When Pokemon Gold and Silver released, they changed the landscape of Pokemon forever. Not only did they introduce a day/night cycle, they also introduced eggs & breeding, friendship, the split of the special stat, and a whole other list of mechanics. But perhaps the most notable and memorable one of them all was the introduction of not one, but two entirely new Pokemon Types. Dark and Steel were added all the way in Gen 2, acting as pseudo counters to the previously broken Psychic Type while still fulfilling other purposes. This brought the total count of types to 17. As Gamefreak decided to make all 8 Johto Gym Leaders have different Types from the 8 Kanto Gym Leaders, that naturally meant that at least one of these newly introduced types would get the honor of being used by a Gym Leader. As fate would have it, the Steel Type would get that opportunity with Jasmine, the Gym Leader of the Olivine City Gym.

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

As the player arrives in Olivine City, the rival calls them a weakling and tells them to go train in the Olivine Lighthouse. Following his suggestion, the player eventually reaches the top of the lighthouse. There they will find an Ampharos called Amphy, being cared for by a girl. She tells the player to cross the sea and head to Cianwood City to find a cure for Amphy's illness.

Upon completing this quest (and picking up a badge whilst at it), the player returns to the lighthouse with the medicine. The girl introduces herself as Jasmine, and it becomes clear that she is able to form a close bond with Pokemon, as Amphy will only trust her to give it the bitter medicine. With Amphy healed up (where can I buy this instant medicine) Jasmine thanks the player and tells them to find her at her Gym, where she will be waiting. Plot twist! A gym leader involved in the story for once.

Her gym barely has a layout, you just walk straight up to Jasmine. Uniquely to her gym, the trainers will not actually fight you, instead thanking you for helping the lighthouse Pokemon and wishing you good luck for your upcoming Gym Battle. Jasmine will tell you about the newly discovered Steel type, mentioning that they are very hard to take down.

In battle, however, she is a bit of a one trick pony. She has 3 Pokemon which is rather low for a 6th gym leader, and not helped by the fact that the first two are Magnemite. Not Magneton, but Magnemite. They do have Thunderbolt, so they can deal surprisingly high amounts of damage, but are easy to take down. Her big threat is her Steelix, a brand new Johto Pokemon and the evolution of the familiar Onix. It knows the powerful Steel move Iron Tail, and can harshly lower your defense with Screech. Steelix has near infinite physical defense, so special attacks are move effective against it. Once you take down this behemoth, Jasmine hands you the Mineral Badge for your efforts.

In the remakes, she can be rematched after obtaining her Pokegear number in the Olivine Diner. Calling her at a specific day of the week will make her show up in the Saffron City Fighting Dojo, ready for a challenge. She has some new and strong Steel Types such as Metagross and Empoleon on her team, as well as the likes of Skarmory and Bronzong for utility.

Also in the remakes, she can be visited in her gym after obtaining her number. She will actually offer a trade to the player: one Pokemon of the player's choosing for her Steelix. It's not the same as the one from your Gym Battle, but for trainers who have no friends to trade with this is the easiest way to obtain Steelix.


Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl

First time mentioning these games! Jasmine makes a unique cameo appearance in the Generation 4 games. She is on holiday in Sunyshore City, the final city the player visits before challenging the Pokemon League. She is hanging out at the beach, and upon talking to her she will mention the similarities between Sunyshore City and her hometown Olivine City. Both are next to the ocean, and both have a big Lighthouse. She also mentions being familiar with the Sunyshore City Gym Leader, Volkner.

Upon defeating Volkner and obtaining their 8th and final badge, the player can talk to Jasmine again. She congratulates the player on beating Volkner, and gives the player the HM for Waterfall, allowing you to climb the big Waterfall guarding the Pokemon League. Jasmine's role in the story ends here, but she can be a random opponent in Pokemon Contests as well.

Pokemon Black 2, White 2

Jasmine returns again one generation later. She and her fellow Johto Gym Leaders compete in the Pokemon World Tournament. She can be battled in the Johto Leaders and Type Expert challenges. She uses mainly the same Pokemon as before, though she adds a few like Forretress and the new Klingklang, Ferrothorn and Excadrill to her potential roster.

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Jasmine is one of my personal favorite Johto Gym Leaders. For one, I'm very glad that we actually meet her organically in the story of the game. It adds a lot to her character, as we see her being very empathetic towards Pokemon such as Amphy. It also gives the player a clear objective of what to do, which is important as this part of the Johto Region is more on the open world side of things.

I like the contrast between the Steel type having this big, strong, unbreakable reputation, and the Gym Leader representing them being a soft spoken girl trying to help all kinds of Pokemon. The fact that Steelix is her ace Pokemon makes sense, as an NPC in the Lighthouse mentions that Jasmine used to be a Rock type trainer before the Steel type was discovered. Onix going from a Rock to a Steel type perfectly ties back to the switch Jasmine makes when it comes to her specialty type.

Furthermore, I enjoy meeting her randomly in Sinnoh. To me it's one of the rare cases of the Pokemon world feeling more like a real place, with trainers and even gym leaders taking breaks, going on holidays, and living lives outside of their duties as a Gym Leader. She doesn't overstay her welcome, but is instead a nice homage to those who recognize her.

I hope we get to see more of Jasmine at some point!