Have you seen that TikTok trend about Pokemon Gym Leaders? They all make the same joke: there’s a guy wearing cargo shorts with a mosquito net on his face and a magnifying glass in his hand saying “How did you guess I was a Bug-type trainer?” For the most part, the personality of Pokemon Trainers and Gym Leaders is pretty on the nose. Fire-type trainers have fiery tempers, Ghost-type trainers are spooky little goths, and Fighting-type trainers are really into Taekwondo. The Pokemon series loves sticking to formulas, and this has been an enduring one going all the way back to Gen 1’s Sabrina and Lt. Surge.
But, every once in a while we get a Gym Leader that comes totally out of left field. Sometimes it seems like Game Freak pulls random words out of a hat to create someone’s personality, and honestly, I’m here for it. Case in point: Unova’s Dark-type Elite Four member who is, you guessed it, a gambling Dracula. Oh, you didn’t guess ‘vampire that’s addicted to roulette’? I guess you don’t know much about Dark-type Pokemon, huh?
Taken separately, I suppose I kind of get Grimsley's deal. Dark-type is sort of a vague grouping of Pokemon anyway, since some of them are mischievous rascals, like Theivul, and some of them are powered by moon energy, like Umbreon, so thematically they’re a little all over the place. Dark-type is actually known as Evil-type in Japan, which is ironic when you consider the truly evil Pokemon like Froslass (look it up), Drifloon (seriously, look it up), and Gorebyss (we’ve got you covered on this one) aren’t evil Dark/Evil-type.
But I digress, Grimsley is a Dark-type trainer, so I guess it makes sense that he’s a Dracula. His Elite Four room vaguely resembles a castle with its high ceiling and ornate chandelier, and he dresses like a fancy Victorian land baron. I can picture the TikTok video perfectly. “What makes you think I’m a Dark-type trainer?” he says while rising out of a coffin. If Game Freak had left it at that, I’d have no complaints.
Well enough couldn’t be left alone apparently because on top of being a vampire, Grimsley is also a gambler, which is not a combination I ever expected to see. There’s a lot of lore out there about Dracula. We all know about garlic and sunlight and transforming into a bat, but there’s also lesser known characteristics. In some versions he’s obsessed with counting things and can be distracted by scattering objects around for him to add up. In Bram Stoker’s novel, he has to stay near Transylvania dirt to survive. In all of the versions of Dracula that have existed over the years, I’ve never known him to be a roulette enthusiast.
Gambling is all Grimsley ever talks about. When you meet him on Route 15 in Sun & Moon, he calls himself Uncle Grimsley and rambles about flipping coins wagering on things. Even his outfit is designed like a roulette table. What’s the deal with all that? Is it just because gambling is a vice? Could he have just as easily been a werewolf that chugs energy drinks?
I get that Clay is a Ground-type trainer because he’s a miner. It makes sense that Chuck is a muscle head that trains Fighting-type Pokemon. I’m sorry, I just don’t get the whole gambling Dracula thing.
