Though she is only the second Gym Leader players encounter in Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, there is far more to Gym Leader Gardenia than meets the eye. As the Leader of Eterna Gym, Gardenia is no pushover. She specializes in Grass-type Pokemon and gives the Forest Badge to trainers who can defeat her.
Between her love for plants and fear of ghosts, Gardenia has more personality than most Gym Leaders in the franchise. The Master of Vivid Plant Pokemon also happens to own quite a variety of Pokemon and uses tactics that have not been seen in other games.
10 Voice Actresses
Despite the core series Pokemon game not having voiced lines, Gardenia has appeared in other media where she has been voiced. In the Pokemon anime, Gardenia was voiced by Lara Starr Rigores, an actress known for appearing in various TV movies.
Gardenia was also given a voice in Pokemon Masters, where she was portrayed by Erica Mendez. Mendez additionally voices Hilda, the protagonist of Pokemon Black & White, and Bernadetta from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
9 Starter vs. Starter
While several Gym Leaders have used Starter Pokemon before in rematches, Gardenia is the only one to use a Starter in her first battle against the player. This starter is Turtwig, which she later evolves into a Torterra for her rematches in Platinum and battles in Black 2 & White 2.
If the player chose Turtwig at the beginning of the game, it’s entirely possible to enter a Turtwig vs. Turtwig battle with Gardenia. In Platinum, Turtwig is the first Pokemon she will send out, while in Diamond & Pearl she may send it out second or third.
8 Name Origins
The name Gardenia most obviously has the word garden in it, a clear reference to her Grass-type specialty. Gardenias are also a type of flowering plant which grows into small shrubs or trees and produces yellow or white flowers.
The Gardenia was named after Dr. Alexander Garden, a Scottish-American botanist. Gardenia’s German and French names are Silvana and Flo, rooting from the words silva, which means forest in Latin, and flore, which means flora in French.
7 Afraid of Ghosts
In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Gardenia tries her best to conceal her obvious fear of ghosts. She mentions Ghost-type Pokemon at the Battleground and even warns the player about them before they enter the Old Chateau. When visiting the player at her villa, she voices her concerns about the possibility of a Ghost/Grass-type Pokemon, which didn’t exist yet in Generation IV.
Several Ghost/Grass-types were introduced in later games, which Gardenia references in some of her Pokemon Masters dialogue. She specifically mentions wanting to catch Pumpkaboo and Phantump to get over her fear.
6 Her Signature Pokemon
In the entire Pokemon franchise, Gardenia is the only Gym Leader to wield a fully evolved stage three Pokemon against the player in the second Gym. This Pokemon is none other than her Roserade, which is female across all of the games (except in the Pokemon World Tournament, where Pokemon genders are randomized).
Gardenia forms a sync pair with Roserade in Pokemon Masters, where she also has a bit of a dilemma on whether or not to hug it. On one hand, Gardenia mentions that Roserade’s toxic thorns would hurt, but on the other, she says that she might not be able to resist hugging it anyway.
5 Forest Badge
When Gardenia is defeated at her Gym, she relinquishes the Forest Badge to the player. This allows them to use the move Cut in the overworld and forces Pokemon under level 30 to obey the player’s commands.
When examining the player’s badge case, they can see that the Forest Badge takes the shape of three trees with white trunks all close together. This design and the badge’s name are a reference to the nearby Eterna Forest, where Gardenia is said to train and catch Pokemon.
4 No Skipping
Most Pokemon Gyms are designed with more than one route available to the Gym Leader. This allows the player to sneak by trainers they don’t wish to battle. Gardenia, however, demands that all challengers of the Eterna Gym must defeat every trainer before they are allowed to battle her. She declares this at the entrance to the Gym before the player even sees the layout.
In Diamond & Pearl, the trainers are hidden in different areas of the Gym, with each of them dropping hints about where the next might be. In Platinum, the Gym has installed a giant clock which the player must keep turning by defeating the trainers.
3 Her Favourite Move
Allegedly, Gardenia’s favorite Pokemon move is Grass Knot, a move that deals more damage the heavier the target is. When initially challenging her, all of Gardenia’s Pokemon know Grass Knot.
Upon defeat, Gardenia even gives the player the TM86, which contains the move. In later battles, however, it seems that the Gym Leader may have changed her mind. In every other battle, all of Gardenia’s Pokemon have forgotten the move, opting for other Grass moves like Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, and Solar Beam.
2 Non-Sinnoh Pokemon
Though Gardenia only uses Pokemon from Sinnoh in her Gym battles, it appears that she has collected Grass-types from other regions as well.
When Gardenia is rematched in Platinum, she uses a Jumpluff and a Bellossom, both Pokemon from Johto. In Black 2 & White 2, Gardenia can be battled at the Pokemon World Tournament along with the other Sinnoh Gym Leaders. In the Type Expert & World Leaders Tournaments, she uses a Breloom and a Tropius, both Pokemon from Hoenn.
1 Love For Houseplants
As seen in the Pokemon anime, Gardenia is obsessed with plants, especially James’s Cacnea. In the games, she also loves plants but is a bit more low-key about it — that is, until the player buys a houseplant for their villa.
Somehow, word reaches Gardenia’s ears as soon as they purchase a houseplant in Platinum. Within seconds, she shows up to look at the houseplant, compliment it, and add that she may buy some for the Eterna Gym. The houseplant in question costs 120,000 Poke Dollars, meaning Gardenia must be rather wealthy if she can afford several.
NEXT: 10 Things Players Loved From Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
