for what challengers should do is so (>///<); his whole strategy really is to just focus on what's ahead, always climbing up, never staying in one place. This really appeals to Ash, who obviously takes this lesson in full-heartedly, but it's also such a good lesson in life (and for everyone else in the gang as well). Don't look back. Keep moving ahead. There is no wall you can't climb.

And Grant?

Well, he's a wall too. And he wants you to go at him full-throttle, with all the Pokemon that you've got and the experience that you've gained, to overcome him. To show, with every fiber of your being, down to the very skin of your teeth, that you are ready for the League. That you've got what it takes to take the rest of the Gym Challenge on. That you, at 100%, can scale that wall and make it out of it just fine.

It's a hell of a way to battle, I'm sure (Just like with Viola; why are all of the Gyms so dang hardcore lol). But this is the guy who made it to the top rank of the Battle Chateau advocating that there is always something more to climb. He can walk that walk for sure lol.

The thing that I love about the later Pokemon series (and especially earlier XY imo) is how they handle the Gym Leaders, with all of these extra details that we never knew we needed beforehand that really build up their character. They're no longer 'random mentor figure that I've got to beat to show my worth', they're actual people with their own interests, their own lives outside, their own struggles and their own growth. They're not static. They're not just obstacles. And super fun eps like the Battle Chateau and arcs like Korrina's really do help in humanising them and making not only the wins more worthy and memorable, but also giving us new people to love and root for all the same.

Also I know this is supposed to be about them but just one (1) thing I want to touch on about the Battle Chateau:

C'mon. It has so much potential. It's literally spelt there. WHY DIDN'T CLEMONT DO ANYTHING HERE PLS :'((( Or even Serena!! It would be a nice place for her to go her own pace and try battling without the stress of... Viola or Grant lol. More ideas for me ig.

For the AU, well, we've already seen quite a bit of Grant lol. Transferring my romance-blind ass onto him and magnifying it was so fun lol, I feel like it goes so well against Monsieur Skittish at the top there/Clemont and Madame Very Intense At Time/Viola. It even said in the Teraleak how there are a bunch of ladies that like him but he thinks they're a nuisance like DAMN okay, I get it heh, you like your space. His love for walls is perfect, no notes or additions lol. He can handle social situations well, it's just that the nuance in relationships frequently fly over his head in a 'will-spam-your-phone-at-1am-if-you-missed-an-appointment-and-you've-only-met-once' sort of thing. What can I say? That's just his way of caring. And his Pokemon team reflect that in a way-- he plays with them just as much as he trains with them, and that's how he gets all of these cool moves. Amaura slides around on ice a lot and Onix can't really keep up, so that's how he learnt to counter her speed in such a way. Tyrunt hates ice though, so using moves that trains up its legs so it can break the ice or jump away from it, since its speed isn't the best, are some of the ways that Grant decided to do after training Tyrunt against Amaura. And Amaura is a very skittish Pokemon ('hey, she's kind of like you, Clemont!' 'stop it!') so Thunder Wave can stay lol, to boost her confidence.

Carefree and reckless and in a way, going for broke himself. A very fun guy who enjoys life to the fullest, and dang if I can't respect that. I've got to stop talking about him ONLY but just, argh, he's so interesting to me!! We'll definitely be seeing him soon with his Gym (many fics later... which is soon enough ig heh), and even afterwards, so I'll probably have more coherent thoughts there (this goes for every character I write about here because my opnions and thoughts always change around every day and while it allows perspective it is so tiring lol).

Also it's not just me, right?

(grant words coming out of previously-skittish kid, more at 7)

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Extra Parts because Tumblr hates my images: 2 | 3

#you can find the gym freaks quotes on every page for the gym leaders it's a blast #man i love clemont. i wish he actually came (more often) (actually i wish he just came)#he had so much to offer as himself and yet we got brock 2.0 in terms of background activity #is it better than the other guys?? yeah but that doesn't mean we should settle for mediocrity #don't get me started on his pokemon DON'T GET ME STARTED #anyways love viola and grant and whatever they got going on. keep being you guys #grant is so unnecessarily extra for a guy who likes rocks lol #and viola is just that lilo and stitch meme with the whole drawing measuring badness level but it's anger #which yes is also unusually high for her size heh #this ended up being me analysing eps so i hope you're fine with that #so many thoughts so little space and also so little thoughts because i'm tired #i've learnt how to make gifs specifically because of this ask i feel like rotom dex when it discovers a new function lol #AU clemont is something i'll get to in another post/ask but rest assured he's going to have fun (mandatory)#diancie delivers #volcanion rumbles #YAY I CAN FINALLY USE THAT TAG #might do image descriptions for them later hmm #also again can't believe it's been a week lol

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