Pokémon Sword & Shield are the first games in the series to include a Dark-type Gym, even though Dark-type Pokémon were introduced twenty years ago. Pokémon Gold & Silver first added Dark-type Pokémon back in ‘99 alongside the new Steel-type Pokémon as a means of balancing out the battle system.
In Pokémon Red & Blue, the Psychic-types dominated the game due to the fact that their only weakness was Bug-type Pokémon during an era when the bugs were incredibly weak. Pokémon Gold & Silver added Dark-type Pokémon specifically to deal with Psychic-type Pokémon. Game Freak reworked the battle system in Pokémon Gold & Silver by making Psychic-type Pokémon take extra damage from Bug, Ghost, and Dark-type moves, as well as dealing less damage to Steel-type Pokémon and no damage to Dark-type Pokémon. Game Freak didn’t include Dark-type Gyms in the Pokémon series for two decades, even though there was a Fairy-type Gym in 2013’s Pokémon X & Y, which was the same year that type was introduced.
The fans used to wonder why there was never a Dark-type Gym in the Pokémon series. The wait is finally over, as the Galar region in Pokémon Sword & Shield hosts the first-ever Dark-type Gym in Spikemuth. The Dark-type Gym Leader is a heavy metal singer named Piers, who is based on the British rock star stereotype. Piers’ Gym doesn’t have the facilities to host a battle between Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon, so the fight against his team is similar to that of the older Pokémon games.
There is speculation that a Dark-type Gym was planned for Pokémon Gold & Silver, but it was scrapped when the game was delayed and overhauled. The leaked demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver has a different line-up of Gym Leaders and one of them was named Okera, which is similar to the name of a yokai (demon) from Japanese mythology. It’s possible that Okera was going to be a Dark-type Gym Leader, but he was scrapped when Karen (a Dark-type user) was added to the Elite Four.
The Gym challenge was briefly absent from the Pokémon series during the Pokémon Sun & Moon era, as the Alola region used a different system called the Island Challenge. The fans were clamoring for a return of the Pokémon Gyms and Game Freak has finally delivered the last of the unused types to host its own Gym. There have been many powerful Dark-type members of the Elite Four in the past, but the Galar region finally added a Dark-type Gym for the low-level goths and rockers of the Pokémon world to hang out in at night.
Next: Pokémon Sword & Shield Review Roundup: Another Great Adventure
Pokémon Sword & Shield are available now for the Nintendo Switch.
