Gliscor, use X-Scissor! And attack it straight on!
—Ash to Gliscor
Original Title: Mio Gym Match! Steel Battle!!
Original Airdate: December 25, 2008
US Airdate: May 30, 2009
The day has come for Ash's gym battle against Byron, with Roark acting as the referee. Byron's Steel-types are masters of defense so Ash must find a way to break through, which proves even more difficult than anticipated.
Tropes
- Call-Back: Roark recognizes Ash's Chimchar as the one Paul used in his gym battle against him.
- Kill It with Fire: Byron's Pokémon are weak to Fire-type moves.
- The Glomp: Gliscor does this to Ash after winning against Byron's Bastiodon.
- Scissors Cuts Rock: Subverted; not only does Byron's Bronzor have Heatproof, which halves the power of Fire-type moves, normally super-effective, it also knows Rain Dance to weaken them further. However, Ash's Chimchar still beats it, though it takes tremendous effort.
- Played completely straight in Steelix's battle with Buizel which is a complete Curb-Stomp Battle in the steel snake's favor.
- Stone Wall: Their offense is nothing to sneer at but Byron's Pokemon, being Steel-types, have especially strong defenses.
- The Worf Effect: Buizel (who knocked out Crasher Wake's Quagsire and Floatzel and Fantina's Gengar and tied with Maylene's Lucario) is beaten by Byron's Steelix without doing anything to the Iron Snake Pokémon.
