Victory confirmed by Krystia over my Gym. Indeed, that Gastrodon WAS my nightmare. Mandibuzz was the best matchup, but it turned into a wall match. I thought we were going to run each other out of moves, then you swapped and I followed suit knowing it would be back.
You are also correct about Manectric in that I didn't have a move for it. I really need to put Earthquake on my team; if that had been there, Manectric would have been routinely dealt with in the same fashion that I took out Mega Banette in a single blow earlier this evening. Not having it made that a challenge that was too much.
Then came the epic rematch between the walls about six or eight Pokémon later, with you finally getting the burn on me with Scald. Blowing sand was still lingering about as well and made it hard just for it to stay in, and then of course you swapped in Manectric. I had nowhere to go and that was that. I never got a crit. on Brave Bird, which had that happened in the first meeting of the pair might have led to a different result.
Well played, and a very good match! ^^
To be fair, most Gym Leaders will find a good team and stick with it. The only reason for changing the team is if something is not working against numerous challengers, not against just one. Also, Azumarill was already on my team (see past videos) and was the best choice to battle Sableye, which I noticed in a couple of your videos always led. That made it logical for me to lead with Azumarill. Had I won our match, there might have been a thought in changing the strategy to get rid of Azumarill and Sylveon before sending it out to harass the rest of the team (since Sableye IS weak to Fairy types). In that instance, it can harass literally at will.
The reason for Gym Leaders to be allowed to swap is indeed to allow some routine flexibility if something isn't working in numerous matches. It's not to counter a specific player or Pokémon; if it was, it would be a lot harder. We are under rules for how teams can be changed, and there was discussion about allowing a change every two weeks, but I think it's generally agreed we won't be swapping regularly. If I had not used Azumarill and continued to not use it after our match, then that would be a case for switching against you, and that is what is discouraged. I will still be using my Azumarill, so it is within what is allowed for me to plan to use it first knowing you would start with Sableye. :)
