Pokemon Brilliant Diamond - 0 Exp Part 12: Byron

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MoogleBoss

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Published on June 19, 2022 2:50:17 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwB8CwRJ-YY

Game:

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (2021)

Duration: 3:56

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Specialising in steel-type Pokemon, Byron is of course the father of Roark, explaining the imaginative names the two gym leaders have. Perhaps they are part of a much bigger family of similarly named trainers in the games? That would explain a lot.

Byron leads with Bronzor, his only unevolved mon among the three dual-types forming his team. With Levitate reducing the effectiveness of plays like employing that lv. 40 Quagsire we've got, we're limited to trying to exploit the weaknesses to fire, dark and ghost, which aren't exactly the easiest types to find users of. Skuntank can recall Flamethrower (already available via Veilstone anyhow), but may as well attack it with STAB Bite. It's not a very good counter though, as the next two mons switching in both have Sturdy. As the Steelix you catch in the wild on Iron Island already knows Stealth Rock, it's a great lead to break Sturdy, with Crunch being a satisfactory answer to Bronzor's typing and bulk. Crunch, followed by Screech and another Crunch, is the most painless way of taking out Bronzor without triggering Hyper Potion use.

Bronzor may use Sandstorm and Trick Room besides trying to attack with Flash Cannon and confuse Steelix with Confuse Ray, the latter making held Persim Berry a very sensible choice during the preparation process. Pelipper's arrival will cancel Sandstorm, but Trick Room may well still linger when Byron's own Steelix switches in. It's got Thunder Fang as one of its coverage moves, but I never did find out on any of my attempts how much damage it can deal to Pelipper exactly: Steelix's priority appears to be in using Sandstorm every single time. With Mystic Water, Pelipper doesn't even necessitate Choice Specs to take out Steelix with a single Water Pulse with Drizzle no longer active. Not so surprising, it can be argued, when its special defence is rather low.

Bastiodon is Byron's signature mon. Unlike the Platinum variant with Metal Burst, this one is completely safe to deal with. The sole challenge lies in taking out quickly enough when it's got Iron Defence to bolster its physical bulk as its health is restored with Sitrus Berry and potentially potion(-s?). A poisoned Machamp with Guts, the same one that OHKO'd Mismagius in the previous gym battle versus Fantina, can deal just enough damage with Low Kick (BP of 100), no boosting item required. In this recording, Trick Room was used a little late and remained active, meaning I was facing some risk of the matchup getting stalled out by Iron Defence preceding Machamp's turn. Revenge strikes a little harder when taking punishment (120 BP) but demands the use of a damaging move on that same turn.

Machamp ends up OHKOing with Low Kick, which is actually an achievement considering the level discrepancy and the target's bulk. Only two gyms remain now.

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