Lenora is the leader of the Nacrene City Gym. She specializes in the Normal-Type. In Pokémon Black and White, She uses a level 18 Herdier, which knows Leer, Bite, Take Down and Retaliate, and her ace, a level 20 Watchog. This has the moves Hypnosis, Retaliate, Crunch and Leer.
Upon defeating her, she will give the player the Basic Badge as well as TM67 Retaliate and 2400 Poké dollars
Tips for beating Lenora[]
Lenora's Black/White sprite
While Retaliate may seem nothing special at first, simply being a 70 base power Normal-Type move, which despite the STAB boost, is nothing too dangerous, the secondary function of the move is terrifying to deal with. This is due to the fact that if it is used the turn after a teammate was knocked out, the move's base power doubles to a whopping 140. This is a power you would not normally see until the endgame and Watchog happily will throw its STAB base 140 power attack at you as punishment for taking down Herdier. While this is terrifying, Pokémon such as your starter (if evolved - and seriously it should be at this point), and some of the options accessible in Pinwheel Forest can withstand it, just watch what you send in against it (Also if you somehow manage to force Watchog in to deal with it first, Herdier also has Retaliate off a similar attack stat).
Her team is surprisingly strategic for being the second gym leader you face, with Intimidate and Hypnosis being legitimate problems for you to work around here. The fact that both of her Pokémon carry Dark-Type coverage and Leer prevents Roggenrola from completely walling them to boot. Your response should be similarly thought out. Bring your own Herdier to nerf her Pokémon's attack stats, have anything intended to fight Watchog carry the Chesto Berries Cheren gave you, maybe even invest in a few X items in order to buff up your own party.
Thankfully the game does give you a few options in order to deal with this gym, instead of the literally one last time. Not only do those who chose Tepig at the beginning have access to the relatively bulky Pignite packing STAB Arm Thrust, Pinwheel Forest exterior provides access to Throh, Sawk and Timburr in order to relieve the pressure on your Pokémon. Additionally, Roggenrola is incredibly bulky for this point in the game, and has the offensive presence to not just slowly chip its targets down. As a final note, Rock Smash, freshly rid of its HM status, is accessible with a little exploring and grants a wide range of Pokémon an additional way of attacking, the 50% chance to drop defense being the icing on top.
Good Pokémon to Use[]
Throh: Pretty self-explanatory, high physical stats and access to STAB super effective Vital Throw lets this Pokémon flatten the gym without trouble.
Sawk: Also pretty obvious, high attack, Sturdy to prevent a stray critical hit killing it and access to STAB Fighting-type moves allow for a similar experience as with Throh.
Pignite: While not as powerful or as bulky as the aforementioned Fighting-Types, your starter is still capable of engaging the powerful Normal-Types opposing you through STAB Arm Thrust, just give it a Chesto Berry and maybe an X Attack or Defense to make things easier.
Dewott: While Dewott may seem an unorthodox pick here, the sheer power behind STAB Razor Shell, plus its 1 in 2 chance of dropping the target's defense is more than enough to make up for it being a neutral hit. Additionally Focus Energy potentially allows for critical hit based mayhem, negating Herdier's Intimidate, just remember that Watchog will likely be faster, so pack a Chesto Berry and maybe an X Defense to take Retaliate better.
Servine: Likewise, Servine brings its own tricks to the table here, being relatively unfazed by Intimidate as a result of Leaf Tornado being a special attack. Growth in combination with a couple of X Defenses will turn the Grass-Type into an unbreakable wall of death, and due to it actually being fast, there's a decent chance it might not need to use the Chesto Berry.
Roggenrola: high physical bulk, access to Iron Defense to push it even further and a surprisingly good attack stat to use Headbutt, Rock Smash and STAB Rock Blast with makes this small critter a solid answer in the event you did not get a Fighting-type. Sturdy is also nice, as mentioned with Sawk.
Herdier: High physical attack and access to Intimidate makes her Herdier a pain to deal with, but nothing is preventing you from bringing your own to fight for the same reasons. Just be careful of Take Down's recoil, particularly after Watchog comes in (although it can come in on switch against Watchog and then immediately switch out to weaken the incoming Retaliate).
Watchog: It says something about the strength of Lenora's team when both Pokémon included are solid options for handling it. While your own Watchog will not have the sheer offensive power that her one does, you can still abuse Hypnosis and STAB Tackle against both of her Pokémon, maybe even go for Crunch fishing for defense drops. Realistically though, Watchog is most likely going to be serving as a support Pokémon here for the rest of your team, but it is not terrible if forced to fight.
