If Every Gym Leader Had a Balanced Team 

Excited for Legends Arceus? I'll be playing through it on MandJTV Plays starting Saturday :) Also be sure to install Ace Defender to enjoy the new feature and hero now using this link and receive 10 Royal Recruit tickets after completing Level 2-8: mtchm.de/9d8rk

You should DEFINITELY do a National Dex one next! Toxitricity seems like it was literally MADE for Roxie! A Poison-type punk rock Pokemon? It's PERFECT for her!

Mikey: Is lacking a 6th member for a team Machamp: Allow me to introduce myself

The Whitney team had me crying laughing, "this Azumarill represents the tears she sheds when she loses" Perfection

For Tate & Liza, I personally think that, instead of Sharpedo and Wailord, they should use Huntail and Gorebyss, the 2 possible evolved forms of Clamperl, which can be found underwater just outside of Mossdeep. I just feel using the two of them would fit their "twin" motif better than Sharpedo and Wailord.

Mikey: "I'm not sure what Pokemon I should use for this last spot on the team" Mikey: (flips coin) "Heads, looks like we are adding Alakazam" Mikey: "I'm not sure what Pokemon I should use for this last spot on the team" Mikey: (flips coin) "Tails, looks like we are adding Machamp"

10:48 lmao that really caught me of guard😂

Gym Leaders: Trying to make a balanced and diverse team. Machamp: Allow me to introduce myself.

I love how you baiscally turned Machamp into an nursing assistant for the elderly. Very wholesome o3o

Now do it again, but without the dex limitation, there are lots of mons out there that would make sense on a gym leader's team, like Primarina for Misty, Greninja for Koga, Mudsdale for Clay, Toxtricity for Roxie, etc.

I PREPARED MYSELF TO LAUGH WHEN MIKEY CAME TO FLANNERY AND SAID "MOMMY, SORRY" AND YOU NEVER DISAPPOINT MAN!

"Next is MOMMY, sorry Flamery" - John Micheal Wingull

I liked a lot of the teams but one small gripe I had was the use of Machamp on a lot of the teams, I kinda get why but there are other fighting types as well. (Bea is an exception due to Machamp being her ace)

I like that idea! What if you did “If every gym Leader had a different speciality?”

Just an idea here, but in Gen 5 all gym leaders had actual realistic jobs outside their gym (Cherem became a teacher, Lenora is a librarian, Clay is a businessman, Drayden is Mayor of Opelucid and so on) so what if all the other gym leaders had jobs outside their gyms, what would they be (obviously excluding gym leaders who appear to be underaged)

3:20 Michael, I just realized you could have given Koga an Arbok since it's Poison-type and keeps the ninja theme, while if the National Dex is concerned, you could give him Greninja and Goodra for the same reason.

You can swap Brock's Ditto/Clefairy with Blissey since he has a Happini in the anime, and give Cheren one of the starters instead of the elemental monkeys since it makes more sense, he was a rival therefore he has one of the starters and you gave other gym leaders starter Pokemon.

Gengar can also be a good choice for Koga if you take the literal meaning of "despair and horror " because it is both ghost and poison type

Imagine if gym leaders actually cheated and had a home field advantage in there boss fights, like a water or electric gym leader with permanent rain, or a fire or grass gym leader with permanent sun, to really make it a challenge

