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Why are there no Dark type Pokémon Gym Leaders?

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked on February 14, 2021

In the Pokémon franchise, Gym Leaders have teams of Pokémon that specialize in one type, such as Brock specializing in Rock type Pokémon and Misty specializing in Water type Pokémon. However, a list of Gym Leaders shows that there has never been a Dark type Gym Leader in any game, whereas every other type has appeared (and all but the new Fairy type have appeared more than once).

So why are there no Dark type Gym Leaders?

3 Answers

I doubt there has been any official confirmation, but I do see several possibile contributing factors.

Dark types are used by the nefarious Teams

Consider:

  • Generation I: In this generation, there are no Dark-type Pokémon. The antagonist Team is Team Rocket. Their members often possess Poison-type Pokémon
  • Generation II: The antagonist Team is still Team Rocket. Their lineup now consists nearly entirely of Poison types such as Arbok, Zubat, and Vileplume, but, crucially, with the addition of the Dark types Houndour, Houndoom, and Murkrow.
  • Generation III: The antagonist Teams are Team Aqua and Team Magma. Of course, their main themes are water and fire, respectively. But they employ dual-types such as Carvanha, and Sharpedo, along the pure Dark type Mightyena and a few Poison-types.
  • Generation IV: Team Galactic are the antagonists. We have Stunky, Murkrow, Honchkrow, Sneasel, and Weavile.
  • Generation V: By now it should not surprise us to see Purrloin, Sandile and its evolutions, and Scraggy and its evolutions as regular players on Team Plasma.
  • Generation VI: Team Flare is the enemy here. They use Houndour, Houndoom, Mightyena, Purrloins and Liepards, Scraggys and Scraftys, and Murkrows and Honchkrows.

Dark types, then, are the most consistent marker of the villainous Teams. It is true that Normal-type Pokémon are often used by Team Grunts, and that Poison-types often show up as well. But the choice to have Poison-type gym leaders was made from the very first generation, with Koga. Too late to back out now.

I suspect that The Pokémon Company's designers fear theme dilution. Dark types are the marker of shady criminals. If they are associated too heavily with themed gyms, their status as markers of ill intent could diminish.

Perhaps related to this, there is the following....

Dark Pokémon are evil (or at least あくタイプ).

From what I understand, the name for Dark types in Japanese is あくタイプ. The part あく seems to translate to "evil," or even "scum," while タイプ means "type." Surely evil, "scum" type Pokémon are best associated with villainous types, which most of the gym leaders really are not. Sure, some of them may cause people to pass out at their concerts from intoxication, but on the whole they aren't into world domination. That is the province of the Teams. And thus Dark-types are a better fit for Teams than gym leaders.

Of course, many Dark Pokémon are not truly villainous, and some are actually quite nice. Darkrai, for example, held Palkia and Dialga in check.

Correct answer by Adamant on February 14, 2021

Reddit explains it all.

From what I've read over the years, Dark's Japanese name is more literally translated as Evil. Probably can't go around having Evil gyms, huh? Elite Four is a different matter, and I'm not quite sure how to explain that one. One possible explanation is good/bad doesn't matter in the E4, but just strength to being one of the top Pokemon trainers. The fire type E4 in Gen VI was in Team Flare, no?

Credit to @Jonah's answer, あくタイプ means "evil type"

Answered by bleh on February 14, 2021

There's actually two, but it's in the latest game. Piers is the Dark type gym leader of the Galar region now that Sword and Shield are out. It's ironic how so many negative things are associated with Dark type users since Piers is easily the most chilled out and kind hearted of all the leaders. His sister Marnie, who becomes his successor as gym leader, is an absolute cinnamon roll. The fact that there have only been two Dark type gym leaders across eight generations, and they're both from the latest entry in the series, says a lot.

Answered by Kyle on February 14, 2021

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