God, I'm going to miss Byron. Never has a gym leader been such a wonderful blend of both the epic and the psychotic. Him and Wake need to meet, preferably in a cage match, armed with metal chairs, shovels and terrible acting skills.
With the way many Gym Leader's initial pokémon have been swept under the rug this series, I honestly hadn't been expecting anything grand when it came to Bronzor.
Hiding something like that under a carpet probably wouldn't go unoticed anyway.
Anywho, this was a pleasant surprise. Bronzor isn't likely to get much more focus after this I'd wager, so if this is as good as it's gonna get for the heat-resistant mirror, I'm more than content.
Continuing from there, Hiko's battles were very impressive, and it was great to see the little guy pulling off two victories all on it's own, despite it's obvious exhaustion. With all the previous claims about it becoming 'weak' since Shinji callously abandoned it, you can't help but feel smug for being on the ape's side all along. You can tell Iwane’s team must have a lot of fun animating this guy, with all the acrobatics, the rubber-hose arms and different camera angles they got to use.
I was rather surprised that Blaze wasn't activated, especially with that 'cliffhanger' before the commercial break. I'd half expected him to break out the insanity once the pokémon and food ads were done and dusted. I would have at least liked to have seen it against Bastiodon, since that match didn't last too long anyway. It could have been his undoing, the lack of control giving an experieced guy like Byron the advantage, goading Ash to work on getting the ability down pat on Iron Island. Ahh well. C'est la vive.
While I'm not all too fond of Buoysel's incessant usage, fortunately I haven't stooped down to the mindless hate vendetta most forum members seem to have for the fellow. Oh yeah. I’m callin’ you guys out.
I did feel rather sorry for him as his dual-tailed buttocks was served up on a silver platter, with all the trimmings and condiments to boot. I at least expected him to get ONE attack in, but damn, the whipping he took was fast and furious. While it certainly did look painful physically, there didn't seem to be any damage inflicted on the guy's pride. That is, if his willing acceptance of Ash's sympathy was any indication.
But when all is said and done, the sadist in me can’t help but enjoy the occasional clean-sweep. C’mon, Steelix may be a bunch of buttholes by nature and more common than winged rats in Trafalgur Square, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.
Gliscor's fight was quite satisfactory, considering it was it's first proper victory and gym debut. The lack of screech usage to incapacitate Bastiodon was rather disappointing, since it’s something I’d been hoping Ash would take advantage of. But never the less, I did enjoy the rest of this battle's elements.
Gliscor tripping Bastiodon with his tail when he was flat on his stomach, in order to avoid getting hit by another dose of generic energy beam was probably my favourite part. And I was quite fond of Sand Attack being used to sneak behind ol' fort face, before landing that deciding Fire Fang. ‘Boo’ on whoever said it was a crappy technique.
Using the air current produced by an incoming Luster Cannon in order to avoid the very attack was also quick thinking on Ash's part.
Sinnoh is still delivering, and I've got high hopes that this'll be the first series where I've actually enjoyed every Gym. C'mon guys! Don't make an outcast out of Gravy by proving he's a horrible jinx!
Canalave Gym! Steel Battle!
