The first gym we’ll be discussing is the Striaton City gym. I rather enjoyed this setup; it’s much different than any other gym that we’ve seen before in previous Pokemon games. This particular gym has three leaders: Chili, Cress and Cilan. The starter you initially choose decides who you will be facing. If you choose the grass type Snivy, you’ll contend with Chili, who uses the opposing type Pansear. If you chose the water type Oshawott, Cilan will battle you. He fights using the grass type Pansage. Finally, if you decide on the fire type Tepig, you’ll be challenged by Cress, who uses the water type Panpour. You’ll also be receiving the gym leaders opposite type from an NPC to balance out the fight. In addition to that, each monkey will be at level 14.

Now, while the concept of this gym is interesting, there are its ups and downs to it. The good part is that it’s unique. Gamefreak has never built a gym like this before, and it’d be interesting to see what they decide to do with future gyms (assuming they continue making games. I’ve always wanted a double battle gym. Now with the release of triple battles, it should prove more interesting).

Now it’s time for the not-so-good. While the monkey trios are an intriguing fight, they’re not exactly tough. Their stats are mediocre in, well, everything. At this low level they only know a couple of weak moves, so overall their threat level is close to nothing unless you’re supremely under leveled. However, what you need to watch out for is the gym leader’s first pokemon, Lillipup. This cute ‘lil terrier is only level 12, two levels shy of the gym leader’s main Pokemon, but I’ve personally found Lillipup to be much more threatening. Lillipup not only has higher attack power than the higher leveled monkey, but he will also constantly use Work Up, which is the gym’s signature move. This will increase the attack and special attack of the user by one level. If Lillipup gets one or two of these off, you better watch out. Combined with the STAB tackle will prove to cause some damage if you’re not careful. Lillipup has scared me with a constant use of Work Ups while one of my weaker Pokemon were out. I was afraid to switch because a tackle could KO my main, but my main would be much more efficient at taking him out.

According to the game guide, the recommended level for this fight is 17. That to me is far too much. You only have access to a few areas at this point, so leveling that high would prove to be a very long task. I’d say you’d be safe around levels 11-15 in order to obtain this badge. Just remember that the main opponent to focus on is Lilliup, not the monkey!