Gym Leaders are the classic challenge in Pokémon games, and that hasn’t changed with scarlet and violet. There are additional activities that award badges (hunting Titan Pokémon and defeating Team Star), but you won’t be taking on the Elite Four and the Champion without first defeating all eight of Paldea’s Gym Leaders.

Thanks to the open-world nature of this latest game, it can be hard to know which gym to challenge first, as there’s no clear indication of which leaders are stronger than others. We’ll cover the best order to tackle each Gym in this guide.

The Best Gym Order in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

You start your Pokémon adventure in Scarlet Y Violet in the southern regions of Paldea. However, until you defeat the Open Sky Titan in the western part of the map and unlock the ability to swim, you won’t be able to take on any gym leaders north of the river that separates the two halves of the continent. As such, you only have access to two gyms early on, but once you can swim, the world is your oyster.

We’ve listed the best Gym order based on each leader’s ace level, the Pokemon they will terastalize, but we’ll also list the level of their other team members.

First Leader: Katy from Cortondo Gym

Katy is a bug type specialist. and can challenge any Trainer who takes it unprepared. Her ace is a level 15 Teddiursa with Bug as Tera Type and Fury Cutter, a move that rapidly increases in power as it is used.

Its other two Pokemon, Nymble and Tarountula, are level 14, and while they don’t have as much raw power, they can be a problem for low-level teams.

Second Leader: Brassius from Arazon Gym

Brassius has to do with Grass Pokémon, but his ace, a level 17 Sudowoodo, has the Grass Type Tera, completely negating the weaknesses that come with Rock. He still has Rock Throw if you try to counter it with a Flying or Fire-type, and the move Grass Trailblaze for additional coverage.

His other two Pokemon are level 16 Petilil and Smolive, which Flying and Fire should finish off quickly, but if you’re not careful, they can also put you in a tight spot.

Third Leader: Iono from Levincia Gym

The battle against Iono can be something of a shock to the system, as it brings four Pokémon into the fight, two of them in their final evolutionary forms. Your ace is a level 24 Electric Tera Type Mismagius who is immune to ground attacks thanks to his Levitate ability.

Also loses its weakness to Ghost moves when Terrastallized, which means that no move on all Pokemon can deal super effective damage. The rest of his team are all level 23 and consist of Electric/Flying Wattrel and Electric Bellibolt and Luxio.

Fourth Leader: Kofu of the Cascarrafa Gym

Kofu is something of a break from the tough Gym challenges, as his ace is a Level 30 Tera Water Type Crabominable and does not have the medium weakness negation like previous Gym sets.

Its ace also has no direct Grass- or Electric-type counters that will bring it to its knees, so the main hurdle it needs to overcome is the level difference. His other Pokémon are level 29: Water/Psychic Veluza and Pure Water Wugtrio. If he picked Sprigatito as his starter or has another good Grass or Electric type on his team, he should have no problem breaking down Kufo.

Fifth Leader: Larry from Medali Gym

Don’t let Larry’s modest appearance fool you. His team can seriously hurt if you let them. His ace, in particular, a level 36 Staraptor, it can take out all the pokemon you have if you give it the chance. Worse yet, you don’t want to apply any status effects to him, as his facade move doubles his power while he’s poisoned, burned, or paralyzed, so bring in a fighting type like Lucario, Pawmo, or Annihilape as a counter.

Don’t underestimate Larry’s level 35 Komala or Dundunsparse, as their attack stats can knock out even the toughest Pokemon.

Sixth Leader: Ryme from Montenevera Gym

Ryme is all about ghost types, which are only weak to other ghost or dark attacks. Its ace, a level 42 Ghost Tera Type Toxtricity, doesn’t have much to counter a Dark-type Pokémon, but its access to the Hex attack puts other Ghosts on notice.

His Discharge attacks also give him additional cover. While fighting Ryme in a double battle, you’ll always be up against one of his other level 41 Pokemon, which include pure Ghost Banette and Houndstone and Ghost/Fairy Mimikyu. Watch out for Houndstone’s Play Rough, a Fairy-type attack that can be a real problem for any Dark-type you’ve brought into battle.

Leader Seven: Tulip from Alfronada Gym

Specialized in psychic pokemon, Tulip can be a serious hindrance if you have nothing to counter that historically extra strong type. His ace, a level 45 Psychic Tera-type Florges, uses the Psychic attack and Moonblast, a 95 Power Fairy-type move perfect for countering any Dark-types you bring into the fight.

Its third move, Petal Blast, covers a lot of additional ground. The rest of his team, Farigiraf, Gardevoir, and level 44 Espathra, are easier to deal with, but they all have something to deal with Psychic’s weakness. Farigiraf is part Normal, negating Ghost, Gardevoir has Dazzling Gleam for Darkness, and Espathra also has Shadow Ball for Ghost.

Eighth Leader: Grusha of the Frosting Mountain Gym

types of ice historically they’re not the most powerful in Pokémon, but Scarlet and Violet added several bullies to the mix. Grusha takes full advantage of the Tera Typing and the best that the Ice type has to offer.

Its ace, a level 48 Ice Tera Type Altaria, which sells its Rock weakness and gains a Fire vulnerability, has no direct counter to its Fire weakness, is still a force to be reckoned with. Don’t discount the rest of their team, as level 47 Frostoth, Beartic, and Cetitan can all deal damage against any Pokemon unlucky enough to be even a few levels below them.

Hopefully, that list of Gym Leaders gives you a solid foundation to start building a team to take them down. You are, of course, welcome to challenge the Gyms in any order you wish, and there is something to be said for exploring your path to domination. That’s part of enjoying an open-world RPG, after all.

However, if your goal is to make your way Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as efficiently as possible, the gym order featured here is a great way to do that. For more on the latest Pokemon title, check out our guides to the titan best order Y how to get amulet coin. Our guide center has more content to enjoy, and we will be adding a lot to it in the days to come.