Since there’s been an entirely new generation of Pokemon since this video came out, here are some type diverse teams I feel the Paldea gym leaders would have First is katy: She keeps her ace Ursaring/Ursaluna and her Heracross, since heracross seems like it acts sweetly. Next she would have a Dachsbun, since she is a baker and it is a pastry. She would also have Arboliva, Klawf and Garganacl, all Pokemon with edible parts. Next is the artist Brassius. He would keeps his ace Sudowoodo which suits him perfectly. Next he would have Sunflora, seeing as it means a lot to him. I’d also give him Grafaiai, Kricketune and Tinkaton, since they all make art in one way or another. Finally will be Masquerain, due to it’s pattern on it’s wings. Next is Iono. And while i’m not a massive fan of her, her team was one of my favourites to come up with, as I imagine her using Pokemon that, much like herself, are very popular. She would keep her aces Mismagius and Bellibolt, and would also have Raichu, Sylveon, Charizard and Greninja. Raichu is the evolved form of the series mascot, and Sylveon is one of the most popular eeveelutions. As for Charizard and Greninja, while they aren’t in the Paldea pokedex, they are coded into the game, so I feel it’s at least justified. Next is Kofu. He would keep his ace Crabominable as well as vaultin Veluza. As for nee pokemon, he would have a Venomoth referencing his venonat wallet. And the others would be Rabsca, Farigiraf and Cyclizar. All pokemon that can be found between Cascaraffa and Porto madrida. Next is Larry. Since he doesnt have much going on. He would therefore use pokemon without much going on. He would keep his aces Staraptor and Flamigo, as well as Female Oinkolonge. Next he’d have Spidops since regional bugs aren’t often all too special, Vivillon (fancy style) since it’s a normal butterfly, and Lumineon since it’s a normal fish. Next is Ryme who I see using Sound based pokemon. She would keep Her Ace Toxtricity, as well as Houndstone since they appear at her concert. Next is Kricketune for hopefully obvious reasons, as well as Wigglytuff and Noivern. Finally she would have Electrode, representing the stage’s light up Pokeball. Next is Tulip. A beauty based character who would, logically, used beauty based pokemon. She keeps her ace Florges as well as Gardevoir, and she’d use Gothitelle, Arboliva, Alomomola and Froslass. All pokemon I feel she’s consider “Beautiful”. Finally is Grusha. He would keep his Altaria and Cetitan, and since he talks about the dangers of snowy mountains, I’ve chosen to give him “Dangerous” Pokemon. These being Gengar, Kingambit, Hydreigon and Hatterene. All Pokemon that could easily kill you, with more than one doing so on their own accord.

"Dressed Like A Boy Scout" has probably offended every archeologist out there

You know, perhaps rather than having gotten over her fear of ghosts, Gengar just haunts Gardenia and is stuck on her team as a result, leading to her being scared out of her wits while also battling with it quite well.

I think gym leaders should have AT LEAST half of their team to fit their type and the rest doesn't need to be that specific type, just fit their theme. For example, a water gym leader wich half of the team is water type and the other half is cursola, eelektross and dragalge

You should do a video about what type a gym leader would specialise if their original type specialty didnt exist

I love how mikey and grunty boi have gone from being enemies to being friends

Alternative tittle: Making gym leaders stupidly competitive

I love how you and Grunty Boi are basically just friends now.

Coming back to this video actually made me realize something: most gym leaders probably should have mono type teams. Not for difficulty sake or anything, but for memorability. Between this and revisiting some fakemon region videos with type diverse gym leaders, the ones with mono types were far more memorable to me. Very often they lack an obvious through line to the teams, and often when the battle is the only role a gym leader plays, getting their personality across through their typing and team is great for that (like Whitney, Norman, and Larry are all Normal type leaders, but get across very distinct aspects of themselves through their team comp, like Whitney's love of cute mons, Normans sense of authority but hands off attitude, Larry being ordinary in that he uses the much more common Dudunsparse form). As a result, I usually only remember the ace on their team, if that. Meanwhile the fakemon stuff with monotype teams, I can usually recall a good chunk of them, and almost always I remember the ace. Diverse team gym leaders definitely have a place, but I feel they work much better as the exception than as the rule. Not to mention, I think it's more impressive that a trainer was skilled enough to reach a high position like that with only one typing, rather than have the inherent advantage of avoiding type overlap (and heck, that can be sidestepped by just smart team building through dual types and abilities). Heck, playing the gym leader fan game made me appreciate team building under those conditions a lot more so. I know this is something subjective, but that's just how I feel. (Note: teams that are mostly of a given type but have a member or two outside of it, but follow the same theming, like Kanto or some themed Champions like Lance, Steven, and Iris, I consider under the same umbrella. The theming the type gives is admittedly more important than absolute strict adherence.)

