Gym Leader's Backgrounds

[Froiky]

Random question that I just had. How did the gym leaders get where they are. We get tidbits here and there. In the manga we see Blue, a skillful trainer, take an exam to become Viridian gym leader. But then there's Claire, who as far as I can see, got the position mostly because she was the second most powerful trainer in her town. So how do they get to be gym leaders? Speculate. Imagine. I want to hear what people think.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Froiky

[BlackMage]

Blaine - Made his Magmar spit magma on the league managers until they gave him a postion.

[Monochrome_Complex]

Clair and Lance are cousins or something and directly related to the dragon master. A lot of times family does seem to influence whether or not you get in the league, as Falkner mentioned his dad numerous times and Janine inherited the position from koga's promotion. I think beating the league qualifies you to applky as gym leader but it's not a necessity and also seems to be up to the trainer whether they want to or not.

[Peepeepoopoo]

Misty gave the League admins a show to become a gym leader if you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Jayrachi]

Brock was one of the few truly serious trainers in the area around Pewter City, and was well-respected and even admired among the people.

Misty trained at the Seafoam Islands until she became the only local trainer capable of defeating the trainers at Cerulean's cape.

Lt. Surge served in at least one war as an American soldier, was a commanding officer in the army, and was even a pilot that powered his planes with Electric-type Pokémon. He had saved the life of one of the trainers in his Gym.

Erika is generally quiet, but well-known in Celadon City. She is also a teacher of flower-arranging. She dozes off quite a bit, implying that perhaps she is narcoleptic.

Koga studied poisons and medicines, apparently making his own potions to heal his Pokémon. He taught Ninjutsu in his Gym, and his daughter, Janine, was also a student of his. He would also often patrol the Safari Zone's grounds to assure that those on tour were not attacked by wild Pokémon. He enjoys the despair and horror that Poison-type Pokémon can inflict.

Janine, Koga's daughter, studied Ninjutsu with her father in his Gym. Originally, her goal in life was to train and use Poison-type Pokémon like her father, and afterwards her goals change to become better than her father and the protagonist of the second generation of games.

Sabrina, ever since she was a child, had psychic powers. She discovered them when she allegedly bent a spoon with her mind. She is said to be so difficult to defeat because she has a telepathic connection to her Pokémon, despite the fact that she herself dislikes battling. She stripped Saffron's former Fighting-type Gym of its Gym status when she used her type advantage to destroy its leader in a battle, and founded a Psychic-type Gym in its stead. She also apparently has the ability to see into the future, though she admits this ability is somewhat limited.

Blaine had lived on Cinnabar Island since before the Pokémon Lab was built. Once, while he was out travelling in a frigid mountain range, he found himself lost. A Moltres guided him to safety, and since then he had decided to become a Fire-type Pokémon trainer. He only takes his sunglasses off when thinking of new quiz questions for his Gym.

Giovanni was obviously the head of Team Rocket, and then it turned out he was the Gym Leader for Viridian City. After he was defeated, he disbanded Team Rocket. It turned out he had a son as well, whom is Silver in the second generation games.

Blue you obviously know plenty about.

Those are the canon backstories of the Kanto Gym Leaders. I could do the rest if you'd like. From this list it seems that for the most part, a Gym Leader is selected by the city or town they live in, based on how respected or well-known they are.