For details on our Rules, please click here.
The Pokemon Gym Leader Squad is a group of Pokemon fans who cosplay as Pokemon Gym leaders, Elite 4 and other strong trainers (from any of the main games) and go around anime and game conventions accepting battles from Pokemon trainers. A gym leader uses Pokemon of the type that he or she specializes in, and if defeated, gives the challenger his or her badge (in the form of buttons/pins).
The tools of our trade are Pokemon Black, White, Black 2 and White 2. Sorry, we do not support Gen IV or prior.
We’re based in Southwestern Ontario, and have gone to conventions around the area. Here’s a list of past cons we’ve been to:
- Anime North 2011
- ConBravo! 2011
- Con-G 2012
- ConBravo! 2012
History
It all started when a small group of people in CTRL-A (The Club That Really Likes Anime) wanted to do a group cosplay. They picked Pokemon Gym Leaders because there’s a lot to choose from. Then the idea spread into building the gym leaders’ teams in the game, bring DSes to conventions, battle challengers, and give out badges.
The idea was put into action at Anime North 2011. There were 6 gym leaders around the con, and we got quite a lot of challengers. It was a lot of fun, and some of the challengers liked the idea, and decided to join the squad as gym leaders.
At Con Bravo 2011, the Gym Leader Squad was officially part of the con. There were 9 gym leaders taking challengers.
At Con-G 2012, again, the squad was officially part of the con. In addition to the gym leader challenges, trainers who got high number of badges were entered into a tournament at the end of the con. This tradition continued at ConBravo 2012, our first repeat event.
Presently, we are looking to expand to other conventions in the Southern Ontario area. If you are interested in having us at your event, please contact us.