5:30 Grunty boi then overdosed on rare candies later that day, to the sounds of mikey's cries of mixed emotions and a sigh of relief from his accountant

I like how Caire gets 4 pokemon that look like they're screaming. Almost like they're throwing a temper-tantrum...

honestly I'd probably give whitney a team that's more suited for working at the farm, since in the anime that's where she lives, while also throwing some cute pokemon into the mix. she'd of course have the miltank since it's her ace, but other pokemon I'd give her include ampharos because sheep, rapidash due to farms having horses, blissey because not only could it be considered cute but it's also because of the eggs, clefable because it's another cute pokemon, and tauros since that's the only other pokemon from kanto and johto that i think would fit well at a farm

Machamp is probably the most used by far

16:03 Mikey: says he’ll put sound related Pokémon to Roxie Exploud loudred and wismur: :(

I love the humor in this video, from Jasmine's fondness of round electric types to Mommy

For the twins 11:55 I think Gorebyss and Huntail would work best instead of Sharpedo and Wailord because of the pair concept. Idk what you guys think 🧐

Could you do a “what if each criminal team was a gym leader” or “what if each team leader was champion”? Something like that

Old People: *Exist* Mikey: You get a Machamp! You get a Machamp!

I like to think that Kabu is Flannerys Grandfather who was asked to come help in Galar. I know it's not true, as we saw Flannerys Grandfather in the anime... But it's been years, I'm just gonna call it a retcon. 🔥

I think it would be cool to have Gym Leaders that specialize in gimmicks and mechanics, rather than types. Some ideas I have would be; - Type Diversity - Stat Changes - Double Battles - Weather Effects - Status Conditions - Terrains - Held Items - Abilities

7:16 Falkner gambles. Not a headcanon I was expecting but I'm all for it.

22:06 for being a cop he sure doesnt look like it

Mikey: "I'm gonna try and avoid giving the same pokemon to each gym leader except maybe one or two." Rest of the video: Machamp, Crobat, Ninetails, Azumarill, and Alakazam on almost every team.

Gym Leaders: I have 2 things you can OKO if you have the right move BDSP Elite 4: *laughs in competitive*

2:20 mikey likes drowzee confirmed

One thing I will say Roxie not having an Exploud when she’s a rocker “sounds” a bit off to me personally

I'm shocked you didn't give Crasher Wake a Toxicroak, since Croagunk is literally the mascot of Pastoria City.

Personally, I think the Whitney team was too biased by Mikey's dislike of her and her Miltank and mostly doesn't fit her. Whitney says in game that she only likes cute pokemon, so here's what I'd give her, instead: Miltank (obviously) Clefable (it's on her main team already, and the change to Fairy in later generations makes it not just another normal type) Azumarill (Mikey's reason for adding it makes sense and it's cute) Sandslash (the cutest of the fully evolved Goldenrod Game Corner pokemon) One of the eeveelutions (she could have gotten an Eevee from Bill, like the player does, and they're all cute) Nidoqueen (Whitney used a Nidorina in the anime, and it's available nearby on Route 35 in GS HGSS) Edit: Removed Arcanine, added Nidoqueen; Thanks to Tato for reminding me about Nidorina

a game with gyms of more general themes than types could be interesting

I took a long break from watching MandJTV and I’m very glad to see he still says “ hail yeah”

That’s what I would do to the elite 4 teams if I make a Pokémon game, mainly they will have at least 2 Pokémon that isn’t their type speciality.

My main criticism of this video is that there are a LOT of repeated Pokémon, namely Crobat and Machamp. I think it would actually be cool if they gave more gym leaders a Pokémon that doesn't fit their type specialty, just for the element of surprise. Or if they just had type combos that didn't all share the same weaknesses so you can't just click one super effective move to win.

This was definitely an interesting concept, perhaps expand it out to Elite Four as well, as well as the Trial Captains from Alola, since they are kinda more meant to be Gym Leaders, at least in my opinion. Also, it would be interesting to see this done with the National Dex, perhaps giving each Galar Gym Leader the Pokemon that corresponds to their Jersey number (like Kabu's Jersey number matches with the National Dex number for Hoppip, so he would get Hoppip because of that). Also, just a bit of a complaint about the games themselves, it's always bugged me that Falkner's Ace wasn't Noctowl, it would have made so much more sense to give him a Pidgey and Hoothoot on his team which would have been his Ace and been a Noctowl in later battles instead of a Pidgey and Pidgeotto. Why give the first representative of the Johto region a team of non-Johto Pokemon, that makes no sense to me.

This would be similar to the idea of making gym leader teams after a certain theme instead of a type, such as a forest themed team instead of a bug type specialist

I feel like Valerie should have had some Pokemon that were apart of the johto Dex because she is originally from Johto

3:14 "Hand to hand combat"? Don't you mean, *leg to leg* ? I'll let myself out.

