For a moment, the chat went completely silent.
Then it exploded.
[NightOwl99: She…
she won?]
[DamageCalcNerd: WHAT THE HELL?!
She actually cleared it on the second serious attempt?!]
[MechanicsGeek: I get it now.
Moving the Oran Berry was specifically for that sequence.
Poison plus the earlier chip damage pushed Archen below half on Reflect’s last turn, triggering Defeatist, which let Torchic survive after the Berry recovery.]
[SpreadsheetMage: Double switch to force the favorable matchup, bait Tirtouga into Shell Smash, sacrifice Dottler so Reflect doesn’t waste turns, calculate the Berry recovery plus both damage reductions so Torchic survives by a hair, then let poison finish Archen at the end…
What the hell.]
[KeyboardWarrior: Is she REALLY a total beginner?
She wasn’t just pretending not to understand our explanations earlier, right?]
[DownBadSinceBirth: Streamer, you’ve earned my respect.
But you’re still nowhere near the Cynthia in my heart.
Unless you secretly send me a few nudes, I refuse to admit you’re actually talented!]
…
Messages flooded across the screen faster than Cynthia could read them.
Felix wandered over as well.
When he saw the victory screen, he raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise.
“Huh.
You cleared it already?”
He had honestly expected her to spend at least another hour stuck on Roxanne.
Then again, now that he thought about it, this version of the Rustboro Gym did seem easier than the nastiest version he remembered.
Roxanne was supposed to have things like Cradily and Cranidos.
Those were the real nightmares.
Cynthia noticed Felix beside her and turned her head, giving him a small nod.
“Yes.
To be honest, it was surprisingly difficult for a game.”
“Archen’s typing and damage caught me off guard, but once I thought through its Ability and worked poison into the battle, there was still a way to break through.”
Felix rubbed his chin.
“I see.
Guess it’s still too easy, then…
I’ll see if I can put Cradily and Cranidos back into her team.”
This version of Pokémon: Ultimate Emerald clearly was not exactly the one he remembered.
And for someone as naturally gifted at battling as Cynthia, maybe this setup really was too easy.
He wondered whether he had any authority to alter the games installed on the café computers.
Could he somehow change the version himself?
Cynthia stared at him.
‘What does he mean, too easy?’
She had never said it was easy!
And Cradily?
Cranidos?
Those were two more Pokémon she had never heard of.
More importantly…
‘What does “put them back” mean?’
Wasn’t she already playing the hardest version?
Before Cynthia could ask, the chat went wild again.
[OfficeDrone88: Wait, she really IS streaming from an internet café?
She dressed up as Cynthia just to sit in a café and play Emerald?!]
[SocialAnxietyMax: That’s insane.
I’d die of embarrassment.
Girl has negative social anxiety.]
[ChaosEnjoyer: OWNER!
If you can hear us, make the game harder!]
[PainConnoisseur: Do it!
Modify it!
I want to see what happens!]
…
Cynthia gave the screen a helpless smile.
Why did all these people seem so eager to watch her suffer?
“If I get the chance, I suppose I can try it.”
Another cluster of messages soon appeared.
[RankedAddict: After watching how fast she’s improving, I’m starting to think the streamer has actual talent.
Ever thought about taking that talent to competitive Pokémon?]
[LadderGoblin: Competitive?
Forget that.
Send her into Scarlet/Violet ranked battles.
That’s where the real nonsense lives.]
[CasualViewer22: Stop bullying her.
She probably doesn’t even recognize half the legendaries yet.
Throw her into legendary formats and she’ll get folded.]
Cynthia glanced at those comments and frowned slightly.
Competitive Pokémon?
Scarlet/Violet ranked battles?
Legendary formats?
She still had no idea what they were talking about.
By now, however, she was used to the viewers casually dropping terminology that made absolutely no sense to her.
She stopped worrying about it and returned her attention to the game.
On-screen, Roxanne was delivering her post-battle dialogue.
She handed over the Stone Badge along with the TM for Cut, explaining that the move could be used outside battle to clear certain small trees blocking the road.
