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I have a few suggestions/comments concerning Gyms and their Leaders.

I understand that you all want a fair, even-matched battle with challengers, and that you think it's lame when someone comes in with a team designed solely to wreck your Gym, but at the same time it's basically the job of a Gym Leader to lose to Trainers who challenge them - it just comes with the territory. No offense intended, but you if you're becoming upset at getting beaten, or thinking its disrespectful somehow, you're looking at it wrong.

Even here in this Guild, in order to challenge the E4/6 - the 'Final Bosses', so to speak - one needs to clear all the Gyms first. Functionally, this means that Gym Leaders are 'Mid-Bosses' that serve as obstacles in the pursuit of the 'ultimate goal'. Tystra Daisetsu pointed out that Gym Leaders aren't NPCs and that it's unfair that they be treated like such, but at the same time they're performing a role that pretty much mandates that they are thought of in that way - as long as one must defeat the 'Mid-Bosses' in order to progress, their roles are to pretty much be just that.

I suggest that Leaders go into Gym Battles with a samurai mindset, knowing that they will die be defeated in battle, and bringing as much company to the afterlife PokeCenter with them as possible before that happens. Part of the reason for this is that Leaders shouldn't expect to win, mostly because of the restriction of their status - which is to say that all their 'Mon have to be of one Type. Simply put, going into a PVP match with 6 'Mon of the same Type is suicide from a tactical POV, so you shouldn't be surprised when you're defeated. That may sound like a drag, but it's the truth.

So, you ask, how are Leaders supposed to have any fun in this scenario? Well, my suggestion is that the Gym System work a little differently. Here are a few ideas I have that, theoretically, would make matches as enjoyable for Leaders as they are challengers:

1) Have Leaders' Gyms rotate every so often - the Water Leader would become the Grass Leader, Fire -> Flying, etc. Not only would this reduce monotony, but it would also gave the Leaders themselves a chance to expand their strategies with things they've seen done to them - sort of like turning the tables.

2) Leaders could have multiple sets of 'Mon, or could mix-and-match their team instead of just having a static set. Alternately, they could have one team used for "qualifying" (for the sake of getting a Badge), and another for "Champion-Level" competition (for rematches, tournaments, ETC).

3) Rather than being Type-based, the Gyms could instead have unifying themes (the 'Oriental Gym', the 'Red Gym', the 'Sand Gym', etc). Though admittedly not as traditional, this would allow for variation in Type and strategy on the part of the Leader, and almost completely preclude the possibility of a single 'Mon sweeping their Gym.

Anyway, these are just some opinions and ideas I had, and I hope they're helpful, somehow. I have more, but first I'd like to know if these could be relevant... so, tell me what you think, people.