Piers: the Spikemuth Gym Leader whose Gym ignores Dynamax

His Gym is the only one in Galar where Pokémon don't grow. Piers runs the Gym in Spikemuth, claims the Dark type as his own and spends most of his time writing songs. Yet his real business is neither the Badge nor the stage: it's his little sister Marnie, to whom he dreams of handing over the job.

Contents

• A Gym Without Dynamax, and Empty Stands
• A Gym Leader Who Wants to Hand His Spot to His Sister
• Singer First, Gym Leader Second
• In Journeys: The Interrupted Concert and the Motorcycle Ride
• The Short Galar Series: A Silhouette Crossing the Night
• Piers at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A Gym Without Dynamax, and Empty Stands

The entire Gym Challenge in Galar rests on a spectacle: Dynamax, which makes Pokémon grow in front of a crowd packed into the stands. Spikemuth is the only town on the circuit that does without it, since there's no Power Spot buried beneath its ground.

The consequence shows in the attendance. Deprived of the transformation spectators come to see, Piers's Gym draws few people, and few Trainers think of coming there for a Badge.

The man himself plays against his own image. Behind a show of nonchalance, the game describes a Dark-type specialist of formidable strength: at the end of the adventure, Raihan acknowledges his skill and invites him to take part in exhibition matches.

A Gym Leader Who Wants to Hand His Spot to His Sister

Piers has a little sister, Marnie, and his ambition fits in a single sentence: he hopes she'll take over the Gym after him. A titleholder looking to pass on his post rather than defend it: the series doesn't have many of those.

That affection mostly shows itself as worry. The slightest announced threat gets him all worked up, even when Spikemuth has absolutely nothing to fear.

It's also what sheds light on Team Yell: the Grunts hanging around the town are first and foremost Marnie's fans, and she's the only one who can bring them back into line — the organization itself has no leader.

Singer First, Gym Leader Second

Battling isn't his first calling. Piers is a part-time musician who'd like to be one full-time: he makes no secret of it, the stage interests him more than the battlefield.

The mobile game, which added him on February 18, 2021, leans hard into that side: it presents him as a renowned singer and songwriter whose fans love his melancholic voice.

He battles there in two looks. In his canonical outfit, his default partner is Obstagoon, then Skuntank once you reach friendship level 100 in the Trainer Lodge; in his Sygna Suit, the melancholy goes up another notch and he's joined by a Toxtricity in its Low Key Form.

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In Journeys: The Interrupted Concert and the Motorcycle Ride

The anime pushes the game's logic all the way to a ghost town: with no Power Spot, Spikemuth has emptied out, and Piers has let his singing career take over for lack of challengers to welcome.

So Marnie enters the World Coronation Series to bring attention back to the town. Her brother takes it hard: she's the one taking action, when he's the Gym Leader.

On the day of her Hyper Class battle against Ash, Piers is rehearsing at the Gym with the Maximizers when two visitors walk in. Some Grunts had tricked the newcomers into believing the match had been moved to Spikemuth; he sees through the trap and gives Ash a ride on his motorcycle to get him to the stadium in Wyndon, telling him the town's story along the way.

He then takes a seat in the stands, comments on the battle, names Grimmsnarl as his sister's ace and quickly sizes up her opponent's level. Marnie loses, but won-over spectators immediately want to make the trip to Spikemuth: her gamble has paid off, and her brother acknowledges it with a smile.

The Short Galar Series: A Silhouette Crossing the Night

The short series devoted to Galar uses him in a completely different way: as a silhouette roaming Wyndon at night, alone and unexplained. He crosses paths with Oleana there without either of them noticing the other.

Later, reporters try to drag an opinion out of him about the Champion Leon. He replies that he's in a hurry and brushes the camera aside with the back of his hand — a way of existing on screen without ever stepping into the plot.

The final image is in the same vein. In Spikemuth, Marnie and her Morpeko watch the battle between Leon and Raihan on a Rotom Phone, and Piers, sitting right next to them, doesn't give it a single glance.

Piers at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why doesn't Piers's Gym use Dynamax?
  Because there's no Power Spot under Spikemuth, and the transformation depends on one. It's the only Gym in Galar's Gym Challenge in that situation, which explains why it struggles to draw spectators.
• How is Piers related to Marnie?
  She's his little sister. He's extremely protective of her, gets alarmed at the slightest announced threat, and hopes she'll one day take over his place as Gym Leader.
• Is Piers really a musician?
  Yes, and he's proud of it: a part-time musician, he'd like to spend more time on music than on battling. The mobile game describes him as a renowned singer and songwriter with a melancholic voice.
• Which Pokémon battle alongside Piers?
  In Sword and Shield, his Gym team fields Scrafty, Malamar, Skuntank and Obstagoon, joined by a Low Key Form Toxtricity at Wyndon Stadium and in the Galarian Star Tournament. The mobile game also gives him Obstagoon in his canonical outfit, Skuntank as an alternate partner and a Low Key Form Toxtricity in his Sygna Suit.
• Does Piers appear in the anime?
  Yes, during the Journeys series, where he drives Ash to Wyndon Stadium after a Team Yell setup, then watches his sister's battle. He also appears in a background role in the short series devoted to Galar.

In short

Piers is the Gym Leader Galar built against the grain: a Gym without Dynamax, empty stands and a titleholder who wants to pass the torch. It's not a design flaw but a portrait: that of a formidable Trainer whose attention lies elsewhere, on a stage and on his little sister. His best role remains that of the big brother who drives a rival to the stadium so the match can take place.