Gym Leader Castle

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The Johto Gym Leader Castle

A Gym Leader Castle is a location in the Pokémon Stadium series where players may battle the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four of the Pokémon games of that Generation.

The first Gym Leader Castle was simple: It was a darkened, curving path leading from spire to spire, with each spire's top in the shape of that Gym Leader's Badge. To advance to the next spire, players would need to defeat each of Kanto's Gym Leaders in turn, eventually making way to the Elite Four and Champion, their rival. After defeating the rival, players will get a random, one-time Pokémon, such as one of the Kanto starter Pokémon or Eevee, more than one of which were, at the time, not available without multiple games.

The second Gym Leader Castle was more complex. Instead of it being an actual castle, it featured differently-designed rooms for each of Johto's Gym Leaders, each one representing the leader's type in its design. Like its predecessor, players would need to defeat each of Johto's Gym Leaders in turn, eventually making their way to the Elite Four and its Champion, Lance. Upon his defeat, if all Pokémon on the player's team had taken part in the battles against the Elite Four and Champion, one of them could re-learn a move that was available to be learned by level-up.

The Kanto Gym Leader Castle in Pokémon Stadium 2

After the defeat of Lance, however, like in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, players may challenge a revamped version of the Kanto Gym Leader Castle. Though it has the same battle arenas as the first game, the outside design is slightly different, as now, instead, the eight badges of Kanto are on the sides of the castle's spires, and the eight are arranged more closely together. After the defeat of Kanto's set of eight, trainers unlock the battle with Red, who, unlike his Game Boy Color counterpart, does not have a team that one would see in Pokémon Yellow.

The concept seems to have been abandoned in the same way that the Stadium series itself was, with no Gym Leader Castle for Hoenn or Sinnoh.