In Pokemon, there are general trends when it comes to the different types. Certain types tend to be stronger than others, with higher stats and better match ups against other types. Another interesting trend that I've noticed over the years is the availability of certain types. Early on in your journey, you will encounter certain types such as Normal or Bug a lot more than you will later on. Meanwhile types like Ghost or Dragon don't tend to be available until a while later. It makes sense, they are among the strongest types in the game and would not be balanced if given to the player from the get-go.

There is, however, a type that follows the same trend but without a proper reason to. I'm talking about the Ice type. Ice is a very interesting type. It's to date the least populated type in the game, despite being a thing since generation 1. Yes, there are less Ice Pokemon than even the newest Fairy type. That must mean that the Ice Pokemon are very strong, right? Well, Ice is in heavy contention for the worst defensive profile of any type. The only type Ice resists is Ice itself. Meanwhile it has weaknesses to common offensive types in Fighting, Rock, and Fire. Offensively Ice is decent, but many Ice types struggle to survive before getting a good hit off. Still, Ice is heralded by the developers as another type that should only be found late in the game. This also translates to the Ice Gym Leaders found in the various regions of the Pokemon world. Of the 6 Ice type gym leaders, all 6 are among the last gym leaders the player will face. The earliest you face any Ice gym leader is for your 6th badge, and a few even act as the 8th and final gym leader of their region.

All of this to introduce you to the 7th gym leader of the Johto Region, Pryce. At this point in your Johto Journey, you will have faced several challenges and have trained up a solid team of Pokemon. Your second to last gym fight ought to be a real challenge, right? Well unfortunately Pryce uses Ice and is therefore a cakewalk.

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

Pryce is the leader of the Mahogany Town Gym. He, like many other gym leaders, decides to hole up in his gym and refuses any sort of help or resistance when Team Rocket literally takes over his town and the Lake of Rage nearby. Once the 10 year old defeats the organized crime group, Pryce finally decides it's opening hours for his gym.

I'll be frank, the most challenging part about Pryce is trying to get to him. Some of the Ice puzzles in his gym can take you several tries before you finally get it right. So good job on designing that place, worthy of the 7th gym building! In battle, however, Pryce is a pushover. He uses 3 Pokemon. The first is Seel, which isn't even an Ice type. Following Seel is basically big Seel, as his Dewgong does practically the same things Seel does: spam weaker Ice moves like Aurora Beam and then heal up with Rest so it is harder to take down. Pryce's final Pokemon is thankfully a true Johto original. Piloswine is a tough opponent, but they fail to make use of its qualities as they only gave it Special moves, despite Piloswine having pitiful Special Attack compared to its Physical prowess. Even the strong Blizzard doesn't hit as hard as you'd think coming from this guy.

It's a very disappointing fight in general. By now you have thwarted Team Rocket for the second to last time, even fighting alongside the Champion while doing so, and your next opponent is some old dude with some weak ice Pokemon (Pryce is the 7th gym leader and his Pokemon barely reach beyond level 30!). Not only that, but he isn't even involved with anything going on!

Like all the other gym leaders, Pryce will rematch you if you obtain his Pokegear number at the Lake of Rage. Calling him on a specific day of the week makes him travel to Saffron City, where he will be ready for a battle in the Fighting Dojo. It's here where Pryce finally decides to put in a good effort. He puts all his eggs in one basket and focuses on a strong Hail oriented team. Honestly with a type as bad as Ice, that's not a bad strategy. His Abomasnow sets up the Hail weather permanently for the fight, making all your non-ice type Pokemon take damage every turn, and making all his strong but normally inaccurate Blizzards guaranteed hits on you. Pryce also makes use of the Hail with abilities like Ice Body and Snow Cloak on Walrein, Froslass and Mamoswine, making his team harder to take down despite being a poor defensive type. I actually really enjoy this battle, as it requires some strategy or planning to take on safely.

Pokemon Black 2, White 2

Pryce returns alongside his fellow Johto Leaders for the Pokemon World Tournament. He can be fought in the Johto Leaders and Type Experts challenges. He steps away from his Hail strategy, and I honestly think it makes him easier. He does use some cool Ice types like Weavile and Lapras, but it's not enough to make him a threat.

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Pryce is one of these gym leaders that I really think could have made a great character. I'm happy to see an old person in such an important role, as besides Professor Oak and Agatha there really aren't many prominent ones by this point in the franchise. I think it would have been really nice to have his help or guidance when it came to dealing with the Lake of Rage situation, and fighting Team Rocket with Pryce would have been cool.

I'm a bit disappointed they chose to put him as the seventh gym leader for reasons stated earlier. By this point in the game most people have strong counters to him that he really can't do anything about.