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The Illyna League: Gym Leader Cassandra

by PentheWonderful

Gym Leader Sheet variant 2.png
PentheWonderful (Re-uploaded and edited to match the new format I'm using. If you want to see her full design, go here!)

Cassandra is the sixth gym leader you will face on your arduous journey through the Illyna Region. After crossing Crescent Lake on the Lapras Ferry Service, you finally arrive in Newcrest City. You are enamoured by the scenic lakeside view and the seamless fusion between concrete and nature. The still waters of Crescent Lake reflect the sky like a mirror, and the view of the moon on its waters is a popular tourist attraction. Newcrest is a fashionable city, perfect for those looking for a place to splurge with casinos, clubs, high-end boutiques, hair salons, and cafes reminiscent of Lumoise City on every corner. However, you struggle quite a bit to find the local gym. Eventually, you realize that it's simply because the gym was not a gym at all, but rather, the biggest night club in town! Naturally, business hours go from dusk 'til dawn, so if you arrive while the sun is still up, you're in no luck! At night time is when the gym truly comes alive, with lights and muffled music permeating through the darkness attracting a long line at the entrance. If you show them the Mirage Badge from the fifth gym, however, the bouncer lets you in right away.

Entering the so-called gym, you're greeted with blaring music and colourful laser lights. People are dancing and having fun, but the real business happens away from the neon dance floor and crowds of socializing people. Battles take place in the lowlight, where you will find a trail of Liepard spots leading you through the dark corners and into the winding back-corridors of the establishment where you must battle through Cassandra's apprentices. One of them will be holding the Gold Pass that will allow you into the VIP Lounge where Cassandra awaits. Once you acquire it, the real battle begins.

Her Gym/League Team in accordance with the order she sends them out:
1. Puck, her mischievous Spiritomb
2. Nostradamus, her crafty Malamar
3. Jason, her Beau's loyal and fearsome Houndoom whom he entrusted to her
4. Goliath, her massive tank of a Drapion
5. Lady the Liepard, Cassie's wildcard Partner Pokemon. They're unconventional, and that makes them dangerous.

Now, Cassie is quite an unforgiving gym leader. Like her partner Pokemon Liepard (the Cruel Pokemon), her main goal is to wipe the bright-eyed smile and hopeful look clean off your face and she takes quite a bit of pleasure crushing you with defeat. She certainly didn't become a Dark-Type specialist for nothing! She's cunning and crafty, she will try to gain dominance with overwhelming power and brutal traps. But if you manage to outmaneuver her, she will reward you with the Crescent Badge and the TM Dark Pulse.

Of course, if you beat her, the next person you are facing is her beau, Dante Young, and you might find he's even harder to handle than she is. ;)

I'm honestly pretty happy with how it turned out, but, tell me what you guys think!
  1. roanyael
    roanyael
    I saw dark type and I was I was really glad to see such an amazing designed and written character. first of all, she's STUNNNG absolutely gorgeous. And your art is also just amazing. I really love your art style. I've said that before but its really amazing UGQJEKFQYJ.

    nd because I myself have already created my Dark type gym leader. I immediately draw a connection and start comparing them. (I am so sorry I do this all the time. I know some people do not like that I do that. pls tell me if you don't like it) The gyms are really similar, both representing a club... but that is where the similarities stop. While Cassandra has a literal club, Dianna (My dark type leader) has more of a ball room fancy club... or something like that. Their personalities are also as different as could be. with Dianna being a kind soul who cares for everyone, she's also always calm and collective. While Cassandra seems to be the total opposite of that. I also think that Cassandra radiates so much energy and I absolutely live for it. Which is totally different from Dianna who is more elegant. I think its also funny that their aesthetic had a 100 year difference. Dianna has a 1920's aesthetic while Cassandra has a 2020's aesthetic.

    Her team is incredibly diverse team, which Dianna doesn't really have since she uses more elegant Dark types. And thus they have zero overlapping pokemon.

    Anyway. Cassandra is absolutely amazing. I lover her design, I lover her gym, I over her pokemon. What's not to like about this woman?!
    Jun 4, 2021
  2. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    @PentheWonderful

    I love the redesign ♥ The sparkles! The jacket! The hair glitter! The corset! ♥
    Apr 18, 2020
    PentheWonderful likes this.
  3. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    Mar 10, 2020
    PentheWonderful likes this.
  4. PentheWonderful
    PentheWonderful
    Mar 10, 2020
    Vergil Tanner likes this.
  5. Sunlight Isekai Overdrive
    Sunlight Isekai Overdrive
    Liepard is a Precious Bean
    Mar 9, 2020
  6. PentheWonderful
    Mar 7, 2020
  7. Merciless Medic
    Merciless Medic
    This also looks incredibly good! I can't wait for the other Gym Leaders! :D
    Mar 6, 2020
  8. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    @kyuukestu Oh, I agree! It's just two different styles of training! Though I would give the edge in a battle to a dedicated trainer over a dedicated coordinator. Different skills and whatnot.

