Fire Gym Leader: Brett Downes Interview

Me: Welcome to the show brett

Brett: Thanks, I'm excited about it

Me: Great to hear. So why fire types?

Brett: Well I wasnt always competitive. I use to always play just for fun until my
friend Steve, the water gym leader stomped me out of existence with a team of only
water types. After rubbing this in my face for a long time I decided that I was going
to build a fire team that was going to be good enough to take out his team of water types.

Me: Ah, vengeance. What better reason does one need. Lol would you say fire is your favorite type?

Brett: This is tough. I love Infernape and Darmanitan but I gotta go with Delphox. I
hatched a shiny perfect one a long time ago and it quickly became my favorite member of the team

Me: Ok. So outside of Pokemon any other games?

Brett: I havent been playing many video games right now since my life consists of
living in the gym and work but I'd like to get the new mortal kombat soon since summer is about to start.

Me: That game is awesome. I'll be buying Jason tonight for it. So what all systems do you own?

Brett: Ive got all the modern systems except the wii u. Somehow, the wii u is the only
system I ever play since I play smash at a friend's house once a week

Me: I've been wanting one myself. So how did you come to join the ECPL?

Brett: Steve added me to the group when I was learning how to play. I'm glad he
did. This group has kept me playing pokemon for way longer than I ever played
previous gens before tiring of them

Me: Ok. So would you say Steve is your rival? Or is that title reserved for another?

Brett: If I had a rival it would have to be Alvin. He and I have had some solid matches.
I think he's winning our rivalry 6-5 right now............

Me: He part of the group as well?

Brett: Yeah, I've never actually met him. Just another guy from the ECPL.

Me: Ah. Blaine and Flannery are the only two fire gym leaders out of the entire series.
How do you think you stack up to them?

Brett: As a gym leader i would wipe the floor with them. As for how I stack uo to them as people?
I'll never be pretty as Blaine or have wild, untame-able facial hair like Flannery so I'm obviously
not on their level in that regard

Me: I think you mean that the other way round. Lmao. What would you say is the hardest aspect being the fire gym leader?

Brett: Maaan, I mean what I said!
And that would be not having access to wide guard to prevent rock slide shenanigans.
It used to be a lack of speed until talonflame and mega houndoom hit the scene

Me: Ah, now there's something worth talking about. From what I've been told your
Talonflame has been running roughshod on damn near everyone. What move set you keep
on that thing? Or is that a trade secret?

Brett: I don't mind talking about it in the least. For one, I never choice band my
Talonflame. My main one had Flare blitz, brave bird, tailwind and quick guard. Quick
guard on talonflame is key. He either absorbs fake outs, doubles the team's speed,
gets a priority brave bird or launches a flare blitz in the sun. He's nasty to deal
with for the first two to three turns at the very least. I also have another physical
build that I put overheat on instead of flare blitz to surprise people when they think
they can wall my beloved bird.

Me: Wow. That damn things made to kill. So lets address the elephant in the room.
Lets talk about D-Day. The mass Poke-Genocide. What exactly happened?

Brett: It haunts me to this day.
I bought myself a fancy 3DS case and out all my games in them, figuring that they would
be safe and I'd never misplace them. Well I was in my basement one night in January and
was super sick so I passed out without checking on my very hyperactive dog. I woke up in
the morning realizing that its been hours since I checked on her. I figured at the worst
she may have torn up a paper towel roll or something insignificant since she's never grabbed
my stuff before. I came upstairs and noticed my case wasn't where I left it and was in the
center of the living room. I flipped it open and saw that no games were in the slots. I looked
up in horror and saw grey plastic shards all over my living room. It was at that point the
music from the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's timeless classic Psycho started playing in my head.
Everything was obliterated except for omega ruby itself which had several tooth marks on it but was
still in one piece. Emergency surgery was attempted by the benevolent normal gym leader to no avail.
6 shinies and about 40-50 competitive pokemon died that day
‪#‎neverforget‬

Me: Did you dropped to your knees and scream to the heavens?

Brett: Like Hugh Jackman in every movie he's ever done

Me: Have you recovered from that yet or still in mourning?

Brett: I'll never get over the loss of those shinies but from the ashes we will rise anew.
Born again from the flame like the mighty phoenix we will strike at the throats of our enemies
Then we'll take a break for lunch. Then get right back to rising from the ashes and striking at our enemies

Me: Namely your dog......

