A new role
The Champion becomes the Gym Leader.
Your career begins after the Elite Four. Norman steps down and hands you Petalburg Gym, putting you on the other side of the challenge.
Choose the type your Gym will represent. That decision shapes your team and affects the difficulty of the battles ahead.
Every result counts
Build a career, one season at a time.
Each season brings 24 challengers, with a mix of generated and authored teams. You compete for your place in the Gym rankings rather than collecting a new set of badges.
A strong season helps you climb. A poor one can end in relegation, so the aim is to prepare for a run of matches, not just one dramatic win.
Prepare for the next match
Your whole team matters.
Choose a team for the challenger in front of you. The selection screen tells you how many Pokemon that match requires.
Fainting can lead to an injury, and an injured Pokemon misses the next match day. Keeping alternatives ready gives you more options when your usual team needs a break.
Beyond the battle
Make every investment count.
The challenger desk is your starting point for running the Gym. Hire staff, add facilities, scout challengers and pay for training as you develop your operation.
Money is limited. Experience comes from match days, paid training and a limited set of encounters per match day, so preparation matters more than unlimited grinding.
A change of scenery
Step outside the Gym.
Book expeditions to visit locations beyond Petalburg. These trips add a change of pace to the management and match-day routine.
The game focuses on a Gym career. It is not a retelling of the usual Emerald journey from town to town collecting badges.
Another way to run the Gym
Options for your next career.
Recent releases add more ways to play. Check each mode’s in-game explanation when setting up your run.
Gymlocke
An additional difficulty option introduced in v1.5.0. Read the in-game explanation before choosing your rules.
Double Battles
A Double Battle mode joined the game in v1.6.0, offering another way to approach your Gym career.
New Game+
Added in v1.8.2 for another run. Follow the in-game instructions for its available options.
Mega Evolution
A new-game mode added in v1.9.0 that affects generated and authored challengers. v1.9.1 adds a first-use hint.
Mode details can change between releases. See the recent update history.
Gameplay screenshots may show menus from earlier versions. Browse more screenshots.