Let's Talk About Pokemon!

Melony or Gordie

Gordie or Melony

This will be my last part of the Sword & Shield version exclusive characters. Today, I'm talking about two gym leaders both of which are exclusive to Sword or Shield depending on which you play.

Melony is one of the older gym leaders you face in the Pokemon series who is exclusive to Pokemon Shield. Melony is the 6th Gym leader of Galar who specializes in Ice type Pokemon. Many title her to be unforgiving and ruthless and this fighting style of hers stems from a falling out she's had with her son.

Gordie is Melony's son and is a Gym Leader exclusive to Pokemon Sword who specializes in the rock typing. He is a social media icon and is very popular in the Galar region. His League Card details how he holds the potential to become the next Galar Champion.

So who do I like more? Gordie or Melony? To be honest, I like them both pretty evenly! It's insanely hard for me to chose who I like more. Unlike my previous parts to this book of which I clearly like one character over the other.

First and Foremost, I absolutely love how Sword & Shield play hand in hand as you don't get Melony & Gordie's full story unless you play both games. Melony loves her son more than anything and she wanted Gordie to specialize in Ice types and take over her Gym as her successor, much like Piers to Marnie. Instead, Gordie didn't want to specialize in ice types. This led to the mother and son to have an escalating battle that ended in their relationship broken beyond repair. How I like to view Sword and Shield is that in Sword, Gordie won the fight between him and his mother & took over his mother's gym changing it into a Rock Gym. In Shield, Melony won the battle and continues to rule as the Ice Type Gym Leader.

I think that these two parallels are so clever and I love it so much!!!

Next, I'll talk about why I love both Melony and Gordie. I cannot choose between them as there's specific things I love about both that equals one another out.

I feel that Melony being the gym leader for Circhester is more fitting. Considering how Melony is an ice type gym leader, and that Circhester is a mountain town home to snow and ice type Pokemon, it seems fitting for her to be here. Furthermore, I love how Melony became as strong of a gym leader as she is due to the falling out with her son causing her to adapt to a more ruthless style. Melony's banter with other gym leaders is also rather cute at times. Kabu talks to Melony, calling her an old timer such as himself, yet she still has youthfulness and the energy of youth. I feel this is low-key flirting lol. Melony also talks to and treats Allister like the son she's never had. It's sadly like empty nest syndrome. So she took in Allister as her own to keep the nest filled but also give Allister the self esteem boost he desperately needs.

I also love Gordie for many reasons. I find it surprising that Gordie is even more of a social media junkie than Raihan. Gordie loves to please and appeal to his fans all the while still being his own self. Oddly enough, it's been mentioned throughout Sword a few times that Gordie is a fan among the ladies. If you pay attention to the staff of his Gym, you realize that all of the staff you battle are young pretty girls. I found that to be a neat little detail. Furthermore, in Gordie's League Card, it details how Gordie, next to Raihan, holds the most potential to beat Leon & become the next Galar Champion and I have to admit, he backs up his own words!!! Besides Raihan, I've never struggled so badly against another gym leader!!! Gordie's first Pokemon, Barbaracle, wiped out half of my team with single hits. Furthermore, Gordie likes to use Stat increasing moves AND his team has variety. Just as much variety as Raihan's team to be honest. This variety in types of Pokemon Gordie utilizes makes him a challenge for anyone facing him. The only thing I especially dislike about Gordie is that he is known as a horrible sore loser. He's such a sore loser he's known to lock himself up in his locker room after losing a match and not talk to anyone.

So what about you? Do you like Gordie or Melony more?