Bronius: The Team Plasma Sage Who Ends Up Switching Sides

He never sends a Pokémon into battle himself, and yet he ends up agreeing with the one who beat him. Bronius sits on the council of Seven Sages that oversees Team Plasma. In Black and White, the player first runs into him in Castelia City, paired with another council member, then meets him again very late in Chargestone Cave. Between the two scenes, the character goes from arrogance to confession.

Contents

• The second sage placed in the player's path
• Chargestone Cave: he gives orders, he doesn't battle
• The turnaround, TM69 and the arrest
• An animated flashback, and a manga Amoonguss
• Bronius at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The second sage placed in the player's path

Unova's organization relies on a council of Seven Sages, and the story reveals them one at a time. Bronius is the second to appear, in Castelia City, and he doesn't show up alone: Rood is there at the same moment, which makes this scene the game's only encounter with a pair of sages.

What amuses him is the address chosen for the hideout: the group had set up shop a few steps from a Gym, right under the Trainers' noses. He savors the joke as much as he regrets that it was uncovered so soon, and his annoyance fits in one remark: the hideout's cover is already blown.

He's heard once more before the epilogue, in the castle of N, where he toes the official line without a moment's hesitation. No one, he promises, will derail what their king has dreamed of. At this point in the story, Bronius is still speaking for a side he believes is winning.

Chargestone Cave: he gives orders, he doesn't battle

The second round is saved for the very long haul: it only takes place once the player has entered the Hall of Fame. The sage is waiting in Chargestone Cave and starts by recalling their two previous encounters — the clash in Castelia City, where his side hadn't even slowed the boy down, and the trial that Ghetsis had put him through in these very tunnels.

For him, the announced battle isn't one at all. Two Team Plasma Grunts step forward in his place, and they're the ones the player has to defeat: Bronius keeps the marching orders and the insults for himself, calling his opponent a worm while demanding to see what he's really worth.

The Grunts' lines carry a good part of the scene. One of them realizes, as he loses, that he's facing the Trainer who brought down their king; another, since cast out of the group, half-blames the player for her new situation before turning the argument around — as a former member, she might just as well see herself as a beginner Trainer. Along the way, she attributes the player's strength to a desire to protect the world, forged on the road with his Pokémon.

🔥 Unova's characters fit on a shelf too: see the section Pokémon figures.

The turnaround, TM69 and the arrest

His men's defeat has an effect on the sage that nothing foreshadowed. What he takes away from the exchange is a perfectly ordinary image: Pokémon working hard to look after their Trainer, so common that it no longer surprises anyone. He thanks his victor for reminding him of it and hands him TM69, Rock Polish.

The reasoning turns him squarely against his own side. The king's Pokémon, wounded, also wear themselves out for their master — and the sage merely asks the player whether his words make sense, which already sounds like a verdict on Team Plasma.

Looker arrests him on the spot and takes him to International Police headquarters to continue his confessions. Bronius then pleads on behalf of his subordinates, asking that they be forgiven, then makes a commitment that completes his turnaround: he will relentlessly denounce anyone who harms these creatures. The detective takes stock right away — Ghetsis aside, four sages are still at large.

An animated flashback, and a manga Amoonguss

The anime grants him only a flashback, inserted into the Black & White series. In it, the sages attend a ceremony held at N's Castle, before the eyes of the young king and Ghetsis: a court scene, not a huddle in a hideout.

Reshiram puts an end to it by bursting in: the Legendary attacks the castle and sets it ablaze. Except for Ghetsis, all the sages panic and run — the image conveys the internal hierarchy better than any dialogue. Along the way, the move to animation costs them their look, since they appear noticeably younger and far less distinctive than in the games.

Bronius then turns up again in brief cameos: in an episode of Pokémon Generations, when N's Castle rises from the ground at the site of the Unova Pokémon League, then in a Pokémon Evolutions flashback devoted to the king's coronation. It's the manga adaptation that finally gives him a Pokémon of his own, an Amoonguss with the Effect Spore Ability — the only creature the record ties to the sage by name.

Bronius at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Bronius in Pokémon Black and White?
  One of the Seven Sages who oversee Team Plasma. He's the second one the player meets, in Castelia City, alongside Rood, and the only one to appear paired with another sage.
• Does Bronius battle the player himself?
  No. During their second encounter, in Chargestone Cave, he sends two Team Plasma Grunts in his place and simply gives the order. They're the ones the player has to beat.
• What item does Bronius give the player?
  TM69, Rock Polish. He hands it over after his men's defeat, at the moment he admits that Pokémon fight of their own accord to look after their Trainer.
• What happens to Bronius after his defeat?
  Looker arrests him in the cave and takes him to International Police headquarters. The sage asks forgiveness for his subordinates and swears to denounce anyone who harms Pokémon from now on. Ghetsis aside, four sages are still nowhere to be found at that point.
• Does Bronius have a Pokémon team?
  The games don't give him one: he has his Grunts do the battling. Only the manga adaptation links him to a creature, an Amoonguss with the Effect Spore Ability.

In short

Bronius holds a special place in the gallery of the Seven Sages: he never loses a battle, since he never fights one, and yet he's the one whose mind is changed by his men's defeat. The character doesn't renounce his cause, he shifts its target: after calling for the liberation of Pokémon in a king's name, he vows to go after anyone who mistreats them, his former companions included. The sage leaves the stage taking Team Plasma's own argument with him and turning it against them.