19:50 anime Clemont: am I a joke to you?

Volkner and Flint at least have a type specialty in their Pokemon's moves even if their teams are diverse. It would be interesting to have them do more of that with type diverse Pokemon

Has anyone mentioned the fact that the annoying diversity of both Volkner and Flint are supposed to reflect the fact that they were rivals? Their teams are almost perfectly matched for each other!

Speaking of Houndour and Houndoom, did you know that they do not live in Johto? Despite being introduced in gen2, they are found in Kanto and other regions in other games. It would be nice to have a regional dex with only Pokemon that occur in that region. What do you guys think about it?

Giovanni should have a weedle evolution as in manga adventure red it was shown that he was the chosen one from varadian forest like yellow.

Hands down Ramos team was the best. All of the reasons made PERFECT sense for an old man who needed help gardening!!!! Well done

24:44 don't you just love it when MandJTV makes a surprise appearance in one of Mikey's videos

I think it would be cool if you could do a second video like this with the national dex

great concept. always thought the gyms would be so much more interesting if they were more diverse. 1 specific type for their ace and then other Pokemon that match the local environment/surrounding areas. then other things like the leader's lives/personalities

Bro called Flannery “mommy” had me dying💀 You never fail to make my day a good one😀

I felt like the team you gave Valerie perfectly matched her using pokemon native to Kalos. If you used pokemon from other regions also, I would have given her a Lilligant, because it's adorable and beautiful, and seems like it would match her personality to a tee.

I'd have given Bea an Alcremie considering she has a sweet tooth. Or a Vanilluxe. I think you could have taken seasonal units in Masters into account, if the Pokemon they are paired up with are in their region's dexes and don't overlap their type speciality too much in some cases.

7:40 I just love the Whitney salt. 😄

Just an idea for a future video. Type specialist teams that don’t have the type. Like all the Pokémon are linked to the type and probability deserving of the type without actually being the type. Psodowoodo for grass. Charzard for dragon. Ninetails for psychic. Porygon for electric. Any sun related Pokémon for fire. You get the point.

That ninetales bit makes me wonder if he will ever do a compilation of all the pokedex entries that are purely superstition and local folktales, because good lord do those not belong in an encyclopedic scientific catalogue of these creatures. That would be like looking up birds in the real world and the main or first encyclopedia entry is how they spell ill omens if one flies into your house.

When I was creating a (hypothetical) fangame, I gave my gyms THEMES and not type specialties. The themes are: Childhood (think pokemon with baby forms, pokemon that bring to mind childhood games, and pokemon based off of toys, including Banette), Space (obviously a lot of psychic types, but also Minior, Clefable, etc), Royalty (pokemon with King or Queen in their name as well as pokemon linked to royalty like Aegislash), Seasons (since my region brings seasons back, this gym leader uses a rotating team depending on season, and a Deerling), "Forgettable" (basically pokemon that typically get overlooked), Science (pokemon linked to science, Porygon, Rotom, etc), Ninjas (she uses the Nincada line, but also dark types and fire types. Her ace might well be a Zoroark), and Rainbow (each of his pokemon are a different colour) They don't have specific teams yet since I have a lot of Fakemon so they'll probably have a bunch of those. Also the only one who has a set placement is the Rainbow leader, who is the last

Take a shot for every time Mikey adds a Machamp or Conkeldur in a Gym Leader team

I’ve always thought that if I had the opportunity to change up how _Pokémon_ games work, one thing I’d do differently would be how Gym Leader teams work. Instead of a psychotic obsession with a single elemental type, Gyms would be based around a specific combat strategy, with element or theme having a flavoring effect on the teams used to a degree determined by the Gym Leader in question. Examples: Misty is the youngest and least experienced Gym Leader in Kanto, so her strategy is basic and her attachment to a single type is strong. (“An all-out offensive with water Pokémon!”) Conversely, Koga is an extremely experienced Gym Leader who’s learned how to diversify his team while maintaining his preferred form of fighting; high evasiveness and moves that cause DoT or make it harder for his opponents to fight back. His ability to have Pokémon that aren’t Poison-types on his team that nonetheless mesh with his strategy is why he eventually managed to make it onto the Elite Four. Whitney only wants cute Pokémon, because she’s a bimbo who only became a Pokémon Trainer because the vapid magazines she reads said it was the hot thing to be.