Once Cynthia received the Badge, the screen briefly paused.
Then several Pokémon began leveling up in rapid succession.
[Shroomish grew to Lv.
17!]
[Dottler grew to Lv.
17!]
[Torchic grew to Lv.
18!]
[What?
Torchic is evolving!]
Brilliant white light suddenly enveloped Torchic.
Its tiny body stretched taller, its claws became more pronounced, and the little chick-like silhouette rapidly transformed into a stronger, upright form.
[Congratulations!
Your Torchic evolved into Combusken!]
[Combusken wants to learn Double Kick, but it already knows four moves.]
[Delete an old move to make room for Double Kick?]
Cynthia read the move description and thought for a moment before replacing Tackle.
‘If I’d had Double Kick before the Gym battle, that probably would’ve made things considerably easier.’
She opened Combusken’s summary page and gave a satisfied nod.
Its stats had improved across the board, and it had gained the Fighting type as well.
Evolution really had made it significantly stronger.
That feeling was always satisfying.
Watching a Pokémon grow stronger and undergo a transformation was one of the great joys of being a Trainer.
Her gaze then shifted toward the other two members of her party, and she found herself wondering about them as well.
When would Shroomish evolve?
And Dottler…
A Pokémon with such powerful support capabilities could still evolve again?
…
After leaving the Gym, Cynthia began pushing through the story at a much faster pace.
Almost immediately, the Devon employee had another package stolen by a Team Aqua Grunt.
Cynthia chased the thief to a cave northwest of Rustboro, defeated him, and rescued an old man’s Wingull along the way.
Once she returned to Rustboro, the Devon employee brought her to the company president, who rewarded her with a device that allowed every Pokémon in her party to share experience gained from battles.
That effectively multiplied her training efficiency by as much as six, which was obviously welcome.
While exploring the city, Cynthia also followed the chat’s directions and obtained an item called the Quick Claw.
She even stopped by the Pokémon Trainers’ School, where information written on the blackboard explained exactly how status conditions worked in the game.
Burn dealt damage over time and reduced physical Attack.
Paralysis lowered Speed and carried a chance of preventing a Pokémon from acting.
Poison dealt fixed damage every turn…
The mechanics were simplified and more rigid than reality, but the underlying ideas were similar enough to what she already knew.
After healing at the Pokémon Center, Cynthia retraced her route and prepared to head toward the next city.
She had barely taken a few steps when her character suddenly stopped moving.
A stern-looking boy stood in the middle of the road, blocking her path.
A dialogue box appeared.
His expression was cold and arrogant, and what he said was even less pleasant.
[“Weak Pokémon become worthless the moment they lose.
Someone who travels around carrying useless trash like you wouldn’t understand what real strength means.”]
[“What do you say?
Think you can handle a battle?
I’ll show you what real strength looks like.”]
Cynthia’s eyebrows immediately drew together.
‘This boy…’
How could a Trainer talk about Pokémon like that?
Before she could dwell on it, the game threw her straight into battle.
[Pokémon Trainer Paul challenged you!]
Cynthia’s expression sharpened as she immediately shifted into battle mode.
Paul’s lead Pokémon was a humanoid Pokémon wearing what looked like boxing gloves.
[Paul sent out Makuhita!
Lv.
17]
Cynthia relaxed slightly.
Finally, something she recognized.
Makuhita was primarily a physical attacker, so Cynthia barely hesitated before sending out Dottler with the intention of setting Reflect.
Then flames suddenly flickered across Makuhita’s body.
[Makuhita was burned by its Flame Orb!]
Cynthia frowned.
It deliberately carried an item that burned itself?
She had just reviewed the game’s status mechanics.
Burn steadily drained health and cut a Pokémon’s physical Attack in half.
Why would anyone intentionally inflict that on their own Pokémon?
She did not have long to wonder.
Flames gathered around Makuhita’s fist before it lunged forward and slammed Dottler with a blazing punch.
[Makuhita used Fire Punch!]
[It’s super effective!]
Dottler’s HP bar disappeared instantly.
[Dottler fainted!]
