>>34660683>>34660812Misty, Blue, Fantina, Byron, Maylene, Candice, and Volkner are all just people who happen to live in their region and be gym leaders. The Unova leaders all are known and respected for their normal jobs (talking to NPCs) outside of their gym leader positions, kind of like cultural icons. They feel necessary and important for the region outside of the fact that they're gym leaders. Candice is just some random student who happens to be a gym leader and is easily replaceable; no one in Sinnoh would care about her if she wasn't a gym leader. Compare that to Brycen who was a movie star before BW1. People in Unova acknowledge that.