For Koga, I'd change it a bit myself, and the ones I kept might have different reasons Crobat - Stays as it's his ace Foretress - For setup and then Selfdestruct Kabutops - Instead of kunai, it's because of kusarigama, we're lacking the kusari but we got gama, speaking of which Poliwrath - Replacing Mikey's Hitmonlee as frogs are often adjacent to ninjas thanks to the Gallant Jiraiya Miltank - It has paralysis-inducing move and always carries a recovery item, its own milk Ditto - The ability to disguise itself as another pokemon being what puts this here, plus he already has two, technically three Johto pokemon, if possible more Kanto is preferrable Edit : Would add Octilerry if possible, but not sure where to slot in the ninja guns

I think Nessa should’ve used Milotic do to the episode of twilight wings where she rides one after meeting it as a feebas, I know it is her type specialty but it’s perfect for her.

I would love to see a game with Gym Leaders who have themed teams that aren't just single type teams! So like, as examples you used, a Gym Leader who solely uses the Pokemon found around their town, or a one who only uses beautiful Pokemon, or one who uses "loud" or sound-based Pokemon, or could help with cooking or some other hobby, but also things like Pokemon that all evolve from baby Pokemon or have a Halloween theme or are all the Gym leader's favorite color or seem like they could be from some medieval court. And honestly, my favorite might be Raihan's team. It might only be a small change, but I loved that you added in Rain and Hail Pokemon (hail yeah!). I also really loved your logic for Brock, Wallace, Juan, Lenora, and Elesa's teams; idk why but they really stood out to me and tickled me! :D

Ok, since whitney's team was based entirely on pokemons he hates, here's the team she would REALLY use (all pink, because she says she likes them): Miltank, Wigglytuff, Clefable, Chansey, Grunbull (which evolves from a pink pokemon) and Licktung or Licklick, depending on the version.

I'd love to see region with gym leaders having teams built around a theme, like forest theme or maybe type of animal - cat like pokemons or dog like pokemons. I still hope for it in any future game

For some reason i love Ramos's team the most. Something about the little old man just keeping pokemon to help him keep his garden is precious

He didn't even object when grunty boy said he would steal candy from adults

I think ghost and dark Pokémon create horror and despair.

I do like the idea made here, but it kind of makes the trainer lose their identity. Everyone's teams kind of mush together, with machamp and crobat being the somewhat universal constant here.

Can we just appreciate how every 2nd trainer has machamp in their team

"Magmortor use fire blast to light on camfire" *The whole camp is on fire* "I shouldn't have trained him so hard"

If they had a balanced team, the battles would undoubtedly be more challenging.

Is it just me, or does Machamp fit for almost every gymleader, who knew

I would add lapras to pryce's team. I know it's from the manga, but his whole character design was built around his lapras

What would be really good would be a video theory-crafting the type specialist teams with the best coverage - using things like how gyarydos (ik that's wrong, but I don't know how to spell it) and quagsire are both water types, but have no weaknesses in common

This was cool next time do one with the entire deck. I would love to see what Pokémon you would pick for each gym leader without any limitations

The fact that almost every gym leader has a machamp is wow

I think you used machamp a bit more than it should have. you gave it to almost every gym leader

I can't imagine the time and effort a video like this takes!! Good job with the teams

Would you ever consider doing a video on 'the best team to play through every game with'? I just think it would be interesting to see what you consider to be the optimal set of six Pokemon to complete each generation with!

thatthe amount of well thought out reasoning put into this video is asstounding it must have taken so much work well done mikey! I also love that the flannery mommy joke made a return XD jack is having a bad influence on you and its fantastic.

10:48 Mikey:Next is mommy Purplecliffe:Wait a damn minute

You: time for Candice! Me: remembers the meme* EEEE CAN I SU- *dies of laughter*

I haven’t watched him for a long time and I remembered his Pokémon Talk Videos. I found him and WHAT? HE HAS A BEARD. ok Keep up the great videos Michael!

"It's time we face on Mommy, sorry, Mommy, sorry..."

I love how everyone got a genuine-ish team, yet Whitney gets a troll team

I’m surprised you didn’t give Candice a Dodrio. She uses one in the anime to ride on. It’s the episode where Brandon shows up with the battle pyramid