Juan: the mentor who takes over his own student's Gym

Juan trained Wallace, then took back the Gym his student left behind. He guards Sootopolis City, uses only the Water type and awards Hoenn's eighth and final Badge. Wallace, for his part, has climbed past the region's Elite Four to the very top — and it was a twist of circumstance that brought the master back to the helm of the last Gym.

Contents

• Sootopolis City, the Rain Badge and the Door to the League
• A Succession in Reverse
• Thirteen Species, a Single Type
• Several Ways into the Pokémon World Tournament
• A Coordinator Before He Was a Gym Leader
• In the Manga, a Lineage and a Gift
• Juan at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Sootopolis City, the Rain Badge and the Door to the League

Juan awards the Rain Badge, the eighth and final official badge of the Hoenn circuit. Beating him doesn't unlock one more city: it opens the way to the Elite Four, which sits at the far eastern edge of the region, on the island of Ever Grande City.

The badge is more than an end-of-journey trophy. It makes all of the Trainer's Pokémon obey and unlocks HM Waterfall, without which you can't climb Hoenn's waterfalls.

Juan adds TM Water Pulse, whose ultrasonic waves can leave the opponent confused. So the region's last Gym Leader equips the player for the League at the exact moment he lets them through.

A Succession in Reverse

The usual order of careers is turned upside down. Wallace, his former student, left this Gym to become Champion, beyond the Elite Four of the Hoenn League, and it's his teacher who steps into the post he vacated.

Juan makes no secret of this lineage: he claims to have taught Wallace everything he knows about Pokémon, and points out that he already ran this Gym before him. A twist of circumstance forced him to come back, a phrase that says a lot without explaining anything.

His reaction to defeat is in the same vein: he grants the winner the strength needed for what lies ahead, but still finds them lacking in elegance compared to Wallace or himself, before jokingly offering to lend them his jacket. With him, battle skill and style are graded on the same scale.

Thirteen Species, a Single Type

His signature Pokémon is Kingdra, and his profile leaves no room for doubt: thirteen species documented in the games, all of them Water type, without a single coverage partner.

The range is wide within that constraint. You'll find Whiscash, Luvdisc and Sealeo, but also Crawdaunt, Walrein, Lapras, Poliwag, Relicanth, Gorebyss, Huntail, Politoed and Poliwhirl. The Water type alone lets him cover thirteen different battle profiles.

This deliberate single-type lineup at the last badge isn't a design flaw. Challengers know exactly which type awaits them and still have to win: it's Hoenn's final exam, not a guessing game.

🌊 Water-type Pokémon have their own section: check out the Pokémon plushies.

Several Ways into the Pokémon World Tournament

Juan is part of the Pokémon World Tournament lineup, the tournament that brings together the best Trainers. You can run into him in several separate brackets, including the Hoenn Leaders Tournament and the Type Expert Tournament, where he naturally represents Water.

The battle format decides the size of his team: three Pokémon in Single Battles, four in Double Battles and Rotation Battles alike, and all six in Triple Battles. The pool stays the same; only the split changes.

Two more variables shift from one match to the next — his Pokémon's gender and Abilities — and a win earns 1 BP. Where the Gym can be prepared for once and for all, the tournament version of Juan has to be studied anew at every encounter.

A Coordinator Before He Was a Gym Leader

The character has a second career behind him. A former Pokémon Coordinator, he won the Grand Festival, which earned him the status of Top Coordinator on top of his Gym post.

That hat follows him all the way into Contests: after a win in a Beauty Contest against Wallace and Lisia, it's she who points out that Juan is still Wallace's mentor there too. The anime has him appear as a Gym Leader in two episodes of the Advanced Generation series, where he battles Ash with the Pokémon the games give to Wallace — Milotic, Seaking, Whiscash, Luvdisc and Sealeo.

In Sootopolis City, he also puts on shows, which have earned him a real reputation and great popularity with the ladies of the city — popularity that Team Rocket tried to cash in on. For the stage, he brings out partners other than his Gym team, Barboach and Tentacruel.

In the Manga, a Lineage and a Gift

The manga keeps the hierarchy and extends it: there, Juan is the master of Wallace, who has a student of his own. Passing on knowledge is no longer a biographical detail; it becomes a three-link chain.

He doesn't settle for having trained a future Champion. He keeps a close eye on Ruby's training, entrusted to Tate and Liza: the teacher watches over the generation he isn't training himself.

Two traits appear only in this version: a Spanish accent and the ability to partially predict the future. The localization plays on this southern flair, too, with the character becoming Galano in Spanish and Rodolfo in Italian, while French, English and German keep Juan.

Juan at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Which badge does Juan give out?
  The Rain Badge, Hoenn's eighth and final official badge. It makes all of the Trainer's Pokémon obey, unlocks HM Waterfall and opens the road to the Elite Four, on the island of Ever Grande City.
• What is the connection between Juan and Wallace?
  Juan is Wallace's former master: he taught him everything he knows about Pokémon. Since Wallace became Champion, beyond Hoenn's Elite Four, his teacher took over the Sootopolis Gym.
• What is Juan's signature Pokémon?
  Kingdra. His roster counts thirteen species documented in the games, all Water type: Whiscash, Crawdaunt, Walrein, Lapras, Luvdisc, Sealeo, Poliwag, Relicanth, Gorebyss, Huntail, Politoed and Poliwhirl round out the set.
• Was Juan a Pokémon Coordinator?
  Yes, and he won the Grand Festival, which makes him a Top Coordinator. He also puts on shows in Sootopolis City, with partners such as Barboach and Tentacruel.
• Where can you battle Juan outside his Gym?
  At the Pokémon World Tournament, in the Hoenn Leaders Tournament and the Water-type Expert Tournament. He fields three Pokémon in Single Battles, four in Double and Rotation Battles, and six in Triple Battles.

In short

Juan is the Gym Leader whose career swims against the current: he already held this Gym, he trained the one who replaced him there, and he returns when that student becomes Champion. The result is a final exam with no surprises in store, thirteen Pokémon of a single type and an opponent who judges style as much as the score. Few Gym Leaders close out a circuit with so much poise.