Gym Badge

Gym Badges are a rewarded handed that Gym Leaders hand out to Pokémon Trainers if they win in battle. In the main Pokémon series of games, there are eight Gym Badges to collect. A Gym Badge serves both as a symbolic marker of the player character's progress and as an enhancement of their ability to handle stronger Pokémon.

Depending on the badge, it can allow Trainers to use HMs that allow them to use certain attacks outside of a Pokémon Battle, letting them move certain obstacles, light up dark areas, or travel on water. Possession of certain Gym Badges also reduces the likelihood of stronger Pokémon disobeying their Trainers, and thus serves as a token of respect between Pokémon and their Trainers. Some badges also increase certain stats in the Trainer's Pokémon, such as their Attack power or Speed. Eight gym badges are required to face the Elite Four in every region.

In the anime, although the only official Gyms featured are the ones from the video games, there appear to be more than eight Gyms in each region, as Trainers have been seen with Badges never before seen in the video games (there are 27 different Kanto badges seen in the anime.) It appears that collecting the badges of any eight officially recognized Gyms in a given region grants a trainer access to its annual Pokémon League event.

Gym Badges often resemble the type of Pokémon the Gym Leader had when defeated, such as the "Knuckle Badge" received from Brawly, a Fighting-type Gym Leader, in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Versions, and Pokémon Emerald Version.