An easy-to-read & no-nonsense guide
While you're playing Pokemon Shield, it's always a good idea to know which Gym Leader is up next and the partner Pokemon at their side.
That way, you can properly plan your battle strategy!
The guide below will give you a quick overview of what types of Pokémon each Gym Leader has, as well as their levels and the best types of Pokémon to use when facing them.
There are also links to more in-depth guides about type weaknesses, resistances & battle strategies to handily defeat your mono-type opponents. Good luck, trainer!
1. Turffield Gym [GRASS TYPES]
Leader: Milo
Pokemon:
Lvl 19 Gossifleur (grass-type)
Lvl 20 Eldegoss (grass-type)
Weaknesses:
Fire
Flying
Bug
Poison
Ice
If you chose Scorbunny as your starter, you're in luck! Your fire-type moves will make quick work of Milo and his crew. If you chose Grookey or Sobble, you'll want to bring some other friends to the party. A Rookidee or Butterfree, perhaps?
2. Hulbury Gym [WATER TYPES]
Leader: Nessa
Pokemon:
Lvl 22 Goldeen (water-type)
Lvl 23 Arrokuda (water-type)
Lvl 24 Drednaw (water / rock-type)
Weaknesses:
Electric
Grass
Nessa's water-type Pokemon won't give Grookey any trouble — especially Drednaw which as a 4x grass type weakness. Other early-game Pokemon who will be of use in this gym battle are Yamper and Bounsweet.
3. Motostoke Gym [FIRE TYPES]
Leader: Kabu
Pokemon:
Lvl 25 Ninetails (fire-type)
Lvl 25 Arcanine (fire-type)
Lvl 27 Centiskorch (fire / bug-type)
Weaknesses:
Ground
Rock
Water
Kabul has some Powerhouse Pokemon at his disposal, for sure! If you chose Sobble as your partner, your water moves will be super useful. But, watch out for Arcanine — it can sponge attacks and "fire" back! Get it?!
Other good Pokemon to take to this battle are Dreadnaw — whose rock type moves will take advantage of Centiskorch's 4x rock-type weakness — Gyarados, Wooper, and Diglett.
4. Stow-On-Side Gym [GHOST TYPES]
Leader: Allister
Pokemon:
Lvl 34 Yamask (ground / ghost-type)
Lvl 34 Mimikyu (ghost / fairy-type)
Lvl 35 Cursola (ghost-type)
Lvl 35 Gengar (ghost / poison-type)
Weaknesses:
Dark
Ghost
Keep in mind that if you use a ghost type Pokémon, their moves will also be super effective against you. Also, ghost attacks have no effect against normal, but normal attacks have no effect against ghost, so if you have a normal type Pokémon with dark type move, it might come in handy for this gym.
5. Ballonlea Gym [FAIRY TYPES] Leader: Opal
Pokemon:
Lvl 36 Weezing (poison / fairy-type)
Lvl 37 Togekiss (fairy / flying-type)
Lvl 36 Mawile (fairy / steel-type)
Lvl 38 Alcremie (fairy-type)
Weaknesses:
Poison
Steel
Mawile’s dual steel typing makes its fairy-type weaknesses null and void. So just blast it with a fire or ground type move to make quick work of it. Poison attacks won’t be very effective on Weezing, either.
6. Circhester Gym [ICE TYPES] Leader: Melony
Pokemon:
Lvl 40 Frosmoth (bug / ice-type)
Lvl 40 Darmanitan (ice-type)
Lvl 41 Eiscue (ice-type)
Lvl 42 Lapras (water / ice-type)
Weaknesses:
Fighting
Fire
Rock
Steel
A fire-type Pokémon should be able to take care of most of Melony’s team with ease, but watch out for Lapras as it is a dual water type! A fighting or electric type Pokémon is recommended to deal with Lapras.
7. Spikemuth Gym [DARK TYPES] Leader: Piers
Pokemon:
Lvl 44 Scrafty (dark / fighting-type)
Lvl 45 Malamar (dark / psychic-type)
Lvl 45 Skuntank (dark / poison-type)
Lvl 46 Obstagoon (dark / normal-type)
Weaknesses:
Bug
Fairy
Fighting
All of Piers’s Pokémon are dual types, so you’ll need to have more than one type to defeat him easily. A fairy-type will be able to knock out the Malamar and Obstagoon with ease, but might have a tougher time with Skuntank.
8. Hammerlocke Gym [DRAGON TYPES] Leader: Raihan
Pokemon:
Level 47 Flygon (ground / dragon-type)
Level 46 Gigalith (rock-type)
Level 46 Sandaconda (ground-type)
Level 48 Duraludon (dragon / steel-type)
Weaknesses:
Dragon
Fairy
Ice
You will want a water or grass-type Pokémon to take care of his Gigalith and Sandaconda. This is a double battle and Raihan will use sandstorm which will damage any type of Pokémon that is not ground, rock, or steel type every turn.