    That is, of course, not the case if the Coordinator has practised the single most powerful move in Pokemon with their team.
    "Bellossom! Use....TEEETEEEER DANCE!"
    Mar 2, 2020
    PentheWonderful and kyuukestu like this.
  9. kyuukestu
    kyuukestu
    @Vergil Tanner I ignored the contests in Main Game as well. I think the only time I actually did contest stuff was while trying to complete the Sinnoh Pokedex. Getting Feebas to max beauty and all that good jazz.

    Competitive battling certainly has its benefits as well though, a strong Contest goer can be as strong as any trainer!
    Mar 2, 2020
  10. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    @kyuukestu How I play depends on the characters I'm playing, honestly xD Dante and Elias are both "competitive battlers," whilst Arty and Grace are Coordinators. xD But I agree, whilst I never really played contests in-game (I just wasn't that interested in the minigames) it doesn't hurt to have them in the game, since I know people who spent more time on the contests than the actual main plot of the games xD
    Mar 2, 2020
    PentheWonderful and kyuukestu like this.
  11. kyuukestu
    kyuukestu
    @Vergil Tanner @PentheWonderful

    I'm more of a creative battler in Role Plays than a competitive battler in the console games; Liepard's got a very solid move pool with nice coverage, but I especially love its form and grace from a Contest/Appeal perspective. I'd love to see it get some major attention in a Contest-setting like Zoey's Glameow in D/P/Pt, the contest combination moves are fantastic and beautiful! They need to bring some of that creativity back; Blizzard+Shadow Claw, Ice-Aqua Jet, etc.

    Oooh ~ ♥ ! I do love roleplaying Coordinators way more than League Goers, they're just so much more fun xD
    Mar 2, 2020
  12. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    @kyuukestu @PentheWonderful
    I think that's the problem. Since Liepard isn't a hard hitter and isn't that durable, it's just a harder Pokemon to use correctly. If you don't build the girl just-so and use her in the right ways at the right time, it's easy to see her as just an underwhelming, situational Pokemon. Liepard can be very dangerous in the right hands, but she's a little more... "High maintenance" than other Pokemon. EG, pokemon like Aggron and Drapion are very, very easy to use effectively, so they get ranked higher than Liepard because Liepard actually takes some forethought and strategy to utilise in the "correct" manner.

    Or I'm just rambling out of my butt, that's a possibility too. xD
    Mar 2, 2020
    PentheWonderful and kyuukestu like this.
  13. PentheWonderful
    PentheWonderful
    @kyuukestu I know, right?! Liepard ftw! I mean, yes it's not necessarily the most durable or hardest hitter, but it's fast and it knows a LOT of trap moves and tricks that could make you go crazy if used right XD
    Mar 2, 2020
    kyuukestu and Vergil Tanner like this.
  14. kyuukestu
    kyuukestu
    Great work with this! I love the design and even her choice in Pokemon. Liepard is very much slept on as a Pokemon, it's got such a cool design and people don't give it the appreciation it deserves!

    Though, I'm a sucker for cat-pokemon, so that could just be me.
    Mar 2, 2020
  15. PentheWonderful
    Mar 1, 2020
    Vergil Tanner likes this.
  16. -AlexTheMimikyu-
    -AlexTheMimikyu-
    Mar 1, 2020
  17. -AlexTheMimikyu-
    -AlexTheMimikyu-
    dang she really said " t h i c c c c c c c c c" >///< ♥ ♥ ♥
    Mar 1, 2020
  18. Vergil Tanner
    Feb 29, 2020
  19. PentheWonderful
    PentheWonderful
    Feb 29, 2020
  20. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    But holy hell, to quote The Bard Eminem Esquire,
    "I ain't never seen an A** LIKE THAT."
    Feb 29, 2020
  21. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    Feb 29, 2020
  22. PentheWonderful
    PentheWonderful
    Feb 29, 2020
    Vergil Tanner and RenzFlintrock like this.
  23. Vergil Tanner
    Vergil Tanner
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, DAYUM GURL.

    And Lady is giving Jason those Come Hither Eyes, I see ;)
    Feb 29, 2020