Byron

"The Man with the Steel Body!"
Byron
Species	Human
Hair color	Burgundg
Eye color	Black
Base	Canalave City
Relatives	Underground Man (father) Roark (son)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Byron is the sixth gym leader of the Sinnoh region who appears as an opponent in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl. He specializes in Steel-type Pokémon.

Background

Byron was a powerful trainer who became gym leader of the Canalave City Pokémon Gym. He had a son named Roark who trained hard to impress him. However, Byron always treated Roark as a child and with low expectations, although he later secretly admitted that part of the reason that they clashed was because Roark had become a man in his own right. Byron had gone as far as to offer a gym leader position to Riley instead of Roark, which Riley declined so that Roark could have a chance. It is unsure if this offer referred to the Oreburgh Gym before Roark became its leader, or to Canalave for the future whenever Byron might step down. Byron was known for his tough nature and often trained at Iron Island. He even spent part of his daily life living on that island and working with Pokémon to mine for iron ore.

In the fourth generation games, he was challenged by Lucas/Dawn. He recognized Roark's Oreburgh gym badge on their person and expressed little surprise that Roark had lost a gym battle. After being defeated by the trainer, he commended their strength by giving them the Mine Badge and TM91: Flash Cannon. Byron resolved to train at Iron Island more in order to contend with this new generation of Pokémon trainers. He could later be found at the house on Iron Island after the player's defeat of the Elite Four. There, he would look back at his treatment of Roark over the years with regret, but he chalked that up to father-son relationships always being tricky. He would reward Lucas/Dawn for listening to his rambling by giving them a Steel Coat.

In Platinum, he could also be challenged to rematches at the Battleground on random days. He would also visit the player's villa on random days, saying that he felt out of place at the villa due to all his time living on Iron Island, but did not think that it compared to his son's place. Byron also spoke highly of Riley, considering him to be mystifying as well as having no idea how old he was. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he could be challenged to rematches at his gym instead, and he could also appear as an opponent at the Battle Tower during both single and double battles. For double battles, he would be paired up with Roark.

Byron reappeared in Black and White 2 as one of the competitors in the Pokémon World Tournament held in Unova. He took part in the Sinnoh Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

Byron uses the following Pokémon for the Gym Challenge in Diamond, Pearl, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:

• Bronzor
• Steelix
• Bastiodon

In Platinum, he uses Magneton instead of Bronzor. In Platinum, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, he uses the following Pokémon for rematches:

• Skarmory
• Magnezone
• Steelix
• Bastiodon
• Aggron
• Empoleon (Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl only)

For matches at the Battle Tower, Byron's Pokémon roster could include Bastidon, Aggron, Moltres, Metagross, Scizor, Pelipper, Heatran and Bronzong.

In Black 2 and White 2, the Pokémon he uses for tournament battles could include Bastiodon, Bronzong, Magnezone, Aggron, Forretress and either Steelix in (in the Sinnoh Leaders Tournament) or Excadrill (in the Wolrd Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments).

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Byron appears in two episodes of the Pokémon anime's Diamond & Pearl series, which chronicle Ash Ketchum's gym battle with him while touching on his relationship with Roark. In the first episode, it was shown that he used to be Oreburgh's gym leader before leaving to Canalave due to his interest in fossils, and he was revealed to have truly cared for Roark by having secretly kept a fossil Roark had given him as a child. The second episode depicted Ash's victorious gym battle against Byron.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Byron appeared in the Diamond/Pearl arc and acted as the overall leader of the Sinnoh gym leaders. He held a meeting with Roark and the Underground Man early in the arc that later turned out to be about his suspicions of Team Galactic, and he later was beaten by Platinum in a gym battle, which impressed him. He also spent some time protecting Professor Rowan and Mr. Berlitz, and he later had to reluctantly call in Volkner as his last resort to train Platinum, Maylene and Candice after they lost to Team Galactic. Byron and his family later dug a tunnel through Mt. Coronet allowing himself and the other gym leaders to attack Team Galactic at Spear Pillar.

Trivia

• His English name is a play on "iron". His Japanese name is Tougan, which is a Japanese word for a wax gourd. This matches his son also being named after a type of gourd.
• He claims that he is uninterested in furniture and prefers digging tools, as well as finding the shapes of Pokémon's fangs and claws to be interesting.