All Fire-type Gym Leaders in the Pokemon games, ranked

The Pokemon franchise has seen its fair share of boss characters, much like every other RPG in the industry. However, the Gym Leaders in the world of the highest grossing media franchise on the planet stand out among the rest. Rather than being a big monster determined to block your path, these characters test the player's skill in battles using a variety of different elements and strategies.

The Fire-type Gym Leaders are a rare few since the type mostly falls to Elite Four members or other special testing trainers like Flint of Sinnoh's Elite Four or Crispin of the Blueberry Academy's BB League. This makes the few Fire-type Gym Leaders we meet all the more special. This article ranks them in terms of difficulty.

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Every Fire-type Gym Leader in the Pokemon franchise from weakest to strongest

4) Chili

Chili is one of the three initial Gym Leaders in Pokemon Black and White (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Chili is easily the most forgettable Fire-type leader on this list. The first Gym Leader if the player chose Snivy as their starter, Chili only has two party members, a Lillipup with Work Up, and his ace, Pansear. Lillipup can be a bit tanky for the stage of the game he is fought at, with there being no catchable Fighting-types.

Pansear would be a serious threat if the player did not have the option of receiving one of the three elemental monkeys for free from a trainer in the area right next to Striaton City. If players choose Snivy, they will receive a Panpour, which has the advantage against Chili's Pansear. Chili may not be the best Fire-type Gym Leader, but he still had some memorable moments in the anime.

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3) Kabu

Kabu is a great Gym Leader that can be quite challenging for unprepared trainers (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Kabu is a Fire-type Gym Leader who focuses on shutting down physical attackers with a combination of Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp. Arcanine's Intimidate lowers the attack stat of the player's active battler whenever Arcanine enters the field. Will-o-Wisp is a move present on the sets of both Arcanine and Ninetales, his lead monster.

Since the Galar region's Elite Four is a tournament with all of the Pokemon Gym Leaders, Kabu makes an appearance here as well. He leads with a Torkoal with the Drought ability. This sets up sunny weather for his team, boosting the damage of Fire-type moves while weakening attacks of the Water element. His team is also much stronger overall, with Salazzle being another new addition to his team.

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2) Blaine

Blaine is the Kanto-region Fire-type Gym Leader (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The hotheaded quiz master himself, Blaine is the original Fire-type Gym Leader who has undergone various different teams and designs even during his time as just a Gym Leader, rather than just an optional boss or rematch. His team utilizes mostly evolved creatures with potent Fire-type attacks like Fire Blast.

Blaine also has some relatively deep lore compared to most other characters in the franchise. He was once a scientist alongside Mr. Fuji, another prominent Kanto character. These two took part in the creation of Mewtwo, whose birth caused a lot of death and destruction as seen in the first movie. With that life behind him, Blaine likes to forget about his past by asking kids trivia questions before they can earn their gym badge.

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1) Flannery

Flannery uses weather in her initial gym battle, making her exponentially harder (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Flannery is a very unique Pokemon Gym Leader since she uses a strategy that makes her fights incredibly difficult for most players. Sun not only boosts the damage of Fire-type moves, making it impossible for Treecko trainers to get their starter in safely, but it also weakens Water damage, greatly limiting the move options of Mudkip.

Flannery also takes a page out of Whitney's book, utilizing Attract to immobilize the player's Pokemon if they are male. Pairing this with strong Fire-type moves like Overheat and Flamethrower easily makes her the best Fire-type Gym Leader. However, there is a chance we could see an even better Fire-type Gym Leader in the tenth generation.