Trainers and gyms
Teams, the battle designer, test battles, line of sight, prize money and badges.
Add a person in the People layer and set Role to Trainer (battles). Trainer settings appear under it.
Team and the battle designer
A trainer has one to six Pokémon, sent out in order, so put the strongest last. The side panel shows the team; press Design the battle to open the battle designer and plan everything about it.
Each Pokémon
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Species | Type its name or browse. |
| Level | 1 to 100. |
| Nickname | Shown in battle ("Foe Nosey"). Its species name when empty. |
| Shiny | Shiny colors. |
| Moves | Up to four of the moves it learns by leveling up, at any level. Automatic uses the last four learned by its level. |
| Ability | One of its species' abilities, or Random. |
| Nature | One of the 25 natures, or Random. |
| Item | A held item, like an Oran Berry or Leftovers. See Held items. |
Choosing one move switches that Pokémon to chosen moves, starting from its automatic ones. Back to automatic moves undoes it.
Mid-battle lines
Like in later games, a trainer can slide in mid-battle and say something, once per battle:
- Sending out their last Pokémon: "You've pushed me this far…"
- Their last Pokémon is low on HP (a quarter or less): "Hang in there!"
Leave them empty to stay quiet. An empty line in the text starts a new page.
Battle rules
| Rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| Trainer | Easy, Normal or Hard, instead of the town's difficulty. See Trainer difficulty. |
| Weather | Clear, rain, sandstorm or snow, instead of the map's weather. |
| Scene | One of the Emerald battle scenes, instead of the map's background. |
| Bag | No items: the player can't use the bag in this battle. |
| Style | Single battle, or Double battle: two Pokémon on each side, like Tate and Liza's gym. See Double battles. |
A Hard trainer with Rain and Swift Swim Pokémon, or a mountain gym with Sandstorm and no items, makes a memorable fight.
Test battle
Test battle fights the trainer right away, without leaving the editor:
- With your party in Play: a healed copy of your trainer's party.
- With a test team: any Pokémon and levels you pick (it's remembered in this browser). By default, the three Hoenn starters at the trainer's top level.
Nothing is saved: your party, items, money and progress stay as they are. The designer opens again afterwards, so you can adjust and test again.
Line of sight
Trainers see 4 tiles straight ahead in the direction they face. When the player steps into that line, the trainer shows a !, walks up, says their dialogue and starts the battle. Walls and anything on the Collision layer block their view.
- Face trainers across a path so the player can't avoid them, or to the side so they can.
- A trainer who walks around changes direction, so their line of sight moves too.
- Players can also start the battle by talking to the trainer.
Settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dialogue | Said before the battle. |
| When defeated | Said when they lose, and every time the player talks to them afterwards. |
| Gym leader | Awards a badge when they lose. |
| Badge name | The badge's name. Without one, it's named after the map. |
Name your badges
When the Gym Leader stands inside an interior called Gym, the default badge name is Gym Badge. Set Badge name to something like Mist Badge.
Winning and losing
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Beat a trainer | The player gets 2 Poké Balls. The trainer won't battle them again in this city, unless the player uses the VS Seeker. |
| Beat a Gym Leader | The player gets the badge and 5 Poké Balls. Badges appear on the trainer card. |
| Lose | The party is healed and the player goes back to the spawn point of the map. |
Players can't run from trainer battles, and can't throw Poké Balls at a trainer's Pokémon.
If the player has no Pokémon able to fight, trainers tell them to go heal first instead of battling.
Trainers in the story
A trainer's Story settings work like everyone else's, with one difference: Beating them completes a step, instead of talking.
- Needs first: the trainer doesn't spot the player and won't battle until the step is done. Use it for Gym Leaders who wait for the player to be ready.
- Shows up: for rivals who arrive later.
- Reward: given right after the battle, on top of Poké Balls and the badge.
A gym
The quickest way to make a gym is a door that leads to + New gym. It creates a room with a brick floor and a Gym Leader with a Geodude and a Nosepass. Then:
- Change the leader's team, levels and badge name.
- Add one or two gym trainers on the way to the leader, facing the path.
- Optionally, set the leader's Beating them completes to a step that opens the next area.
See Design a good game for level suggestions.