>>53384846By the time you battle her gym, I think it's implied that her specialty switch from rock to steel was recent? So she didn't have a ton of to work with at the time, or had time to train up a bunch of new steel Pokemon (her Onix just evolving, and the 2 Magnemites being from the route nearby). That's why she went to train in Sinnoh, and her HGSS rematch and PWT teams are more advanced (that's my headcannon anyway).
