Leon Pokemon Guide: The Charismatic Champion of Galar

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Jesus Cruz, Lifelong Pokémon Fan

It all started in 2010 when Jesus was 10 years old. His dad gifted him a Nintendo DS and let him choose a game for it. A weird, enormous, and grey serpent caught my attention on the box art for Pokémon Platinum, and since that moment he's been hooked! He can only thank his 10 years old self for choosing the game that he loves the most in the series

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Leon is the Galar region Champion of the Pokémon League, and he was introduced in Gen 8. Leon has always been referred to as “The Unbeatable Champion” because he, with his Charizard, had never lost a Pokemon battle until the player’s Pokemon journey in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield takes place, of course.

Galar Champion Leon has always been motivated to make Galar’s trainers the strongest ones in the Pokémon world, and that’s why he gets to be the chairman of the Pokémon League and created the Battle Tower (from the Rose Tower that Chairman Rose founded) after the Sword and Shield happenings.

He likes to inspire other kids that took, like him, the adventure of the Gym Challenge. Leon took on gym leader challenges when he was only 10 years old, with his Charizard. From that moment, he never lost a battle and won the Gym Challenge on his first attempt.

He’s a merciless trainer and one fans should really get to know, so with that in mind, here is our Leon Pokemon Guide.

Leon Summary of Appearances in Pokémon Versions and Media (Games, Anime, Movies)

Leon is an important character in the games (unlike some other champions) because he helps the player throughout the main story. In fact, The first-ever battle we can see is Leon vs. Raihan. Leon gives the player his starter and also teaches the player how to catch a wild Pokémon.

After the player defeats Hop (Who is Leon’s little brother), Leon endorses a card to authorize both player and Hop to participate in the Gym Challenge. From this moment, the player now has the motivation to defeat Leon.

In the end, The Galar Champion helps the player stop Eternatus, which was released by Chairman Rose to solve the energy crisis.

In the anime, Leon appears in two different series: Pokémon Journeys: The Series and Pokémon: Twilight Wings.

In Pokémon Journeys (which is part of the Ash timeline), Leon debuted in the episode Flash of the Titans! where he has a battle against Lance, the Johto champion, in the finals of the World Coronation Series. Leon’s Charizard defeated Lance’s Gyarados and won the tournament.

Leon meets Ash in The Climb to be the Very Best!. In this episode, Ash’s Pikachu was battling against a Gigantamax Drednaw when Ash made Pikachu Gigantamax without a Dynamax Band. Ash’s battle impressed Leon so much that he decided to meet Ash and Goh (Ash’s friend through the Galar adventure). Ash asked Leon for a match while Leon taught Ash how to use Gigantamax properly. Leon defeated Ash in this battle, but he promised Ash: They will battle when Ash gets strong enough.

Later, Ash helped Leon stop some rampaging Pokémon that were randomly dynamaxing and attacking the gyms in Sword and Shield: Slumbering Weald! and Sword and Shield: The Darkest Day! The Legends Awaken! Lastly, Leon helped Ash and Goh to defeat and capture Eternatus in Sword and Shield…

In this series, we only see two of Leon’s Pokémon: Charizard and Dragapult.

Leon’s Participation in Pokémon: Twilight Wings was surrounded by mysteries since he doesn’t participate much there. His debut was in Letter when his Charizard fought Bea’s Machamp. Leon and his partner won this match.

After some short cameos, he appeared again in Sky when he lost himself when he was going to a match. John saw him when he was in a Flying Taxi; he took the Champion and left him in the stadium. Leon invited John to see the match.

Lastly, he appeared in The Gathering of Stars when he was going to the Isle of Armor to meet and battle against Leon’s Master, Mustard, and later invited him to the Galarian Star Tournament, which he organized.

In this miniseries, we can see that he has Charizard, Aegislash, and Dragapult in his party.

In the manga,  The Galar Champion appeared in Pokémon Adventures and in Pokémon Journeys: The Series.

Leon’s debut in Pokémon Adventures was in PASS02 when he was trying to move a flock of Wooloo that were on the train tracks. Sodo and Shirudomiria helped Leon do so by battling an Obstagoon messing around with the Wooloos. Leon later endorsed the two kids to participate in the Gym Challenge.