Cynthia stared.
How was the attack still that powerful?
Makuhita’s Attack was supposed to have been cut in half by its burn, and Fire Punch did not even receive a same-type bonus.
Was type advantage alone really enough to one-shot Dottler?
She sent out Combusken next and selected Double Kick.
Combusken struck twice in rapid succession, knocking away roughly two-thirds of Makuhita’s HP.
Cynthia’s eyes brightened.
Good.
Evolution had clearly improved Combusken’s combat potential considerably.
Then Makuhita pulled back both fists.
[Makuhita used Force Palm!]
Combusken’s HP bar vanished.
[Combusken fainted!]
Cynthia stared at the screen.
“…??????”
…
With Dottler knocked out before it could set Reflect and two members of her team already gone, there was little point continuing.
Her last Pokémon was Shroomish, which also had a poor matchup against Fire Punch.
Cynthia immediately decided to restart.
She did not reload straight away, however.
Instead, she stared thoughtfully at the darkened screen.
Her instincts told her that Makuhita’s abnormal damage had something to do with its burn.
She glanced toward the chat.
Sure enough, several useful comments had already appeared.
[BuildEnjoyer: Ah yes, Guts + Flame Orb.
Here we go.]
[OldSaveFile: Paul’s actually running a pretty standard set.]
[DamageCalcNerd: Wait, Force Palm one-shot a Combusken one level higher?
That’s still ridiculous.]
[MechanicsGeek: Guts will do that.
Fifty percent Attack boost is nasty.]
[GuideReader: Streamer still looks confused.
Somebody explain Guts.]
[TeacherModeOn: My time has come.]
…
The viewers quickly explained the Ability.
Guts ignored the Attack reduction normally caused by burn and instead increased the Pokémon’s Attack by fifty percent while it had a status condition.
Cynthia blinked.
‘There’s an Ability like that?’
No wonder Makuhita was deliberately carrying a Flame Orb.
So the burn was not a drawback at all.
It was activating an offensive boost.
Now the question was how to handle it.
Cynthia began thinking seriously.
Her strategy depended heavily on getting Reflect up, but Makuhita’s damage was so high that Dottler could not survive long enough to establish it.
Perhaps she could give Dottler the Quick Claw and gamble on it activating so she could set Reflect first?
As she considered the idea, she glanced at the chat again.
[JustJoined123: Just got here.
She fighting Paul?]
[WeekendGamer: Yep.
Thought they removed him, but apparently he only shows up after the Gym.]
[AnimeRewatchGuy: Paul’s being an ass again.
Classic.]
[MetaSlave: Streamer, go catch yourself a budget Incineroar.
Makes this fight way easier.]
“Budget…
Incineroar?”
Cynthia repeated the bizarre phrase before she could stop herself.
The chat immediately started explaining without waiting for her to ask.
[MechanicsGeek: Poochyena!
It’s basically discount Incineroar for early game.
Catch one with Run Away—when it evolves into Mightyena, it gets Intimidate.
Just switching in drops the opponent’s Attack by one stage.]
[SpreadsheetMage: And grab a Diglett with Arena Trap while you’re at it.
Stops enemies from switching, it’s immune to Electric moves, and it handles Paul’s Elekid really well.
Still useful later too.]
Intimidate.
Arena Trap.
If Makuhita’s overwhelming damage came from its physical Attack, then lowering that stat the moment Mightyena entered the field would already make a significant difference.
Add Reflect on top of that…
Could Makuhita still hit nearly as hard?
“I see…”
Cynthia quickly pulled out her notebook and wrote down the two Abilities and the Pokémon that carried them.
Then she immediately headed for the grass.
Catching them went smoothly.
Before long, she had obtained a Poochyena with Run Away and a Diglett with Arena Trap.
What followed was considerably less exciting.
Grinding.
Cynthia trained both Pokémon up to Level 18 in preparation for the rematch.
Along the way, Poochyena evolved into Mightyena, exactly as the viewers had promised.
However, Cynthia also noticed another problem.
Leveling was becoming noticeably slower.