Brett: It was my own fault for not checking on a 1 year old dog for so many hours. Haha

Me: Eh, you can only do but so much.
So any hobbies outside of video games?

Brett: Well, after about a 15 year hiatus I recently picked up magic the gathering again
but other than that my personal time is spent in the gym

Me: Ugh, the gym. Any animes ?

Brett: Yup, I'll always love Naruto despite the ridiculous amount of fillers but I also
love titles like Akame Ga Kill, seven deadly sins, Magi and full metal alchemist brotherhood

Me: Just finished akame ga kill. Been watched seven deadly sins (hoping for a second season).
Fma brotherhood is always gonna be a favorite for me.
So I take it you've read the Naruto manga?

Brett: Im almost positive that there will be a second season for seven deadly sins

Me: I'll cross my fingers

Brett: Actually, no. I dont know how it ends so no spoilers. Haha

Me: Oh. Whew that was close. Lol ok so have you watched sword art online?

Brett: I have. I got halfway through the first season of SAO and havent been able to push
through it any farther. I haven't been a fan of the fight scenes I've seen on it.
Im sure I'll get around to finishing it someday though

Me: Ok. Well seeing as you've watched akame ga kill, how did you feel about the end of
the show? I was personally messed up over it. (Tatsumi you idiot. Would've let Esdeath
take me in a heartbeat).

Brett: Im still emotionally processing half the deaths I've seen in that show. And I
thought it was messed up what esdeath did to both of their bodies at the end.
He wouldn't have wanted that!

Me: Man fuck what he wanted!!!

Brett: Lmao

Me: Esdeath was fine. Crazy, blood thirsty, and borderline dominatrix, but that made her all the more sexy

Brett: Hey, you're not wrong. Definitely more attractive than the girl he actually loved.
Who looks about 12. Haha

Me: I think the deaths that shocked me the most were Sheele and Bols. Cause after Sheele
died it was just pure fuckery from there. I felt like each episode after that I should've spun a wheel to see who bites it next
Oh and Lubbs death. Sweet Jesus man

Brett: I didnt think Lubba would die when he did
He never even got to hook up with the boss lady
Thats the real tragedy

Me: I know. I'm think Tatsumi's got this. He'll save him. Then they skewered him
smh
But she carried his goggles around at the end

Brett: He probably had my favorite weapon in the show

Me: I think i preferred incursio
Speaking of which, there's a lot of armors in anime. What would you say are some armors you would wear?
For instance, I would have to go with the Guyver and Balance Breaker Red Dragon Emperor Armor (from HighSchool DxD)

BrettI: can't really name any except for Incursio and Grand Chariot because of how few animes I've seen.
I thought Grand Chariot looked cooler so I'd pick that one

Me: See my only problem with that was the back of it. Wtf were those supposed to be? Windshields?
Also you should watch highschool dxd. Hilarious and awesome
More fan service them Akame ga kill
Any games you looking forward to this summer?

Brett: Video games? I barely keep up with the scene anymore so I dont even know what's coming out.

Me: Ok. What do you do for a living?

Brett: I teach special education over in howard county in Maryland

Me: Oh wow. Ok the next generation of Pokemon could be announced at E3 or during this
summer. What are you looking for in terms of a fire starter?

Brett: No more fire/fighting. I want a new dual typing. Im kind of hoping that they do
something a little different with the three starters and have each of their final forms
also include the type that is strong against it.
The fire type evolves into fire/water.
The water type evolves into water/grass
The grass type evolves into grass/fire

Me: I could see that. So recently, hurricane Robyn was routed by the Dragon Republic.
How do you see yourself dealing with her team once they come for your badge, mainly her Blastoise?

Brett: Ah, Robyn. She's been super helpful in grtting me to finish rebuilding my team.
I've heard she's turning heads with her league challenge so im hoping for a good match from her.
I've never had any trouble with blastoise or mega blastoise in the past with the sun and solar
beam being as strong a precense on my team as it is but she sounds pretty resourceful so I'm
looking forward to seeing what she does about my team when we eventually face off

Me: If you found yourself in a videogame like world, what would be your melee weapon of choice?

Brett: Definitely that digital wrist knife thing from mass effect.

Me: Ok. Up close and personal. Voltron vs the Dino Megazord from Power Rangers Season 1. Who wins?

