I was just recently offered the position of fairy type gym leader, and I was wondering how to choose the Pokémon I use in battle? I have very strong fairies but they’re probably too strong for gym Battles… what do I do?

It may be worth it to note that this is a fairly common question for new gym leaders. You see, all gym leaders have strong teams that may be too difficult for a trainer to defeat. We wouldn’t give someone gym certification if they weren’t strong, highly skilled trainers, after all!

For this reason, the first step in any gym leader’s career is to catch and raise a variety of pokémon at different skill levels. Gym leaders typically have two or three different teams, which they rotate to match their opponent’s general ability. Take Misty of Cerulean City, for example. Her more well-known team consists of a young staryu and equally young starmie, which she uses to battle novice trainers. This is because on a typical Kantonian journey, she’s the second gym leader in the circuit, so she needs to be prepared to battle trainers who don’t quite have the skills to take on a gym leader operating at full strength. however, occasionally, she faces experienced trainers from Johto or trainers doing the Kanto circuit backwards (starting from Cinnabar or Fuchsia and ending in Viridian), so rather than allow these trainers to blow past her gym, she instead challenges them with the team that helped her earn her certification, which consists of four highly trained, highly experienced water-types. Additionally, she doesn’t simply keep those; rather, she collects water-types who may one day replace her staryu or starmie if they grow too powerful. (Or, rather, she collects less powerful water-types whenever she isn’t busy loitering on my property uninvited, but that’s neither here nor there.)

The point is, anonymous, don’t feel restricted to your team. By all means, catch another set and train them until they pose an appropriate level of challenge for the trainers you will see on a daily basis. You should have time to do so before your gym is ready to be opened (assuming you’re taking the customary grace period given to new leaders for this exact purpose and for preparing their gyms), and there’s nothing in the rules that say you can’t work with a breeder if you’re worried about time.

Best of luck, anonymous, and congratulations on your new position!