The current level cap was already 22, yet gaining levels now required far more time than before.
Defeating Pokémon significantly weaker than her own awarded sharply reduced experience.
If she wanted to keep improving her team efficiently, she would need to reach the next city soon.
On the bright side, the shared experience meant Combusken had already reached Level 20 and learned another move along the way.
Aerial Ace.
“This should be enough.”
Cynthia took a slow breath and returned to the road.
The scene once again froze as Paul stepped into her path.
The battle began.
Makuhita appeared.
This time, Cynthia’s lead was Mightyena, standing proudly on her side of the field.
[Mightyena’s Intimidate activated!]
[Makuhita’s Attack fell!]
Cynthia immediately followed up with Growl.
Makuhita’s Attack fell another stage.
After being weakened twice, Makuhita struck Mightyena with Force Palm.
The attack barely took half its HP.
Cynthia’s eyebrows rose slightly.
‘This can work.’
She immediately switched to Dottler.
Makuhita used Force Palm again, but this time the blow landed against Dottler for only around a third of its health.
Then Reflect went up without issue.
With the barrier protecting her team, Cynthia switched once more and brought Combusken onto the field.
Makuhita attempted Fire Punch, clearly expecting Dottler to remain in battle.
Instead, the flames struck Combusken.
[It’s not very effective…]
Combusken lost less than a quarter of its health.
Now Cynthia had exactly the position she wanted.
On the following turn, Combusken used Aerial Ace.
The super effective strike took Makuhita down from full health in a single blow.
Paul sent out his second Pokémon.
Turtwig.
Another Aerial Ace.
Another one-hit knockout.
Finally, Paul sent out his last Pokémon.
Elekid.
Cynthia switched immediately.
Diglett entered the field.
Its Ground typing completely nullified Elekid’s Electric-type attack, and on the following turn Diglett retaliated with Bulldoze.
Elekid went down in one hit.
The victory jingle played.
Paul, however, looked thoroughly dissatisfied.
[“Pathetic…
If they can’t even manage something this simple, they’re all worthless.”]
[“Just wait.
The next time we meet, I’ll have collected stronger Pokémon, and I’ll crush you with them.”]
With that, he turned and walked away.
Cynthia stared at the dialogue box, her eyebrows drawing together.
Even though she knew this was only a game, she could not stop herself from speaking quietly.
“That way of thinking is wrong.”
“Every Pokémon has something it can excel at.
A Trainer who blames their Pokémon whenever they lose has no right to call themselves a Trainer.”
Every viewer in the livestream heard her.
[AnimeRewatchGuy: LMAO, she’s lecturing Paul now.
Completely in character.]
[KeyboardWarrior: Yes, boss.
We promise not to become Paul.]
[CasualBreeder: Absolutely.
Even though my Gengar has a Nature that raises Special Attack and lowers Attack, I never gave up on him.]
[DamageCalcNerd: …Why WOULD you?
Were you planning to run physical Gengar?]
[CheatMenuEnjoyer: I also promise never to become Paul.
I just open the save editor and give all my Pokémon perfect stats instead.
I would NEVER abandon them.
😏]
…
Cynthia shook her head helplessly at the joking responses.
Hopefully at least some of them genuinely understood what she meant.
With Paul defeated, the path ahead was clear.
Cynthia continued onward and eventually returned to Petalburg Woods.
While retracing her route, she noticed the small trees she had seen earlier.
Previously, they had blocked the paths leading into deeper sections of the forest.
Now, however…
She had Cut.
Cynthia opened her Bag, taught the move to Shroomish, and interacted with one of the trees.
The small trunk was immediately sliced through, opening the hidden path beyond it.
She guided her character deeper into the forest.
It did not take long before she spotted a Poké Ball lying in a secluded corner.
‘This should be one of those items the chat mentioned before.’
Cynthia walked over and pressed the interaction button.
An object appeared on the screen.
It looked like a transparent glass marble, with intertwined red and yellow patterns glowing faintly inside.
Cynthia paused.
“Hm?”
She leaned slightly closer to the screen.
‘…What is this?’