11 British Icons that should have been Gym Leaders in Pokemon Sword and Shield
Ever since Game Freak announced its next journey was in Galar, a region based off the UK, people wondered what British influences would be seen in the game. There’s so many directions that could have been explored with the idea of British culture, but why not celebrate all the best the UK has to offer by having British icons known worldwide to represent everything us Brits hold near and dear to our hearts, like Pokemon?
Here are 11 British icons that would have made great gym leaders in Pokemon Sword and Shield.
Gordon Ramsay – Fire
- Heat Rotom
- Exploud
- Charizard
- Darmanitan
- Blaziken
Gordon is naturally a fire type gym leader. This world-renowned chef has fire Pokemon to help him cook in the kitchen, and let’s face it, it probably helps that his hot tempered personality bleeds into his Pokemon team. Let’s hope he treats his Pokemon better than his staff.
David Attenborough – Grass
- Sawsbuck
- Galarian Weezing
- Sunflora
- Tropius
- Torterra
The complete polar opposite to Gordan Ramsay is Sir David Attenborough. His team reflects Attenborough’s work with animals, the planet and nature. He almost comes across more like a Pokemon professor than a gym leader. Grass types suit him so well, and if mother nature had a husband, this would be it.
John Lenon – Psychic
- Psyduck
- Slowpoke
- Gloom
- Oranguru
- Medicham
Lennon’s Pokemon help him to reach a new level of consciousness, whether that’s through meditation with Medicham and Oranguru, psychic power with Psyduck or just straight chillin with Gloom and Slowpoke. Lennon and his Pokemon have a strong bond. One that was curated through the Swinging-Sixties using items not ordinarily found at the local Poke Mart.
Bear Grylls – Rock Type
- Nosepass
- Sudowoodo
- Lycanroc Midday Form
- Stonjourner
- Golem
This outdoorsman is no stranger to hiking and so has what any hiker in the Pokemon games would have. A Golem! Alongside Golem, these other Pokemon accompany him on his wilderness adventures. Good luck finding him in his gym when the great outdoors is his home! Just know when you face him you should be prepared!
Daenerys Stormborn – Dragon
- Dragonite
- Salamence
- Hydreigon
Yes, she’s not a real person, or even from this world, but having a british accent counts, and who else better to represent dragon type Pokemon. Her team consists of dragon and flying type Pokemon which mirror her two dragons Rhaegal and Drogon. As for Viserion, let’s just say Hydreigon best fits what happens to it. SPOILER ALERT!
Simon Cowell – Dark
- Alolan Persian
- Malamar
- Grimmsnarl
- Cacturne
Everyone’s favourite TV villain was always going to be a dark type gym leader. I can almost see him sitting behind his desk stroking his Alolan Persian like Giovanni from the Pokemon games. Simon’s dark type team aren’t affected by his judgement as they are just as sassy, with a stand-out being the cactus Pokemon, Cacturne. You can imagine why Simon has one of these…
Princess Diana – Fairy
- Galarian Rapidash
- Florges
- Gardevoir
- Diancie
Yes that is a mythical Pokemon on her team. Mythical Pokemon are normally out but this was just such a perfect fit. The Queen would have also been an easy choice but Diana having a Diancie just makes too much sense. The Fairy type also best suits her princess qualities and makes her team regal and fit for a princess!
Adele – Normal
- Chatot
- Jigglypuff
- Clefable
- Blissey
Hello? It’s her! She may be a normal type gym leader but Adele caught her Pokemon team to match her incredible singing voice. With the power of Sing, she’ll be sure to send all her opponents to sleep and set fire to your Pokemon. You’ll have to travel far to get to her Hometown to face off at her gym, but when it’s time to leave, never mind, I’m sure she’ll find Someone Like You.
David Beckham – Fighting
- Falinks
- Hitmonlee
- Hariyama
- Cinderace
With Pokemon Sword & Shield being so football crazy, it would be wrong not include the world’s most famous football star. Falinks helps promote a good team attitude while the feet Pokemon itself, Hitmonlee was almost made for the sport but not more than Cinderace, and finally Hariyama stays in goal, lets just hope there exists a set of gloves big enough for him.
Sting – Poison
- Koffing
- Golbat
- Nidoking
- Toxtricity
Don’t ask me why, but Pokemon have long associated the poison type with the punk/rock aesthetic. Take example Roxie from Pokemon Black and White. She was a poison type gym leader and leaned into the aesthetic that poison signified rock music and had a punk-ish look to match. In this case, Sting has a team reflecting that, you could almost call him poison sting!
Stephen Hawking – Steel
- Minior
- Klinklang
- Magnezone
- Metagross
- Probopass
The power of science is AMAZING! Which is why Hawking uses these levitating hunks of metal. In the Pokemon universe, I’m sure we can all picture him in a floating wheelchair in the same vein as Professor Charles Xavier from X-Men. Honourable mentions goes out to him having a Dialga for reference to his work on space and time, but alas a mere gym leader can’t have such an overpowered beast, so Minior will have to do. Let’s just say he has a Dialga for when shit really hits the fan!
Having to choose from all of the UK’s current biggest icons is definitely a challenge in itself and choosing a Pokemon team to match was definitely hard and I’m still sure I missed a few good ones out, so be sure to leave them in the comments. This was an idea I’m confident would never show up in Pokemon, so speculate to the max, people! However, don’t get your hopes up too much.
As a Pokemon fan I can say with the utmost confidence that this will NEVER happen! But hey, when has that stopped us from imagining our favourite celebs as trainers, or even the Pokemon themselves?
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