Brett: Dinobots beat catbots. That's science. Can't argue with science

Me: Lmao. Ok Grimlock vs Beast Wars Megatron?

Brett: Beast wars megatron simply because his arm is the head of a t-rex

Me: Blasphemy!!!
Grimlock!!!
Moving on, are there any fire types you would like to see get a mega evolution?

Brett: Sorry. If I could live my life with a t-rex head as an arm I would
Hmmmm, definitely mega rapidash and mega arcanine

Me: I think there's an anime character from ultimate muscle who's like that
Shit. That's actually kinda scary to think about. Mega arcanine? Smh wouldn't
want to fight it. Do you use any megas in your gym?

Brett: My main team runs mega charizard Y and occasionally mega blaziken
One of my alternate teams runs mega houndoom and my fire trick room team runs mega camerupt

Me: Mega camerupt just looks angry. What would you say your most challenging gym defense was?

Brett: Only 3 people have gotten my badge so far. The most brutal loss I ever took was at
the hands of Bradley and his accursed choiced diggersby. My most challenging victories came
from the times that Michael challenged me for my badge before finally getting it. We had a
lot of close ones before he beat me

Me: I've heard a lot of people curse diggersby. Lol who would you say is your ace up your sleeve?

Brett: If something isn't dying and I need it dead I send in the 1 of diamonds. Good ole' Darmanitan

Me: I think you're the only person I know that uses that thing.
What do you like to snack on when you game?

Brett: I've been on the no bread no potatoes thing for a long time now so unfortunately I can't snack on junk food anymore.
Back in the day though it used to be spicy Doritos

Me: No junk food? Smh can't do it. Lol what do you prefer to drink?

Brett: Water.
The fire gym leader drinking nothing but water. The irony is so delicious

Me: Ugh. I hear water and I just think recycled piss
Ok a few more questions Brett and we can call it a night

Brett: Sounds good

Me: So many members of the ECPL want to see Talonflame plucked, deep fried, tossed in
buffalo sauce and served with blue cheese. Do you have a hand in their hate for the poor creature?

Brett: I'm sure my Talonflame hasn't done itself any favors in the old popularity department with
how dickish it is but people have hated that thing since it first came out and people saw it its
hidden ability was. The thing has about a million different ways that it can be played successfully

Me: Are there any Pokemon that you would like see eviscerated?

Brett: Besides primal kyogre?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Thick fat snorlax
Diggersby
Mega kang

Me: Lol ok so a challenger enters your gym. What music plays when you enter to face them? And what music plays during the fight?

Brett: I don't know the actual names of these songs but Hot Blooded by Foreigner
Disco inferno by whoever does disco inferno.
And anything else that would have obnoxious puns referencing to fire

Me: Lmao. If you could have any song play when you enter a room?

Brett: Or I would just put that 5 seconds of "love the way you lie" by Eminem where rihanna
says "you're just going to stand there and watch me burn" on a loop endlessly

Me: Lmao. That alone would drive one insane

Brett: Any song you say? That would have to be the timeless classic ballad "keelhauled" by alestorm

Me: Gonna have to listen to that one. What was your first Pokemon?

Brett: First time I ever played I picked squirtle
Don't judge me! I was naive and didnt know the ways of the world!

Me: Lol hey that was my first one to. If you could use any legendary for competitive play,
what would it be and why?

Brett: Heatran because he'd work well on my flash fire team

Me: What would you like to see happen with the next generation of Pokemon? We have mega and fairy now, so what could be next?

Brett: That's a super tough question. An extensive world map that lets you cross back to
other regions and get more badges like gold and silver did. But as far as permanently
changing gameplay? Certain Pokemon having three types? A free for all battle format with 4-6
trainers? Both of those ideas are probably stupid but I can't imagine a lot else they can do
to add to it. I think this time around they'll probably focus on adding more Pokemon since
they didn't add too many in gen 6. Gen 5 and 6 did a lot for fire types so I'm looking forward
to seeing what gen 7 can do for them

Me: True. However adding too many will kill the balance of the game. But i digress. thanks for
being on the show and when do you think the people see the gates of hell (aka fire gym) reopen?

Brett: Probably in a month when things start to settle down at my job and I can hunker down
and finish the last of my breeding. Luckily there isn't a lot of the gym that is left to be bred

Me: ok. well thanks again. good night

Brett: Thank you! It was awesome being interviewed