In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, he did the same things in the anime: He won the World Coronation Series against Lance, then won a battle against Ash, and then helped him and Goh prevent the Darkest Day by battling and capturing Eternatus.

In the TCG, Leon has a support card in Vivid Voltage. This card has three versions, a Rare Holo, a Rare Ultra, and a Secret Rare.

Leon Movesets

You can fight Leon several times. The first time you can battle against him is for the Championship title. His team can vary depending on which starter you choose. This is his team:

If you choose Grookey:

If you choose Scorbunny:

If you choose Sobble:

After this, you can find him in the Battle Tower. He will appear in all tiers, with different teams. Two of his three Pokémon will be random while he will always use Charizard, which will Gigantamax.

Battle Tower Standard Team:

Galarian Star Tournament

Leon Strengths

Leon, as a good Champion, has a great and balanced team. He isn’t the menace that he seems since games have been getting easier and easier with time. But that doesn’t mean Leon will have a tedious battle with you.

Charizard is pretty classical with moves like Solar Beam to counter its main weaknesses: the Water and Rock-types, Fire Blast to do a good chunk of damage, Thunderbolt and Ancient Power to have an argument when it can’t use its Fire-type attack.

Dragapult and Haxorus are pretty much the same; a strong Dragon-type attack to use STAB properly, and some attacks to protect themselves from their weaknesses, like Earthquake in Haxorus or Shadow Ball in Dragapult.

Aegislash would be a hard one if it had moves like Swords Dance, a thing that doesn’t happen, so you don’t have to worry about it. Sadly, Aegislash isn’t a well-built Pokémon for Leon (At least in his first Championship match) since it focuses on being aggressive without covering types to try to be in the field for the most time.

Seismitoad is a strong Pokémon to have in a team, mostly because it’s good dual types and has some good attacks. Don’t let your Pokémon get hit by an Earthquake. Mr. Rime is an outstanding Special Attacker, but it is pretty slow, and Rhyperior is a big menace with its Megahorn.

Lastly, the starters are pretty standard; from those three, the only one which can be a problem is Inteleon and its Mud Shot.

Leon Weaknesses

The big problem with the newest Champions is that their teams have move sets that can work for their Pokémon but don’t protect themselves against your Pokémon. That, combined with the ridiculous amount of Experience Points you can gain with no effort.

Charizard has Solar Beam, but it can’t combine it with Sunny Day, so it has a dead turn where you can hit it. Its Gigantamax Form isn’t the best thing ever; having your Pokémon with higher levels than Charizard can make this match an easy thing to do.

Dragapult and Haxorus can counter their weaknesses too, but they are really slow. You only need an Ice-type attacker with decent Speed, and you’ll be done with these two. Aegislash can’t counter its Fire-type main weakness; attack it with your best Fire-type shot because it won’t resist more than three attacks like that.

Seismitoad doesn’t have a good thing to do damage to its main weakness: The Grass-type. It is good to poison your Pokémon, but something like Poison Jab would be better. Attack it with some Grass-type attacks, and you’ll be done.

Mr. Rime is really slow, attack it with a Fire-type attack, and probably you won’t get hit by it. Rhyperior will fall with a good Surf or any other Water-type attack; it has the same problem as Mr. Rime.

Lastly, the starters can outplay your own starter, but you only need to have your Pokémon some levels higher than Leon’s ones, and that’s all. Inteleon has a Ground-type attack to counter its Electric-type attack. Rillaboom can counter its Fire-type weakness, and Cinderace has absolutely nothing to do against a Water-type attacker.

Conclusion

Leon isn’t the best champion ever in terms of a team or iconic battles. Still, its character is an excellent example of what a Pokémon champion should be: a person with loads of motivation, trying to enhance every single trainer he sees in his path while giving a helping hand to everyone that needs it.

Leon Battle In a Video

Here we can see the battle against Leon. You can take some guidance from here. Remember that his first Pokémon is Aegislash so you can start with a Fire-type Pokémon.

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