That's basically the character bio for today. See you next time!

No but seriously, the question of Bugsy's gender is basically the only thing that has kept him (it's a boy!) relevant through all these years.

Speaking of Bugsy, that's who I'm covering in this thread. Bugsy is the second Gym Leader the player encounters in the Johto games. He is the leader of the Azalea Town Gym and specializes in Bug type Pokemon, handing players the aptly named Hive Badge upon defeat. Easy right? Well, I actually think they did a decent job at making Bugsy a good fight despite using arguably the weakest type in the game.

Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heart Gold, Soul Silver

Bugsy is one of those gym leaders that don't add anything to the story of the game. He just stands on his little gym mat until a 10 year old walks up to him and beats him up. Unfortunately this is common with older gym leaders, and Bugsy is no exception.

As for his team in battle, he uses three Pokemon against you. Two of them are useless, and one is scary. I will list the three Pokemon and you get to think about which one fits in what category. Ready? Here goes: Metapod, Scyther, Kakuna. If you guessed Kakuna as the scary one, congrats! It can poison you.

No but all jokes aside, it's a bit of a shame they decided to go with this as his team. First of all, just like Falkner before him, none of his Pokemon are original Johto Bug types. It's not like there is a lack of them either. By now the player has encountered Spinarak and Ledyba, who admittedly are weak, but we're comparing them to Metapod and Kakuna so that point is moot. For some more unique picks there's the options of Pineco and Yanma, both being available to catch soon after this gym. Literally anything to make this team any better than the Bug Catchers in Viridian Forest. It wouldn't have even been that hard if they gave him the Butterfree and Beedrill he should have. I mean a trainer in his gym literally has a Beedrill!

Scyther is admittedly cool, and it fits with the 'lore' behind Bugsy. Essentially he is the one that came up with the move Fury Cutter, and Scyther is the poster child for it. That's all there is to it really. I personally would have still preferred Bugsy to use a Heracross as his ace, so the player would get excited at the prospect of using this beast on their team.

In the remakes Bugsy has the exact same team, although his Scyther is admittedly a real threat. It can boost its critical rate with Focus Energy, lower your defense with Leer, use Quick Attack which is 50% stronger thanks to its ability Technician, and the weak Fury Cutter has been replaced with the powerful U-Turn. Bugsy is one of the rare leaders to actually lead with his strongest Pokemon, using the strategy of raising his critical rate and using U-Turn to get a strong hit off before retreating his Scyther to the back. Once Scyther is the last one standing, it can spam U-Turn without worrying about switching out.

Also in the remakes, Bugsy can be rematched in the Post-Game like his fellow Gym Leaders. Once the player gets his number and calls him during a specific day of the week, Bugsy will head to Saffron City where he will wait for you in the Fighting Dojo. He uses a full team of Bug Types, with the likes of Heracross, Shedinja, Yanmega, Pinsir, and Vespiquen in his lineup. Much better than Kakuna and Metapod.

Pokemon Black 2, White 2

Bugsy returns alongside his fellow leaders to the Pokemon World Tournament. He can be challenged in the Johto leaders and Type Expert challenges, with pokemon like Shuckle, Forretress, and Armaldo being added to his roster.

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I like that over his appearances beyond his gym fight he does use several Bug Pokemon from the Johto region. It's a shame the player doesn't see these during their playthrough, but at least in later appearances they got some love. There wouldn't be another Bug leader until Burgh in gen 5, so Bugsy was the only chance some of these critters had of getting some of the spotlight on them.

I do think the jokes about Bugsy's gender are a bit funny, and the developers must have thought the same. Normally in Pokemon, a trainer's Pokemon will share their gender with their trainer (unless it is a Pokemon with a 100% fixed gender ratio). Bugsy is one of the only exceptions to this, as his whole team in Heart Gold and Soul Silver is female, further adding to the mystery of his gender.

As for his general character, he is a bit boring. They don't lean into any trope or character trait that would make him stand out, and I think that's a shame. Even in the remake he has very little to say, and he also just completely ignores Team Rocket taking over the Slowpoke Well in his own Town. Way to go man, true pillar of the Azalea community right there. At least old man Kurt jumped down a well to drive Team Rocket away.