Ramos: The Gardener Who Guards Kalos's Fourth Gym
1209 words | Reading time: 6 minutes
He has been caring for the same pair of shears for three decades. Ramos runs the Coumarine City Gym, the fourth stop in the Kalos League, and awards the Plant Badge to the Trainers who beat him. A gardener by trade, he's one of those Gym Leaders whose battle specialty isn't a decorative theme but a direct extension of what he does every day.
Contents
- Coumarine City, the Fourth Stop in the Kalos League
- The Beret, the Shears and the Tea Leaves
- In the Anime, a Guide Before an Opponent
- In the Manga, a Gym Leader Forced into Hiding
- Ramos at a Glance
- Frequently Asked Questions
Coumarine City, the Fourth Stop in the Kalos League
Ramos holds the fourth spot on the Gym circuit of Kalos and champions the Grass type; beating him earns you the Plant Badge, the fourth official badge recognized by the regional League. His duties don't stop there: he also holds the title of Marquis at the Battle Chateau, which makes him one of the Trainers you run into again away from the badge route.
His place in the Gym order repeats a series habit. Like Erika in Celadon City, he is the fourth Gym Leader of his region and a Grass-type specialist: two generations far apart, exactly the same rank in the player's progression.
His Gym team opens with two Pokémon: a Weepinbell and a Jumpluff, which share the Chlorophyll Ability. A third Pokémon rounds out the Gym team, a Gogoat, which the Gym Leader uses again at the Battle Chateau as well as in the anime and the manga. In the mobile game, where he has appeared since launch, he starts out in a sync pair with a Weepinbell that can evolve into Victreebel.
The Beret, the Shears and the Tea Leaves
He looks like a gardener, not an athlete: a balding head, a white beard trimmed into two pairs of tufts, a green beret, an orange neckerchief, a green shirt and gloves, and dark gray pants held up by light brown suspenders. In the mobile game, he keeps the outfit Pokémon X and Y gave him rather than a brand-new costume.
The tool in his hand isn't a stage prop. These shears have reportedly been with him for more than three decades, and he is said to take meticulous care of them. His profile in the mobile game points the same way: gardening is how he stays in shape, and he harvests the leaves he brews himself.
A TV show in the region, Gym Freaks, reveals that he has a real passion for tea and gets his leaves from his home region, where a leaf floating upright in the cup is considered a good omen — a nod to a very real Japanese superstition. Some localizations of Pokémon X and Y shift the detail: it's no longer his own origins that matter, but those of the leaves.
🍵 A Gym Leader who picks his own tea deserves a proper cup: check out our Pokémon mugs.
In the Anime, a Guide Before an Opponent
The Kalos series introduces him far from his Gym. He first shows Ash and his friends a selection of nourishing herbs, then sends out his Jumpluff to put an end to a snowfall caused by a Vanilluxe and a Vanillish.
The Gym battle comes in the next episode, and Ramos is beaten by Ash. The series brings him back almost right away as a storyteller: he tells the group a tale before leading them to a great tree.
His last appearance in the series takes a completely different tone. He finds himself up against Lysandre, just as the clash with Team Flare catches up with the region's Gym Leaders.
In the Manga, a Gym Leader Forced into Hiding
The manga adaptation mainly gives him a group role. Alongside the other Kalos Gym Leaders and Y, he helps contain the ultimate weapon when it is set off.
He then takes on Bryony, who had just attacked the group, and manages to keep her at bay — more of a bulwark than a victor.
He's seen again later in a strictly defensive position: he warns the people of Vaniville Town that it has become risky to show themselves in public. Team Flare, very much at ease with the media, is said to have pinned the blame for the explosion on the Gym Leaders, and nowhere is safe for them anymore.
Ramos at a Glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Gym | Coumarine City, fourth Gym of the Kalos League |
| Badge awarded | Plant Badge |
| Specialty | Grass type |
| Other role | Marquis of the Battle Chateau |
| Confirmed team | Jumpluff, Weepinbell and Gogoat at the Gym; Jumpluff and Gogoat at the Battle Chateau (Marquis rank), Victreebel and Gogoat at Duke rank |
| Occupation | Gardener |
| Signature trait | A pair of shears kept for more than thirty years |
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Where is Ramos's Gym?
In Coumarine City, in the Kalos region. It's the fourth Gym on the journey, and it awards the Plant Badge to Trainers who beat its Gym Leader. -
Which Pokémon does Ramos use?
At the Gym, a Jumpluff, a Weepinbell — both with the Chlorophyll Ability — and a Gogoat, which he uses again at the Battle Chateau. In the mobile game, he teams up with a Weepinbell that can evolve into Victreebel. -
Why is Ramos associated with tea?
A Kalos TV show, Gym Freaks, presents him as a passionate tea lover who gets his leaves from his home region. It says that a leaf standing upright in the cup means a good day ahead, borrowing from a real Japanese superstition. -
Does Ramos appear in the anime?
Yes, during the Kalos series. He first acts as a guide for Ash and his friends, then loses his Gym battle against Ash, comes back as a storyteller, and finally faces Lysandre at the end of the series. -
What's the connection between Ramos and Erika?
They hold exactly the same position: fourth Gym Leader of their region and Grass-type specialist, one in Coumarine City, the other in Celadon City.
In short
Ramos runs one of the most low-key Gyms in Kalos, and that's precisely what makes him easy to read: everything about him stems from gardening, from the type he champions to the tool he hasn't replaced in thirty years. The anime first uses him as a guide and a source of plants, before counting him among the Gym Leaders Team Flare puts in danger. An old man in a green beret whom the story ends up taking very seriously.